shane drohan and the Philadelphia Phillies open a three-game set Friday night in Milwaukee with a 28-12 run since April 27 behind interim manager Don Mattingly. The Brewers enter at 41-25 and first in the NL Central, so this is less about early-season survival than two contenders testing how far their recent form can carry them.
Milwaukee’s 41-25 edge
The Brewers reached Thursday at 41-25, 3.5 games ahead of the Cardinals, after a 4-2 road trip that included a sweep of the Rockies and two losses in three games against the A's in Las Vegas. That leaves Milwaukee in first place, but the weekend arrives with a thinner roster than the standings suggest.
Quinn Priester, Logan Henderson and Brandon Woodruff were out, along with Jared Koenig, Angel Zerpa, Rob Zastryzny, Brian Fitzpatrick, DL Hall and Carlos Rodriguez. Woodruff was expected to rejoin the team in Milwaukee during the weekend, Henderson was targeting a July return, and Koenig and Zastryzny were on their way back. Zerpa was out for the season, Fitzpatrick was evaluating whether to get Tommy John surgery, Hall was out until late July, and Rodriguez had a TBD return.
Don Mattingly’s 28-12 run
Mattingly has taken over a club that started 9-19 before Rob Thomson was fired, and the Phillies have responded with a 28-12 record since April 27. They entered Thursday at 37-31, second in the NL East and eight games behind the Braves, which makes this trip a real check on whether the surge is sustainable outside their own division.
That record has not come from one bat carrying everything. Kyle Schwarber leads the majors with 24 home runs and is hitting.239/.358/.575 with 100 strikeouts and 42 walks over 65 games, while Bryce Harper has 15 home runs and a.267/.376/.517 line. Brandon Marsh owns the club's best batting average at.326, and Trea Turner and Bryson Stott have combined for 26 steals, giving Philadelphia enough on-base pressure to survive even with a thin margin elsewhere.
Phillies bats versus Brewers pitching
The matchup also exposes how different the lineups have looked statistically. Milwaukee is hitting.254/.340/.389 as a team with a.729 OPS that ranks eighth, 57 homers, 352 runs and 68 steals. Philadelphia is at.228/.298/.389 with a.687 OPS that ranks 27th, 86 homers, 276 runs and 54 steals.
Johan Rojas is out for the season after a suspension followed by a torn right UCL, and Philadelphia also has Kyle Backhus in a rehab assignment, Adolis García day to day with a pulled muscle in his throwing arm, and Aidan Miller out until August with a back injury while he stays with the Triple-A affiliate. The Brewers and Phillies are both short on bodies, but Milwaukee arrives with the better team line and the better record, which puts the pressure on Philadelphia to keep the Mattingly surge from flattening out on the road.
