Article: Week in Review: A Solid Week on the West Coast

[Kyle Ginsbach]

The Brewers dropped their first series of the year last week, but still found a way to be successful on their West Coast road trip.

Here’s a Breakdown of last week’s action.

Image courtesy of © Ray Acevedo-USA TODAY Sports

Weekly Snapshot

Record Last Week: 4-3 

Runs Scored: 29

Runs Surrendered: 21

Standing: 1st in NL Central (2.0 GA)

***

Game 10 | AZ 3, MIL 0

Game 11 | MIL 7, AZ 1: Pitching Showdown Ends With A Bang

Game 12 | AZ 7, MIL 3: Snakes Strike Back

Game 13 | MIL 4, SD 3: Close Call In San Diego

Game 14 | MIL 11, SD 2: Hello, Officer; I’d Like to Report a Murder in San Diego

Game 15 | SD 10, MIL 3: You Win Some, You Lose Some

Game 16 | MIL 1, SD 0

NEWS AND NOTES

After a relatively healthy first two weeks of the season, the Brewers see players go down with injuries more frequently. The big hit was the announcement that Brandon Woodruff was diagnosed with a Subscapular Strain, which will sideline Brewer’s ace for a significant amount of time. It’s currently unknown how long he’ll be out, but Colin Rea will occupy a rotation spot until Woodruff can return.

Jesse Winker missed the first two games of the series in San Diego with an illness before being scratched with an oblique tightness before the final game. 

Gus Varland had a major scare in San Diego after being struck with a line drive late in the game Saturday. The initial concern was a head injury, but Varland could walk off the field with assistance. It was announced Sunday that Varland was placed on the 15-day IL with a right-hand contusion. To take Varland‘s roster spot, the Brewers called up Elivs Peguero. 

HIGHLIGHTS

After struggling to start the season, Rowdy Tellez found his footing while the Brewers visited the West Coast. Tellez's season numbers are suddenly up to .240/.322/.560, and he’s hit five home runs. This week, two blasts came in the Brewers' 11-2 blowout against the Padres.

Wade Miley had a wonderful week, building on his fantastic first start last week. His finest work came on Sunday, where Miley twirled seven scoreless innings of baseball, picking up eight strikeouts. 

 

Devin Williams has quietly gotten off to an excellent start to the season. He made three appearances last week, recorded two saves, and didn’t surrender a single run. Williams has recorded eight strikeouts in five innings of work this year, with six coming in his two outings against the Padres last week.

Victor Caratini is off to a great start despite his limited playing time. The Brewers second backstop had a 4-4 day at the plate in what was the Brewers' only highlight of the 10-3 loss to the Padres on Saturday.

LOWLIGHTS

Even though the Brewers' offense has been producing runs at an admirable level, they’ve been striking out quite a bit. The team recorded 66 outs via strikeout last week but did draw 25 walks.

Janson Junk had a tough debut in Arizona, giving up five runs in 4.2 innings against the Diamondbacks. Junk was optioned back to AAA after the start. The Brewers will likely call on his services again at some point this season, but for now, not the start Junk wanted.

Brian Anderson had a tough start to the week before snapping his 0-18 skid with a single on Friday. Joey Wiemer also had a similar hitless streak but broke it up with a base hit in the Padres series.

The pitching staff's performance on Saturday was particularly ugly, where they surrendered ten runs of 12 hits in the only loss to the Padres. 

TRENDING STORYLINE

Injuries and Strikeouts are likely the only reasonable concern with the Brewers. Last week was particularly brutal on both fronts, so Milwaukee will look for a healthier week next week and likely aim to cut down on the swing-and-miss.

The return of Adrian Houser could cause some complications, too, as it is now unclear what his role will be with the injury to Brandon Woodruff. Houser could slot into the rotation or slot into the bullpen as a long man, but the remains to be seen. Houser has been rehabbing since last week. 

LOOKING AHEAD

The Brewers will finish their west coast road trip, starting a series in Seattle on Monday, before finishing the week taking on the Red Sox at American Family Field. Colin Rea is scheduled for his second start of the season, while the rest of the rotation remains the same with the absence of Brandon Woodruff.

MONDAY, 4/17: BREWERS @ MARINERS - RHP Corbin Burnes vs.  RHP Chirs Flexen

TUESDAY, 4/18: BREWERS @ MARINERS - RHP Colin Rea vs. RHP Logan Gilbert

WEDNESDAY, 4/19: BREWERS @ MARINERS - LHP Eric Lauer vs. TBD

FRIDAY, 4/21: RED SOX @ BREWERS - RHP Freddy Peralta vs. TBD

SATURDAY, 4/22: RED SOX @ BREWERS - LHP Wade Miley vs. TBD

SUNDAY, 4/23: RED SOX @ BREWERS - RHP Corbin Burnes vs. TBD

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[Frisbee Slider]

I’m glad we miss Luis Castillo in Seattle.

I also noticed 36-year old LHP Tommy Milone was otherwise in-line to be the starting pitcher in game three, until he was designated for assignment. Almost seems like poor scouting to DFA Milone before the Milwaukee series. Milone had 1.93 ERA in his one 4.2 IP start last week.

[Frisbee Slider]

I see LHP Marco Gonzales is on paternity leave and could conceivably pitch in game three for a Seattle but that seems like a short leave.

[Brock Beauchamp]

11 hours ago, Frisbee Slider said:

I’m glad we miss Luis Castillo in Seattle.

I also noticed 36-year old LHP Tommy Milone was otherwise in-line to be the starting pitcher in game three, until he was designated for assignment. Almost seems like poor scouting to DFA Milone before the Milwaukee series. Milone had 1.93 ERA in his one 4.2 IP start last week.

I had no idea Tommy Milone was still in the league.

[Frisbee Slider]

37 minutes ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

I had no idea Tommy Milone was still in the league

He was, for a spot start while Marco Gonzales is on paternity leave. Looks like he pitched well for his one game. Then, DFA’d