Milwaukee Brewers: Looking back at the Carlos Gomez trade
By Kenny Jilek
Brett Phillips
Brett Phillips probably made the least direct contributions to the Milwaukee Brewers of any guy in this trade. He played only a total of 52 games with Milwaukee and some fans probably forgot he existed or didn’t know he left.
Phillips was somewhat of a fan favorite to the few who enjoyed his love of gaming. He also went viral in Spring Training for this video of his out-of-this-world laugh. Due to the logjam in the outfield created by the acquisitions of Lorenzo Cain and Christian Yelich, and his failure to produce in his limited chances in 2018, posting a .182 batting average, he was sent out at the trade deadline last season.
It’s what the Brewers got back for him that has been his biggest contribution to this organization. Now, it was not a one-for-one trade. It was Brett Phillips and reliever now turned starter Jorge Lopez for Mike Moustakas. Lopez went on to almost pull a Mike Fiers by throwing eight perfect innings before giving up a walk and a hit in the ninth inning.
Mike Moustakas helped the Brewers’ late-season push to win the division last season and is helping, even more, this year. This will be the third All-Star appearance of his career and first in a Brewer uniform. This year he has hit his way to a .912 OPS while playing both second and third base. With the call up of Keston Hiura, he will likely stay at third for the foreseeable future. Mike Moustakas has been a very welcome addition, and Phillips was a key cog in his acquisition.
Even with Phillips gone, the lasting effects are being felt in what has been the best season the Moose’s career. Speaking of lasting effects of another guy who was traded…