- This is a strange one. I dont normally just cut-and-paste from an article, but I think this kinda thing warrants bending the rules a bit. Here is what Brandon Phillips had to say in the clubhouse before yesterday's game:
“I’ve been reading up on what you all say (write) and it’s funny stuff,” Phillips told the beat writers. “I’m not doing your jobs, but I’ll tell you-all one thing. You know what the funny thing is? I love you guys and I have nothing but respect for all you guys. But you know ever since you-all been writing about me not hittting, we haven’t been winning?
You-all know that? So you see, I hear a lot of people on my team and they’re worried about me. They’re worried about me and Edwin Encarnacion, instead of worrying about the team. I’m going to hit. That’s how confident I am. That’s the type of player I am.
“At the beginning, everything was flowing, everything was about the team,” he continued. “It was all about winning. First thing you know, everybody is writing about Phillips not hitting and Edwin not hitting. Everybody started paying attention to me and everybody started paying attention to Edwin and everybody lost focus about winning.
“I think we should start again writing about the Reds winning instead of writing about two players,” he added. “You should do that. But I love reading all your articles. I read them all the time. They make me laugh. But it’s real, all the stuff you write. You guys do a great job, especially Hal - you do a great job (Well, thanks, Brandon).
“We were winning, but ever since you guys have been calling people out on the team, worrying about me instead of worrying about the team winning. You can write whatever you want about me. It don’t bother me. Me and Hal talked a couple of times last year about what he wrote, but it is a matter of respect. I respect him and what he does.
“You can write anything you want about the bad things, just make sure you don’t write it real big, make it the big issue. We have a young team and they read that and they starting asking, ‘Brandon, you OK? Brandon, you OK?’ There is no point in people asking me if I’m OK because we’re winning and I’m a happy man. It’s all about us winning, because I AM going to produce and I am going to hit. I’m just happy it happened to me instead of one of the younger guys who is new to the team. I tell them, ‘Don’t read the papers,’ because it gets to their heads. In my case, I laugh about it, because I’ve been through.”
I'm not sure how to react to this. BP doesnt like it when the media criticizes him. Or at least, he doesnt like it when a big issue is made of it. It is ok to criticize him, but it is not ok to make a big deal out of it. He thinks it is incongruous for the media to talk all about the team when they are winning, but only about individual performances when the team is losing. At least, I think that is what he saying here. I hope Im not interpreting it wrong.
I think the weirdest thing is that Hal seems ok with all of this. He says, "I loved it. It was quite a journalistic journey. I love it. Brandon Phillips as my Perry White, Clark Kent’s editor. But don’t ever, Brandon, ask me to put on those red and blue Superman tights. I’m not sure I follow his logic, but he believes it and as he said about me, “I respect him and I respect what he says.”
BP has had his tiffs with the media before (notably the ordeal with Josh Hamilton getting too much attention, and the time he hit two home runs and wouldnt talk because no one would talk to him when he was struggling). So I guess I kinda expected Hal to tell him to sit down and let him do his job. I think it is a good thing that he didnt though.
- Hal also tells us he is just as excited about Rosales' performance last night as he is about Volquez's. Being the stat-nerd stick-in-the-mud that I am, here are their WPA scores from last night: Volquez - .524 Rosales - .038
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I find it very troubling that the Reds did not find Encarnacion's bone-chipped wrist earlier.
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RedlegsRundown provides us with a link to The Onion's story on Chipper Jones.
- Jinaz has started Tweeting.
- I cant hear this stuff anymore.
- ZiPS has been updated to reflect the first month's worth of the season. Our very own Willy Taveras shows up on the leaderboard, projecting 45 steals. Joey Votto's updated projection: .301/.370/.520, 27 HRs, 42 2Bs.
- SI's Ted Keith has the Reds at 14th in his power rankings this week.
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orex121 tells us Ryan Freel is unhappy in Baltimore. I guess B-More is less embracing of scrappiness than Cincinnasty.