Phillies Phoes of the Week Part I: “Something rotten in the state of Wisconsin”
By Ethan Seidel
Milwaukee Brewers
The Brewers and Phillies find themselves in similar positions heading into their four-game set. While mathematics says they both have a shot at the playoffs, both teams are essentially holding tryouts for 2013. Life without the Prince hasn’t been so kind to the Brew Crew, but it’s been their pitching that has really let the team down. Usually a team will turn to it’s minor league affiliates to feed the major league club, but that may be a problem for Milwaukee. Right now the team is in negotiations with their AA affiliate. They are one of only 8 teams to not have a AA team under contract for next year. This may be standard negotiating procedure, but with the team struggling as it is, it would behoove them to have a place for their young prospects to play!
When Last We Met: The Brewers are a welcome sight for the Phillies, as they swept them out of town 7-6 in each game. The Phightins were in vintage form, coming back in multiple nights late off of Brewer’s closer Frankie Rodriguez. Most impressive was the Phillies 4-run rally in the opener. It looked like the last minute spark the team needed to get back in the playoff hunt, until then they went to Atlanta…
Series Predictions: 1) Bernie the Brewer takes more trips down his slide (home run celebration) than the Phillies like, adding more misery to an already beleaguered bullpen.
2) Cliff Lee wins a game! The strangest stat on this team has to be Lee’s 2 wins on the year to date.
3) Hamel’s continues his consecutive inning scoreless streak, but he is still far from Orel Hersheiser’s record. Can we get this guy a Cy-Young already?
Fansided Perspective: Reviewing the Brew editor Colin Bennett shared a virtual ale and discussed why the Phillies and Brewers are so bad.
1) How would you judge the return the brewers got for zach greinke, did they get enough?
I think the return is fine – especially judging by the recent performance of Greinke. We got three high-level prospects, one of whom is already making a difference at the Major League level. Hellweg and Pena will probably be given bullpen shots next year and both can have major impacts there. I think it was a great move for the Brewers.
2) What happened to John Axford? His mustache dominated the 9th inning last year.
The Ax man’s struggles are frustrating and upsetting. He goes from one of the longest consecutive saves streaks in history to blowing every other outing. I think it’s mental. These days people don’t have the patience. One bad effort and you need to go. I think he’s got a lot of good innings left, he just needs to find his tenacity.
3) Paul Ryan (of Wisconsin) is trolling for votes for mitt Romney. Would you vote for another Ryan (Braun) come MVP voting?
I’d love to say differently, but more often than not baseball politics can be just as divisive as the crap out of DC. I’d give Braun a vote, but not the win. He’s playing at a consistently high level this year, but with the Crew effectively out his numbers aren’t as impactful. He’ll win another MVP, just not this season.