Brewers (7-9) vs Phillies (7-9) series preview

Much like the Milwaukee Brewers, the Philadelphia Phillies have recently begun a rebuilding phase in their franchise. Where the Brewers traded Carlos Gomez and Mike Fiers at last year's deadline, the Phillies sent Cole Hamels to the Texas Rangers. And this offseason they sent Ken Giles to the Houston Astros. Each was a huge blockbuster deal that leaves their farm system set up quite well for the future.

For this year though, they look quite weak at the major league level--which isn't unexpected. Odubel Herrera is off to a nice start (255/424/373) but he's not going to maintain his 22.7% walk rate. Andres Blanco is trying his best to prove last year wasn't a fluke with an early season 333/429/444. But there really aren't any other regulars hitting well for the Phillies.

Their rotation, on the other hand, actually looks okay. I'm not a huge fan of Jeremy Hellickson. But Charlie Morton is a perfectly serviceable back-end starter. Jerad Eickhoff had a really good rookie season last year making 8 very solid starts and he's doing more of the same this year. Aaron Nola was a recent draft pick and so far has been exceeding expectations. And Vincent Velasquez has big boom or bust potential. He could be a frontline starter or a high leverage reliever. So far this year he's pitching like the former.

Starting Lineup
C: Cameron Rupp
1B: Ryan Howard
2B: Cesar Hernandez
3B: Maikel Franco
SS: Freddy Galvis
LF: Darin Ruf
CF: Odubel Herrera
RF: Peter Bourjos

Starting Rotation
Jeremy Hellickson
Aaron Nola
Charlie Morton
Jared Eickhoff
Vincent Velasquez

High Leverage Relievers
Jenmar Gomez
David Hernandez

Games
Friday, April 22 - 7:10 pm CT: Zach Davies vs Aaron Nola
Saturday, April 23 - 6:10 pm CT: Chase Anderson vs Charlie Morton
Sunday April 24 - 1:10 pm CT: Wily Peralta vs Jerad Eickhoff

Statistics courtesy of FanGraphs

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