Former Two-Way Major Leaguer Brett Phillips Signs With Cleburne Railroaders For 2025 American Association Season

Former Major League Baseball outfielder and pitcher Brett Phillips signed with the Cleburne Railroaders on May 1 for the 2025 American Association regular season.

April 30 Transaction: @crrbaseball signed RHP Brett Phillips (@brett_phillips8).

Phillips joins Cleburne after spending 7 seasons in the majors with the #Brewers, #Royals, #Rays, #Orioles and #Angels. pic.twitter.com/npQeIlEtxk

— American Association (@AA_Baseball) May 1, 2025

Phillips originally signed with the Piratas de Campeche of the Liga Mexicana de Beisbol on March 25, 2025, but later decided to return to the United States to play.

The 30-year-old left-handed hitter from Seminole, Florida, was selected in the sixth round of the 2012 MLB Amateur Draft by the Houston Astros out of Seminole High School, forgoing his commitment to play at North Carolina State University.

Phillips played seven MLB seasons with the Milwaukee Brewers from 2017-18, Kansas City Royals from 2018-20, Tampa Bay Rays from 2020-22, Baltimore Orioles in 2022, and the Los Angeles Angels in 2023.

He hit .187 over 395 career games with 160 hits, 25 doubles, nine triples, 31 home runs, 99 RBI, 39 stolen bases, 95 walks, and 376 strikeouts in 971 plate appearances, finishing with a .619 OPS.

He signed a minor league contract with the Chicago White Sox on Jan. 8, 2024, and was assigned to Triple-A Charlotte. In the 2024 Cactus League, he appeared in 22 games, slashing .250/.308/.458 over 24 at-bats with six hits, two doubles, one triple, three RBI, one walk, and 10 strikeouts.

At Triple-A Charlotte, Phillips struggled in 17 games, slashing .120/.228/.280 with six hits, three doubles, one triple, one home run, seven RBI, three stolen bases, seven walks, and 27 strikeouts over 57 plate appearances before being released on May 4, 2024.

The New York Yankees signed Phillips on July 30 and assigned him to the development list with Low-A Tampa on August 1. Transitioning from outfielder to pitcher, he showcased a fastball that reached 97 mph and a developing slider during the National Baseball Congress World Series that summer, leading to the Yankees’ interest.

Before officially making the switch to pitching, Phillips delivered one of his most memorable two-way moments on May 10, 2022, when he pitched to Shohei Ohtani during a 12-0 Rays loss at Angel Stadium. He held the reigning AL MVP to a double off the wall and later joked that it proved he was “the better Shohei.” The sequence was covered in detail by MLB.com’s Adam Berry.

The moment was upstaged by what happened next. Anthony Rendon, batting left-handed for the first time in his MLB career, launched a 411-foot homer off a 54 mph pitch from Phillips. It was the first lefty home run by a non-switch-hitter after 4,528 right-handed plate appearances, according to MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger. Phillips later admitted, “Honestly, I didn’t even know that was him until he crossed the plate and I saw his last name.”

Lefty Boom Boom ????✅
Anthony Rendon Home Run????
101 MPH 30° 411 Feet????

Anthony Rendon homers (4) on a fly ball to center field. Shohei Ohtani scores.
54.2 MPH slider thrown by Brett Phillips.

Rays 0 – #Angels 12 Bottom 8th
Credit: Ballys#Rendon #Angels #TBvsLAA pic.twitter.com/MWBzkFdcvd

— Anaheim Sports (@AnaheimSports1) May 11, 2022

Phillips later joined Ohtani and Rendon as teammates with the Angels in 2023.

According to his Baseball Reference, Phillips made one pitching appearance for the Low-A Tampa Tarpons on Sept. 5 against the Dunedin Blue Jays, allowing two hits, five earned runs, two walks, and a hit batter in a single outing. He didn’t appear in another game the rest of the year and elected free agency on Nov. 4.

He has pitched in five Major League games across his career with the Rays, Orioles, and Angels, logging 5.1 innings with a 15.19 ERA. He allowed 12 hits, nine earned runs, three home runs, five walks, and no strikeouts, with one balk.

The Cleburne Railroaders finished the 2024 season with a 60-40 record, winning the American Association East Division before losing their best-of-three Division Playoff Series to the Chicago Dogs.

Cleburne opens the 2025 American Association season at home on May 8 against the Winnipeg Goldeyes at La Moderna Field in Cleburne, Texas. First pitch is set for 8:05 p.m. EDT.