Baker: Phillips will hit clean up
Posted by JohnFay at 2/19/2009 10:19 AM EST on Cincinnati.com
Dusty Baker said that Brandon Phillips will hit fourth -- at least at the start of the year.
“The way the lineup is right now, yeah,” Baker said.
Phillips' numbers were down last year from 2007. He hit .288 with 30 home runs and 94 RBI in '07. Last year, he hit .261 with 21 homers and 78.
“Brandon will have a good year," Baker said. "You struggle sometimes a little bit in third or fourth year. Brandon will readjust. Sometimes they wouldn’t throw Brandon a lot of strikes. Sometimes when you’re in the middle of it, you can’t see it. When you’re smart like Brandon, you take some time away and you step back and see things.”
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