"Who has more pop in their bat, you or your brother?" Quakes manager Ever Magallanes has asked. The answer is always the same from Phillips without hesitation -- "I do."

Normally this wouldn't be a surprising response, given that Phillips is a professional baseball player with the Class A Advanced Quakes, an affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels. But Phillips' older brother, Brandon, is a member of the Cincinnati Reds and best known for his 2007 season in which he hit .288 with 30 homers and 94 RBIs to go along with 34 stolen bases.

Although P.J. Phillips' statements may or may not have been serious in terms of his comparison to Brandon, one thing is for sure -- if Phillips ever breaks into the Majors and accomplishes what his older brother already has, his career would already be a success.

"It is really nice having a brother in the big leagues because you can ask him questions, talk to him about life and baseball, and he helps me out every day," Phillips said. "Hopefully one day I will get to play with him."

At first glance, Phillips looks exactly like his older brother -- his speed rivals Brandon's -- and the two play the same assortment of infield positions in shortstop and second base. Given Brandon's success in the Majors thus far, you can't blame Angels officials if they have an overpowering feeling of excitement about the budding star.

As if the aforementioned similarities weren't enough, Phillips had the opportunity to watch Brandon go through the ranks of the Minor Leagues as a highly touted prospect and saw the ups and downs of the process.

Now, as Phillips is attempting to climb his way through the Minors with the hope of one day getting that elusive Major League callup, he can look back at all the experiences Brandon went through and draw some advice in certain situations from his brother.

"I have learned a lot from him," Phillips said. "I saw him all the time when he was going through his struggles, so he always tells me to keep my head up and learn from him. He tells me to take my time and just focus on getting better every year.

"I would love to be on his level. I mean, 30-30? But right now I am just trying to be the best player I can be. I can probably hit 15 to 20 home runs, but right now I am trying to work on my game and hopefully I will turn out as good as he did."

As for his manager Magallanes, he also has been quite pleased with Phillips' performance this season and his progression during his time with the Quakes.

"He is a huge asset to our lineup and a big reason for our success of late, especially on the defensive end of it," Magallanes said. "I know he is going to do some things on the offensive side of things, but I think it has been a pleasure to watch him on the defensive side. I just think he needs to keep on playing more games. He has show improvement every year, and it's all about getting betting from day to day, month to month and year to year.

"I think if he continues the improvement, the sky is the limit for him. He is just an incredible athlete, and I am very proud of how he has gone about it and his success to date."

Last year with Class A Cedar Rapids, Phillips hit .245 with 13 home runs, 37 RBIs and 34 stolen bases in 436 at-bats. This season with the Quakes, Phillips has is average up more than 30 points at .277, he has hit eight home runs, driven in 47 runs and stolen 29 bases in about 100 fewer at-bats.

The big knock on Phillips has been his inability to identify pitches accurately at times, causing him to swing at balls out of the strike zone, but this season Phillips seems to be growing in all areas that have drawn previous concern, and the proof is in his batting average.

"I need to work on my strike-zone discipline by trying to pick up the pitches a little better," Phillips said. "I mean, when I pick up my pitches, my batting average goes up. I start putting the ball in play more and hitting more line drives."

Ironically enough, for both of the Phillips brothers, basketball was their first love. Even for their sister, Porsha, who is currently a member of the University of Georgia women's basketball team, basketball was the Phillips family's favorite sport.

Naturally Michael Jordan was Phillips' favorite athlete growing up, but Jordan's switch from basketball to baseball was far from the reason why both brothers made the transition.

"Actually it is kind of crazy because basketball was my first love and it was my brother's too, but then people started talking about how we could make a better living playing baseball and we stuck with that sport," Phillips said. "My dad forced us to get out onto the diamond. I mean, he really forced us to work hard with baseball and made us change the sport.

"At first, I was mad. I loved basketball so much and I wanted to play ball. It turned out for the best though. I always had love for baseball, so the more I play now, the more fun it gets."

Although it may not seem like basketball skills would translate well onto the baseball diamond, Magallanes actually believes it has in Phillips' case.

"When Michael Jordan tried playing baseball there was some skill that transferred over. Basketball players are incredible athletes," Magallanes said. "I think with the agility and the quickness, especially in the position P.J. plays, his basketball background has helped. His agility and quickness to get to balls at short has been outstanding, so I think at that position there is some help."

As of now, however, basketball has turned into a thing of the past. Phillips' favorite athlete has gone from Jordan to Brandon and baseball has turned into a primary concern.

Although Phillips has continued to admire what his older brother has accomplished in the Majors, if he continues to prepare the same way Brandon did, P.J. could be admiring the future mold of himself.

Ari Wasserman is a contributor to MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.