Brewers (24-29) vs Phillies (26-27) series preview

The Phillies are another one of those rebuilding teams. I would put them in a class more similar to the Brewers than the Reds. In my opinion, the Reds rebuild is a bit of a mess. Their farm system is only okay and they've already traded the majority of their big assets--for which they seemed to get a light return. The Phillies on the other hand have a very good farm system and made some excellent trades bringing top quality prospects back. Their major league team even has some interesting players. That's more or less how I'd describe the Brewers as well. In broad terms anyway.

On the season they are one game under .500 which is pretty respectable for a rebuilding club. However their lineup has been pretty awful outside of Odubel Herrera who is hitting 319/427/447. Their record is only as good as it is because of their pitching. Aaron Nola has been excellent, recording a 2.88 ERA over 11 starts with a superb 22.2 K%-BB%. Vincent Velasquez--acquired over the offseason from the Astros as part of the Ken Giles trade--has been pretty solid as well. The Brewers will face both pitchers this series.

Starting Lineup

C - Cameron Rupp

1B - Ryan Howard

2B - Cesar Hernandez

3B - Maikel Franco

SS - Freddy Galvis

LF - Tyler Goeddel

CF - Odubel Herrera

RF - Peter Bourjos

Rotation

Jeremy Hellickson

Aaron Nola

Jerad Eickhoff

Vincent Velasquez

Adam Morgan

High Leverage Relievers

David Hernandez

Hector Neris

Jenmar Gomez

Games

Thursday, 6:05 pm CT - Chase Anderson vs Jerad Eickhoff

Friday, 6:05 pm CT - Jimmy Nelson vs Vincent Velasquez

Saturday, 2:05 pm CT - Junior Guerra vs Jeremy Hellickson

Sunday, 12:35 pm CT - Wily Peralta vs Aaron Nola

Statistics courtesy of FanGraphs