A look at Brandon Phillips' place in Reds (and MLB) history

Brandon Phillips is no longer a Red.  I remember meeting him at the 2007 Winter Caravan in Louisville and telling him I hoped he'd stay around a long time.  And he did - ten full seasons after that conversation.  There were a few ups and a lot of downs for the team as a whole, but no one can say that BP didn't have a significant (and even historical) impact at second base in Cincinnati.  Second only to Joe Morgan in the modern era*, no matter how you slice it.

* - I'm basically excluding the 1800s Reds defensive specialist, and Hall of Famer, Bid McPhee

Let's look at some of Dat Dude's statistics - admittedly, some of them are purely based on his longevity with the team, but that is still worth celebrating.  

OFFENSE

GAMES PLAYED AS A RED:
1) Rose - 2722
2) Concepcion - 2488
3) Larkin - 2180
4) Bench - 2158
5) McPhee - 2135
6) Perez - 1948
7) Phillips - 1614

HITS - Phillips is 9th with 1774

DOUBLES - Phillips is 8th with 311

HOME RUNS - Phillips is 12th with 191

RUNS BATTED IN - Phillips is 10th with 851

STOLEN BASES - Phillips is 14th with 194

WINS ABOVE REPLACEMENT - Phillips is tied for 15th with 30.5 (Eric Davis also accrued 30.5)


And here are some (appropriately) random statistical notes about his best offensive seasons:

1) There have been only seven 20 HR / 20 SB seasons by Reds second basemen.  Joe Morgan had 4 of them, and Phillips had the other 3.  And even more impressively...

2) Phillips had the ONLY 30/30 year by a Reds second baseman (2007).  In MLB history, he is the only 2B not named Alfonso Soriano or Ian Kinsler to accomplish it.  So, he's the only NL second baseman ever with a 30/30 year.

3) And only two other Reds at ANY position have ever gone 30/30.  Eric Davis in 1987 and Barry Larkin in 1996.

4) It's rare in baseball as a whole, too.  Only 60 seasons of 30/30 in all of MLB history.  Amazingly, the Bonds family owns 10 of them - Bobby and Barry each with five.

DEFENSE

Of course, BP was best known as a flashy defender, and won four Gold Gloves (2008, 2010, 2011, 2013).  Only Johnny Bench (10 straight) and Joe Morgan (5 straight) won more of those awards in a Cincinnati uniform.

Brandon put together quite the highlight reel on defense, saving the day with diving stops and behind-the-back flips on a regular basis.  There may have been a few times when the flash wasn't totally necessary, but he entertained the crowd and that's what sports are for, after all.

And his fielding percentage was remarkable.  7 seasons of .990 or higher, including two seasons of .996!  Wow.  The only 2B in Reds history with a comparable defensive peak was Bret Boone ('95 through '97), but that didn't last nearly as long.  If it weren't for his early struggles (before 2007, when he really clicked both offensively and defensively), his career numbers would be truly insane.  

As it is, his lifetime fielding percentage of .988 at second base is higher than ALL BUT ONE of the 2Bs in Cooperstown:

Ryne Sandberg - .989
(Brandon Phillips)
Craig Biggio - .984
Roberto Alomar - .984
Nellie Fox - .984
Jackie Robinson - .983
Bill Mazeroski - .983
Red Schoendienst - .983
Joe Morgan - .981
Bobby Doerr - .980
Paul Molitor - .979
Charlie Gehringer - .976
Frankie Frisch - .974
Rod Carew - .973
Eddie Collins - .970
Joe Gordon - .970
Tony Lazzeri - .967
Billy Herman - .967
Rogers Hornsby - .965
Nap Lajoie - .963
Johnny Evers - .955
Bid McPhee - .944 (to be fair, he didn't use a glove)

You might criticize this comparison in a couple ways:

1) Errors are subjective from scorer to scorer, and the typical assessment has also changed over time.

2) There are more advanced metrics now, which account for range.

