Tommy Ciaccio

The Brewers’ season opens in as grand a fashion as an interleague series can muster: the small-market Crew heading to the Bronx to face the 2024 pennant-winning Yankees. Both clubs enter 2025 with something to prove, and while it's far too early to call this a World Series preview... well, stranger things have happened. The Brewers have made their bones dreaming big. So let’s dig in—here’s what we’re in for in the Bronx. Image courtesy of © Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images / Exhale Brewers fans, Opening Day is upon us! And what a way to unfurl the 2025 season than to open it up in the Bronx against perhaps the most legendary franchise in the history of sports - the New York Yankees. This match-up will be the opening crescendo of an emotional offseason for both franchises. A Tough Offseason In The Bronx & Devin Williams In Pinstripes The Yankees entered the offseason with the fresh sting of having their 28th ring elude them, having made the World Series for the first time since 2009. Aaron Judge mashed his way to his second MVP. Still, not even the combination of his prolific power and generational talent, Juan Soto, was enough to navigate around the leviathan that is the Los Angeles Dodgers. Since then, it’s been a mixed bag of an offseason for the Yanks. Soto took his talents across the East River, signing a historically lucrative contract to play for the Mets. Meanwhile, perennial Cy Young candidate Gerrit Cole was lost for the season after undergoing Tommy John surgery. Still, the New York Yankees remain the New York Yankees. Countering their substantial losses was achieved through savvy and expensive acquisitions through trade and free agency. New in pinstripes will be former MVPs Cody Bellinger and Paul Goldschmidt, who are almost certainly past their best years but still capable of meaningfully solid play - and, notably, major upgrades in the defensive department. Other highlights to the roster overhaul include ace-adjacent lefty Max Fried, who signed a flashy eight-year $218 million deal in December, and, of course, the bygone elite closer for the Crew, Devin Williams. A Season Without Ueck The Brewers are not without their wounds to lick, entering 2025. While on the field, subtractions were part of the offseason narrative for the Brewers, the indisputably biggest loss came from the passing of the irreplicable Bob Uecker. For many fans, Uecker’s loosely lacquered rocking chair of a voice booming from the announcer’s booth has been a lifelong association with what it means to be a Brewers fan. The totality of Uecker’s loss is of such a magnitude that it is almost incalculable and nearly impossible to put into words. Still, in the immediate wake of his passing, we memorialized him as appropriately as anyone might - by constructing a small mountain of Miller Lite blue and yellow balloons, flowers, and Brewers merchandise at the foot of one of his two statues that stand in tribute to Mr. Baseball at American Family Field. With this bittersweet legacy already in tow, the Brewers had to say goodbye to a few other beloved faces. Most notable among them was fan favorite Willy Adames, who, upon coming to Milwaukee, almost immediately took a sledgehammer to the “Rays win every trade” narrative. After nearly four years in a Brewers uniform, Adames cashed in on his talents with a well-deserved $182 million deal that will see him as a Giant for the next seven years. The thrifty Brewers also said goodbye to another All-Star talent, swapping Williams to the Yankees for Caleb Durbin and Nestor Cortes. The former will start his season in Nashville, while the latter will take the mound in the second game of the series, making his first start in another uniform against the team that just traded him. Three Things To Watch Battling The Yankees The defense has gotten better, but not light years better. The Dodgers didn’t win the World Series by crushing the ball every chance they got; they won by simply putting the ball in play, and the Crew would be wise to do the same. There are five Gold Gloves between Goldschmidt and Bellinger, but the last was handed out in 2021. If focused, the slappy Brewers are a perfectly pesky candidate to pull the threads necessary to undo the might of the titanic Yanks. Let the young talent speak. Spring training is spring training, but Jackson Chourio’s numbers are beyond gaudy. If he builds on the offensive explosion he put up in the latter half of 2024, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him near the top of the MVP ranks by season’s end. A haggard vet by comparison, 25-year-old former first-round pick Brice Turang quietly put up a 4.7 WAR in his sophomore season and netted himself a platinum glove. Remain undaunted. It’s hard to quantify or build a metric around vibes, but it sure seems like team chemistry has been a not-insignificant part of the Brewers' success over the last several seasons. From internet hot-takers all the way up to Vegas, people underestimate the Crew at their peril. Like the city itself, if Milwaukee believes in itself, great things happen. Yankees Predictions It’s not hard to find the poetry in this opening salvo. It's a David vs. Goliath story if there ever was one, where one of the smallest markets in the league squares up against a true powerhouse. It goes against much of what I believe to be fundamentally logical, but I think the Brewers take two of three. Both teams will be playing with a chip on their shoulders, but a slew of highly consequential Yankees injuries make the question marks surrounding them harder to answer. View full article

Ever since the Brewers lost to the Nationals in the 2019 Wild Card game in a season that would eventually see Washington earn its first ring in D.C., the two teams have experienced very different trajectories. While the Brewers have consistently played themselves into the playoffs, the Nationals saw their veteran core leave, retire, or age out of their prime. Image courtesy of © Daniel Kucin Jr.