Brandon Phillips hates on-base percentage, and doesn’t care if you agree
Well, Phillips was at it again Monday, telling USA Today’s Bob Nightengale how he feels about on-base percentage.
“I don’t do that MLB Network on-base percentage (stuff),” Phillips told USA TODAY Sports. “I think that’s messing up baseball. I think people now are just worried about getting paid, and worrying about on-base percentage, instead of just winning the game.
“That’s the new thing now. I feel like all of these stats and all of these geeks upstairs, they’re messing up baseball, they’re just changing the game. It’s all about on-base percentage. If you don’t get on base, then you suck. That’s basically what they’re saying. People don’t care about RBI or scoring runs, it’s all about getting on base.
“Why we changing the game after all of this time? If we all just took our walks, nobody would be scoring runs. Nobody would be driving anybody in or getting anybody over. How you doing to play the game like that. People don’t look at doing the things the right way, and doing things to help your team win.
“I remember back in the day you hit .230, you suck. Nowadays, you hit .230, with a .400 on-base percentage, you’re one of the best players in the game. That’s amazing. I’ve never seen (stuff) like that. Times have changed. It’s totally different now.
Sigh. Do we have to do this again?
[Yahoo Sports Fantasy Baseball: Sign up and join a league today!]
Walks and on-base percentage are not ruining the game of baseball. The “geeks upstairs” are not ruining the game of baseball. Walks and on-base percentage are good things. The more times you reach base, the more times you can score a run, and runs typically lead to wins. By getting on base, you also produce RBI opportunities for your teammates, which can also lead to runs. Runs and RBIs are things Phillips seems to value, so it’s tough to understand how he doesn’t see this.
Though Phillips has been criticized for his low on-base percentage in the past, that doesn’t mean he’s a bad player. In fact, from 2006 to 2014, Phillips is ranked as the sixth-best second baseman in the game according to WAR. He might not walk a lot, but he still manages to provide value in other areas.
Phillips probably doesn’t care about that, though. He sees one area where people can criticize his game, and chooses to focus on that. If that’s what he needs to use as motivation, that’s fine.
On-base percentage is great, and it’s definitely a useful part of player evaluation. But there are other areas where a player can stand out, and Phillips is a shining example of that. While it would be nice if Phillips could focus on the latter, instead of denigrating the former, that just doesn’t appear to be his style.
More MLB coverage from Yahoo Sports:
– – – – – – –
Chris Cwik is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik
