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| Arizona Fall League Filled With Future Stars |
| Phillies' Top Prospect Brown Shining In AFL |
| Before Phillies' top prospect Domonic Brown will make his Lehigh Valley IronPigs debut -- which could come as soon as Opening Day 2010, the 22-year-old will hone his skills with some of the game's other future stars in the Arizona Fall League. |
| The AFL, which began last Tuesday, is filled with players like Brown, who are expected to have bright futures in the Majors. One of the most notable names playing in this year's competion is none other than Nationals' 2009 top overall pick Stephen Strasburg. While all eyes have already been on Strasburg, there are some other top picks from the 2009 draft (Dustin Ackley, Mike Minor, Mike Leake, and Drew Storen), which will be watched closely by their franchise. |
| One franchise which is well-represented this season is the Philadelphia Phillies. And, while the Phillies are defending their 2008 World Series crown in the 2009 postseason, seven of the franchise's top minor leaguers are playing for the Scottsdale Scorpions. The Scorpions are led by Brown, as well as 2009 IronPigs catcher Tuffy Gosewisch, shortstop Troy Hanzawa, outfielder Steve Susdord, and pitchers Mike Cisco, Edgar Garcia, Scott Mathieson, Michael Schwimmer, and Mike Zagurski. |
| Brown, a 6'5 200 plus-pound outfielder, is off to a hot start for the Scorpions in the AFL. In 25 at-bats, the Florida native is batting .320 with two homers and five RBI's. A twentieth round pick of the Phillies in 2006, Brown is coming off a solid 2009 season and has given Philadelphia high hopes for their future. |
| Before being promoted to Reading (AA), where Brown hit .279-3-20 in 37 games, he posted a .303 batting average with 11 homers and 44 RBI's with Clearwater (A) in 66 games. While with Clearwater in 2009, Brown won FSL player of the week honors (5/4/09) and was also named to the 2009 midseason All-Star team. |
| If Brown continues to make strides, the youngster will certainly see time with the IronPigs in 2009, perhaps sooner, rather than later. The potential of Brown, alongside 2009 returnee Michael Taylor, and perhaps youngster Quentin Berry, another top prospect in the Phillies organization, will make for quite an exciting outfield at Coca-Cola Park in 2010. |
| The Scorpions pitching has looked solid, and the Phillies minor leaguers on the team have been no exception. Michael Schwimer, who finished the 2009 season with the Reading Phillies (AA), has allowed just one earned run over four innings of work thus far (three games). Mike Cisco, who also finished up the 2009 campaign with Reading (AA), has been sharp for Scottsdale so far -- tossing two shutout innings. Scott Mathieson, who began the 2009 season on the Lehigh Valley IronPigs disabled list, has appeared in two AFL games so far and has not allowed a run over three innings. |
| Other notable players in the AFL include Scott Sizemore, the number seven prospect in the Tigers' organization, who leads the league with three homers and is tied atop the league lead in RBI's with nine, New York Yankees' prospect Brandon Laird, who leads the AFL with ten hits and Orioles' prospect Josh Bell who leads the AFL with a .533 batting avergage and a .611 on-base percentage. |
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