DOMONation



Brown's easy smile & powerful swing have breathed life into the team & its fans.

In this world, hype is almost always an advertising gimmick or a sales pitch to whet our appetite and get us to invest.  However, rarely does it amount to anything near its promise.

Sometimes, though, the hype pays off and becomes the very wonder it was made out to be.

For years, we heard about #1 prospect OF Domonic Brown, but we didn't see the results.

Amidst a season of early injuries and too much mediocrity on the field, which follows a season of disappointment and squandered potential, comes just such a payoff, a rare gem of a breakout season, the likes of which comes around once or twice a Century.

Domonic Brown has 10 HR in his last 12 games, tied for the 2nd-most homers by a Phillie in a 12-game span in the modern era (since 1900). Only Mike Schmidt had more, when he hit 11 homers in a 12-game span in 1976.

After garnering NL Player of the Week honors last week, he landed #2 on ESPN's Cross-Sport Power Rankings (behind NBA player Lebron James).

"It's exciting," Howard said of Brown's emergence. "It's exciting to be a part of. It's exciting to watch."



Even Brown's celebrations are making an impact.



Brown and Howard share a ritual handshake when the Howard crosses the plate in front of Brown, who follows with a salute in which he clasps his hands.

"Brown better watch it with that weak act he's pulling after his home runs," said a MLB scout. "He's going to tick off the wrong pitcher and wind up wearing it. There are a lot of people watching who hope it changes soon. It's very unprofessional."

"We won't forget," said a member of the Marlins Tuesday.

"It might have been a little bit over the top," Phillies broadcaster Gary Matthews said. "However, in saying that, I would much rather see him do that than to walk back and put the bat in the rack after a strikeout. For me, to show enthusiasm, that's what it is all about, and it's about time to see some of that."

Thanks to Brown's contagious success at the plate, the Phils have climbed back to .500 for the first time since April 14th at 30-30.

Brown hit his 18th of the season Wednesday in a 6-1 win for a team that seems to have found its legs kicking one of the worst teams in baseball, Miami for a 3-game sweep. 

The Phils now have a 4-game win streak, their best of the year. 

Cole Hamels fulfilled some promise of his own Wednesday to the tune of his $160 Million contract.  Although he was facing MLB's worst offense, he was at top form.  In 7 innings, he struck out 11 Fish, rebounding from one of his career-worst starts last week to record just his 2nd win of the season (2-9).  If he keeps pitching like he did Wednesday, he may make it to double digits in wins by the end of Summer.

Hamels' outing represented the 41st quality start by a Phillies pitcher, more than any other team.  It's a surprising statistic for a team that has so many question marks in their starters.  However, reading between the lines, it also tells the tale of a manager who feels more confident in his team's chance to win with his starters, rather than the Russian Roulette of middle relief at his disposal. 

The Phillies have scored 27 runs in their last four games, all against last-place competition. They have scored six or more in four straight for the first time since the end of the '10 season.

"You have to thank Brown over here for really coming up huge," Hamels said. "I think that's really what has sparked the hitters. Once you have one of your hitters be comfortable at the plate, then everybody starts to do that."

On a night when Hamels fulfilled the belief the organization put in him when they made him the '13 Opening Day starter ahead of 3-time Cy Young winners Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee, the Braves managed to steal the spotlight, nonetheless. 

Twenty-two year-old Braves starter Julio Teheran took a no-hitter into the 8th and matched Hamels with 11 strike outs.  He has struck out 55 and walked 15 this year.  Impressive.

 

While the Phillies are enjoying regular fanfare of late over the sudden power they are showing, Atlanta still leads the NL in HR with 79, while the Phils are a distant 4th with a team total of 61. More pertinently, the Braves still lead the Phils by 7.5 games in the division.

The Phils are enthusiastic about winning 4-straight and should be. However, the Braves are on a 5-game win streak and have already completed win streaks of 10 and 8 this year.  The Phils are presently winners of 6-out-of-10. The Braves? 7-out-of-10. It's the old, 'Whatever you can do, I can do better.' The Phils will need to go on a tear at some point to move toward a potential playoff berth.

The Phillies have beat up on the dregs of baseball.  They need to ride this wave of enthusiasm to beat the good teams, now.  They are 14-5 against the Mets and Marlins.  They will not enjoy the luxury of playing Miami again until September.

Brown has Philly pumped up.

Meanwhile, they are 16-25 vs. the rest of baseball. 



The Phils open a 10-game road trip with a 4-game series in Milwaukee starting Thursday.  Milwaukee is in Last-Place at 22-36.  The Phils should be able to win the series.  The test in this series will be to move through their rotation and show some consistency with the bat while blossoming the buds of winning that are beginning to bloom.

Twenty of their next 26 games will be on the road.  If they can put together a lengthy streak, say win 18 of those games, they can make up some ground in the division.  If they win 13 or less, they are likely to find themselves trailing by double digits the way the Braves are playing. 

On May 15th, the Phils were 19-22, but remained 3 1/2 games behind the division-leading Braves and 2 1/2 behind the defending NL East champion Nationals.  Since then, the Phils have climbed to 2nd-Place at 30-30 to pass Washington by 1/2 a game, but have fallen behind First-Place Atlanta by an additional 4 games and now trail by 7 1/2.  In other words, while the Phils have been playing some of their most passionate and exciting baseball of the year and winning, Atlanta has more than doubled its lead over them.

The Braves can hit and they can pitch.  They have young legs and are built for the long haul, which means October and beyond.  The Phillies have become baseball's 4th-oldest team out of 30 clubs with an average age of 29.8.

The Phils will get Chooch and Utley back during this stretch of road games.  That could help.  This resurrected Brown hasn't yet hit with Utley in the lineup.  That should be interesting.

NEXT UP:

Thursday June 6th 8:10 PM EST

26 year-old Cloyd (1-2, 4.76 ERA)
at 24 year-old Peralta (4-6, 5.94 ERA)

Note: 2 unproven young pitchers, should be a hitter's night.  The Phils have the hottest hitter on the planet in Brown, so keep an eye on him.  You know Brewers' pitchers will.