Domonic Brown plays right field. Chase Utley plays second base. Both are not off to good starts this spring training. If only there was a player who played both right field and second base.
Oh wait, there is, and his name is Delwyn Young.
I’m not abandoning ship just yet on Brown, but he hasn’t exactly made it easy to defend his position on this team after watching him in the Dominican league and in spring training. He is currently 0-9 with six strikeouts and two walks.
Utley, on the other hand, will be in the Opening Day lineup barring any setbacks; however, his knee doesn’t appear to be getting any better and we all know his inability to last an entire season.
Between the questions at right field and second base, I see no reason why Young should not get a legitimate shot to prove himself and contend for a spot on the Opening Day roster.
He’s a versatile player that can play anywhere in the outfield as well as the infield.
If you are quick to judge his fielding ability, here’s a breakdown of his fielding numbers by position:
– 2B: 70 games, 4 errors, .985%
– 3B: 8 games, 3 errors, .842%
– LF: 26 games, 1 error, .971%
– RF: 59 games, 2 errors, ,981%
At the plate, Young isn’t going to strike fear in any of the opposition’s pitchers with his career .253 average.
But you can’t judge a guy from his batting, especially after last season when Wilson Valdez became a fan favorite with his fielding ability and quick release from second base.
If history repeats itself, than I suspect that Young could be the new version of Valdez in 2011 — with a better bat, that is.
So does anybody else out there believe that Young can make a difference in 2011? Should he get a look at right field as a possible platoon mate with Ben Francisco, who is running away with the competition (.571 average in spring training)?
I don’ t believe D Brown will make the final cut and will be sent down to AAA to work on his game. I think D Young could be that 4th/5th OF plus insurance for
the IF and would be a good versatiile player to have on the Roster..
By the way Isn’t Manager Manuel supposed to be a hitting guru..
Is he personally working with this kid top help get hime straightened out..
Nothing worse that a young player, chaning his hitting style, then having little or no success with the changes and then their confirdence is shot and sometimes they never recover.. It’s like tweaking your Golf Swing.. Go up and hit the damn ball in the most natual way it feels and like you have since you were a kid…