Brandon Phillips hits 200th career home run

He’s no longer a member of the Cincinnati Reds, but it’s pretty damn obvious that Brandon Phillips will be in the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame at some point shortly after his career comes to a close. Now the starting 2B for the Atlanta Braves, Phillips reached a milestone in his career on Monday night by blasting a mammoth homer off Gerrit Cole, the 200th of his great career.

.@DatDudeBP became the 48th player in MLB history with 200 home runs & 200 steals & only the sixth second baseman to reach that milestone! pic.twitter.com/ahiVctUXsh

— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) May 23, 2017

Traded this past winter to Atlanta for Andrew McKirahan, Carlos Portuondo, and a smidgen of salary relief, Phillips has hit a very Phillipsian .293/.347/.429 on the season, showing that there just might be a little gas left in his tank despite turning 36 years old in just over a month. Monday’s homer was the 3rd of the season for BP, for the record, after he hit 191 during his playing days in Cincinnati and 6 in his time with Cleveland.

Obviously, the way he exited town could’ve gone a lot smoother, what with his 10/5 rights granting him the ability to veto any trades while the rebuilding Reds were actively, publicly shopping him to open up playing time for guys a dozen years younger than him like Jose Peraza, Dilson Herrera, and the like. Still, the career he put up while with the Reds was one certainly worth celebrating, and tonight’s dinger gives us all a chance to tip a cap to one of the finer Reds careers in this franchise’s long, storied history.

So, congrats, BP.