-USA TODAY Sports The Brewers are enjoying another season at the top of their division, and the once-dismal Nationals have rebuilt themselves into a respectable team of young scrappers with high ceilings. Can the Brewers go into the All-Star break holding their spot atop the NL Central, or do the Nationals prove themselves heartbreakers once more? Let's break it down. The year is 2014, veteran Aramis Ramirez, wily Carlos Gomez, and gritty Jonathan Lucroy are starting the All-Star game at Target Field in Minneapolis. If it feels like it’s been a long time since those players enjoyed their prime in Brewers uniform, it’s because it has been, and it’s the last time that the Brewers had multiple players on the starting lineup of an All-Star game - that is, until now. The talent-packed Brewers will send William Contreras and a resurgent MVP Christian Yelich to break that streak. Still, before they do, they’ll be tasked with defending their home turf against the Washington Nationals. Can the Crew hit the All-Star break with a head full of steam, or will an upstart Nationals team upend their ambitions? Let’s break it down! Friday, July 12th Washington Nationals vs. Freddy Peralta (6-4, 3.95 ERA) It had been an upward swing for Freddy Peralta, having helped the Crew to three straight winning efforts before the ferocious Dodgers derailed that streak, limiting him to four innings pitched with three earned runs on four hits. It’s worth noting that it was far from a disastrous start against the Dodgers. Suffice it to say, the Washington Nationals pose a lesser threat and give Fastball Freddy a good shot at rebounding. As of Thursday afternoon, the Nationals have not yet announced a starter for the series opener. Saturday, July 13th Mitchell Parker (5-5 3.44 ERA) vs. Dallas Keuchel (0-0 4.61 ERA) Nationals lefty Mitchell Parker was added to the 40-Man in the offseason to keep him undrafted as a potential Rule 5 pick. Since his call-up in mid-April, it looks like a savvy move on behalf of Washington’s front office to have made that move. The K rate he put up in the minors (nearly 29%) isn’t quite as masterful as what he’s commanded so far in the majors (19.9%), but he’s limiting action by walking a sparse 5.5% of batters. Of all the scrap heap resurrections the Brewers front office pulled, none would be more impressive or unexpected than the acquisition of former Cy Young winner Dallas Keuchel. Lest we count our chickens before they hatch, so let’s examine the three starts he’s had in a Brewers uniform. The first was perhaps the most predicted outcome: five runs in four innings in a loss to the Rangers. In his next two starts, though, he pitched 9.2 combined innings and gave up only two earned runs (both in the first start against the Rockies). His golden days are behind him, but if there is some gas in the tank for the former ace, he might just be a valuable innings eater, if nothing else. Sunday, July 14th Jake Irvin (7-7 3.13 ERA) vs. Colin Rea (8-3 3.81 ERA) If anything is an indicator of how the Nationals look right now, it’s the even seven wins and losses that follow Jake Irvin’s name. The 3.13 ERA might belie a bit of a weaker/luckier performance than he’s put up - the metrics are skeptical, but look no further than the pitcher he’s countering for a metrics-defying pitcher who is arguably putting up All-Star numbers. His most recent starts provide a satisfying symmetry to his overall record: one win, one loss, both against the Mets. The win was eight brilliant innings of shutout ball, and the loss was a six-inning, six-run drubbing. It will be interesting to see which Jake Irvin takes the mound against Milwaukee. By the time the season ends, Colin Rea may have put together the most mystifying season I’ve ever seen from a pitcher. For the longest time, every projection said it was only a matter of time, and was long overdue, for Colin Rea to be figured out, and in start after start, he defied the odds. His last start may leave the long-puzzled prognosticators wondering if his time has run out or if it was an inevitable bump in the long, winding road of an otherwise impressive season. Rea surrendered seven runs in five innings in that start, cementing the loss. The previous game? Seven shutouts against the Rockies earned the win. It will be attractive to… you get the picture. Players To Watch C.J. Abrams: The Nationals' sole All-Star representative isn’t on the roster officially. With a .859 OPS, fourteen homers, and just as many steals, the 23-year-old is living up to the hype that made him a centerpiece prospect on the Juan Soto to San Diego trade. His 3.6 WAR is quite a bit higher than Trea Turner’s 2.2, who was selected to start. Jesse Winker: The one-time All-Star had already been declining when he was acquired by the Brewers last year, but they figured his youth and repertoire to that point made him worthy of a bad contract swap with the Mariners in exchange for Kolten Wong. He didn’t deliver in a Brewers uniform, hitting a career-worst .199/.320/.247. The Nationals suspected there was more in the tank for Winker and signed him to a one-year $2 million flyer. Halfway through the season, Winker has made that contract look like a steal. Ten homers, a 137 OPS+, and perhaps a bit of a chip on his shoulder for his bygone team? We’ll have to see. Christian Yelich: For no other reason than to admire the guy. The metrics like him, but let’s not even take the clinical, objective stance in this moment of respect and just appreciate who he is. For a few years, Yelich basked in the glow of MVP-caliber play, and right around the time his extension kicked in, he faced a sudden, difficult-to-explain drop-off. Everyone thought the glory days were over, and he might be an expensive vulture cannibalizing a small-market budget. But Christian Yelich is a baller, a grinder. Christian Yelich is that dude. He dug himself out of that hole and made it on the 2024 All-Star team and the starting lineup. Freeze this moment in amber, paint it in oil, and appreciate it for what it is: greatness. Brice Turang: We can’t discuss an All-Star without acknowledging the snubs. Perhaps no one was more egregiously absent from the roster than Brice Turang. Simply put, Turang has been amazing. A 4.0 WAR (third for all position players in the NL) and on pace for nearly 60 stolen bases doesn’t give you the same appeal as a shiny if not inconsistent bat ala Luis Arraez, who can hit with the best of them, but doesn’t have the easily overlooked Golden Glove talent like Turang possesses—next year. Predictions: The Nats are a pesky team, and considering the difficulty implied in the division they inhabit, they are probably more promising than their record suggests. That said, the Brewers have been a convincingly dominant team so far, and much of that comes from their ability to dominate incomplete teams. I don’t bet on a sweep, but the Brewers walk away with two wins. View full article

The Brewers' West Coast road trip continues, switching leagues and shifting cities as they move from the Angels of Anaheim to the San Diego Padres. The stakes are high in San Diego, as the Padres sit below .500 and half a game out of the wild card picture. The Brewers, on the other hand, are aiming to keep the wind in their sails, hoping to build a seven-game division lead. It's four games in San Diego; let's break'em down. Image courtesy of © Katie Stratman-USA TODAY Sports The Crew stays in Southern California, traveling about an hour and a half down I-5 from Anaheim to San Diego. Milwaukee's momentum has been steady, whereas the Padres are staring down the barrel of another season where the talent and the projections don’t match the outcome. The Padres sit two games under .500 and probably feel desperation to scratch their way into Wild Card contention before the trade deadline starts looming. While the Brewers have a cozy enough lead in their division, the resurgent St. Louis Cardinals seem to have clicked and are suddenly in second place. Four fairly