This time, it’s Brandon Phillips, who did display a bit of his free-swinging ways today, striking out swinging two times against the Astros. However, he actually took a lot of pitches, while striking out. It just wasn’t the Reds day at all, offense wise. Phillips, though, has the highest swing percentage among qualified batters in the NL. That’s not to criticize, necessarily, he’s hit, and is hitting pretty well. And Josh Hamilton, for example, has a significantly higher swing rate, though this year has been pretty odd, for him. 

(click for larger image)

Brandon actually does not swing too much early in the plate appearance . He lets a lot of first pitches go by, both in and out of the zone. After that, you can tell there’s a pretty big difference between him and the “takers” I looked at earlier. I’m not totally sure what I make of Brandon Phillips’s plate approach right now. His K-rate has come down a good bit since his first couple years, but his walk rate is a bit down this year, as well.

BP also seems to change his approach based on his position in the lineup, more so than any Reds hitter. I’m not totally sure that’s always a good thing, either, but he’s generally a very positive presence both scoring and preventing runs, so I guess I can’t complain.