Brandon phillips... the best 2B in baseball.

[daflyboys]

Re: Brandon phillips... the best 2B in baseball.

Now your just crazy!
For what Phillips does for his team he is the best 2b in the game.
One game he will lead off steal of base and play great defense.
The next game he will bat fourth hit for power and play great defense.
Then the next game he might bat second bunt a guy over and play great defense.
The things the Reds ask him to do are just crazy and he does it all with out griping.
Again for what he does for his team he is the best 2b in the game.
Can Utley bat lead off?? And Utley is not even close to Brandon in the field.

The only thing that Mr. Hot Dog leads Utley in in playing 1 more season than him is significantly less errors 57 to 86. However:

FP% overall is almost dead even: Brandon .987 to .982.
Double plays: Chase 607 to 557
Games: Chase 935 to 870
Innings: Chase 8180 to 7530 (so you might tend to have more errors over more innings in less time).

Let's look at some basic offensive numbers, shall we?

Average: Chase .294 to .266
OB%: Chase .381 to .316
SL%: Chase .515 to .430
SB's: Hot Dog 125 to 94


This is a non-issue. This is a non-thread.

[SlimKibbles]

Re: Brandon phillips... the best 2B in baseball.

Way to post a laughing face instead of disputing the facts I posted.
Great post.

Don't let it bother you. He roots for the Yankees. (Apologies to eli, YP, and a few others!)

Anyway, I don't think Brandon Phillips is the best 2nd baseman in baseball. If that's what he has to think to himself to play at a high level, I'm good with that. I'd probably take Robbie Cano or Chase Utley over him. I think Phillips might be the best defensive 2nd baseman in baseball though. Cano would rival him there though too if you look at stats.

Several things bug me about Phillips as a hitter:

1) His OBP sucks. It drives me nuts when he's leading off in a game and he grounds out or flies out on the first pitch. Take some pitches as a lead-off hitter!

2) He isn't a clutch hitter. I can't recall one clutch hit he's had all season or in recent years. Jay Bruce? Joey Votto? Ryan Hanigan? Jonny Gomes? Ramon Hernandez? Scott Rolen? Yeah, I can recall plenty of clutch hits from them.

3) He doesn't always hustle down the line. He was better this year about it but he's done it in the past.

I love ya, BP, but you're not the best. I like the positive attitude though.

[rsox]

Re: Brandon phillips... the best 2B in baseball.

To answer the question can Chase Utley bat leadoff?, the answer is...no. Utley has a career .200 BA as a leadoff hitter with an .200 OBP.

Is Brandon Phillips the best 2B in Baseball?...also no. Offensively Phillips has had the most AB's he's had since a very good 2007 season, the results...his HR's, RBI's, SB's, BA, SLG, OPS are all down from 2009. However, he has set a career high in BB (46) and while his strikeouts are up so are his Hits, Runs, 2B's, and OBP. He does not lead his position in any offensive catagories except for triples, which he is in a 3-way tie with Kelly Johnson and Blake DeWitt. Defensively if we just go by FPCT David Eckstein is the best 2B because he has 0 errors all season. Phillips is 8th in MLB in RF and 11th in ZR.

[ImTellinTim]

Re: Brandon phillips... the best 2B in baseball.

Orlando Hudson is the best 2nd baseman in the league. The reason? He plays for my team and his uniform gets dirty a lot.

But seriously. I'd take Utley and Cano over him. Then I think Phillips belongs in the conversation for 3rd best in the majors. And yes, Utley would be an effective lead-off hitter if asked to play there every day. rsox, how many at bats are your stats in the previous post based on? The notion that where a batter hits affects his ability to hit a baseball is ludicrous.

[lonewolf371]

Re: Brandon phillips... the best 2B in baseball.

Orlando Hudson is the best 2nd baseman in the league. The reason? He plays for my team and his uniform gets dirty a lot.

But seriously. I'd take Utley and Cano over him. Then I think Phillips belongs in the conversation for 3rd best in the majors. And yes, Utley would be an effective lead-off hitter if asked to play there every day. rsox, how many at bats are your stats in the previous post based on? The notion that where a batter hits affects his ability to hit a baseball is ludicrous.

Really? I think it affects it quite a bit considering the pitches that you get. There's a different approach that managers want you to take, as well.

That being said, 10 AB at leadoff for Utley isn't enough to judge his ability to play that spot in the lineup.

[Dog]

Re: Brandon phillips... the best 2B in baseball.

Really? I think it affects it quite a bit considering the pitches that you get. There's a different approach that managers want you to take, as well.

That being said, 10 AB at leadoff for Utley isn't enough to judge his ability to play that spot in the lineup.

Yea, I totally agree about the types of pitches you get. In legion ball I had a much better year when I was in the 6 hole than when I batted clean up because I saw better pitches in the 6 hole and was pitched around when I batted clean up

[bergie56]

Re: Brandon phillips... the best 2B in baseball.

This thread makes my head hurt.


Nick Punto is the best 2nd baseman in all of baseball. I don't have anything to support it though, other than a manure-spreader full of anecdotes.

Truth. Let me help you.

Nick Punto hustles more, hits more pop flys, makes shockingly bad base running decisions, hits under .250, doesn't get on base and, MOST importantly, slides head first into 1B better than any 2B in MLB.

[Tiko7523]

Re: Brandon phillips... the best 2B in baseball.

Damn Indians stay losing they gave up on this guy

[rsox]

Re: Brandon phillips... the best 2B in baseball.

Damn Indians stay losing they gave up on this guy

Supposedly he and Eric Wedge didn't see eye-to-eye on most things. Phillips had a bad reputation with the Indians. Maybe the Reds gave him a better chance than the Indians did.