Updating the Top 100: Part 4 of 5
by riverfront76 on Dec 16, 2010 10:00 AM EST
in History/Hall of Fame
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Print69. Brandon Phillips
| Played as Red | Primary Position | Career Rank | Peak Rank | Prime Rank |
| 2006-2010 | 2B | 79 | 73 | 48 |
| Percent Breakdown of Value | Best Season | Best player on Reds | ||
| Hit | Field | Pitch | 2010 | Never |
| 67% | 33% | 0% | ||
| Awards/Honors as a Red | Leading the League | On the Reds Leaderboard | ||
| Gold Glove – 2008, 2010 All Star – 2010 |
N/A |
-22nd in career home runs |
||
In 2010, Brandon Phillips ended his three-year-long streak of at least 20 HR and 20 SB, falling short in both categories. Paradoxically, it also ended up being his most valuable season. Part of this was due to his near-flawless defense (three errors), and part was due to decreased offensive levels in the NL making his 18 HR/16 SB worth more than they would be in previous years, and part was due to subtle changes in Phillips’s game. Over the last two years, Phillips’s strikeout rates have come down significantly, and while his home runs are down, doubles and singles are up (BP ranked 10th in the NL in singles in 2010). Ranking 7th in runs scored in 2010 may serve as further evidence of Phillips attempting to fit his game within the team’s needs…perhaps spurred by no longer being one of the team’s offensive alpha dogs.
Phillips’s in-season performance is plenty volatile, but at season’s end, it’s another year of being a consistently above average second baseman. On the basis of his 2010 season, Phillips jumps from #98 to #69, and rises one notch on the list of top second basemen in team history.
The Top 15 Second Basemen in Reds history
1 Joe Morgan
2 Bid McPhee
3 Lonny Frey
4 Miller Huggins
5 Johnny Temple
6 Ron Oester
7 Brandon Phillips
8 Hughie Critz
9 Bret Boone
10 Dick Egan
11 Sam Bohne
12 Tommy Helms
13 Pokey Reese
14 Morrie Rath
15 Tony Cuccinello
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The Indians
Who did the Reds trade for him, again? Possibly one of the best trades in Reds history, is there a top 100 list for that? :)
"Joe is baseball in Cincinnati...We can lose players, managers and coaches, but we can't afford to lose Joe Nuxhall." - Sparky Anderson
Jeff Stevens?
I think, something like that. Some reliever
Calmer than you are.
by 3 Fast 3 Furious on Dec 16, 2010 10:19 AM EST up reply actions
who's now on the Cubs
making it…all that much sweeter, really.
"College actually kind of beat that out of me, making me more, well, of an asshole."
What a jump!
I was particularly impressed with the way BP changed his game this season. I was not expecting it. I wasn’t even sure he could/would do it if asked. I’m happy to say I was wrong about BP. Sounds like he did at the plate what Bronson did on the mound given the changing dynamics of this club.
riverfront, thanks for doing this. I love this series.
One question: With another season similar to his last couple, how high could he reach?
2011 could possibly be his last as a Red, I’m curious how high he could get in just one more year.
see what I did there with uzr? it’s like a LOL cats saber-pun combo.--Verka Serduchka
Now that we're in "Part 4" of this series . . .
Is it safe for me to assume that you are simultaneously updating the rankings in either the left or right margins? Because all that is invisible to mobile users.
Thanks SBN!
by Brian B on Dec 16, 2010 10:18 AM EST via mobile reply actions
Impressive
Second base is, from my HPOV, always associated with some pretty good Reds tradition. Pokey Reese would be an example.
All the same, I was of the opinion that BP played fairly hurt for at least a third of the season, though it may have been less in reality. That wrist issue was clearly a problem. It might have altered his numbers, might not have. NOT batting cleanup was a value.
But he goes down in history (or at least modern) as the guy who set the Gold Standard for poignant criticism of an opponent.
Whiny Little Bitches.
I trust this organization. I trust this organization. I trust this organization. -- Justin
by johnu1 on Dec 16, 2010 11:37 AM EST reply actions 1 recs
I always liked him, but my heart was officially won with those comments about the Cardinals.
"I bet that sex Bengals fan is really pissed now." -DT3428
from your Human PapilOma Virus?
"College actually kind of beat that out of me, making me more, well, of an asshole."
by Cy Schourek on Dec 16, 2010 2:57 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
I just love it when you talk "lab language"
Not three people on this board caught that connection.
(Where’s that font for benign but charismatic sarcasm?)
I trust this organization. I trust this organization. I trust this organization. -- Justin
I'm having trouble using reply for some reason
If BP has another season like the last couple, he’ll be somewhere around #50.
And I don’t know how to update the ranking on the left margin. I’ll have to beg RijoSaboCaseyLarkinBilardello to do that at some point soon.
It imposible to believe that Oester ranks higher than BP or Helms. He was such a slug.
"Men today are pussies or gay" Aja Warren
Oester benefited from 13 seasons, most as the starter
playing time helps a compiler like Oester
Follow on Twitter: @redreporter. Buy The Wire-to-Wire Reds today!
Hey! Who you callin' a compiler?!?
see what I did there with uzr? it’s like a LOL cats saber-pun combo.--Verka Serduchka
Did they ever call him The Oyster? Because my messed up eyes just read that by accident.
I think I went to college with Ron Oester’s daughter.
by the finest muffins on Dec 16, 2010 2:45 PM EST up reply actions
Did they ever call her The Oyster?
