Phillips is also a big part of the team with the bat and players lose focus there when they are moved to a tougher position. 2B is tough but SS is tougher. If Phillips is excellent at 2b, why move him?

Besides, Hairston was also very athletic and rangy at 2b when he was a regular there with Baltimore and is more used to being moved around.

I can see your point but this way keeps a guy (Phillips) who is playing well in the field and at the plate in his comfort zone. Phillips has 1 error at 2b as well. I could see them moving Phillips to SS in the off-season perhaps and I think it has been discussed.

while the fantasy eligibility at SS would be great ( don’t try to tell me you’re not thinking it…), it doesn’t make enough sense to yank around a player for just a few weeks to fill in while 2 guys are injured

if think about it too much your head will explode.

If it weren’t for my horse I wouldn’t have spent that year in college.

What I mean by that: If we were to assign some kind of defensive “rating” to Phillips and Hairston, it’s probably true that Phillips would have a higher rating at shortstop. In a video game, you just make that switch and all is well.

But in real life, that sort of change could have other effects. As was mentioned here, Phillips might not perform as well because it’s been a while since he’s played the position. Maybe his offense suffers because he’s worrying about it. Plus, there’s no real guarantee he’s actually better. Then you have to switch him back once one of the Reds regular SS come back. It’s not really worth the risk or hassle for what is probably a very minimal reward. It’s not as though Hairston is a butcher.

This is one time where I actually won’t fault Dusty, though I’m sure he’s not even aware Phillips played short in the minors. Let’s just let Dusty focus on his guys batting in the proper order.