Brett Maverick Phillips...Named after one of his father’s favorite T.V. shows “Maverick,” starring James Garner...Garner’s character was named Bret Maverick...Family refers to him as Maverick...Graduated from Seminole High School (FL)...Was an all-county football player as a wide receiver during senior campaign...Offered a college scholarship to play baseball at North Carolina State...Was neighbors growing up with Macho Man Randy Savage...Known among former teammates for his uncontrollable laugh...His cleats from that magical moment in Game 4 of the 2020 World Series are displayed at the “Autumn Glory” exhibit at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown.
2022
Spent sixth big league season playing in the Rays and Orioles organizations...Began the season with Tampa, appearing in 75 games before Aug. 2 traded to Baltimore...29 hits marked the second-most of career...Combined to play 42 games in center field, 38 games in right field and five games in left at the big league level...Made three pitching appearances, including May 10 at Angel Stadium...Tossed one inning against the Halos, surrendering a home run to Anthony Rendon who was batting left-handed.
2021
Hit a career-high 13 HR, passing his career total from his first four major league seasons (10)… hit three grand slams, an inside-the-park homer and a walk-off homer…his 9 2B, 44 RBI and 14 SB were also career highs... Hit .361 (22-for-61) with five HR and 25 RBI in the 8th inning or later…the 25 RBI tied for 6th in the majors behind NYY Aaron Judge (28), SEA Mitch Haniger (28), TB Austin Meadows (27), MIA Jesús Aguilar (27) and MIN Jorge Polanco (26)... Hit .750 (6-for-8) with 3 HR and 16 RBI with the bases loaded…the three grand slams were a single-season club record and tied for 2nd in the majors behind TOR Lourdes Gurriel Jr. (4)... All three grand slams came over a stretch of 9 games (4 starts), 12 days (July 29 vs. NYY, Aug 8 at BAL, Aug 11 at BOS) and 19 PA…was the third player in major league history with three slams within a stretch of 20 PA (or fewer) in a single season, according to Stats LLC…joined NYY Lou Gehrig (20 PA) from Aug 29–Sep 1, 1931, and DET Jim Northrup (14 PA) from June 24-29, 1968... Did not appear in a game between his second and third grand slams, making him the first player in franchise history with a slam in back-to-back games…he was the first player in the majors with a slam in back-to-back games since MIL Tyler Saladino from July 21-22, 2019... His three grand slams and his inside-the-park homer all came between July 29–Aug 16… according to Stats LLC and Jayson Stark of The Athletic, became the first player in major league history with three grand slams and an inside-the-park homer in a span of 30 days or less… the previous record was 36 days and held by NYY Babe Ruth in 1929, on a July 3 slam, July 15 inside-the-parker, Aug. 6 slam and Aug 7. slam... Struck out in 38.7 pct. (113 of 292) of plate appearances, the highest rate in the AL (min. 200 PA). ..On April 27 vs. OAK, hit a go-ahead, two-run homer in the 6th inning…became the first player born in the Tampa Bay area to hit a go-ahead homer for the club since Steve Pearce on May 16, 2016, at TOR…became the second product of Seminole High School to hit a go-ahead homer for the Rays, joining Casey Kotchman—who hit five go-ahead shots for the club in 2011... On May 6 at LAA, recorded a career-high-tying 3 hits, including two hits in the eighth inning…became the first Ray with multiple hits in a frame since Carlos Gómez on July 31, 2018, vs. LAA... On May 14 vs. NYM, hit a 9th-inning single off former teammate Aaron Loup for his first career walk-off hit…it was his second career walk-off RBI, following a sacrifice fly off Brusdar Graterol on Sep 29, 2019, vs. MIN (with KC)…it was the third time in club history the Rays got a “left-onleft” walk-off hit from the No. 9 spot in the order, following a Michael Perez single off Zack Britton on Aug 9, 2020, vs. NYY and a Gabe Gross homer off Matt Thornton on June 1, 2008, vs. CHW... On May 30 vs. PHI, hit a solo homer off Zach Eflin, the first time in his career he homered on his birthday…became the 12th Rays player (14th time) to homer on his birthday and first since Corey Dickerson on May 22, 2017, vs. LAA... On July 2 at TOR, made the first pitching appearance of his career and allowed a 2-out RBI single in the 8th inning…his first pitch was a 94.3 mph fastball to Jonathan Davis but his other 22 pitches in the frame were all between 45-51 mph... On July 29 vs. NYY, his first career grand slam came off Albert Abreu in the 6th inning… marked the fifth time in franchise history the Rays got a grand slam from the No. 9 spot in the batting order, first since Daniel Robertson’s pinch-hit, walk-off grand slam on July 22, 2018, vs. MIA…the others: Kevin Kiermaier on July 9, 2014, vs. KC, Dioner Navarro on July 20, 2007, at NYY and Julio Lugo on June 13, 2003, vs. PIT... On Aug 8 at BAL, had a career-high five RBI and his first career multi-HR game, hitting a solo homer in the seventh and a go-ahead grand slam in the eighth... On Aug 16 vs. BAL, hit the first inside-the-park homer of his career…it was the 19th in Rays history and second in a span of four days (Kevin Kiermaier, Aug 13 at MIN)…circled the bases in 14.45 seconds, the fastest among the majors’ seven inside-the-park homers through that date... On Sep 17 vs. DET, his 3-run, walk-off homer off Bryan Garcia was the first walk-off homer of his career and the second walk-off hit of his career... POSTSEASON: Was not on the ALDS roster.