important games to take us toward the end of June. Will the Padres find their way into the playoff picture, or will the Brewers continue to dominate teams with losing records? Let’s break it down! Thursday, June 20th Bryse Wilson (4-3 3.84 ERA) vs. Adam Mazur (0-2, 7.82 ERA) Padres righty Adam Mazur is still in the first month of his young career, making his debut on June 4th. As such, it’s not really fair to assess him while he hunts for his first career win. It could be nerves, it could be adjusting, it could be any number of things. Whatever the reason, it’s better to examine him for his strengths rather than expect him to flounder. Mazur comes equipped with a vicious 95 MPH fastball that has yielded a decent amount of swing and miss, though it should say that he isn’t overpowering batters enough to strike many of them out. Mazur will need to shake off whatever is responsible for diminishing him if he has any hope of staying in the majors when Yu Darvish or Joe Musgrove return from the injured list. In his most recent start, Bryse Wilson came into the game against Cincinnati after Jared Koenig opened the game. Wilson pitched 5.1 innings, striking out six, walking two, and surrendering only three hits, earning himself the win. The Brewers righty has been a valuable and malleable piece in the Crew’s armory, vacillating from relief to starting to bulk relief and back again. Wilson’s relative sturdiness is highly appreciated, given the chaos in the rotation. Friday, June 21st Colin Rea (6-2, 3.29 ERA) vs. Dylan Cease (6-6, 3.95 ERA) I’m happily throwing my hands up to understand how Colin Rea continues to do what he does and just let it wash over me. The metrics-bending Rea has once again defied the prognostics and put up a fantastic start against the Reds, striking out six, yielding two earned runs, giving up four hits and one walk, and getting the W. Let’s keep the magic alive. The Crew gave up an elite arm but signed an expensive offensive piece (Burnes and Hoskins, respectively), which puzzled analysts everywhere about their plans. The Padres flipped that diagram, trading Soto but acquiring White Sox ace Dylan Cease, and the effect was much the same. Cease pitched to a 5.48 ERA in 2023 but was the runner-up in Cy Young voting the year prior. At 28 years old, the reality of his game seems to be fitting snugly in the middle as a fantastic, if not elite, righty. That said, the resurgent Mets demolished him in his most recent start. In only 3.2 innings, he surrendered seven runs on as many hits and walked three. Saturday, June 22nd Carlos F Rodriguez (0-2, 6.48 ERA) vs. Randy Vasquez (1-4, 5.70 ERA) It was a night to forget for Carlos F Rodriguez, who took his second L at the start of his second career. The Angels did their damage to the rookie to the tune of five runs (four earned) while striking out three in 4.2 IP. I could very well copy and paste Adam Mazur’s description for Rodriguez’s. This will be his third start; it is too early to tell what’s real and what’s not, yada-yada. It’s fair to mention that the 5.17 EA he allowed in Triple-A may indicate that he’s not genuinely ready for the majors yet, but time will have to tell. The NL East sure wasn’t kind to the Padres this past week. Cease was blown up by the Mets, and the Phillies touched Randy Vasquez to the brutal outcome of six earned runs in 4.1 innings. Twelve hits, two walks, and only two strikeouts. It’s Vasquez’s second year in the majors, and thus far, a pretty big step back from his debut with the Yankees in 2023 before the Bombers shipped him to San Diego as part of the Soto trade. The issue is found in his stuff. Vasquez leans heavily on his four-seamer, but batters are hitting .302 against it, whereas last year, he held them to a .171 average on his primary pitch. He’ll need to either drastically fine-tune his fastball or rely on a more consistent mix of pitches if he will be effective. Sunday, June 23rd Tobias Myers (4-2 3.26 ERA) vs. Michael King (5-4 3.49 ERA) Tobias Myers has three straight quality starts as he continues to do his thing. Six strikeouts over 6.1 innings against the Angels in his most recent start. It was the third game in a row where he’s managed to pitch at least six innings and spare one ugly start against the White Sox. He’s been absolutely fantastic since his late April debut. In his last 20.1 IP, he’s allowed just one run. The key to his success isn’t a mystery. He has a nasty change-up and an effective enough fastball, and in his most recent start, batters had a 67% whiff rate against his slider. All he needs to do is keep it up. When the Padres traded the generational wunderkind Juan Soto to the Yankees, it seemed likely, reasonable even, that their competitive window was about to slam shut. Knowing what they had in Soto, it wouldn’t be cheap for the Yanks, and in the bounty they offered for him was major-league-ready Michael King. As he was in the Bronx, King has been reliably serviceable to the Friars. Despite his normally steady hand, his recent start against the Phillies ended in a no-decision as he couldn’t get through five innings. He still limited action enough not to let the game get out of hand. He has an excellent .267 xwOBA, and batters are finding it impossible to barrel the ball off of him, yielding a hard hit rate of only 31.2%, putting him in the top ten percent in the league in that category. Players To Watch Jurickson Profar: Who knows how long it will last, but right now, one of the basement bargain signs of the offseason is currently leading a team in WAR. That player happens to be Jurickson Profar, the former #1 overall prospect. About 15 years ago, Profar’s name started appearing on prospect charts, and he eventually weaved his way up to that top spot. For whatever reason, that talent never really translated to elite Major League play, and 12 years into his big league career, Profar has amassed a total of 7.0 WAR. Still, 2.1 of that WAR has been accrued since the beginning of the season, and suddenly, the once glimmering prospect has a .909 OPS. If he maintains this deep into the season, he can expect more than a one-year, one-million-dollar contract. Luis Arraez: It seems like every season for the past three seasons, the season begins, and suddenly, Luis Arraez is mentioned among the great hitting wizards of all time. Pete Rose, Ty Cobb, and Tony Gwynn, thanks to a rare early-season blockbuster trade to the Padres. The bat has hit a bit of a chill lately, hitting only .250 in his last ten games, but Arraez remains a fun-to-watch threat who can clobber any team that takes his bat for granted. Rhys Hoskins: It could be at first base if you’re looking for a position needing some filling. That is not exactly the problem the Brewers likely thought they’d face when they made Hoskins the big sign of the offseason. In his last seven games, Hoskins is batting .100 with no home runs and has struck out in 11 of his last 20 at-bats. Simply put, it’s an unsustainably bad performance. The good news is that a slump is a slump, and the numbers don’t match the peripherals, but they will need a pretty drastic turnaround from him if there’s any production at all to be expected from first base. The Hudson/Megill pairing: Hopefully, Brewers fans will get to see the fun duality in the back end of their bullpen. Assuming the Crew has a lead going into the eighth, the Padres will be staring down the disarming dynamic of a relief ace in Bryan Hudson to carry the Crew to the fireballing dominance that seems to have found its way into Trevor Megill's arm. Metrics and analysis aside, it's simply a lot of fun to watch. Predictions: Much like the Angels, the Padres' theme is deflated expectations. Despite the prodigious star power that’s found its way on and off the Padres roster over the last half a decade or so, the chemistry has never gelled with enough efficacy to see them truly take on the Dodgers or go deep into the playoffs. That said, they are still at home, and it’s a four-game set… so I’ll play it safe and say the Crew and Padres split. View full article

