2012 Projection (ZiPS): .211/.281/.364, 13 HR, 48 RBI, 130 games (459 AB)
2012 Actual: .200/.231/.400, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 19 games (25 AB)

Corey Brown picked up a homer for his first big league hit, but found himself buried deep on the Nationals outfield depth chart. (Images: Jeff Curry, US Presswire)

Brown yo-yoed between Washington and Syracuse often in 2012, getting called up and sent down twice before returning for good with the September roster expansion. His AAA numbers were very good, hitting .285 with 25 homers and 71 RBIs in 126 games for the Chiefs, earning both mid-season and post-season All-Star team nods in the International League. The success didn’t quite translate to his time with the Nationals however, partly because of lack of opportunity, but also because Brown didn’t quite step up and take a firm hold of a reserve outfielder’s spot like Tyler Moore did when he got his chance.

Brown made his first appearances of 2012 at the end of May in a three-game series in Miami, joining the team when Chad Tracy landed on the 15-day disabled list and departing shortly thereafter when Michael Morse was deemed healthy. Brown’s longest and most influential stint with the Nationals came in July after Ian Desmond was injured. Brown started one game in Milwaukee and did manage to belt his first major league home run off the Brewers’ Randy Wolf, but was shuffled back to Syracuse when Tracy returned.

Even during September, Brown was only called upon off the bench, unable to work his way into even a post-clinch lineup. Given what he accomplished at AAA, it could be argued that Brown wasn’t give an opportunity to help the club. But at the same time, who would he have displaced? The same question lingers for 2013. Assuming the Nationals outfield remains intact, it is hard to imagine Brown bumping Moore or Roger Bernadina from their spots as the right-handed and left-handed outfield bench options. And given Bryce Harper‘s emergence as a better than expected major league center fielder, the Nationals will probably be very willing to wait until Brian Goodwin is ready, perhaps 2014, before installing Goodwin as the every day center fielder.

Should all remain the same, Brown should begin 2013 at Syracuse, either in center or a corner spot if he is beaten out by Eury Perez. While it’s certainly possible Brown, who will turn 27 in the off-season, could still be a very serviceable addition to a big league ballclub down the road, chances are it will not be in Washington.

Season Highlight: Had to be his first major league hit, which went for a home run July 28 against the Brewers. Brown went the other way against a tough lefty in Wolf, breaking a scoreless fourth-inning tie and helping the Nats to a 4-1 win over Milwaukee.

Previous Reviews:
Xavier Nady
Chien Ming Wang
Mark DeRosa
Henry Rodriguez
Carlos Maldonado
Brad Lidge
Ryan Mattheus
Ryan Perry
Rick Ankiel
Jesus Flores
Sandy Leon

The Triple-A portion of BA’s All Stars is loaded with players from the Pacific Coast League (long known to be a more offensive league than the International League), but center fielder Corey Brown was able to crack the list and land one of the outfield spots (alongside Arizona’s Adam Eaton and Kansas City’s Wil Myers, BA’s Minor League Player of the Year).

(Image Credit: Brad Mills-US PRESSWIRE)

Brown batted .285/.365/.523 with 25 HR and 71 RBI over 554 plate appearances with Syracuse. While he did strike out a great deal (139 times versus just 59 walks), Brown showed a lot of improvement during the 2012 season and may ultimately prove to be the best piece acquired from Oakland when the Nationals dealt Josh Willingham to the A’s in 2010 (the other piece acquired in the deal was, as Erickson called him, Henry “Where’s the Strike Zone?” Rodriguez). Brown also saw some time with Washington this season, including being among the team’s September callups. Through 21 plate appearances he’s hitting .200/.200/.400 with his first career hit coming in late July at Milwaukee, a solo home run off of Randy Wolf.

In the Class-A classification, Hagerstown third baseman and Washington’s Organizational Player of the Year Matt Skole was named, but at the team’s designated hitter. Skole mashed his way to a .286/.438/.574 line with 27 HR and 92 RBI over 448 plate appearances. He’d go on to be promoted to High-A Potomac, hitting .314/.355/.486 over another 76 plate appearances on the year.

He was beat out at third base by Minnesota’s Miguel Sano, a likely shoo-in to appear in the Top 10 of BA’s Top 100 Prospect rankings this winter. Sano hit .258/.373/.521 with 28 HR and 100 RBI on the year over 553 plate appearances.

Finally, from the Short Season NY/Penn League, Robert Benincasa was named as the team’s lone relief pitcher. The right-hander was drafted in the 7th Round of this past June’s Amateur Draft and quickly signed with the Nationals. He’d make 16 appearances for the Auburn Doubledays, pitching 23.1 innings with a 2-0 record, 3.09 ERA, and three saves. He struck out 32 and walked just 3 in that stretch.