/something about leaving a pearl in her mouth
by Brendanukkah on Dec 17, 2010 9:04 AM EST up reply actions 1 recs
are you sure it wasn't in necklace form?
by Highlifeman21 on Dec 17, 2010 7:34 PM EST up reply actions
thanks for clearing that one up for us.
"College actually kind of beat that out of me, making me more, well, of an asshole."
I was going to post this same remark
Even in 11 seasons it shouldn’t amount to much if you are compiling a bunch of crap. He must have been one of the greatest defensive 2B of all time or something, by the eye test only, as stats seem to indicate he kinda sucked at that too.
He benefitted from being moved up in the line-up
The change in his plate approach was a change back to what he truly is. He was trying to do things that don’t fit into his skillset while batting cleanup.
When you come to the fork in the road, take it.
by poojols on Dec 16, 2010 1:58 PM EST via mobile reply actions
This is the truth
He tried to force himself into being a power hitter, when really he’s a contact hitter who uses all fields and has a bit of power. Now if he would just walk a bit more, he’d be really dangerous.
see what I did there with uzr? it’s like a LOL cats saber-pun combo.--Verka Serduchka
brings up a purely fascinating topic
waddif … you took any player from any era, any team, any time and looked at where they hit in the lineup as to where else they might have hit in the lineup and projected a different strain of results.
Waddif Pete Rose had been forced to bat 4th his entire career?
Try to think to ancient times when teams like the Pirates (bad then too) had only Ralph Kiner.
Put Rose in that lineup, move Kiner to 3rd in the order, add Dick Stuart and …
Anyway, it looks like the Reds lineup is being constructed more for maximum value for the team than at any time in the past 5 years. That has to matter.
I trust this organization. I trust this organization. I trust this organization. -- Justin
he'll never just walk a bit more
he can’t do it
by Highlifeman21 on Dec 17, 2010 7:35 PM EST up reply actions
What's interesting is how they treat him next year
you can’t hit him lower than 4th or he’ll likely throw a fit. Of course, he can’t hit 3rd or 4th either. And I, myself, wouldn’t want him hitting 2nd because of the GIBP factor.
So you know what? I think we’re looking at the 2011 leadoff hitter. And I’m not even too upset over that.
"College actually kind of beat that out of me, making me more, well, of an asshole."
He only had 14 GDPs last year, mostly hitting towards the top of the order
He’s been above (worse) than average with GDPs in his career but he’s not Jim Rice bad. He had a ton his 30/30 year but has cooled off since. I think the 2nd spot is a good fit for him.
I don't believe he changed anything
His rate stats are virtually identical from 2009 to 2010.
Follow on Twitter: @redreporter. Buy The Wire-to-Wire Reds today!
maybe it wasn't all BP
Let’s look at the rest of the lineup.
Center field
Third base
Shortstop
Upgrades at all three positions, offensively, though many still argue about the Orca-Janish. OK, a wash on that …
I would really like to be in a batting order that produced more than some lazy popups just outside of the third base bag.
I trust this organization. I trust this organization. I trust this organization. -- Justin
Gomes don't count
On account of I don’t want to.
He played all season in 09 so that’s why.
I got no beef with Gomer. I like his style.
I trust this organization. I trust this organization. I trust this organization. -- Justin
I don't want to put too fine a point on it
but I wonder how much his 6 weeks of playing injured affected those. I realize that’s not really fair to do, especially since he has played hurt before, but the “eye” test tells me he hit a lot more balls the other way this year and had those “swing out of his shoes” moments a lot more infrequently.
If I had to find a stat to back that up, it would be his career high (by a huge margin) of nearly 70% contact made on balls out of the zone. We all know he can’t lay off the breaking ball away, but it seems like he used to try and pull that over the fence, whereas now he’s slapping it over to the right side.
I know there’s a bit of me just finding numbers to support a hunch, but I really feel like he was a different, if not significantly better, hitter this season. And that seemed to be at least partly by choice.
see what I did there with uzr? it’s like a LOL cats saber-pun combo.--Verka Serduchka
I don't know much about Oakland's system
What would the Reds’ equivalent to sending Henry Rodriguez and Corey Brown to Washington for Willingham be? Because that’s what it took.
Joey Votto on Colin Cowherd: "I don’t know who he is"
You all knew who Hughie Critz was, right?
I had to look him up.
Oh well, I feel so clueless right now.
How is Ron Oester in the top 10
Defense?
"When you chart (the plays) and see where it broke down there was no common theme to it." - Bob Bratkowski
Several things
Defense plus longevity are the main two.
by riverfront76 on Dec 16, 2010 6:38 PM EST up reply actions
in the baseball abstract
Bill james had him as a top 100 alltime second bagger.
Smaller ballparks and juiced balls, and players, have raised the second base bar the past two decades…
"the only place they lost was the scoreboard"
by Ewok on Dec 16, 2010 9:15 PM EST via mobile up reply actions
Thanks
I must have underestimated his value. Always liked him-very firey dude. He came up as a SS and moved over to 2nd because we still had Concepcion-right?
"When you chart (the plays) and see where it broke down there was no common theme to it." - Bob Bratkowski
Gosh, I wonder who Update #5 might be
Coco? Gomes? OCab?
Gotta be a Laynce Updayte!
When you come to the fork in the road, take it.
by poojols on Dec 16, 2010 6:44 PM EST via mobile reply actions
I'm banking on Corky Miller.
He’s got some history with the ballclub.
by the finest muffins on Dec 16, 2010 9:44 PM EST up reply actions
Haha, yeah
musta forgot that no clean player has ever done that. Well, Alfonso Soriano did (in RFK Stadium at age 30, too). But besides him.
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