Connor

Phillips

It’s been an extremely tough start to the year for Phillips, who was a top-100 prospect as recently as last year. The 23-year-old righty, who made five starts last year for Cincinnati, has struggled to a disastrous 10.11 ERA, 2.26 WHIP and 53/50 K/BB ratio across 57 innings (14 starts) this year for Triple-A Louisville. The complete erosion of his command is startling and he’s going to head to the Rookie-level Arizona Complex League to focus on building back up from scratch.

Phillips allowed seven hits, and he walked four with three strikeouts. It’s nowhere close to as good as his first start of the year where he threw six innings of one-run baseball, and it’s a reminder that there’s still some work to be done before he’s ready to contribute to the Cincinnati staff. This is still a pitcher with three potential out pitches in his fastball, curve and slider, however, so it’s not a question of stuff for the 22-year-old. The command just needs to get much better if he’s going to ever be a real rotation option. High risk, high reward.

The Reds have cut down their major league camp to 39 players. Phillips will start the 2024 campaign at Triple-A Louisville where he posted a 4.69 ERA, 1.56 WHIP and a 43/30 K/BB ratio across 40 1/3 innings. The 22-year-old was called up to the majors for a brief stint last September where he made five starts, but struggled with a 6.97 ERA and allowed 16 earned runs across 20 2/3 innings.

That’s not good. Phillips had walked 10 and struck out 26 in 20 2/3 innings over four starts this month. All of the runners he left on came around to score, so he ends up with a 6.97 ERA as a major leaguer. Nevertheless, he looked pretty good until tonight. He’ll probably open next season in Triple-A, but there’s a good chance he’ll spend the bulk of the year in the Cincinnati rotation.

The right-hander scattered five hits on the evening while issuing three walks. He had allowed just one run through the first five innings — an RBI single to Alfonso Rivas in the fourth inning — but ran into some trouble when he returned for the sixth. There, he allowed two singles to start the inning before turning the ball over to the bullpen — and both inherited runners ultimately scored. The 22-year-old right-hander got 13 swings and misses on 99 pitches on the night, registering a CSW of 33 percent. He’ll attempt to further improve upon his 5.66 ERA and 1.35 WHIP when he takes on the Cardinals in St. Louis on Friday.

Phillips had an 8.31 ERA in his first two big-league starts, but apart from a couple of solo homers from Kyle Lewis and Alex Kirilloff, he was totally in control tonight. He struck out seven and walked one while throwing 93 pitches. This will almost certainly earn him another start, probably on Saturday or Sunday against the Pirates.

Phillips will take the ball on Monday night against the Twins for his third major league start. The 22-year-old top pitching prospect has been hit hard so far in the big leagues, coughing up eight runs over 8 2/3 innings of work to go along with a 10/8 K/BB ratio. He’s not a recommended streaming option for fantasy managers at this juncture.

It was a rough first two MLB starts for Phillips, who allowed eight runs in 8 2/3 innings, while striking out 10 and walking eight. The Reds decided to option Phillips to make room for Ben Lively to be activated off the COVID-IL and start on Thursday. The 22-year-old had been outstanding in the minors, posting a 3.86 ERA, 1.41 WHIP, and 154/57 K/BB ratio over 105 innings between between Double-A Chattanooga and Triple-A Louisville. His future is still bright, but it may have to wait until 2024.

Lively is activated in time to be a bulk reliever on Thursday against the Tigers. In 76 2/3 innings primarily as a starter in 2023, Lively has a 5.17 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, and 69 strikeouts. He will take Connor Phillips’ place on the roster.

It took Phillips 82 pitches to complete four innings as he also walked four hitters and struck out three. Despite posting massive strikeout numbers in the minors, Phillips posted just a four percent whiff rate on Wednesday getting just one whiff on 25 swings. The issue may have been that his sweeper was only swung at twice all game, which highlights his problem keeping it in the zone so far. There’s a lot of talent in his arm, but clearly there’s some work to be done. Phillips will likely get another shot next week against the Twins.