Brandon Phillips

Brandon Phillips
File:Brandon Phillips1.JPG Brandon with fan at Shea Stadium
Cincinnati Reds – No. 4
Second baseman
Bats: Right Throws: Right
debut
September 13, 2002, for the Cleveland Indians
Career statistics (through 2007)
Batting average	.262
Home runs	53
Runs batted in	207
Stats at Baseball Reference
Teams
Cleveland Indians (2002-2005) Cincinnati Reds (2006-present)

Brandon Emil Phillips (born June 28, 1981 in Raleigh, North Carolina) is a second baseman for the Cincinnati Reds. He was selected in the 2nd round of the 1999 MLB Draft by the Expos after signing on to play both football and baseball at the University of Georgia (signed with Expos on 6/21/99). Brandon Phillips was once considered one of the top prospects in the game. The Indians acquired him via the Bartolo Colon trade. He made his Major League debut on September 13, 2002.

Early Life

He attended Redan High School (GA) where he played basketball and baseball. His #7 at Redan was retired by the school in December of 2003. Phillips' favorite baseball player growing up was Cincinnati Reds shortstop Barry Larkin. In 2003 he participated in the Giant Eagle Baseball Camps & the Big League Lunch Program. His sister, Porsha, is a talented high school basketball player in Georgia and his 18-year-old brother, P.J., is an up and coming baseball and basketball player at Redan HS. He currently resides in Stone Mountain, Georgia.

Professional Career

Early Career

Phillips was drafted by the Montreal Expos in 1999. He then began to play for the Jupiter Hammerheads (which is a minor league team of the Florida Marlins). He finished the season with a .292 batting average, 22 home runs, 59 RBIs, 3 triples, and 30 steals.

In 2002, Phillips began to play for the Cleveland Indians, where he made his MLB debut. In 2003, Phillips won the starting job on second base for the Indians. During the season, Phillips had a season-high 6-game hitting streak. Against the Detroit Tigers on May 20, Phillips hit a three-run walk-off home run to win the game for the Indians. After that he went 0 for 29 and was sent down to AAA after the All-Star Break. He was called back up soon after an injury and hit .200 for the rest of the season. Phillips totaled a .981 fielding percentage during his season with the Tribe.

In 2004, Phillips started the season back down in AAA. He hit .303 with 14 stolen bases on the season however, and even had 18-game and 16-game hitting streaks during the season. He also had a streak of 51 straight games of reaching home plate, which was a team record. In the playoffs, Phillips hit .308. He joined the Indians at the end of the season and played six games for them.

Phillips stayed in AAA for 2005, but did make the league All-Star game. He appeared in six games for the Indians, but was sent back down following the stint.

Cincinnati Reds

2006-2007

On April 7, 2006, Cleveland's frustration with Phillips' slow progress peaked and he was traded to the Cincinnati Reds for a player to be named (later turned out to be pitcher Jeff Stevens). After being traded, Phillips made a quick impact with the Reds and was immediate starter at second base. That season, Phillips led the Reds in hits (148) and multi-hit games (36) and led the National League second basemen with steals with 25. Phillips started the season out by being named NL Player of the Week the same month he was acquired by the Reds, hitting .452 (14-31) with 3 home runs and 17 runs batted in for the week of April 17-23. Phillips' 17 RBI were the most for an NL Player of the Week since Sammy Sosa had 19 RBI the week of August 4-10, 2002. Phillips had his first career grand slam that month and 16 straight stolen bases. He produced two 9-game hitting streaks over the season and ended with a batting average of .276, 17 home runs, 75 RBIs, and 25 stolen bases.

Phillips became one of the Reds most valuable players during the 2007 season. In 2007 he had his first 30+ home run season, he also has 30+ steals making him the first 30-30 second baseman for the Reds. (Joe Morgan once had a 20-20 season at second base; though no Red second baseman had ever achieved 30-30.) Phillips became just the third 30-30 Red, joining Eric Davis (37 HR, 50 SB in 1987) and Barry Larkin (33 HR, 36 SB in 1996).

On July 3, 2007, Phillips broke a 3-3 tie with the San Francisco Giants by hitting a grand slam that eventually gave the Reds a 7-3 win.

In the fourth inning on August 1 2007 game, against John Lannan of the Washington Nationals Brandon stole two bases in one single pitch while the Nationals had a shift on Adam Dunn.

Lately on August 30, Phillips made the play of the month to win the game for the Reds against the Pittsburgh Pirates. With the Reds winning 5-4 in the bottom of the 9th, Nate McClouth of the Pirates hit a single into right field. The runner from second, Josh Phelps, seemed to have an easy score, but Phillips grabbed the ball in shallow right field bare-handed and threw Phelps out at home plate to win the game. On September 5, 2007, Phillips hit his 28th home run of the season, breaking the Reds' single-season record for home runs by a second baseman, formerly held by Joe Morgan. On September 26, 2007, Phillips hit his 30th home run of the season, joining Alfonso Soriano as just the second second baseman in the 30-30 club.

Phillips ended the 2007 season with 187 hits, 107 runs, 26 doubles, 6 triples, 30 home runs, 94 RBIs, 32 stolen bases, and a .288 batting average. He led the Reds in runs, hits, triples, and stolen bases. He was second on the team in doubles and home runs. John Fay reports Phillips will receive a multi-year contract extension on February 15 2008 instead of going to arbitration.

External links

• Career statistics from MLB, or Baseball Reference, or Fangraphs