Brewers 4, Blue Jays 2: A True Outcome

[Jason Wang]

After some timely hitting and great pitching to contact, the Brewers have tied their series with the Blue Jays. 

Image courtesy of © Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports

After some timely hitting and great pitching to contact, the Brewers have tied their series with the Blue Jays. 

Box Score

Starting Pitcher: Julio Teheran - 6.0 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K, 79 pitches, 52 strikes (65.8%)
Home Runs: Abraham Toro (1)
Top 3 WPA: Julio Teheran (.242), Abraham Toro (.184), Devin Williams (.086) 
Bottom 3 WPA: Brice Turang (-.073), Rowdy Tellez (-.072), William Contreras (-.064) 

Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)

Brewers Defense Was Working Overtime
On his way to cruising through a six-inning start with no earned runs, Julio Teheran did not record a single strikeout. Of the 18 outs he recorded, six were flyouts, six were groundouts, and three were lineouts.

In the remaining three innings of the game, Joel Payamps, Peter Strzelecki, and Devin Williams combined for zero strikeouts, meaning that the Brewers pitching staff did not record a single strikeout or walk in nine whole innings of work. Why work harder if you can work smarter, right? 

Julio Teheran has been fantastic since being signed to bolster an injury-plagued rotation, posting a 0.82 ERA and a 0.82 WHIP in his two starts so far over 11.0 innings.

It’s Toro Time!
In his first at-bat as a Milwaukee Brewer, Abraham Toro hit a 347-foot home run to right field off of Alek Manoah to score himself and Brian Anderson.

Toro also hit a single in the fourth inning, going 2-4 with two strikeouts on the day. While a great start, it’s doubtful that he will continue this production consistently at the major-league level, and he could be sent back to Nashville once more players recover from their current injury troubles. In Triple A this season, Toro has slashed .258/.344/.352 over 183 plate appearances.

In the seventh inning, Owen Miller continued his streak of dominance by hitting a 2-RBI double to extend the Brewers lead to 4-1.

Are The Brewers…Bad?
After this game, the Brewers maintained a one-game lead in the NL Central, but there’s evidence to suggest that this may not be the case for very long. At -24, Milwaukee are 21st in run differential in the major leagues and the worst in the NL Central. At .687, they are 26th in team OPS. They are 13th in team ERA at 4.13, but it’s clear that the offense is one of the worst in baseball. 

Part of this is due to the injuries suffered by key pieces like Luis Urias, Willy Adames, and Garrett Mitchell. The other part is a handful of players who are really sandbagging the rest of the team, namely Brice Turang (56 OPS+), Joey Wiemer (62 OPS+), and Tyrone Taylor (19 OPS+). Will the front office look to make some important roster adjustments to make the team more offensively competitive?

What’s Next? 
Freddy Peralta will take the mound opposite Kevin Gausman in the third and final game of the series against the Blue Jays. Peralta has had a few rough starts recently, namely against the San Francisco Giants and the St. Louis Cardinals, so here’s hoping he can bounce back in a meaningful way.

Postgame Interviews

Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet

	SAT	SUN	MON	TUE	WED	TOT
Williams	0	26	0	0	15	41
Strzelecki	13	16	0	0	11	40
Payamps	0	15	0	0	21	36
Cousins	0	0	0	16	0	16
B Wilson	0	0	0	15	0	15
Megill	14	0	0	0	0	14
Milner	0	0	0	13	0	13
Peguero	0	0	0	0	0	0

Tweet Highlight

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[Brock Beauchamp]

I can't believe the performances they've received from Teheren thus far.

[Jason Wang]

3 hours ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

I can't believe the performances they've received from Teheren thus far.

Hopefully it's sustainable!

[Brock Beauchamp]

2 hours ago, JasonWang7517 said:

Hopefully it's sustainable!

I wouldn’t hold my breath on that but the Brewers sure could use more rotation stability in the short term. 

[mohlmonster]

Don't want to look too far ahead but maybe Teheran can fill a Bryce Wilson-like long reliever role to soak up some innings once we get some starters back? He can pump some strikes consistently

[Jason Wang]

3 hours ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

I wouldn’t hold my breath on that but the Brewers sure could use more rotation stability in the short term. 

Brewers need our own Tungsten Arm O'Doyle honestly.

[Jason Wang]

2 hours ago, mohlmonster said:

Don't want to look too far ahead but maybe Teheran can fill a Bryce Wilson-like long reliever role to soak up some innings once we get some starters back? He can pump some strikes consistently

Pretty interesting thought here - Teheran's last truly full season as a starter was all the way in 2019 with the Braves and his ERA in the first three innings was 3.35 vs. 4.36 in innings 4-6. Looks like he might fit that middle ground of not having enough pure stuff to be an elite closer/short-reliever but not having enough stamina to go a full six innings every five days.

Long reliever could be the move!