Two teams headed in opposite directions will square off at Angel Stadium in Anaheim to kick off a weeklong west coast road trip for the Crew. Both teams are emerging from series wins against regional foes. Interleague action saw the Angels take two from the Giants before getting more than doubled up in a 6-13 beatdown; the Brewers meanwhile completed a feisty series against the division rival Reds, finishing their series with a win thanks to some center field heroics by the promising Blake Perkins. Only one team can walk away winning this three-game set, so who will it be? Let's break it down. Image courtesy of © Kiyoshi Mio-USA TODAY Sports When Shohei Ohtani decided to go with the other Los Angeles team, it seemed pretty likely that the deflated Angels wouldn’t be particularly competitive in 2024. Still, I doubt many people predicted they’d be sitting just two games ahead of the Athletics toward the end of June. The Brewers begin their West Coast road trip against the Halos and will be looking to pad their division lead by doing what they do best: beating bad teams. Can they do it, or do the Angels defend their turf? Let’s break it down. Monday June 17th Carlos F Rodriguez (0-1, 4.91 ERA) vs. Jose Soriano (4-5 3.48 ERA) It was a mixed result for number 00 in his big league debut against the Blue Jays last week. He pitched through 3.2 innings, striking out four and giving up three runs, two of which were earned. Despite the short start, there’s much to be intrigued by in young Rodriguez. He threw six different pitches over the start, leaning on a four-seamer but mixing in sliders, sinkers, change-ups, cutters, and curveballs. The malleability in his repertoire leaves a lot of room for development. A start against the floundering Angels might give him a platform for some confidence and a better prognostic perspective on how his stuff works against major-league hitting. For as much as there has been reason to feel down on the Angels franchise in the last several seasons, there have been a few bright spots, albeit underrated ones. One such example is Jose Soriano, who is showing potential signs of an imminent breakthrough in his second season in the bigs. Increasingly, Soriano is going deep into games, most recently completing eight full innings. In his last five games, he’s pitched a minimum of six. Aside from just eating innings, he’s also executing well, with an elite 60% ground ball rating. Where he’s struggling is with his control, with a 3.5 BB/9. The Brewers will have exploitable angles to take Soriano on, but as he tightens his control, he will be a more formidable presence on the mound. Tuesday, June 18th Tobias Myers (3-2, 3.76 ERA) vs. Griffin Canning (2-7, 4.76 ERA) At 25 years old, Tobias Myers is one of the many high-ceiling youngsters who has made their way to the bigs by way of attrition in the rotation. Myers re-emerged from Triple-A after Robert Gasser’s elbow injury forced him onto the IL. Since returning, Myers has been nothing short of masterful. In two starts, he’s given up one earned run over 14 innings, good for a 0.64 ERA. An unsustainable level of excellence, but he might as well take advantage of a struggling team to pad those numbers - NL Pitcher Of The Month: Tobias Myers doesn’t sound so bad. After finding himself on an optimistic upswing, the Angels righty took the loss against the D-Backs this past Thursday, giving up four runs over six innings while striking out three. By no means was it a terrible performance, but it was the sort of middling play that has contributed to that glaring win-loss record after his name. By every metric, Canning seems to be having his worst season. The xERA sits a few ticks above his numbers at 4.97, and his K% sits near the bottom of the league at 15.3%. Stop me if you’ve heard this one before, but the Angels have a LOT of exploitable parts that could give the oft-voracious Brewers offense something to chew on. Wednesday, June 19th Freddy Peralta (4-4, 4.38 ERA) vs. Tyler Anderson (6–6, 2.58 ERA) It’s a concerning stretch for Freddy Peralta as of late, whose June numbers are not what anyone would want in a should-be ace of the staff. Mustering only 13.2 innings in his three starts, Peralta’s June ERA is an ugly 7.90. Peralta has been 1-4 since the start of May, and for a pitcher who’s dealt with fatigue issues before, it will be worth scrutinizing how deep he goes into this start. I hope for the best, but am preparing for Aaron Ashby to return to the majors. Another bright spot for the Angels is Tyler Anderson, who’s having an absolutely phenomenal second year of the three-year pact he signed with the Halos before the start of the 2023 season. He’s been responsible for one earned run per start in four of his last five starts. His very respectable 3.00 ERA in May sits above what he’s done all season. It’s worth noting the discrepancy with his xERA, which sits quite a bit higher at 4.62, but results are results, and ultimately, it seems like Anderson is making it work. Players To Watch Logan O’Hoppe: Anytime a team has as much success as the Phillies have had the last couple of years, it’s more or less incumbent on the team to not begrudge the sacrifices they’ve made to cobble together their successful troupe. Still, one has to wonder if maybe Phils didn’t expect the prospect capital they had in Logan O’Hoppe to bloom into something quite as impressive as he’s become. Nevertheless, bloom he has, and the young catcher presently leads the Angels in WAR. As a team with a prodigy behind the plate, Brewers fans should take pause and admire a potential up-and-comer in O'Hoppe. Tyler Anderson: It will be interesting to see which Tyler Anderson shows up for the Halos. Will it be last year’s 5.43 ERA or this year’s ace-adjacent lefty? It was his last year with the Dodgers, where he pitched to a 2.57 ERA that secured him the three-year contract that saw him move 25 miles south to Anaheim. teams, so it would seem that the see-saw