Who is Connor Phillips? Cincinnati sends pitching prospect from Louisville to Goodyear
Cincinnati Reds pitching prospect Connor Phillips, who has posted a 10.11 ERA in 14 starts this season at Triple-A Louisville, is headed to Goodyear to join the Arizona Complex League Reds.
MLB Pipeline ranks Phillips fifth among the Reds' top prospects.
"It's obviously been a tough sled for him," Reds pitching coach Derek Johnson said last week, per The Enquirer's Charlie Goldsmith. "Right now, we just have to weather the storm. It's hard to watch one of your guys struggle the way he has struggled. At the same time, you admire and respect how he has gone about it. He's taking the ball every single time. He has competed the best that he can. Now it's about getting this right."
Phillips posted a 6.97 ERA in his five big-league starts last September. He had 26 strikeouts in 20 2/3 innings, and his first three starts resulted in Reds' wins.
The gem of Phillips' five starts came last September 18 against the Minnesota Twins. He allowed two earned runs on three hits and a walk with seven strikeouts in seven innings in a 7-3 win.
He turned 23 in May. He started the 2024 season on the Bats' roster.
Called up to the Majors by the Reds last September 2, Phillips made his big-league debut September 5 against the Seattle Mariners, striking out seven in 4 2/3 innings in Cincinnati's come-from-behind, 7-6 win.
Reds fans took notice when the right-hander struck out 11 in seven scoreless innings July 21 during the Bats' 16-1 win against the Columbus Clippers at Louisville Slugger Field.
Through 92 1/3 innings last season, Phillips led all of Minor League Baseball with 143 strikeouts.
In 11 appearances (10 starts) with the Bats after the Reds promoted Phillips from Double-A Chattanooga, Phillips struck out 43 in 40 1/3 innings. He struck out 10 June 8 for the Lookouts and recorded 12 strikeouts in a start six days later.
Phillips struck out 13 in six innings for High-A Dayton in 2022.
Here's what else you should know about Phillips:
Phillips was the Seattle Mariners' second-round pick in the 2020 MLB Draft.
Seattle selected Phillips 64th overall in Competitive Balance Round B, one pick before the Reds took high school catcher Jackson Miller.
Among the Reds' picks in the 2020 draft, only Joe Boyle has reached the majors (for the Oakland A's). Outfielder Austin Hendrick, selected 12th overall out of West Allegheny HS, is batting .206 for Double-A Chattanooga. Pitcher Christian Roa, taken 48th overall out of Texas A&M, has pitched with Phillips in Louisville, posting a 4.26 ERA in 13 appearances for the Bats this season. Miller underwent sports hernia surgery, and announced his retirement in April.
The Reds acquired Phillips from Seattle in March 2022 as the player to be named later in a blockbuster trade.
The Reds announced that Phillips would complete the deal that sent outfielder Jesse Winker and third baseman Eugenio Suarez to the Mariners for starting pitcher Justin Dunn, outfielder Jake Fraley and left-handed pitcher Brandon Williamson.
Winker, an All-Star for the Reds in 2021, is batting .264 with eight homers this season, his first with the Washington Nationals. He hit .199 with one homer last season for the Milwaukee Brewers.
Suarez, an All-Star for Cincinnati in 2018, is batting .192 with six homers this season, his first with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Dunn was working his way back from a shoulder injury when he refused a minor-league assignment and elected free agency.
Fraley is batting .278 in 197 plate appearances this season for Cincinnati.
Williamson has been on the injured list since spring training because of a shoulder strain. He posted a 4.46 ERA in his first 23 big-league starts for the Reds.
Phillips was born in Texas, and went to high school and college in the Lone Star State.
A Houston native, Phillips attended Magnolia West High School in Magnolia before heading to McLennan Community College in Waco. Former Reds reliever Logan Ondrusek and former Mariners great Jay Buhner played at McLennan.
Williamson and Nick Lodolo were teammates at TCU.
Phillips features an upper-90s fastball, a sweeping slider and impressive curveball.
Scouts rate all three pitches as above-average.
"He's just got a really big arm and big stuff," Reds pitching coach Derek Johnson said last year. "So far, he keeps the ball in the zone pretty well. It's not a lot of wild misses. He's really impressive. He's got an array of stuff he can use and it's all pretty good. For me, it's just making sure he checks his boxes on the way and see what we've got."
At spring training in 2023, the Reds' big-league hitters had a tough time against Phillips' fastball-slider combo. Phillips was a non-roster invitee who became one of the players to watch in Goodyear.
Phillips also worked on developing a change-up, as a fourth pitch.
"It was always a good action pitch, but I didn't have confidence in it to go out there and throw it over the plate," Phillips said last year. "I'm going to continue to make sure I throw it. I think that's the best thing for it."
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This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati Reds send pitching prospect Connor Phillips to Goodyear