But I'd respond this way:

1) Mistakes are still mistakes, and Brandon almost never made them.  Being second only to Sandberg means he was doing something right.

2) His career range factor was slightly above league average, not below...so if he reached a better-than-average number of balls AND so rarely made errors, his defense is worthy of your respect.

Among current second basemen, there are only a few who measure up to BP in terms of fielding percentage:

Dustin Pedroia - .991
Robinson Cano - .988
Jose Altuve - .988


Baseball-reference.com's dWAR stat doesn't rate Brandon Phillips as "all-world" by any stretch, but he accumulated 8.5 dWAR during his time with the Reds, which is solid.  It's worth noting that his defensive value was a combined 7.3 dWAR from 2007 through 2012, and then he had a predictable fall-off after age 32.  

Age was certainly a factor in the trade, as there have been only 11 seasons in MLB history of 5+ WAR by a second baseman who was 35 or older.  Most of them happened before 1930.  In other words, it's no slap in his face to say that a 2B is past his prime.  Middle infield isn't a place where players age gracefully.

But let's not end this on such a depressing note!  Let's instead remember BP for these three awesome things:

1) Amazing defense - in his prime (roughly age 27-33), right up there with the best of the best of the best of all time

2) His sense of humor and interacting with the fans

3) Standing up to the "WLB's."  I still feel that Brandon helped set the aggressive tone the Reds needed to finally break through in the division. 

Phillips, Arroyo in all the major Reds all-time top 25 lists

Even including players from the 19th century, the names "Brandon Phillips" and "Bronson Arroyo" appear high on the lists for virtually all the main cumulative stats among Reds hitters and pitchers, respectively.

Close behind them, and sure to eventually overtake them in a lot of categories: Joey Votto and Johnny Cueto.

Here are all the major cumulative rankings for active players among all-time Reds hitters and pitchers:

Home Runs (all-time leader: Bench)
16th - Phillips
17th - Bruce
T-18th - Votto

Hits (all-time leader: Rose)
T-21st - Phillips
47th - Votto

Doubles (all-time leader: Rose)
20th - Phillips
23rd - Votto

RBI (all-time leader: Bench)
25th - Phillips
32nd - Votto
49th - Bruce

Stolen bases (all-time leader: McPhee)
25th - Phillips
42nd - Stubbs

Games started (all-time leader: Rixey)
12th - Arroyo
33rd - Cueto
47th - Bailey

Innings pitched (all-time leader: Rixey)
24th - Arroyo
47th - Cueto

Wins (all-time leader: Rixey)
T-22nd - Arroyo
T-39th - Cueto

Strikeouts (all-time leader: Maloney)
12th - Arroyo
22nd - Cueto
36th - Bailey

Top ten seasons of Cincinnati Reds second basemen

This position is another no-brainer (like Bench at catcher), considering Joe Morgan is arguably the best 2B in MLB history. From 1972 to 1976 his numbers were surreal, especially if you look at WAR. The only debate here is which season was superior - '75 or '76?

1) Joe Morgan, 1976. NL MVP. Led the league in OPS and WAR (10.0). #1 in Reds 2B history for RBI and OPS, #2 in Reds 2B history for batting average and homers. Also won a Gold Glove.

2) Joe Morgan, 1975. NL MVP. Led the league in walks, OPS and WAR (12.0). #1 in Reds 2B history for batting average, stolen bases and walks. #2 in Reds 2B history for OPS. Also won a Gold Glove.

3) Joe Morgan, 1973. Led the league in WAR (9.9). #2 in Reds 2B history for stolen bases. #3 in Reds 2B history for HRs. #4 in Reds 2B history for OPS. Also won a Gold Glove.

The best of the rest:
4) Joe Morgan, 1974
5) Pete Rose, 1965
6) Joe Morgan, 1977
7) Brandon Phillips, 2007
8) Joe Morgan, 1972
9) Johnny Temple, 1958
10) Pete Rose, 1966