nature of Anderson’s career would be playing out to display some conveniently timed excellence. What makes the watch more enticing, though, should be that Anderson’s cheap contract probably feels awfully marketable for thrifty teams who are competing this year and need pitching desperately. Does that sound like any team you might know? Still, the potential regression should cast some tentativeness for any Brewers fans thirsty for a bolstered rotation. Joey Ortiz: Bryse Wilson caught some shade on social media for hinting that the Orioles might regret exchanging Joey Ortiz as part of the package that netted them, Corbin Burnes. With Burnes potentially on his way to his second Cy Young, that might feel laughable, but the 137 OPS+ and half a decade of team control that Ortiz has to his name say the jury is out. It’s worth mentioning that Ortiz was largely considered the secondary piece in the trade, with DL Hall being the first. It’s safe to say that Ortiz has been the primary producer of the two, and it will be exciting to see what he does to solidify himself as an everyday player. Christian Yelich: As exciting as the Crew and its many moving parts have been this year, it’s almost easy to overlook that Christian Yelich is back to MVP vote-getter caliber. The wRC+ of 160 to this point is the best he’s had since 2019, when he was the runner-up in MVP voting before a knee injury hampered his season. Since that fateful at-bat, it has looked as if the days of a truly elite Christian Yelich may be behind us. Hints to disprove that inauspicious outcome have been swirling around his performance in the last couple of seasons, and it would seem possible that the real Christian Yelich is back. Predictions: Every winter, the Angels make some moves that pique my interest and give me the slightest amount of hope in them. Then, almost immediately, it’s evident that the chemistry doesn’t mesh, and the Angels quickly plunge headlong into irrelevance. It’s extremely tempting to say that the Brewers get the sweep here, but I’ll give the Angels the benefit of the doubt since Milwaukee are visitors. The Crew still takes two. View full article

The Brewers are leap-frogging wins and losses, while the Reds recently snapped a seven-game win streak. Still, Milwaukee sits cozily atop their division with a 6.5-game lead in the NL Central. Can the pesky Reds bite into that lead, or do the Brewers add to that lofty number? Let's break it down! Image courtesy of © Kareem Elgazzar/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK Friday starts an interdivisional matchup between two teams coming refreshed after an off-day. Replicating their respective seasons, the Reds split their two-game set against the Guardians, and the Brewers confidently took two of three against the Blue Jays. The Reds sit two games under .500 but are playing with some wind to their sails as they just executed a seven-game win streak that helped remind everyone just how talented they are. The Brewers hope to hop about the .500 mark in their most recent ten and pad their divisional lead. Which team will deliver on their aspirations? Let's break it down. Friday, June 14th Hunter Greene (4-3 3.61 ERA) vs. Freddy Peralta (4-3 3.95 ERA) The series opener is an exciting match-up between two pitchers who drift in and out of and always hover around ace-caliber stuff. First up, the fireballing righty Hunter Greene. Drafted second overall out of Notre Dame HS, Greene was drafted as a two-way player who played a more-than-competent infield. His real appeal, though, showed up in the Futures game when his fastball touched triple digits. The hard-thrower eventually culminated in a torn UCL and the requisite long recovery, but since he returned, he has only honed his stuff and has become an increasingly potent threat. He’s enjoying the best season of his young career, sporting a 116 ERA+ and striking out more than a batter an inning. Despite the favorable things mentioned about his potential, the potential isn’t production, and the inconsistencies Freddy Peralta has put up this year have to be seen in an increasingly glaring light. He didn’t factor in the decision in his last start and he didn’t even manage four innings. In the 3.1 innings he pitched, he allowed four runs on four hits. However, the most alarming note about his game may be the five allowed walks over his short start. There have been instances of vintage brilliance for Peralta this offseason, making it difficult to predict which version will show up on the mound on Friday. Saturday, June 15th Andrew Abbott (5-5 3.28 ERA) vs. Bryse Wilson (3-3 4.19 ERA) Reds lefty Andrew Abbott's promising rookie campaign in 2023 has blossomed into quite an impressive sophomore campaign. With the huge influx of young high-upside talent to hit Cincy in the last couple of years, it was easy for Abbott to get a little lost in the shuffle, but by employing a fundamentally sound four-seam forward repertoire, Abbott has been getting the job done. The big step up for Abbott thus far has been in suppressing power off the bat. Despite relying on his fastball for more than half of his pitches, he’s not going to strike many batters out, but he has great command and won’t walk many, either. Abbott has proven himself capable of going deep into games, pitching through the seventh inning several times this season. If the Brewers go to Abbott’s undoing, they’ll need to be diligent in approaching the plate. The Tigers proved to fluster more than one Brewers starter as they got the better of Bryse Wilson in his recent start against them. They made it through only 4.1 IP while giving up an ugly seven earned runs. This is a reversal of the script for Wilson’s story thus far, who, previous to this start, had an impressive ERA suppressing 86% of batters left on base. The Reds are presently 27th in the league in batting average, so they could give Bryse a chance to reset his mind and get it right. Sunday, June 16th Frankie Montas (3-5 4.55 ERA) vs. Colin Rea (5-2 3.31 ERA) Reds manager David Bell was quick with the hook for Frankie Montas in his most recent start. Montas faced the Cubs, recorded four outs, and gave up as many runs on the way to recording an L that would put a whimpering end to the Reds' seven-game winning streak. So far, it hasn’t been a spectacular season for the Reds opening day starter, who signed a one-year, $14 million contract in the offseason on the back of a fantastic latter half to his 2023 season as a Yankee. There have been some flashes of front-end quality, but he’s already had four starts so far where he’s been unable to reach the fifth inning. If his last start, the Brewers, get the diminished version of Montas, they should be able to readily feast. It was an undeniably brilliant start for Colin Rea against the Blue Jays on Monday. Seven shutout innings pitched, three hits, no walks. The longer the season stretches on, the more you have to wonder if the unfavorable peripherals will truly show up in Rea’s stuff, but it’s also