Dom Brown: “I’m Coming to Win a Job”

Last season, Domonic Brown entered Spring Training as one of the favorites to win the starting right-field job in place of Jayson Werth.

He left Spring Training with a broken hand that would shelf him for more than a month, but it was Brown’s play before the injury that was the concern.

Brown had just one hit in 16 spring at-bats, which is ‘good’ for a .063 batting average. Fans questioned how a guy that was untouchable in trades for both Cliff Lee and Roy Halladay could struggle so badly in exhibition play.

He seemed to lose his confidence at that point, and started to struggle even at the Triple A level. Brown had one horrendous game where he dropped a few of the easiest fly balls dropped in recent memory (think Luis Castillo, game-losing drop style).

This season, Brown is heading into Spring Training with more confidence than he’s had in the past few seasons, and seems like a player determined to make his mark on the 2012 Phillies season.

“I’m not at peace if I start at triple A,” said Brown. “I’m coming to win a job. I’m fighting to win a job here. If I start at triple A, I start at triple A.”

Brown was asked about how fans and the organization feel about him, and how he feels about Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. saying that he would be better off spending another season in triple A.

“I’ve been hearing that stuff for two or three years now,” Brown said. “It don’t really matter. I believe if you play hard and do things the right way, great things are going to happen for you. If you think great, you’re going to be great. We’ll see what happens.”

The 24-year-old used this off-season to get his mind straight in Florida and get in shape for the upcoming season. Brown worked with hitting legend Gary Sheffield, who “opened his arms” to the young outfielder and spent time with him at his hitting facility in Tampa Bay.

He also worked out with fellow Phillies outfielder Hunter Pence, who was the team’s best hitter last season after being acquired via trade with the Houston Astros. Pence tweeted a picture of the two shirtless after a workout down in Florida a couple of weeks ago.

Quotes via Philadelphia Inquirer Phillies beat writer Matt Gelb [@magelb].

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