Looks like Brandon Phillips may be out for the year. Tough break, but we still have Corey Patterson! I’m sure he can play second base.
Looks like Brandon Phillips may be out for the year. Tough break, but we still have Corey Patterson! I’m sure he can play second base.
At least Hairston and Richar/Castillo can fill in. Phillips looks tired. He’s barely above .200 since the break. I’m sure Dusty would’ve like to get him a few more days off, but the injuries to others kept him out there. Clutch hit by BP last night for sure. That gives us two series wins against playoff teams. It’s a good time to enjoy just being a fan w/o worrying about the long term future/past of this organization. It’s just baseball.
And I jusy realized they have been playing well lately.
I feel bad for Brandon.
As for the team, I still don’t understand the stubbornness of not being willing to try Brandon at SS. The organization has FAR more 2B prospects than SS prospects, and Brandon is a great athlete, has a great arm, and played SS in the minors.
Why not try? Because we’re fighting too hard to finish 5th instead of 6th?
Hell, the D’backs are right in the thick of a pennant race and they had the cajones to play Dunn at 1B.
This is a very risk-averse organization. VERY.
So he hit that game-winner with a broken finger?
I’ll also submit that the Reds haven’t exactly been playing well. They’re still making stupid mistakes.
The Brewers and Cubs have both looked pathetic lately. Sunday’s game, for example, was gift-wrapped.
The pitching has been better lately, as has the approach at the plate.
It’s not just stubborn, it’s absurd.
The guys they’ve thrown out there this year aren’t even minor league shortstops. Hairston was primarily a 2nd baseman in the minors. Keppinger had 5 minor league games at SS before last season.
Phillips WAS a SS in the minors. The Indians first moved him to 2B during his first MLB callup because they had some guy named Omar Vizquel at SS. Then in 2004, he split time at SS in AAA with Johnny Peralta. Peralta passed him, and in 2005 he spent nearly his entire season at playing SS in AAA.
Keppinger costs them team so many runs with his glove at SS. Phillips HAS to play there. It’s insanity.
With the opportunity to play, I think Keppinger has proven that he is a valuable utility man.
A key however is he should be an important part of 2009 and beyond, just not as an every day starter.
The Reds have Alex Gonzalez…you know a legit shortstop hopefully for next year. If they have depth at second why not trade it to shore up other positions?
It’s hard to believe that BP is done for the season. That really sucks. One thing to point out is that despite having a broken finger he went back out for the 9th inning defense.
That would be the ONLY qualifier for me. If Gonzalez is healthy, then you leave BP alone. Otherwise, it’s insanity to not put him over there.
We have Gonzalez for ONE more year! And it’s been clear for a month or more now that this season is a lost cause.
The value of the final 40 or so games in a season like this is in preparing for next year, and for me, that’s one of the main questions I have — can Brandon Phillips be the long-term answer at SS?
And… we still have no idea.
He’s a much more valuable player — even with exactly the same hitting stats — if he’s a SS.
The fact that Arizona will play Dunn at 1B in the middle of a pennant race and Cincinnati won’t try Phillips at SS at the end of a lost season speaks volumes about the two organizations, IMO.
Phillips has been playing well at 2nd, so lets screw with that and switch him, sure why not.
Why not try him at SS? There is no race…now is the time to try and while we’re at it try Kepp at 3rd. Who cares about winning now. I also wonder why none of the young relievers have gotten a chance…once again though I’m directed at the one who makes day-to-day decisions for this…Dusty Baker and this team will not contend as long as he is making them. He is the most stubborn manager I’ve ever seen. I look forward to the day Dusty Baker is gone!
Let’s see, the Reds have gone through three managers and two GMs who did NOT want to move Phillips to SS. Gee, ya think there’s a reason? C’mon. Surely not.
Hey, look at the bright side: if we were in a pennant race we would be moaning about losing our starting second baseman. Thankfully, this injury won’t cost us anything. C’mon guys, think positive!!
I’m thinking positive about it! I was just thinking about how it’ll be good for us to get some ime apart, because the truth is I really like BP as a player and a person with a lot of personality and a lot of passion, but I really have been sick of him and sour on his plate approach since the all-star break. Maybe some time off will help us appreciate him again. Distance makes the heart grow fonder.
Mr. Redlegs, that’s actually the very point I want to make…
Yes, I do think there’s a reason that 3 managers and 2 GM’s haven’t given Brandon a try at SS — pathological conservatism (of baseball in general and of the Reds specifically).
Just b/c that’s how it’s been does not mean that that must be the right way to do it.
And by the way, I bet if Ozzie Smith or Omar Vizquel or Dave Concepcion had been plugged in at 2B by their first big-league managers… I bet they would’ve made lovely second basemen.
Yep, Phillips compares to three Hall of Fame-caliber shortstops. Ifs, Ands and Buts. Conservatism? Baseball professionals and they know just a teeny but more about player skills and evaluation than the arm-chair managers.
And those guys probably wouldn’t have been moved from 2nd to shortstop after showing to be a stellar 2nd basemen.
How can anyone know how Phillips would be at SS without trying him there??? I don’t claim to know that!
What I’m saying is, why not try it?
If he turns out to be good at SS, he’s more valuable to the Reds, and then you’re looking for a long-term 2B rather than a long-term SS, and that’s easier to do.
Why not try? That’s my question.
Big thing to remember is a lot of players are drafted as shortstops because of the athleticism and eventually their best position comes more organically. Eric Davis was a shortstop, for example.
But many shortstop prospects just don’t have the unequivocal right stuff to handle that position in the majors. Just because they played the position in college or the minors doesn’t translate to success in the big leagues. The big component is release and footwork. Release in the hole, release on the pivot, release on the charge, first step to the ball, plant on the backhandâ€â€all commonalities of the great defensive shortstops, from Aparicio to Vizquel.
Think of Oester. He was supposed to be the heir apparent to Concepcion. They found him a home at 2b because of need after Morgan lefty via free agency. Oester was so good defensively, especially that rocket arm, there was never a reason to move him from a spot where he so obviously excelled.
Same with Phillips. There’s a Gold Glove defender who is lights out at his position. Why in the world would you move him to a position where he might not be as good, and without question his replacement at 2b will not be as good?
THAT’s what two GMs and three managers have seen, not some notion of “conservatism” and old-boy networking. Watch the player. What do you see? A reasonable baseball mind is going to say, “why mess with that?”
Of course, there’s one thing everyone seems to be overlooking about moving Phillips to SS:
In 356 minors games at the position, he made 78 errors for a .950 fielding percentage.
That’s plenty of games to know what you are, or aren’t. In other words, you’re no Jhonny Peralta.