Former Indians infielder Brandon Phillips is the new cause celebre for the talk show circuit. How could Mark Shapiro unload this potential Hall of Fame talent? Isn’t he exactly what the ballclub needs right now? Let’s look at some reality regarding the Reds’ 2B.
After Omar Vizquel left as a free agent following the 2004 season, the Tribe had two options to replace him, Phillips who hit .303 at Buffalo in ’04 and the MVP of the International League that same season, Jhonny Peralta. Peralta won the job in training camp and was the everyday starter for the Tribe last season, hitting .292 with 24 HRs and 78 RBI. Phillips went back to Class AAA and had a bad season, batting just .256 with 15 HR and 46 RBI while striking out 90 times. He whiffed just 56 times the year before.
Then there was the incident. It was reported that Phillips screamed at farm director John Farrell when he was not given a September call up after Buffalo ended their season. That was probably the last straw for the front office.
Phillips is currently having a good season for the Reds, batting .303 with 7 HR and 38 RBI this season. Meanwhile, Peralta is stuggling through the first prolonged slump of his career. But looking closer at the numbers, Phillips is putting up huge numbers at Great American Ballpark, a hitters’ paradise. He is hitting .347 there. He has also done most of his damage against the Milwaukee Brewers, tatooing the Brew Crew pitchers at a .447 mark (17 for 38).
Removing those numbers would make Phillips a .270 hitter with 4 HR and 27 RBI for the season, comparable except for the average to Peralta’s number this year. If you do not think piling up big numbers against a specific opponent is meaningful, remember Jody Gerut’s rookie season when he feasted on Tiger pitching. Where is he now?
This is not to say Phillips is a bum, nor was the situation handled well by the Tribe. If they wanted to trade him, they should have done it over the winter, not right before the regular season started. But, if Brandon Phillips is hitting .250 next season, won’t all the people hailing him feel a little foolish?
Update on the farm: Jeremy Sowers threw seven shutout innings yesterday to raise his record to 8-1 with an ERA of 1.27 on the season. Keep trying to convince me he is not a better alternative than Jason Johnson. Also, Andy Marte remains hot with his 7th HR yesterday. He has belted 5 dingers in the last week and a half.
MW
Cleveland Sports Perspective 