CINCINNATI — This is for sure: Brandon Phillips has swagger. This is also for sure: fans around the country will not see it on display for the remainder of October because his Cincinnati Reds were ambushed by the San Francisco Giants last week after taking a two-games-to-none lead in a first-round best-of-five playoff series.

So a player who routinely makes highlight reel plays at second base, irks opponents’ with his in-your-face style, and plays with an ear-to-ear grin plastered on his face will basically be out of sight until spring training.

In the series against San Francisco, Phillips was 9 for 24 at the plate for a .375 average, with 3 doubles, a home run and 7 runs batted in. It was all in keeping with a 31-year-old player who is a sparkplug at the top of the lineup and has three Gold Gloves, two All-Star Game selections, a Silver Slugger award and a 30-30 season to his credit.

Off the field — well after Game 3 of the division series against the Giants — he stood in the Reds’ locker room in a colorful striped sweater with Ray-Ban sunglasses resting on his head and gingham-print high-tops on his feet. Then there is the custom-made, purple Audi R8 sports car he drives and the nearly 600,000 Twitter followers he entertains as @DatDudeBP.