I’m shocked. Shocked, I tell you!
Should Brandon Phillips have had a triple in the third inning after he admired his drive to the wall a little long, thinking he had a second homer? Baker thought so.
“Probably, yeah,” Baker said. “:It looked like at first, he thought it might have been gone. Then he started running probably halfway but it was a little too late at that time.”
Phillips had to settle for a double. But if he had reached third base on the play, he likely would have scored on next batter Joey Votto’s fly ball to left field.
This isn’t the first time something like this has happened. A similar one occured in Houston last week when a routine fly became a three-run error and Phillips only reached second base instead of third.
There were gaffes last season also. In Kansas City, Phillips ignored a take sign on a 3-0 count and put his team out of a rally. On July 20 in Los Angeles he was thrown out at second base when he thought he had a routine sacrifce fly. He didn’t speed up until the ball fell in front of Andre Ethier, who threw Phillips out at second base. That one cost Phillips a game on the bench. There was also a stern rebuke from Baker that night.
“We’ve all talked to him until we’re blue in the face,” Baker said that night.
“I messed up,” Phillips said, also on that night in L.A. “That’s my second time not hustling this year. It won’t happen again.”
Keep this in mind: no one else on the Reds has a problem with hustling.
Make of it what you will. I can’t get indignant at this stuff any more. It just kills me that Brandon Phillips is the face of the franchise, yet (a) he’s giving one beat writer the silent treatment and (b) he ran out of the clubhouse last night before reporters were allowed in so that he wouldn’t be forced to answer questions. Seems incredibly immature.
BP is starting to hit though, and I’m very happy about that development.
UPDATE: Check out John Fay’s report:
Brandon Phillips’ lack of hustle on the ball off the wall last night was addressed. Phillips ended up with a double, instead of a triple, likely costing the Reds a run.
“He’s been talked to about this,†Dusty Baker said. “We’ve talked to Brandon quite often.
“I guess he’s better than he used to be. We’re trying to get him to the point where he can be a big difference maker every day. He certainly has the skill and ability.â€Â
Is it hard for Baker to watch?
“What’s tough as a manager is when you’ve got an A student who’s getting Bs,†Baker said.
I tried to talk to Phillips. He did not want to talk about it last night. He did give me one quote. However, I can’t use it here.
Face of the franchise!!!