On the day when ace Stephen Strasburg was officially shut down following a disappointing start Friday night, the Washington Nationals (86-53) successfully overcame a treacherous outing by Ross Detwiler (L, 9-7) Saturday afternoon in a 7-6 extra-innings victory over the Miami Marlins (62-78).  Though Miami is a whopping 24.5 games behind Washington in the NL East, this is a crucial victory for the Nats given the fact players had to sit through a 2 hour 33 minute rain delay.

The Marlins would get out to a quick lead to start the game, as Gorkys Hernandez and Giancarlo Stanton each jacked solo shots to put Miami up 2-0 in the 1st.  Detwiler would continue to struggle in the 2nd, as he gave up a double, walk and RBI single to Donovan Solano that extended the lead to a worrisome 3-0.

Thankfully, the Nats responded in the 3rd, as a homer by Jesus Flores would cut the lead to a controllable 3-1 deficit.  Washington would strike once more in the 4th after Ryan Zimmerman and Ian Desmond would both single to put two runners quickly on base.  While Desmond would later be stranded, Danny Espinosa successfully added to the home team’s cause with an RBI double to score Zimmerman.

Though the Nats had the lead cut to 3-2 as the 4th came to a close, Detwiler failed to settle down and keep the game within reach.  He gave up two leadoff walks to Solano and Carlos Lee in the 5th, and a rare error by Adam LaRoche allowed the Marlins to tack another one on the board.  Catcher John Buck would make matters worse for Washington as he smoked an RBI single to extend the lead to 5-2 in favor of Miami.

While the white-hot Bryce Harper hit a solo homerun in the bottom half of the 5th to bring the lead back to within two, the Marlins just wouldn’t go away, even against the mostly-reliable long reliever Craig Stammen in the 7th.  Solano continued his dominant outing with a double to lead off the top of the inning, and a sac fly by Jose Reyes that brought Solano to third allowed the young second baseman to score on a Ryan Zimmerman error.

Reliever Christian Garcia continues to pitch well for the Nationals, and the right-hander could easily turn out to be a terrific reliever for Washington come playoff time. (Image Credit: Brad Mills-US PRESSWIRE)

Despite the continued onslaught of runs by the black-clad squad from Miami, the Nats would strike back in the 8th against reliever A.J. Ramos.  Ramos gave up a leadoff walk to Harper, and after manager Ozzie Guillen was forced to come out to the mound following a 2-0 count to Ryan Zimmerman, the Nats’ powerful third baseman would jack a 2-run shot on the very next pitch to bring Washington back within one run, 6-5.  Michael Morse and LaRoche would each knock singles to put the go-ahead run aboard later in the inning, and after a fielder’s choice play, steal by Desmond, and intentional walk to Jose Flores, the bases were juiced for the Shark aka Roger Bernadina with two outs.  Unfortunately, the Nats couldn’t convert and stranded all three runners, as Bernie would strike out to end the inning.

After the nearly three-hour rain delay aforementioned, Heath Bell came in to try to seal the game for the Fish.  Most of the crowd had departed by this point, but the Nats began to play as if nothing had happened.  While it took him seven pitches, the Bearded Wonder aka Jayson Werth would smash a 427 foot homer to straightaway center to tie the game!  Bell would strike out the rest of the side, but thankfully for the Nats, the damage was done.  Tie game headed into the 10th.

Drew Storen would come in and strike out the side himself, and after a couple of singles by LaRoche and Desmond and an intentional walk of Danny Espinosa, the bases were loaded for pinch-hitter Kurt Suzuki.  Unfortunately, the Nats wouldn’t convert here on a fielder’s choice that got LaRoche out at the plate.  However, just two pitches later recent call-up Corey Brown successfully completed the comeback  with a perfectly executed RBI single.  Another Curly W in the books!

Champ of the Game: A bunch of champs for the Nats this afternoon, and while both Werth and Brown were clutch, Ryan Zimmerman gets the cake.  He went 2-3 with two runs, two RBIs, and the homer to keep DC within reach.

For the Marlins, Donovan Solano was outstanding.  He went 2-4 with a double, two runs, and an RBI.

Chump of the Game: Unfortunately, Ross Detwiler was the one to keep the Nats in trouble throughout the afternoon.  Final line: 5IP, 7H, 5R (3ER), 3BB, 3K.

A.J. Flores was pretty terrible coming out of the bullpen for the away team, even worse than Bell in my opinion.  Didn’t record an out and gave up the 2-run shot to Zimmerman in the 8th.

Unsung Hero: One extremely promising note is that reliever Christian Garcia looks like he’s here to stay!  The Triple-A star pitched another solid inning of relief, recording two strikeouts and a groundout on just nine pitches of work.

Next Game: Tomorrow, 1:35PM at Nationals Park.  Familiar face Ricky Nolasco (11-12, 4.64ERA) takes on Edwin Jackson (9-9, 3.63ERA) in the series finale between the two clubs.  This will be a crucial start for Jackson as his inconsistencies have hindered him throughout this season and he’s coming off two straight winning decisions.