Atlanta Braves: Time To Give Brandon Phillips His Hometown Due and Love

The Atlanta Braves are not where fans hoped they’d be six weeks ago. But, there are great stories. It’s past time we give Brandon Phillips some love.

This article is born out of my brother’s visceral dislike of one Brandon Phillips. My brother is a big MLB fan. Loves it. Were it not for his burgeoning family, and growing responsibilities, at home and work, he probably would obsess over fantasy baseball. When thinking about what to write about our Atlanta Braves, a conversation comes to mind.

This conversation was at the beach. At the beach, in August, when focus flows between college football, NFL football, and the Braves. Naturally, Brandon Phillips came up.

When my brother said something to the effect of, “I’ve always hated that guy, but…”, I knew there was something to write. Something to write even weeks later.

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Truth be told, this writer has always kinda not liked Phillips. He was from Stone Mountain. He played for the Reds. He, seemingly, didn’t like Atlanta much. At multiple points, he refused to play for us. Openly. In fact, when he played against us, he killed us. But then he showed up in an Atlanta Braves uniform. Playing for the home team.

And think about how he’s played for his home team. Brandon Phillips has done nothing but have a line that reads: BA .289, OPS .750, 2B 27, SB 10, RBI 48. That’s in 115 games, thus far. Dude is 36 years old.

But, there is more than that. We’ve seen some crazy position alignments from Snitker. The craziest was Freddie Freeman at 3rd base. It kind of worked. But, you can’t take the best 1st Baseman in the game and put him at 3rd. It devalues talent and position.

In steps Phillips. After spending most of  the year searching for a 3rd Baseman, Garcia, Camargo, Ruiz, etc., in steps the 36-year-old 2nd Baseman, Brandon Phillips.

And all he has done is lock the position down. It’s ridiculous. He makes plays in the field, and scores runs at the plate. All for a team he always said he doesn’t want to play for.

Next: Atlanta Braves: Freddie Freeman Still Not Healthy

The whole thing is amazing, really. It kind of makes you think they have something brewing in that clubhouse.