Dave Brundage gruffly nods, takes on responsibility of making Dom Brown good again

We may not know exactly where Dom Brown is, but we're still presuming that eventually, he'll resurface with the Lehigh Valley IronPigs at some point. Or, maybe he's already on the box car of a speeding locomotive, tearing across the Great Plains, one leg dangling lazily out of the car as he smiles and throws a casual wave to some wheat farmers, the weight of the world off his shoulders.

There are still about 48 hours left on the #DOMWATCH, so unless Brown is embarking on a whimsical sojourn through the American Midwest, we can expect to hear from him again. And when we do, IronPigs manager Dave Brundage is prepared to look Brown in the eye, nod wordlessly, and mutter something like, "Your training starts now."

"We have to get him ready for the big leagues. Bottom line, that's what we're here for," Lehigh Valley manager Dave Brundage said. "Bottom line for him is we have to get him to where his timing needs to be so he can help our major-league club. . . . I'm sure the big-league club didn't think he was ready yet and that's why he's going to be here."

--Jake Kaplan and Matt Breen, Inquirer

Brundage knows what his role is. Is it to win the International League? If he can, sure. But mostly, he's got to keep an eye on the developing young players and overlooked older players who for some reason weren't deemed better than Grady Sizemore and Jeff Francoeur in spring training. If a Dom Brown should fall in his lap, he's going to do his job and put the 27-year-old through a rigorous training montage, featuring push-ups in the pouring rain, stair-runs at sunrise, an 8:00 p.m. curfew, and the required IronPigs diet of vast bacon portions four times daily.