Joey Votto has had a friendly rivalry with Philadelphia Phillies fans throughout his tremendous career, and his latest statement probably won't ease any tensions.
Votto joined Christopher "Mad Dog" Russo Thursday, and said that the 2021 Milwaukee Brewers starting rotation is even better than some of the the all-time rotations that the Phillies had early last decade:
The 2010 National League MVP was in the lineup when Roy Halladay threw a no-hitter against the Reds in Game 1 of that year's NLDS, so he doesn't say this lightly. In fact, the Phillies swept the Reds in that series -- it was the last time they won a postseason series -- with Roy Oswalt pitching in Game 2 and Cole Hamels tossing a complete-game shutout in Game 3.
Mind you, Cliff Lee didn't return to the Phillies until 2011, but he was one of the most dominant pitchers of his era. There's a reason that the Phillies won a franchise record 102 games in 2011, when they had him, Halladay, Hamels and Oswalt all in the same rotation.
For Votto to say this gives you an idea of how impressed he is with the 2021 Brewers rotation, headlined by Brandon Woodruff, Corbin Burnes and Freddy Peralta. Halladay, Lee and Hamels all finished in the top five in National League Cy Young Award voting in 2011, and it's pretty likely that at least Woodruff and Burnes will do the same in 2021.
For what it's worth, the top three in the Phillies 2011 starting rotation -- Halladay, Lee and Hamels -- combined to be worth 20.9 fWAR. To this point, Woodruff, Burnes and Peralta have been worth 13.4 fWAR as a trio in 2021, so there's still some work to be done for them to be viewed as a historically great group.
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