The Hits (Won't) Keep Coming: Dom Brown to the DL, Zambrano Released

So what do you want first -- the bad news or the "eh" news?

The bad news is that the Phillies have lost Domonic Brown to concussion-like symptoms, as the newly anointed star outfielder has been placed on the 7-day DL. The 7-day DL is explicitly for players suffering from post-concussion effects, and despite the rosy week-long estimate it gives, you usually will find players hanging out there a good deal longer than seven days. The Rays' Alex Cobb has been on the very same list for the last couple of months, though, to be fair, his injury (being hit in the head with a comebacker) was much worse than Dom's diving grab. Still, visions of Jason Bay and Justin Morneau will haunt us at night until Brown is back and hitting dingers. And, as j reed pointed out in tonight's gamethread: when you go up against the Tigers without your best hitting OF, and without seemingly half of your other useful players, you're going to need a higher power to just get through it.

As the "buyers or sellers?" question seems to slowly resolve itself, the Phillies have been dealt another, much more minor blow, as they've released Carlos Zambrano. Zambrano had been signed to a minor-league contract, and had pitched fairly well in AAA (a 3.32 ERA and 3.04 FIP in four starts), but was sidelined since being pulled from his June 28th start with shoulder pain. The Phillies, according to Ruben Amaro, Jr, were happy with Zambrano's progression through Lehigh Valley, but were also not particularly sanguine about his ability to come back from injury in time to help the club. Thus, he gets the boot. Zambrano did not engender much fan enthusiasm with his signing, and perhaps few mourn his loss. I, for one, am disappointed that we will not get to see a rematch between Z and the Gatorade Machine; but hey, I'm a violent, violent man.

And so, the great 2013 experiment shudders onward with no real end in sight. Mourn us, people of the future. Do not forget where we came from.

EDIT (9:52 PM): As has been noted by commenter woodyj, Steve Susdorf has both: a) been called up in a corresponding move; and b) grounded into a double play.