Benjamin
Phillips

Phillips stands in at 5-foot-10, 150-pounds with a lean athletic frame. Ran a 4.68 home to first, slightly higher than his recorded best time of 4.35 set in January 2017. Offensively- Righty sets up square to the pitcher with his feet just outside shoulder width. Shows a slight knee bend with an upright torso with his hands just above the back shoulder using little pre-pitch bat movement. On pitch, his trigger is a knee raise into the body to stride forward while his hands move back slightly to get into his hitting position. Shows quick hands into the hitting zone with a level bat path throughout into a high one-handed finish. Uses good lower body rotation getting whole body frame involved in the swing. Demonstrated line drive ability up the middle and to the pull side with batting practice round. Recorded an exit velocity of 84 MPH, a 4 MPH improvement from January 2017. Defensively- From the outfield, has good footwork and approach to the baseball. Fluid footwork to get underneath the baseball with good crow hop mechanics to gain ground and momentum before the process of the throw. Needs to work on a longer outfielder arm swing which will help with strength an accuracy. Recorded a positional outfielder arm velocity of 75 MPH. From the infield, good fielding mechanics getting in front of the baseball and funneling it into the chest. Shows a quick transfer into the throwing position. Accurate with throws but needs to have better aggressive footwork towards intended throwing target. Recorded a positional infielder arm velocity of 70 MPH.

Winter Open (February 26, 2017)

Phillips stands 5-foot-10, 150-pounds with premium athleticism evidenced by his 6.72 60-yard dash time. He also ran a 4.16 home-to-1B from the right side. Offensively- At the plate, setup is wide, active hands, leg lift and small stride of the pitch shifting his hips forward. Barrel is mostly flat through the contact zone, full one-arm finish. Exit velocity was 80 mph. Defensively- gets behind the ball, slightly stiff lower half that needs more reps and to loosen up becoming more fluid. Glove to hand transfer was clean, arm-strength was 70 mph from a 3/4 slot. Overall, athletic WNY player that might want to consider a shift to the OF using that foot speed to his advantage.