Brandon Phillips Career year

When most avid baseball fans think of Brandon Phillips they think of a fundamentally sound player who plays exceptional defense and has the ability to change the complexion of the game with a great defensive play.  However, this year we are getting to see the offensive side of Brandon Phillips game in action.  To date Brandon Phillips is leading all players at his position in RBI’s with 99; the next closest is Robinson Cano with 89 RBI’s.  Brandon is also 5^th overall in all of baseball in RBI’s which is pretty incredible  considering the fact that the other 4 players on that list have hit at least 30 or more home runs this year, compared to Brandon Phillips 17.

                This year Brandon Phillips is going to blow his previous high in RBI’s out of the water.  His previous high in RBI’s was 98 in 2009 and he played in 153 games.  This year he has 99 RBI’s and he has only played in 129 games so far.  He is also on pace to have more RBI’s then Hall of Famer Joe Morgan ever did during his career.  The most RBI’s that Joe Morgan had during a season was 111 in 1976.  That is really saying a lot considering the fact that for the entirety of Brandon’s career he has been constantly compared to the Hall of Famer Joe Morgan.

                Brandon Phillip’s career year goes far beyond just helping himself out, he also helps out and makes his teammate’s job a lot easier.  That is why they say that the game of baseball is a big team game.  The first player that he has helped out this year is that of All Star first basemen Joey Votto.  Joey has always been known throughout his career as a very disciplined hitter at the plate.  He is willing to take his walks and allow other players in the lineup to drive in runs, such as Phillips and Bruce.  This has never been more apparent than this year.  This year Votto is going to set a new high in walks as he currently has walked 109 times; his previous high in walks is 110 in 2011.  These numbers could not be possible without the career year that Brandon Phillips is having.  Pitchers have been more afraid to pitch to Votto, so they have taken their chances instead with Phillips, and he has made them pay.  That is why it is always a good thing to have someone reliable behind you to drive in runs.

                The other player for the Reds that is having a career year is Jay Bruce.  Jay is on pace to hit 40+ home runs, 40+ doubles and 100+ runs batted in, that is partially thanks to Brandon Phillips.  As the season has continued to move on teams have started to realize that they should not continue to pitch to Phillips, and let him continue to beat them.  Because of that Bruce has seen a lot better pitching allowing him to feel more comfortable at the plate.  Jay has been seeing a lot more fastballs as pitchers are challenging Bruce to beat them instead of Phillips.  In all honesty all three (Votto, Bruce, and Phillips) of them have the ability to hurt you regardless of who you pitch to.  Phillips and Bruce have been fortunate to get good pitches to hit and that is why both of them are having career years.

                In conclusion Brandon’s career year is forcing more and more teams to think about how they are going to pitch to the Reds players for the rest of the year.  This leads to a lot of sleepless night for managers and pitching coaches at night, which hopefully will help the Reds go deep into the playoffs and hopefully win a championship.  I know that all of the players including Brandon Phillips will be more than willing to trade in all of their stats for a Championship ring.