not easy to buy into the 4.58 xFIP weighed against his 3.31 ERA. Still, despite the lack of strikeouts and the non-elite walk rate, you can’t deny one of the most objectively dominant pitching performances the Brewers have put up all season long. The paltry Reds offense will give him a chance to solidify that reputation. Players To Watch Elly De La Cruz: The Reds offense may not have inspired a lot of confidence in last year’s fiery young, up-and-coming team, but one player who’s held on to the thunder is 22-year-old Elly De La Cruz. In half as many at-bats as he had in 2023, he’s hit nearly as many home runs (427/13 and 286/11, respectively) while barrelling at an intimidating 12.4%. He’s also putting on a defensive clinic, and just for good measure, his sprint speed last year was 30.1 feet per second, which is good for FIRST in the league! Truly electric. Stuart Fairchild: Viewed less for his statistical prowess and more as a microcosm for the team in general, Stuart Fairchild is finding feisty ways to produce. It’s Fairchild’s third big league season and fourth big league franchise, and in the grab bag of tricks he’s using to endear himself to fans (and hopefully inspire a front office to keep him around), he’s repeatedly defying baseball orthodoxy and bunting for hits, robbing home runs, hitting an inside-the-park homer. The sort of pesky energy the Reds are showing up with seems to have found a vessel in Fairchild. Willy Adames: If there’s still any uncertainty as to whether or not The Kid is pricing himself out of Milwaukee, it has to be fading quickly. A shortstop on pace for roughly 30 home runs is a desirable piece for any team, and that he’s so much a heart-and-soul of the team archetype of a player only makes him that much more lovable. Miracles can happen, but it seems more likely than not that Adames will hit a much-deserved free-agency payload to play elsewhere. Let’s savor Adames and his five tools while we have them. Jackson Chourio: We’ve already seen one big name, Jackson, rise to the majors only to be demoted once it seemed he was out of his depth. I’m not saying Chourio looks as off-balance as Holliday did. Still, for a team that, at this point, is undeniably in a pennant race, one has to wonder how many at-bats the Brewers can afford to expend on Chourio’s development. The other side of the coin is that the once-future cornerstone of the Orioles is now rumored to be a potential trade chip after struggling in the minors post-demotion. Would the Brewers be taking as big of a risk in deflating young Chourio? The answer for both players is that it's far too young to prognosticate. Still, in the sensitive and vulnerable era of rookie development, the building up and tearing down of a player's confidence can be pivotal in determining the player they become. Predictions It’s hard to deny the potential of a team stacked with so much potential as the Reds are, so I’ll go with what I think is more likely: the Brewers winning two of three and extending their lead over Cincinnati in the National League Central division. View full article

After a series win in Detroit, the Brewers return home to interleague action this week, in a series against the Toronto Blue Jays. Can they build on the momentum from the end of their road trip? Let's break it down. Image courtesy of © Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports After getting swept by the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park, the Crew managed to scrape two wins against the Tigers, winning the series and ending the road trip on a positive note. Now they face the Blue Jays, whom the standings page keeps pushing cruelly toward a summer sell-off. Does this deflate a Toronto team who, despite being stacked with talent, hasn’t been able to cobble together enough wins to stay relevant - or do they challenge that narrative and take the series against the division-leading Brewers? Let’s break it down! Monday June 10th Jose Berríos (5-4 2.80 ERA) vs. Colin Rea (4-2, 3.53 ERA) Blue Jays righty Jose Berríos is one of the most enigmatic pitchers I’ve ever seen. His xERA is 4.40, more than one and a half points above his actual numbers. A cursory glance at his Baseball Savant page shows you that hitters are making contact on his stuff, often hitting him hard when they do. It’s not a new narrative for him. Since debuting in 2016, he’s had three seasons (including 2024 to this point) where he’s sat in the lowest 8% of the league in maximum exit velocity allowed. Also in the “not new” category for Berríos, though, is his undeniable efficacy, in spite of it all. It will be interesting to see what a Brewers lineup with legitimate power can do against him. While we’re on the topic of difficult-to-predict pitchers, it will be Colin Rea pitching against the Blue Jays. Right when it seemed like Rea might be regressing toward the 5.54 xERA looming over him, he’s put together a run wherein over the last three starts, he’s only surrendered three runs. He isn’t going deep into games, but he’s consistently giving the Crew a credible hope of victory almost every time he takes the mound. Tuesday June 11th Yusei Kikuchi (3-5, 3.48 ERA) vs. Carlos Rodriguez (0-0, -.-- ERA) To this point in the season, Yusei Kikuchi is enjoying the most effective of his six seasons in the majors. The very respectable 3.48 ERA is a bit inflated by a couple of ugly starts against the Tigers and Pirates, in each of which he surrendered five runs. There’s also some anecdotal evidence that Kikuchi (known for requiring a minimum of 11 hours of sleep on nights before he starts) pitches much better in night games, which this start will be. Despite the blemishes in his record, Kikuchi’s most impressive starts this season have been against the Orioles. Effective against a team replete with talent and a potent offense anchored by a prodigious, MVP-caliber catcher you say? Look out. For the Brewers, this looks like the exciting debut of pitching prospect Carlos F. Rodriguez. He's a kitchen-sink starter with maturity and ample experience, and you can find out much more about him in Spencer Michaelis's detailed breakdown of the rookie upon news of his call-up. Wednesday June 12th Chris Bassitt (6-6, 3.80 ERA) vs. Tobias Myers (2-2, 4.15 ERA) When the Jays signed Bassitt to a three-year, $63-million deal in the 2022-23 offseason, much of the statistically-minded community called it the steal of the offseason. It’s not an unfounded claim, with the first year seeing him finish 10th in Cy Young voting. In his most recent start, Bassitt faced the A’s, in what will likely be his last pitching performance in the current stadium of the team where he spent most of his career. What did he do with the emotions attached to that moment? Eight innings of one-run ball, seven of which were one-hit mastery. Being a bit of a pitbull is nothing new for Bassitt, and you can expect that same fiery tenacity when he takes to the mound on Wednesday. Also, just spitballing here, but what if Milwaukee decided