Crunch time for Phillips
bmcgair@pawtuckettimes.com
PAWTUCKET – For Brandon Phillips, there’s no need to sugarcoat the importance of a homestand that for the Pawtucket Red Sox began on Tuesday night but later than originally scheduled.
To date, the 37-year-old second baseman has amassed 26 at-bats in seven games with the PawSox. All along, he’s stated that he’ll have a better understanding of where he stands once he has 50 at-bats under his belt. The march to get to that important benchmark hasn’t approached the home stretch just yet,
though it sounds like Phillips has already shifted gears as it relates to self-evaluation.
“This week will really show me a lot about what I need to do. Last week was about me and getting into the game and seeing exactly what I’m capable of doing. I really learned a lot about myself,” said Phillips, a three-time National League All-Star. “Everything I went through last week went exactly the way I wanted. There were some ups and downs, but now I know what I need to work on to get ready.”
Phillips was in the original lineup Tuesday but was later scratched due to muscle tightness in his chest; he did not take on-field batting practice. Speaking at his locker, he touched upon a few of the specific goals he would like to accomplish before the PawSox head back out on the road next Monday.
“This week, it’s trying to put together more quality at-bats and trying to focus on doing a job other than seeing pitches … trying to think right-center and more situational hitting,” said Phillips, hitting .192 (5-for-26) with the PawSox.
When Phillips was with Single-A Lowell, he wasn’t worried so much about collecting hits.
“The thinking when I was there was all about playing the game and getting back in the groove. It’s hard when you haven’t seen live pitching since last October,” Phillips said. “At that point, it was about seeing as many pitches as I could.”
Phillips is now in his second full week with Pawtucket and coming off a stretch where he appeared in six of seven games on the road and batted .174 (4-for-23). Even though it’s July, he’s still in spring training mode.
“It feels like it’s March 10, but I still feel like I’m good enough to really adapt. I know how to get myself ready for the season. It just stinks because everyone else in midseason form and I’m trying to get there, but it’s still coming,” he said.
Originally, it didn’t sound like Phillips would long nine defensive innings while Pawtucket visited Charlotte and Gwinnett last week. He ended up going the distance twice.
“The first time, I felt fine. The second time, my legs felt like Jell-O. It was weird to go nine like that so quickly, but it’s good that I did it. It allowed me to see what I need to work on,” Phillips said.
Phillips does have an opt-out date he can trigger. From the sound of it, he doesn’t have the actual date circled on the calendar.
“I’m the type of guy who doesn’t want to know about stuff like that,” he said. “When I know about it, I start to think about it. If somebody brings it to my attention, that’s when I start wor- rying about it. Other than that, my job is to go out there and produce on the field and hope that Boston really wants me and I can go up there and help that team out.”
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EXTRA BASES: The start of Tuesday’s game was delayed 55 minutes after Columbus didn’t pull into McCoy Stadium until 6:30 p.m. The Clippers’ plane didn’t land at Boston’s Logan Airport until 4:30 p.m., though their equipment arrived safe and sound via bus on Monday night. … Pawtucket began the night 14.5 games off the pace in the International League’s North Division and 7.5 games behind in the wild-card race. The PawSox were also looking to end a six-game losing streak that featured four walk-off losses. … During Monday’s off day, the PawSox placed reliever Kyle Martin on the temporary inactive list. On Tuesday, they learned that infielder Tzu-Wei Lin was optioned by Boston after Drew Pomeranz was activated from the disabled list. … Pawtucket played Tuesday’s game one under the 25-man roster limit. … Pitching-wise for the rest of the Columbus series, Pawtucket will feature Josh A. Smith (2-3, 5.14) for Wednesday’s 7:05 p.m. start and Jalen Beeks (5-5, 2.89) for Thursday’s 11 a.m. first pitch.
Follow Brendan McGair on Twitter @BWMcGair03