Cincinnati Reds’ Brandon Phillips wins Wilson Defensive Player of the Year Award – MLB News
The Cincinnati Reds' second baseman Brandon Phillips on Monday netted another award: first Wilson Defensive Player of the Award. The prize, announced goes to the best defensive player on each Major League club.
Also, it names the best defensive player in each league and the best defensive team in baseball. Recognised for his glove work, Phillips deservingly won the Award which is determined by the statistical analysis of MLB Network's "shredder system" along with input from the Network's analysts.
Having been the recipient of Gold Glove Awards in 2008, 2010 and 2011, and being the Silver Slugger in 2011, Brandon Phillips has had the attributes of a consistent player, performing exceptionally well in almost every aspect of the game.
This year, in the absence of All-Star first baseman Joey Votto, Phillips remained a remarkably solid substitute, helping the team be atop the National League Central despite all the odds facing him.
It was in April this year that he signed $72.5 extension. Shining on the big stage, Phillips had a lot to say about the role he was assigned – which he discharged phenomenally well, when Votto was out of the line-up due to the knee surgery that he underwent.
Brandon Phillips said, "It's a good time to be famous. Either you're going to be famous in a good way or a bad way, and I want to be famous in a good way. Some people like the spotlight, some people don't. I'm the type of person I love playing this game."
He added, "When you are playing a game that you love and you get paid for, nothing beats that, especially when you're on TV and all your family and friends and fans are watching and you want to go out there and perform for them and for yourself."
With .281 batting average, Brandon Phillips hit 18 home-runs this year in 147 games with 77 RBIs to his credit and 86 runs.
It was Darwin Barney who won the Gold Glove Award this year with .997 fielding percentage outrivaling Phillips who had fielding percentage of .992. Nonetheless, he has won the Gold Glove Award thrice in his career, the last one in 2011.
However, the player does not seem bogged down by that; instead his focus remains in serving the team and doing his bit to win more glories. At a time when the Reds’ first baseman Joey Votto was out of the line-up due to the knee surgery, Phillips remained instrumental in relieving the pressure from the Reds’ offence.
With Defensive Player of the Award that he netted, his .992 field percentage in 2012 seems to have been recognised as an extraordinary feat even though he did not glean Gold Glove Award this year.
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