MONTREAL – The year is 2005, and Jason Phillips is . . . where exactly?
Is he a first baseman? A catcher? Playing home games somewhere other than Shea?
“I’m not talented enough to make predictions,” Phillips said with his characteristic chuckle.
The truth is, Phillips is every bit as talented as the Mets thought he might be, only at a different position. And his emergence will force decisions of some sort in the not-so-distant future. Where do the Mets see him?
“I’m looking at him as a catcher,” Art Howe reiterated the other day. “There’s gonna be a point where he’s doing a lot of catching around here.”
Interim general manager Jim Duquette, who often fields calls about the nearly untouchable rookie, is a little more vague.
“We think he’s a productive offensive player,” Duquette said. “And when you’re a productive offensive player, the position takes care of itself.
“He’s a guy with a lot of value in our organization.”
Next season, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Phillips split both first base and catcher with Mike Piazza, with Piazza slowly working his way out from behind the plate.
Entering last night, the 26-year-old led all active Mets with a .318 average and had an 11-game hitting streak. He also led all rookies in batting average, on-base percentage (.395) and slugging percentage (.472), a nifty Triple Crown of a different sort. Phillips has driven in runs in five straight games.
In mid-May, Piazza’s severe groin strain put Vance Wilson behind the plate and necessitated Phillips’ callup. Although he gave Wilson a breather last night by starting at catcher, Phillips has made 42 of his 59 starts at first base – a position he never played regularly in his life.
“I never thought I’d be playing first base for the New York Mets,” he said. “To speculate about the future . . . I have no idea. As long as I’m playing somewhere, I’ll be happy.”
Phillips says first is far less taxing than donning the so-called tools of ignorance. That doesn’t mean he’s completely healthy after playing 48 straight games [including last night vs. the Expos].
“I’m beat up right now,” he said. “If I take off my pants, you’d see a bunch of bruises on my legs.”
Phillips hit .388 for Double A Binghamton in 2000, but didn’t homer in 27 games. His career minor-league average was .277 entering this season.
The San Diego State product had seven homers in his first 206 at-bats, which translates to less than 20 homers a full season. Hitting coach Denny Walling doesn’t want to put a ceiling on his power potential.
“He’s shown me a lot of good signs,” Walling said. “He has good self-knowledge, good strike-zone knowledge and he has a good approach.”