Speed game is Brown’s forte

Rashad Brown’s strength is playing with speed.
That’s why the Wild Things brought the Atlanta, Ga., native to Washington. They envision the speedy Brown roaming the spacious outfield gaps at Wild Things Park, turning sure triples by the opponent into long outs, and causing havoc on the basepaths after batting at the top of the order.
Stealing bases and taking the extra base on hits is Brown’s forte. Yet at times during his professional baseball career, Brown has felt like somebody placed a giant stop sign at second base.
Playing the last five years in the Detroit Tigers’ minor-league system, Brown has been one of the fastest players in the organization. The Tigers, however, are an American League team, and the stolen base is not something AL clubs frequently utilize.
“We really didn’t run at all,” Brown said. “I never had a green light. I really never ran unless they wanted a hit-and-run. That was pretty much it.”
In 274 career games between rookie ball and Class A, Brown stole 50 bases. He never had more than 11 steals in a season until last summer, when he swiped 20 bases between the Tigers’ two full-season Class A affiliates in Lakeland, Fla., and West Michigan.
“In the minor leagues, everything is very controlled, especially for some individuals,” Brown said. “Every organization is different, but it can be very controlled.”
The Wild Things don’t plan to control Brown’s running. When he gets on base, in most situations, Brown will have the green light to steal.
“Once I got here, I never felt so comfortable with a place since I was in high school,” Brown said. “In high school, I just ran. Being in an American League organization, you get shut down. We just didn’t run. It was just hit.”
Brown did a lot of both hitting and running Thursday morning when the Wild Things played their first exhibition game. Against an overmatched Black Sox team composed of unsigned free agents, Brown went 3-for-4 with five RBI and two stolen bases and four runs in Washington’s 21-3 victory.
Defensively, Brown played center field. He is one of eight outfielders on the crowded spring training roster.
“What I bring is lockdown defense,” Brown said, using a term that is more often used in football than baseball. You can excuse Brown, however, for his terminology. He was a talented three-sport athlete at Westlake High School in Atlanta, where played defensive back and wide receiver on the football team and point guard on the basketball team. He received interest from college coaches in the other sports but chose baseball after being drafted by Detroit in the 26th round in 2012.
Brown batted .313 in his first full season in the minor leagues in 2013. He progressed through the system and hit .280 with 19 stolen bases last year in the Class A Midwest League.
This spring, Brown’s career reached a roadblock when his path was impeded by a deep and talented group of outfielders in the Tigers’ system. Among those is former Trinity High School standout Joey Havrilak, who replaced Brown on the West Michigan roster last August when the latter was moved up to Lakeland of the Florida State League.
Brown was released in mid-March and signed by the Wild Things less than two weeks later. He’s hoping that he can use his speed to impress the scouts and return to affiliated ball, perhaps with a National League organization ineed of a speedy outfielder and stolen bases.
“There was so much traffic in Detroit’s organization, big leaguers who are in Triple-A and guys with Triple-A experience who are back in Double-A. There was a logjam,” Brown said. “The Tigers honestly felt I have a better chance with another organization. I knew that was the case, also. I’m only 23 … I want to show that I can be in an organization, can play Double-A ball.”