It’ll be a few days before Brandon Phillips gets to start justifying the Reds’ $72.5 million commitment to him.
Manager Dusty Baker said Tuesday that Phillips would miss three or four days because of a sore left hamstring, the Cincinnati Enquirer’s John Fay reports.
Phillips, for his part, said he was ready to play.
“His mind is telling him he can play,” Baker said. “But his body is telling him no. That’s the attitude you want but we’ve got to look at the big picture. This is the one thing you’re always fearful of early in the year when the weather turns — somebody pulling or tweaking something.”
In a minor surprise, Willie Harris is replacing Phillips at second base and in the leadoff spot today. Harris came up primarily as a second baseman, but he started just 16 games there from 2009-11. Miguel Cairo seemed the more likely choice to start.
