Brett Phillips

Phillips gained national notoriety with his game-winning hit in the 2020 World Series and has enjoyed both local and national popularity with his humble and entertaining personality. Unfortunately, those are not fantasy scoring categories. Phillips was somewhat productive as a bench player with 13 homers, 50 runs scored and 14 steals in fewer than 300 plate appearances, but was limited to that amount of playing time because of the limitations in his swing. He has a very specific swing path that struggles mightily against lefties as well as elevated pitches, so he is best utilized against the softer-tossing righties and always down in the lineup. Even if the Rays do trade Kevin Kiermaier, extra playing time for Phillips would simply overexpose him. He is a career .202 hitter over parts of five seasons and nearly 700 career PA.

Phillips began the season as a platoon outfielder for the Royals and ended it as a cult hero for the Rays in the World Series. In between, Phillips showed improved plate skills, but failed to take advantage with his weakest average exit velocity level of his career. His 25.4 K% was by far the lowest of his career, but a low .235 BABIP saddled him with a meek .196 average. Once a promising prospect with Milwaukee, Phillips has yet to translate those skills to the majors and the clock is ticking as he embarks on his age-27 season. In his favor is plus defense, elite sprint speed and an organization in the Rays adept at putting its personnel in positions to succeed. Unfortunately, those aren't fantasy-worthy qualities, even in an AL-only format.

Whatever shine he had left is gone, but Phillips should get another chance to prove himself as a big leaguer. Traded to Kansas City midway through 2018, Phillips began his first full season in the Royals organization at Triple-A Omaha. While he struck out too much (28.5%) and hit for a low average, Phillips tied for second in the Pacific Coast League with 72 walks and stole 22 bases in 23 attempts. In total, he was 12% better than the average PCL hitter. He finally got the call to the majors Aug. 16, and his success did not carry over. Phillips continued to walk at a healthy clip, but his batted-ball numbers (84.6 mph average exit velocity, 23.9% hard-hit per Statcast) were atrocious. Defense is his saving grace and his abilities on that side of the ball should afford Phillips time to figure something out at the dish. He's out of options, so expect him to be with the team in some capacity on Opening Day.

Phillips took a step back in 2018 after his successful major-league debut in 2017. Thanks to the Brewers' offseason acquisitions, he opened the season in Triple-A and spent the first half shuttling between the majors and minors. He struggled at both stops and was traded to Kansas City in July, and the change of scenery didn’t help. The 24-year-old ended up hitting a combined .187/.252/.306 across 51 games between the Brewers and Royals. Strikeouts were a major issue for Phillips once again, as he whiffed 31.4% of the time at Triple-A and 41.5% of the time in the majors. While he offers a modest combination of power and speed, it’s unclear if he’ll be able to make enough contact for those skills to manifest. Phillips should get plenty of chances for the rebuilding Royals as a plus defender in the outfield, though he could fall into a platoon given his career splits (.368 OPS against lefties, .728 OPS against righties).

A subpar 2016 campaign at the minor-league level dimmed Phillips' prospect star, but he made up the lost ground and then some in 2017, finding his stroke at Triple-A Colorado Springs and eventually earning a prominent role in center field with the big-league club over the season's final month. Phillips' rebound definitely got a boost from the thin air of Colorado, but his season on the whole helped move him back up prospect lists. Phillips appeared to be on the verge of competing for the Brewers' starting center field spot, but the acquisition of Lorenzo Cain rules that out and clouds his future some. Phillips doesn't handle left-handers particularly well, but he has a cannon for an arm and can play all three outfield spots, so he has an inside track to breaking camp with the big club -- as long as he is not packaged in a trade. He's going to leave something to be desired in the batting average category, but can contribute in both the power and speed areas, making him someone to consider later in drafts. Just don't expect him to play every day if he remains with the Brewers.

Phillips is one of Milwaukee's best defensive prospects, as he could be a plus defender in right field. Unfortunately, his offensive profile has backed up ever since the Brewers acquired him from Houston in the Carlos Gomez deal of 2015. He continues to show a little bit of power and speed, but has struggled mightily to make contact in recent seasons, posting a 29.8 percent strikeout rate during a return trip to Double-A. His strong plate discipline (13 percent walk rate last year), average power, average speed and high-end defense will likely be enough to get him to The Show, but his contact issues are getting pretty alarming, considering he does not possess a plus offensive tool. At 22 years old, Phillips was still two years younger than league average in the Southern League, and he has good makeup, so he could figure things out. However, his prospect stock has dipped to the point that he can be cut loose in leagues where 150 or fewer prospects are rostered.

Even though Domingo Santana is already in the major leagues, Phillips was the jewel of the Carlos Gomez trade last summer. The 21-year-old advanced to Double-A after making short work of High-A, as he homered 15 times in 66 games to earn the promotion. Phillips has a .295/.370/.487 line in 345 minor league games and has solid tools across the board. He's expected to be able to play a sharp major league center field, and while his power isn't elite, he has homered 33 times in the past two seasons. Speed is what makes Phillips as a prospect, though, as he has stolen 40 bases and hit a ridiculous 28 triples in the past two seasons. Phillips isn't expected to reach the majors until 2017, but if he starts out hot this season, he could earn himself a midseason callup to Milwaukee.