Jason Phillips: Early 2000's Mets Back Up Catcher/ First Baseman (2001 - 2005)

Jason Lloyd Phillips was born on September 27th, 1976, at La Mesa, California. Phillips went to San Diego State University getting drafted by the New York Mets in the 24th round of the 1997 amateur draft. 

He hit 16 HRs with 71 RBIs between A ball St. Lucie & AA Binghamton in 1999 but hit just .248.

In 2000 he hit over .300 with the St. Lucie Mets & at AA Binghamton throwing out 40% of base runners attempting to steal. 

In 2001 he batted .293 at Binghamton getting promoted to AAA Norfolk. He was batting .303 at thereafter 19 games when he got the big league call up.

Mets Career: The strange looking fellow with the goggle glasses & goatee beard debuted on September 19th as a defensive replacement for Mike Piazza. In that 9th inning he was the battery mate for three brief September Mets; Dicky Gonzales, Tom Martin & C.J. Nitkowski. 

Phillips appeared in six games going 1-7 during his September cup of coffee.

2002: Phillips was batting .282 after 88 games at AAA Norfolk and was brought up again at in September.

On September 3rd at Shea, he was behind the plate in the second game of a double header & drove in a run with a sac fly off the Marlins Mike Bascsik. He went 1-3 in the 11-5 win.

First Career HR: On September 12th he hit his first career HR, it came at Olympic Stadium in Montreal off TJ Tucker in an 8-2 Mets win. 

On September 6th, he had his first career multi hit game. On September 12th, he had another multi- hit game & homered off the Expos TJ Tucker in an 8-2 win in Montreal.

In 11 games that September, Phillips .368 (7-19).

2003: The Mets began a new era under manager Art Howe. They would win just 66 games (66-95) & finish fifth in a long year for fans. Phillips was one of the brighter spots on the team.

On the season, Philips would make three trips up the Mets. His bat was much needed in the Mets line up as he would see the most playing time at first base, seeing action in 84 games. He played in 24 games as the third string catcher. Vance Wilson would serve as the main backup catcher & saw a lot of playing time due to Mike Piazza’s injuries.

At first, Phillips struggled at the plate batting .242 after his first 32 games. He would hit .314 the rest of the way.

On May 18th, he hit a two run HR off the Giants Kurt Ainsworth helping the Mets to a 5-1 win. Phillips drove in runs in back-to-back games. In June he batted .322 in the month.

On June 6th at Shea, he broke a 1-1 tie with the Mariners in the 5th inning, hitting a HR off Ryan Franklin. The Mets went on to a 3-2 win. 

On June 22nd, in a subway series loss he collected a career high four hits. The hits came during a five-game hit streak. From June 27th thru a June 28th double header, he had three straight multi- multi two hit games

Longest NL Rookie Hit Streak of Year: From July 10th to July 26th, Phillips had a career best 14-game streak, where he batted .426 with 23 hits, 3 HRs & 11 RBIs. It was the longest hitting streak for NL Rookies that season & the fourth longest hit streak in franchise history for a Mets rookie.

That month he had five different three hit games, two against Philadelphia & Montreal with the other against Milwaukee at Shea. In the month he collected 36 hits, third most for a Met rookie in a Calander month.  In July he hit .343 & was batting .322 on the season.

Walk Off Hit: On July 13th, Phillips had a multi-hit game & hit a game winning walk off single off the Phillies Terry Adams for a 4-3 Mets win. 

From August 9th to August 20th, Phillips had a ten-game hit streak going 15-29 batting .385 with three HRs & 12 RBIs. 

Multi - Three RBI Games: On August 3rd, in a 13-5 win at Shea over the Cardinals, Phillips matched his season high three RBIs, with an RBI single double & ground out. On August 10th he drove in three runs in a loss at Arizona. On August 16th at Shea, he had his fourth multi- three RBI game of the season, with an RBI double, single & force play in a 13-4 win over the Rockies.

5000th Mets Franchise HR: On August 30th, in a loss to the Phillies at Shea. Phillips hit a 4th
inning two run HR off Randy Wolfe. The HR was a Mets milestone, 5000th career team HR.

On September 2nd in Atlanta, he collected a pair of RBI singles off the Braves Mike Hampton. Mike Piazza added the RBI single in the 7th for the 3-2 Mets win.

Phillips put in a solid year with career highs in batting (.298) hits (120) HRs (11) doubles (25) walks (39) RBIs (58) & OPS (.815) He posted a .373 on base percentage, second best among NL Rookies. Phillips also had 34 multi-hit games & ten multi- RBI games on the season.

