Phillies Open Homestand Against Brewers: Five Things To Know

1. Records

The Phillies (27-50) and the Brewers (29-48) have the two worst records in all of baseball, and their matchup could be a preview of the showdown for the number one draft pick next summer. The Phillies have played well the past week, taking a game from the Cardinals, two from the Yankees, and one from the Nationals, three of the best teams in all of baseball, to go 4-3 in their last 7.

The Brewers, meanwhile, are struggling to maintain any semblance of a recovery from last year’s lopsided year, in which they raced to the front of the NL Central before a spectacular collapse left them with an 81-81 regular season record. They have good young pitching, but are inexperienced, and veteran bats have failed to deliver for much of the year.

2. Looming Trades

Given their records, most analysts agree the Phillies and the Brewers will be willing to trade just about anyone to reinfuse their rosters with young players The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has reported that even young shortstop Jean Segura is on the table. A trade could occur any day that would change the makeup of the Brewers lineup.

The same can be said about the Phillies, although they have less marketable pieces than the Brewers. Cole Hamels has said that he hasn’t said no to being traded anywhere, despite previous rumors, and would be open to being traded anywhere. The most likely destinations at this point seem to be the Texas Rangers, Houston Astros, Toronto Blue Jays, and Los Angeles Dodgers.

Closer Jonathan Papelbon has been linked to the Chicago Cubs and the Blue Jays. Aaron Harang is another trade possibility. Scouts from potential suitors will likely be in attendance during this week’s series.

3. The Philadelphia Phrancos

Phillies rookie third-baseman Maikel Franco has thrown himself into the middle of the National League Rookie of the Year race after a fiery June.

Over the last two weeks, he’s batted .346 with four home runs and 16 runs batted in, including multiple game-winning hits. He overall line for the year is favorably comparable to the much more talked about rookie third baseman in Chicago, Kris Bryant.

Franco: .304 avg, 908 OPS, 10 home runs

Bryant: .273 avg, .841 OPS, 10 home runs

Even more impressively, Franco’s numbers have come in about 80 games less than Bryant, because Franco wasn’t called up until later in the season.

4. Can Domonic Brown turn it around?

Two years ago, Domonic Brown was in a very similar position to Franco. He was in the midst of a monster rookie season which would land him a spot on the National League All Star Team.

But as the year progressed his average dropped and his power dissapeared, and it neither returned in 2014.

Brown began his third season in 2015 on the disabled list, and when he was healed, he was not promoted from AAA for months.

Since a call up a few weeks ago, Brown has batted a dismal .200, with no home runs and four RBI.

As time goes on, it will be harder and harder for the Phillies to remember the Franco-like Brown of two years ago. He needs to regain his power stroke to maintain his starting job in a crowded outfield.

5. Pitching Depth

A mix of Severino Gonzalez, Sean O’Sullivan, Kevin Correia, and Adam Morgan has scraped the Phillies a few wins, but they have struggled to find any consistently reliable starters behind Hamels and Harang.

Chad Billingsley will make his return from the disabled list on July 2. In the meantime, the Phillies will throw O’Sullivan on Monday, Hamels on Tuesday, and Harang on Wednesday.

Prospect Aaron Nola, meanwhile, has been tearing up the minor leagues, posting a 9-3 record with a 1.91 ERA across AAA Lehigh Valley and AA Reading. It seems likely he’ll be called up sometime this summer.

Until Nola is called up, those five pitchers will seek to distinguish themselves and cement one of the available long-term slots in the rotation.