Milwaukee's Best
The Phillies snapped out of their stupor, however briefly, with last night's 4-2 win over the Brewers. Eric Milton twirled seven strong innings, and, as Tom Goodman notes in Swing and a Miss today, is starting to make noises about wanting to come back after this, the last year of his contract.
This puts the Phils in something of a bind. Milton has been the team's most consistent starter this season by far, and appears to have the kind of mental makeup necessary to pitch in Philadelphia. (Are you listening, Mr. Millwood?) Yet his record -- 13-2 after last night's win -- has been vastly inflated by the impressive run support he has enjoyed. The law of averages suggests a return to normal next year, and I'm not sure that Milton's going to be worth the scratch he'll want once that happens.
posted by The Art of Rory @ 1:23 PM
2 comments
2 Comments:
Because I root for the Twins in the American League, I'm very familiar with Eric Milton - and the number which tells you all about him is the ERA.
He's over 4.00 - well over 4.00 - for his entire career; he's never once put up the kind of ERA you'd like from a #2, let alone a top of the rotation guy.
As a Twin, Milton would blow through the opposition the first time through the lineup, and start getting hit the second. He's not dominating, and he makes too many mistakes to be a good nibbler.
Fortunately, it looks like last year's injury troubles are behind him - he'll eat innings for you ... but you're not going to win many games 2-1 or 3-2 with him on the bump.
Re: Eric Milton going forward.
I have more positive expectations than the commentator from Minneapolis because we are finally seeing a healthy Eric Milton. Remember, he lost a huge amount of time (was it a full season?) becuase of his knee. Watching Milton's delivery, a bit awkward to say the least, I can easily imagine how a bad knee made it very difficult for him to pitch at his best in the past.
Tom Goodman
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