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Ex-Plant High standout Corey Brown bids for Rays spot

 
Corey Brown, a second-team all-state pick at Plant High in 2004, has a nonroster spot in Rays camp as an outfielder. “I have to stay healthy … and I have to perform,” he says.
Corey Brown, a second-team all-state pick at Plant High in 2004, has a nonroster spot in Rays camp as an outfielder. “I have to stay healthy … and I have to perform,” he says.
Published Feb. 27, 2015

PORT CHARLOTTE — The last time outfielder Corey Brown played regularly in Tampa Bay, he was starring at Plant High as one of the top prospects in the state.

Eleven years later, the 29-year-old is back with a nonroster spot with the Rays and hopes of finally playing in a big-league game at Tropicana Field.

"It's pretty cool, man," Brown said before Thursday's workouts.

But Brown said his decision to sign with the Rays in December wasn't about a homecoming; it was about his best chance to make it back to the major leagues.

His career has been up and down since he was a second-team all-state selection at Plant in 2004.

Brown was a two-time All-American at Oklahoma State, and the Athletics made the 6-foot-1 lefty the No. 59 overall pick in the 2007 June draft. He has flashed signs of power and speed, with 140 home runs and 88 stolen bases over eight seasons in the minors, but he hasn't been consistent and healthy enough to stick in the majors.

"At the end of the day, I have to stay healthy," Brown said. "That's always been my issue over my career, and I have to perform at the same time."

Brown earned his first September callup in 2011 with the Nationals, but a staph infection in his right knee ended his season after three games as a pinch-hitter.

His first major-league hit was a home run in 2012 with the Nationals, and he hit a pinch-hit walkoff single that September to beat the Marlins. But an oblique injury derailed his 2013 season.

He had one at-bat in three games with the Red Sox last season before being designated for assignment and eventually landing with the Rays.

Brown said he has learned to use humor to help him deal with the stress, whether it's a three-strikeout day or watching someone else earn a callup instead.

"I don't joke around just to make guys laugh," Brown said. "I joke around more so just to keep everyone lose, to keep myself loose."

But Brown enters the spring ready to show he's serious about the game. He has worked on his discipline at the plate to try to cut down his strikeouts (16 in 41 major-league at-bats), and he was one of the first hitters Thursday to start tracking pitches in the box during bullpen sessions.

After spending most of the past four seasons in Triple A, Brown is no longer considered a prospect. But he said he hopes a good spring will help him stick somewhere — in Triple-A Durham, the majors or perhaps eventually overseas — so he can take care of his wife and 5-month-old daughter, Miller.

"Now I have a family," Brown said. "And it's about going where I'm able to financially put my family in a good position and take care of them down the road."

The best-case scenario for Brown is to stick in the Rays' crowded outfield. None of his 39 major-league games has been against his hometown team or at the stadium where he watched games as a kid.

"Hopefully it works out and at some point I get to play in front of a lot of family," Brown said. "I've played around but never got the opportunity to play in Tampa Bay yet, but it'll be pretty sweet if I get the opportunity to do that this year."

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Contact Matt Baker at mbaker@tampabay.com. Follow @MBakerTBTimes.