Camp Clearwater, Day 3.

The only new face - "new" as in since camp opened - was Domonic Brown. Brown chatted with teammates at his locker stall and greeted Hunter Pence, the guy who eventually took the everyday right field from him, with a handshake and man-hug.

Coming off a year that began with him pegged as a front runner for the right field job a year ago, then set back with a hand injury, then set back further with struggles at the plate and in the field, Brown is expected to begin the season at Triple-A. General manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said all winter that Brown would benefit from playing the majority of 2012 in Lehigh Valley.

But.... don't tell Domonic Brown that.

He cut off a reporter who started a question by asking if Brown would be "almost at peace" with starting the season with the IronPigs.

"Almost at peace?" Brown interrupted. "No, I’m not almost at peace if I start at Triple-A. I think you got me wrong there. I’m coming to win a job, I’m fighting to win a job here, and that’s the goal. But if I start at Triple-A, I start at Triple-A. It’s that simple."

My take: I'd consider Brown a dark horse for the left field job. A lot can happen at spring training (as we saw with Brown's injury last year), so while the plan might be to start him at Triple-A, plans can change, too.

Ryan Howard won't be starting the season at 1B, John Mayberry Jr. still hasn't proved he's an every day major league player and the rest of the guys fighting for regular time include Ty Wigginton, Laynce Nix, Juan Pierre and Scott Podsednik.

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The other morning news: Jose Contreras threw his first bullpen session since undergoing elbow surgery at the end of the 2011 season.

The Big Truck looked happy as he walked off the mound. I'll chat him up about it later.