to keep Bassitt (and his team-friendly contract) here in Milwaukee before Toronto takes off? Just saying. Faced with taking on the grizzled veteran will be rookie Tobias Myers. There’s been much to appreciate in Myers’s fledgling career, but he was downright brilliant in his most recent start. Over eight innings, he held the Tigers to one hit - a feat anyone would consider impressive, no matter who’s on the mound or up to bat. No one is expecting the young righty to show up with no-hit stuff every time he takes the mound, but with an impressive repertoire of six pitches, the sky’s the limit in terms of his potential. It will be interesting to see how he employs his Swiss Army approach on the Blue Jays, in the wake of what must be a confidence-boosting start. Players To Watch Davis Schneider: It’s been an unexpected rise to the majors for Davis Schneider. Picked in the 28th round of the 2017 draft, it’s fair to say that the 25-year-old left wasn’t an obvious candidate for ascendance. After producing an admirable .275/.416/.553 in Triple-A, he was called up last summer, following the DFA of Thomas Hatch. His big-league slash line (.254/.364/.505) may not turn all heads, but the 144 career OPS+ over his first 300 at-bats is something anyone would be happy with in a 28th-rounder. Moreover, though, as the Blue Jays' playoff hopes diminish and the veteran core seems poised to be traded away, players in Schneider’s shoes will be working hard hustle to earn their place in the new order. Expect tenacity from the up-and-comer. Vladimir Guerrero Jr.: In 2019, the progeny of three big-leaguers--Biggio, Bichette and Guerrero Jr. (all All-Stars, two Hall of Famers)--made their big-league debut, and with their emergence, the sun rose on a very hopeful horizon in Toronto. The reality has been less scintillating. Biggio was just cut, and two-time batting title winner Bichette is being aggressively shopped. There isn’t as much dialogue swirling around the dispatching of Guerrero or his ever-changing profile, and it’s not hard to see why. Freshly 25 years old, it’s still possible the young slugger’s best days lie ahead of him, despite the fact that he’s already notched a runner-up in MVP voting and (less consequentially) was this year's MLB: The Show cover athlete. Whether he’s all hit or begins to re-discover his power stroke, there's a chance Guerrero will remind you why he’s face-of-the-franchise worthy over the next year and a half. Brice Turang: It can’t be overstated how special the breakout of Brice Turang has been. After the Crew was shut out by the Phillies, Turang took it upon himself to go 4-5 with a double to open the series against the Tigers. This isn’t a one-off for him. Game in and game out, he’s been (at the very least) a threat to get on base, if not put on a multi-hit clinic. At only 24 years old and still pre-arbitration eligibility, it’s a nice thing for a small-market team to have a young player with flexibility to build around (potentially) for years to come. Tobias Myers: It’s been a rotating door of starters since the season began. It was already a shallower pool of pitchers for the Crew than they’d enjoyed the last several seasons, but injuries and the Corbin Burnes trade have added to that attrition. In the rigmarole of it all, one of the most intriguing flashes of talent to shine through has been Myers. A four-seamer, a cutter, a slider, a changeup, a curveball and a sinker make up a deep repertoire, and while most of these pitches are definitely still green, all he’ll need to do is tweak and tighten and he could sneak his way into a semi-permanent mid-rotation role. Predictions: Similar to the series they are coming off of, the Brewers will be facing a team with a diminishing playoff hope and a sense of urgency. Toronto is already rumored to be in sell mode, so it’s not difficult to see a scenario where that same diminishment applies to their enthusiasm. What’s more, the Brewers will be playing on their home turf, where they enjoy an 18-10 record. They should, at the very least, take two of these three games. View full article

In the season to this point, the Brewers have been excellent, and the Tigers have been middling. That said, the last series for each team reflects the opposite. The Tigers put up a confident display in a series win against the defending champion Rangers, and the Phillies swept the Brewers. The Brewers will look to stifle the feisty tigers and shift the momentum back in their favor, but to do so; they'll have to best a couple of pitchers who have been putting up elite numbers to this point. Image courtesy of © Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports It has been a road trip to forget for Milwaukee so far. In what looks quite reasonably like a potential NLCS preview against Philadelphia, the bats completely disappeared for Milwaukee for all three games. Meanwhile, the Tigers have been on quite a tear as they claw for the .500 mark and a glimpse into potential playoff relevance. With the Brewers on enemy territory trying to shift the momentum back in their favor and the Tigers showing a feisty desire to maintain their own, it should be a fun bit of interleague play in Motown. Let’s break it down. Friday, June 7th The Milwaukee Brewers vs. Reese Olson (1-6, 2.48 ERA) That Reese Olson has the record he does with an ERA under three is a fitting frustration for a team still assembling for the future. It’s worth mentioning that the sub-three ERA exists a bit in defiance of his projected numbers. The FIP is still respectable but still noticeably elevated, 3.20. Olson thrives as a ground ball pitcher and achieves them at a prolific, near league-leading rate. The Brewers lineup isn’t stacked top-to-bottom with the kind of hard hitters that can weave past an arm like Olson’s, but Christian Yelich and William Contreras are the kind of one-two power punch that might prove key to the Tigers' undoing. As of Wednesday evening, the Brewers have yet to announce a starter for this game. Saturday, June 8th The Milwaukee Brewers vs. Casey Mize (1-3 4.70 ERA) Drafted first overall in 2018 out of Auburn University, Casey Mize has much potential yet to find itself. The Tigers righty was called up in 2020 and 2022 and pitched all of ten innings before Tommy John would claim the rest of that season and all of the next. By the time this season rolled around, Mize had to fight for the fifth spot in the rotation. It hasn’t been easy going so far, and in each of his last four starts, Mize has been unable to make it through five innings. The future for Casey Mize feels especially unclear, and as sad as his trajectory might be to this point, it will serve as relief for the Crew, who finds his start sandwiched between two excellent starters. As of Wednesday evening, the Brewers have yet to announce a starter for this game. Sunday, June 9th The Milwaukee Brewers vs. Tarik Skubal (7-1 1.97 ERA) If there’s one play I’ve seen the term “Dark Horse” attributed to the most, it’s unquestionably Tarik