Behind the plate he threw out 33% of would-be base stealers & only made one error in 155 chances, posting a .994 fielding percentage. At first base he posted a .990 fielding %. 

Phillips was one of the slowest runners in the game & that season grounded into 21 double plays (6th most in the NL).

2004: This year he saw the most time behind the plate as Mike Piazza was placed at first base to try to prolong his hitting career. Phillips played in 87 games at catcher, Vance Wilson played in 69 games & Piazza caught in 50 games.

On Opening Day in a 7-4 win at Atlanta, he played first base & collected two doubles with an RBI.

Phillips didn't hit the same as he did last year. He didn't get over the .200 mark until May 21st. From May 15th to May 26th, he had a nine-game hit streak & drove in eight runs.

On May 15th, he had a season high three RBI game in a loss at Houston. It was the second time in his career he had a three RBI game. 

On May 16th, in a tie game with the Astros in Houston, Phillips hit a HR off Brandon Backe which proved to be the games winning run. On May 18th, in his next game he made it back-to-back HR games with a solo shot off the Cardinals Matt Morris.

Multi- HR Game: On May 30th he hit a pair of HRs off Marlin pitchers, Toby Borland & Darrin Oliver in a 8-6 loss to the Marlins in Florida. 

The next day he hit yet another HR in a 5-3 win at Philadelphia. 

That week he drove in runs in five of six games. In the month of May he hit 5 HRs & drove in 14 runs. Over the next two months, he batted just .188 over June & July.

On July 7th, Phillips had his season high three hits in a game coming in a 10-1 win at Philadelphia. In that game he collected his 14th double of the season.

In August he went 5-447 hitting just .152.

From September 3rd to September 13th, he had a six-game hit streak with two HRs & four RBIs. Phillips ended the season hitting safely in his last eight games & overall batted .313 for September.

Overall, in the Mets 2004 season they went 71-91 finishing fourth. Phillips struggled at the plate, hitting nowhere near his previous year’s numbers, dropping off eighty points, hitting just .218. He hit 7 HRs with 18 doubles 34 runs scored & 34 RBIs in 128 games. He posted a .298 o base % & .624 OPS.

Behind the plate he threw out 31% of would-be base stealers, above the league average. At first base he made no errors in 275 chances.

In the off season the Mets acquired Ramon Castro & the solid defensive catcher Mike Difelice to back up Mike Piazza. Wilsons days were numbered. In Spring Training of 2005, he was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Kaz Ishii.

Post Mets Career:  In Los Angeles he played in 128 games, becoming the Dodgers main catcher. He hit 10 HRs with 20 doubles & 55 RBIs while batting .238. 

He threw out only 20% of would-be base stealers posting a .991 fielding percentage, also seeing some action at first base. He was granted free agency as Russell Martin took over the Dodgers catching duties for 2006. Phillips signed in Toronto with the Blue Jays and got a few breaks remaining on the club on for two seasons.

In 2006 he saw some action when main catcher Greg Zaun went down with injury. Then later in the year was brought up to replace Shea Hillenbrand’s roster spot. Phillips saw action in 25 games as a utility player batting .250. 

In 2007 he got a chance to play when more Bengie Molina left Toronto for free agency. He played in 55 games batting just .208 playing (158 at bats) in his last season in the majors. 

After his MLB playing days, he played one season in the Australian Baseball League, then eventually in the Atlantic League with Camden. He would sign a deal with Atlanta playing at the AAA level for the Braves but was released.

In February 2009 he received an invitation to the Seattle Mariners Spring camp. He didn’t make the Mariners club but was offered a job as bullpen catcher. 

He finished his seven-year big league career batting .249 with 344 hits in 465 games played, 30 HRs 77 doubles, 168 RBIs & a .994 fielding percentage, throwing out 21 % of would-be base stealers.

Retirement -Coaching: In February of 2009 he received an invitation to Seattle Mariners camp. He didn't make the team as a player but was offered the job of bullpen catcher. He remained there for a few more seasons. 

In 2016 he joined the Toronto Blue Jays coaching staff. In 2019 he became bullpen catcher for the AA Trenton Thunder.

Family: Jason has been married twice. He & his first wife Kelly have one child.

Love From the Bullpen Stands: During a warmup practice one day, in he made eye contact with a girl in the stands; they kept looking at each other throughout a game. Phillips tossed her a ball with his number on it & she texted messaged him and the two decided to meet.

 Soon they were deep in love and got married in June 2010 at a ceremony held in the bullpen at Safeco Field. Phillips is the older brother of San Diego Padre Kyle Phillips.