2020
Acquired from the Royals on Aug 27 and placed on the COVID-19 Related IL for intake screening…reinstated on Sep 4 and remained on the active roster through season’s end... Became the third product of Seminole High School to play for the Rays, following Casey Kotchman (2011) and Bobby Wilson (2015-16)...Appeared in 17 games and made 8 starts (7-RF, 1-CF) for the Rays…hit .150 (3-for-20) but all 3 hits tied the game or gave the Rays the lead...On Sep 4 vs. MIA, made his Rays debut as a pinch-runner and stole third base... On Sep 17 at BAL (G1), hit a RBI triple in the 2nd inning for his first hit with the Rays...On Sep 25 vs. PHI, hit a game-tying homer in the 6th inning, his first since July 27 at DET (with KC)…also singled in the 2nd and walked twice.
POSTSEASON: Appeared in 7 games off the bench: three as a defensive replacement and four as a pinch-runner…was not on the Rays roster for the ALCS against the Astros... Became the first Pinellas County native to appear in a World Series game for the Rays...In Game 4 of the World Series vs. LAD, entered as a pinch-runner in the 8th inning and remained in the game in right field…delivered one of the biggest hits in franchise history when his 2-out, 2-strike RBI single off Kenley Jansen in the 9th inning drove in Kevin Kiermaier, and Randy Arozarena scored the game-winning run on a pair of Dodgers errors…became the first player in Rays postseason history to deliver a game-tying hit in the 9th inning (or later)...Helped the Rays become the fifth team in World Series history to record a walk-off win with the team trailing…joined the Blue Jays in Game 6 vs. PHI in 1993 (Joe Carter home run), the Dodgers in Game 1 vs. OAK in 1988 (Kirk Gibson home run), the Royals in Game 6 vs. STL in 1985 (Dane Iorg single) and the Dodgers in Game 4 vs. NYY in 1947 (Cookie Lavagetto double)...The game-tying hit in Game 4 (Oct 24) was his first hit in almost a month, since Sep 25 vs. PHI, and his first at-bat in 17 days.
2019
Started the season with Omaha (AAA), where he hit 18 home runs and had 22 stolen bases with a .378 on-base percentage and .505 slugging percentage in 105 games… recalled on Aug. 16 and hit .138 (9-for-65) in 30 games with Kansas City ... Led the Storm Chasers in triples, walks, steals, on-base percentage, slugging percentage and OPS (.883)…at the time of his recall, his 13 triples were one shy of the minor league lead, behind Las Vegas' Jorge Mateo…his 72 walks tied for second in the Pacific Coast League ... Had 22 stolen bases in 23 attempts with Omaha (95.7%) ... Hit a game-tying home run in the ninth inning on Sept. 16 in Oakland off closer Liam Hendriks ... Hit a walk-off sacrifice fly in Game 162 vs. Minnesota, the first walk-off RBI of his big league career, and the first walk-off win in Game 162 in Royals history ... Finished two homers shy of becoming just the third player in Omaha history to hit 20 homers and steal 20 bases in a season ... Hit just .187 (26-for-139) with 11 extra-base hits and 16 RBI in his first 46 games through May 30…from May 31- Aug. 13, he hit .278 (54-for-194) with 28 extra-base hits and 38 RBI in 59 games, reaching at a .403 clip while slugging .608 ... Voted as the Chasers Fan Favorite Award recipient, as voted on by the fans.
2018
Started the season with Colorado Springs (AAA), but had three Major League stints with Milwaukee: April 9-10, May 1-10 and July 15-24...Hit .240/.331/.411 (62-for-258) with 42 runs, 25 extra-base hits and 11 stolen bases in 71 games with Colorado Springs...Played in 15 games (2 starts) with Milwaukee, and hit .182 (4-for-22), including a career-high four RBI on July 15 at Pittsburgh...Acquired by Kansas City with RHP Jorge López on July 28 for INF Mike Moustakas, and spent the rest of the season with the Royals...Homered in his second game as a Royal on July 31 at the White Sox, a two-run shot in the seventh inning off James Shields, which proved to be the difference in a 4-2 win...Hit .265/.324/.471 (9-for-34) with four extra-base hits in his first 10 games as a Royal, but hit just .154/.221/.244 (12-for-78) with four extra-base hits in 26 games after that, including an 0-for-20 skid from Aug. 15-26...Suffered a right shoulder contusion on Sept. 4 in Cleveland after colliding into the right field wall… didn't start again until Sept. 16...Had three outfield assists in 32 starts with Kansas City, the first of which was a 100.1 mph throw, according to Statcast, in Chicago on Aug. 2.
2017
Batted .276 with 4 HR, 12 RBI and 5 stolen bases in 37 games during four stints with Milwaukee as he made his Major League debut.....made 24 starts (22g in CF, 2g in RF)... His stints with the team came from 6/5-6/7, 6/9-6/12, 7/14-7/25 and 9/1-end... Made his MLB debut on 6/5 vs. San Francisco, starting in center field (1-for-3, 2k, error).....his first career hit was a single off Jeff Samardzija... Hit his first big league homer on 7/16 vs. Philadelphia, a pinch-hit, 2-run shot off Jeremy Hellickson... Batted .348 (16-for-46, 2hr, 8rbi) over his last 17 games with the Brewers, ending the season on a 4-game hitting streak (6-for-16, .375, 1hr, 4rbi)... Batted .305 with 19 HR (led team) and 78 RBI in 105 games at Triple-A Colorado Springs...Enters 2018 as the fifth-best prospect in the organization according to Baseball America.
2016
Entered 2016 as the fourth-best prospect in the organization according to Baseball America...Batted .229 with 16 HR, 62 RBI and 12 stolen bases in 124 games at Double-A Biloxi...Played for the Salt River Rafters in the Arizona Fall League (19g, .210, 0hr, 9rbi) and was selected to play in the AFL's Fall Stars Game...Was added to the 40-man roster on 11/18.
