Cincinnati Reds' Brandon Phillips - MLB Profile
Challenges abound for the Cincinnati Reds, but the march goes on. There is a reason for this determination that the Reds are demonstrating. The team is endowed with some of the best players in the game. Brandon Phillips, the team’s second baseman, is one of them.
Born on June 28, 1981, Brandon Phillips has continued to prove his dominance and instrumentality as one of the single most talented baseman out there. Drafted in 1999 by the former Montreal Expos, which we now know as the Washington Nationals, Brandon Phillips has never looked back.
It was in 2006 when the Cincinnati Reds decided to go for a trade for this player. On April 7, the team got Phillips drafted for the team from the Cleveland Indians. Since then, Phillips has witnessed tremendous ascension as a key player for the Reds.
He has won one Silver Slugger Award and three Rawlings Gold Glove Awards, achievements that very few players in the game make. Phillips, at the same time, has striven to make progression and move forward. That has paid off with his being selected to two National League All-Star teams.
Like every other professional, Phillips employs workable strategies to keep not only his stats up, but also help the team remain at top. His efforts might not always have seen the light of the day, Phillips – admittedly, has never given up.
It was since the start of the 2012 regular season that Phillips kicked off his efforts to help the team get to the post-season at least. He realises the challenges ahead and tries to deal with them according to the evolving situation.
Phillips commented on the second half of the regular season and said, “We've still got a long way to go. We're trying to make the playoffs. We're trying to win. I'm trying to go out there and just do my part and my best to help the team win.”
His strategy for the games this year has been simple, and rather uncomplicated.
Phillips said, “I'm just going up there trying to have good ABs. If I get a ball that I can hit, I'm going to swing. If not, I'll walk. Of course I'd rather get hits than walks, that's just anybody. But if the walk is there, you might as well be able to take it.”
Having appeared in a total of 1119 games so far, Brandon Phillips has maintained .272 batting average with 4301 at-bats. He has scored 611 runs with 572 RBIs to his credit, hitting no less than 140 home-runs in the career.
This year, Brandon Phillips has maintained an average of .280 in his 78 appearances so far with 304 at-bats. The talented player, an indisputable veteran, has had a slugging percentage of .428 with 48 RBIs to his credit, having had 85 hits in his 304 at-bats.
Given the consistency that Phillips has characteristically maintained, small wonder if he does something extraordinary this year, helping the Reds to get to the post-season games, something that the Reds haven’t managed for a while now.
The second half of the season, in this regard, will be a good starter to see how this player performs to lift the Reds. If history is anything to go by, he will be among the best players to rely upon.
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