by DLentzLMB » Mon Apr 25, 2011 12:28 pm
i am a die hard phils phan. watch every game and go to 15-25/yr. Utley's return will NOT effect Fransisco's at bats i think they meant either valdez or browns return. heres the thing with D Brown. He's not an everyday guy and probably wont start against a single left hander barring injury all season. the interesting thing to look at here is gonna be based on Raul Ibanez. He has been struggling mightily, and i know hes a second half player, but he's at the age where skill can degrade quickly. this is my assessment: D Brown will platoon in RF when he does make it back, taking some AB away from fransisco, but i believe fransisco will ALSO be platooning in LF with Ibanez, who i believe will lose the majority of the AB's from D Brown's return. also, i think fransisco is going through some growing pains as i thought he would early on in this season. as the season extends, his approach at the plate will improve dramatically. He's a fastball hitter swinging at junk right now (and still being somewhat productive in the process) who caught a case of Carl Crawford's "tryin too damn hard" bug. he's batting 5th or 6th in a potent lineup in a short stadium, 20+HR, 80+ RBI, 60+ R, and a handful of SB are very attainable for Fransisco. and who knows, without utley and jroll struggling, a hot streak for Ben could land him in front of Ryan Howard and give him a whole boat load of fastballs to look at. Hang on to Fransisco and keep an eye on Ibanez's (lack of) production.
