Great with the glove

At second base, there’s no one like Phillips

But for all the talk of Phillips’ showmanship, he’s a baseball rat and a self-improvement buff at heart. Phillips works constantly with coach Chris Speier on barehanding balls, making difficult infield flips and chasing down pop flies in the outfield. During his 30-30 season, Phillips grounded into 26 double plays. Now he’s more adept at using the entire field and doing whatever is necessary with runners on base. He has only nine GIDPs this season.

“He rarely gives up an at-bat, especially now that he’s hitting first,” Cabrera said. “It doesn’t matter how bad he looks on the first couple of pitches. He’ll go back and regroup and be another hitter, and all of a sudden he’s walking. I’m really impressed with that.”