Phillies’ Domonic Brown: 2 hits and 2 RBI in his first game
Posted by Andy on July 29, 2010
The Phillies' Domonic Brown became the 5th player this year to have at least 2 hits and 2 RBIs in his first major-league game:
| Rk | Gcar | Player | Date | Tm | Opp | Rslt | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Domonic Brown | 2010-07-28 | PHI | ARI | W 7-1 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | 1 | Daniel Nava | 2010-06-12 | BOS | PHI | W 10-2 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 | |
| 3 | 1 | Trevor Plouffe | 2010-05-21 | MIN | MIL | W 15-3 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| 4 | 1 | Starlin Castro | 2010-05-07 | CHC | CIN | W 14-7 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | 1 | Jason Heyward | 2010-04-05 | ATL | CHC | W 16-5 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 |
| 6 | 1 | Ian Desmond | 2009-09-10 | WSN | PHI | W 8-7 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | 1 | Rick Porcello | 2009-06-12 | DET | PIT | W 3-1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| 8 | 1 | John Mayberry | 2009-05-23 | PHI | NYY | L 4-5 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 | 1 | Lou Marson | 2008-09-28 | PHI | WSN | W 8-3 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 10 | 1 | Aaron Cunningham | 2008-08-31 | OAK | MIN | L 4-12 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 11 | 1 | Justin Christian | 2008-06-24 | NYY | PIT | L 5-12 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | 1 | Jay Bruce | 2008-05-27 | CIN | PIT | W 9-6 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| 13 | 1 | Nick Evans | 2008-05-24 | NYM | COL | W 9-2 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | 1 | John Bowker | 2008-04-12 | SFG | STL | L 7-8 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 15 | 1 | Kosuke Fukudome | 2008-03-31 | CHC | MIL | L 3-4 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
The most surprising entry here is Tigers pitcher Rick Porcello, who also did it in his first career (batting) game.
July 29th, 2010 at 11:29 am
Brown also has the unusual stat line of having his BA higher than his OBP. Unlike everyone else on this list, his extra plate appearance was NOT a walk (Fukudome, and Bruce) but a Sac Fly. Which counts against OBP. So he has, for now, a .667 BA and a .500 OBP.
July 29th, 2010 at 12:46 pm
So wait, Porcello did it in the first game in which he happened to bat, NOT his first major-league game, right (he pitched plenty that year before June)? I'm not trying to nitpick the semantics of a "major league debut" (and I can see where the database spits him out in this query), just trying to reconcile the details behind his appearance here. He *could* have batted in any of the games prior to the road interleague game above, as there is nothing forcing American League teams to bat a DH for a pitcher in an intraleague game (right?). Somewhat following this line of thinking...would someone debuting only as a pinch-runner be excluded from this list if had 2H + 2RBI in his next game? That is, would he be credited with zero at-bats (but a batting line nonetheless, counting as a debut), as opposed to a pitcher who didn't happen to bat just having a non-existent batting line for each such game? I hope I'm articulating all this sanely -- perhaps the Mountain Dew has gotten the best of me today. Y'all have a WONDERFUL site (and such thought-provoking discussions in the comments sections are a huge part of my enjoyment)!
July 29th, 2010 at 12:46 pm
3 Phillies on this list, and 2 games against Philly....
July 29th, 2010 at 1:00 pm
Porcello did it in the first game in which he appeared as a batter. I'm not entire sure how the database handles all pitcher appearances. I have seen cases where a reliever comes in as part of a double-switch and gets officially listed as replacing the defender (the left fielder, for example, if the LF and P are changed at the same time. I think these games might count as batting games for the pitchers even though they never actually came to the plate. If so, it would foul up finding such performances by pitchers since there are many pitchers (particular NLers) who come into games on double switches many times before ever (if even ever) coming to bat in a game. I also think this type of search ignores players who appeared in their first game as a pinch-runner, even if they never came to bat, because similarly they replace a guy who is listed at a defensive position, even if that's a batting pitcher.
We'd need to ask Sean about the fine details of how these are handled to be sure.
July 29th, 2010 at 1:05 pm
I love what Brown did in this game and look forward to seeing him play more. Check out my blog post on Brown: http://therallycap.wordpress.com/2010/07/29/domonic_brown_phillies/
July 29th, 2010 at 5:06 pm
The one negative is that his protection is Carlos Ruiz. Check out http://www.thefantasybaseballguru.com leave comments ask qs and tell me what you think.
July 29th, 2010 at 8:00 pm
Mark, AL teams are never forced to use a DH at all.