Major League Career
Phillips was selected on waivers by the San Francisco Giants in 1992 and made his Major league debut with the team following September call-ups on September 3, 1993. He hit his first major-league home run off of Rene Arocha the following game, helping the Giants to a late-season victory in their 100-win season of 1993.
After consecutive 27 home run seasons with the Giants' Triple-A farm team, the Phoenix Firebirds, Phillips was named the Giants starting first baseman going into the 1995 season, but his lack of production at the big league level forced him into a platoon with Mark Carreon before mid-season. He hit a career-high 9 home runs and 28 RBIs, while hitting .195 over 231 at bats in 92 games. In the beginning of the 1996 season, Phillips was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies.
He bounced between the minors and the majors over the next four seasons, playing for the Phillies, the Houston Astros and, finally, the Colorado Rockies. Even in 1999, Phillips hit 41 home runs and 100 RBIs for the Rockies' Triple-A club, the Colorado Springs Sky Sox, earning him a September call up. He managed to hit two more home runs but ended up playing his final game on October 3, 1999, against the Giants.
Phillips can be classified as a AAAA-type player: one who had great success in the Minor leagues but failed to translate that success in the majors.
Read more about this topic: J. R. Phillips
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