Kansas City Royals: Brett Phillips quickly making impressive impact
The Kansas City Royals acquired outfielder Brett Phillips when they sent Mike Moustakas to Milwaukee. Phillips is already making noise with the organization.
It was tough seeing the Kansas City Royals part ways with Mike Moustakas, but Brett Phillips was a prospect who the team saw coming in and contributing right away. He hadn’t received much playing time with the Brewers, so this was the best for both sides.
After 11 games with the Royals, Brett Phillips is already climbing up the fWAR rankings, which is pretty sad. He’s had some incredible defensive plays in the outfield (most notably the one he had in New York where he robbed someone of a home run).
The worst part about Phillips is that he’s not in the lineup every day and that’s foolish on Ned Yost‘s part. Here’s a guy who will directly be a part of the rebuild and he’s only played in 11 games since being acquired by the Royals.
Brett Phillips is already fifth on the Royals in fWAR. He’s fourth in defensive runs saved. Only 10 games played.
— Patrick Brennan (@paintingcorner) August 11, 2018
Phillips’ offensive numbers aren’t the greatest, but he’s showing promise there. As of Sunday evening, he’s slashing .237/.293/.421 during his short tenure with the Royals. Once the former Brewer figures it out at the plate, he’ll easily be a fan favorite amongst Royals fans.
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Something that I’ve found interesting is the amount of decent outfielders the organization has at the moment. We all know of Alex Gordon‘s defensive skills in left field and he’ll be down to the final year of his contract next year.
From there, the outfield could be jumbled up a bit. Rosell Herrera, Brian Goodwin, Jorge Bonifacio, Jorge Soler, and Whit Merrifield are the other outfielders on the roster, which gives the Royals plenty of options for the future.
Phillips has predominantly been in center field during his time in Kansas City and that’s a good place for him. Bubba Starling obviously isn’t going to make an impact in the majors, so Phillips is a good option to utilize there moving forward.
Replacing Moustakas with anyone means that player is going to have big shoes to fill, but Phillips is proving that he can be a solid piece for this unit moving forward. He’s only 24 years old and hasn’t even hit his prime yet, meaning the Royals should be able to get some good production out of him.
So far, so good for Brett Phillips, at least defensively that is. Once that bat heats up, watch out! Phillips will hopefully become one of the better all-around players for the Kansas City Royals over the next few seasons.