Skubal. An ERA+ of 111 in 2022 paved the way for a more convincing breakout last year. Despite an early season injury claiming the first half of his season, he finished 7-3 with a 2.80 ERA and an impressive 102 K’s. His final five starts were most notable in that impressive span, where he put up an insane 0.90 ERA. The potential on display last season has fleshed itself out to an incredible performance this year, as the numbers above would suggest. If he is truly a Dark Horse, it’s merely by virtue of the fact that he’s languishing in the obscurity afforded to a player in a rebuilding franchise. If he keeps it up, he may find himself in a Cy Young award race and some well-deserved fame. As of Wednesday evening, the Brewers have yet to announce a starter for this game. Players To Watch Blake Perkins: Facing a pitching squad that largely muted the Brewers' usually potent lineup, promising young outfielder Blake Perkins served as one of the lone offensive bright spots. It hasn’t been uncommon for Perkins to show up and collect a smattering of hits when needed, whether it’s the occasional homer or the prolific bunt. It’s been impressive to see a player exercise his tools so craftily. Joey Ortiz: It was a concern amongst Brewers fans that Oliver Dunn’s recall from Nashville might be the harbinger of another deflating platoon situation, as Ortiz seemed to find his stroke. As it turns out, Ortiz’s elite play has earned him the everyday spot many people would say he deserved, and Dunn has mainly been requisitioned to pinch-running and hitting. As the season stretches on, it should be an exciting experience to watch a young player work to actualize his potential, particularly against teams characterized by exploitable deficits like the 2024 Tigers. Mark Canha: For half a season, Mark Canha became a heart-and-soul player who was quick to endear himself to Brewers fans during a 2023 playoff run. For his efforts, Canha’s option was rather unceremoniously (and unpopularly) declined. Looking at his stats thus far, you could go either way on determining whether or not it was a good move for the Brewers to let Canha walk, but it’s also fair to be wary of a famously clutch batter who might have a chip on his shoulder when he steps up to the plate. Riley Greene: The Tigers haven’t enjoyed enough consistent relevance to put a lot of torque behind the fame attributed to their homegrown names, but Riley Greene might be driving a campaign to flip that script. Picked fifth overall in the 2019 draft, Greene was selected out of high school for his stellar bat. Despite the calamity of a pandemic, Greene proved that selection to be good and ascended quickly through the minors, making his debut in June of 2022. So far this year, he’s been good for an OPS+ of 126 on the back of 10 home runs and walking an impressive 13.3% of the time. These aren’t numbers that will blow your hair back, but they are exactly what you want to see in a young hitter who’s part of the nascent wave of Detroit’s resurgence. It’s also worth noting that even though no pitchers have been announced yet, the crux of the Brewers' ability to stay relevant will be their ability to navigate the absolute myriad of pitching woes they’ve been dealt. The austerity baked into being a small market team leaves them with a frustrating lack of depth and flexibility. Thus far, it hasn’t done much to hamper what has been an excellent season to his point, but it’s an intimidating situation when every arm that goes down feels like a gust of wind against a house of cards. Predictions: It’s felt like the Tigers have been scratching their way back into relevance over the last few years, but one game over .500 in an undeniably underwhelming division doesn’t wrench a lot of confidence out of their efforts. The series against the Phillies may not have gone how the Brewers would have liked, but losing against the best team in baseball can’t entirely qualify as a surprise. If the offense can show up, the Brewers are still a force, and the Tigers are still putting it together. Even though it’s on enemy territory, I think the Brewers can easily take two of three from this series. View full article

It's the moment you've either been dreading, or eagerly awaiting. The once-beloved Craig Counsell returns, to what will almost certainly be a chorus of boos that will register on the Richter scale. The rivalry was always fierce, but this is a perfect storm of betrayal, long-standing animus and the fact that the Cubs are competing with Milwaukee for the top spot in the division. It should be an absolutely electric four-game series. Let's break it down. Image courtesy of © Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports Milwaukee managed a bit of redemption on their way out of Boston, stealing two out of three against a very good set of pitchers and managing to have only one benches-clearing incident. Despite the lousy overall road trip, they return home to face the team closest to them in the division, with a roomy (but still surmountable) 3.5-game lead. The Brewers have their home turf and a bit of momentum on their side, but the Cubbies will certainly be champing at the bit to reverse their current trajectory. Can the Crew defend their home and their lead, or will the North Siders find some redemption of their own? Oh, also, it’s Craig’s first time back, but who cares about that? Anyway, let’s break it down. PITCHING MATCHUPS Monday, May 27th Justin Steele (0-2 5.68 ERA) vs. Robert Gasser (2-0 2.65 ERA) For all of the things that have broken right for the Cubs in 2024, Justin Steele is an exception. After finishing fifth in Cy Young voting last season, Steele was a dark-horse candidate for many to climb all the way to the top this season. After a hamstring injury cut short his Opening Day start and sidelined him for a month, he’s been unable to put the pieces together in 2024, and as of his last start before June, he’s yet to record his first win. Wins and losses aren’t metrics by which to judge a starting player (look at Jacob deGrom’s best years for proof) but even on that front, he appears quite diminished from the pitcher he was. That said, he’s young and clearly capable of brilliance. He’s definitely not a presence on the mound to take for granted. The Marlins tagged Gasser for four runs over six innings in his last start. He was scheduled to pitch Sunday on regular rest, but was replaced by Tobias Myers and bumped to Monday instead. The Brewers rarely miss a chance to stretch out the rotation and grab a fifth day of rest for starters, believing it will keep them healthier in the long run. Despite the one shaky start, the rookie lefty is broadcasting confidence, stating that “it’s just really cool that I get to pitch in a rivalry game for the first time in a minute” and that he’s “ready for the Cubs”. With his xwOBAcon at a stunning .269, it’s believable that Gasser has what it takes to suppress the Cubs' bats and lead the Crew to victory. Tuesday, May 28th Ben Brown (1-1, 3.20 ERA) v. TBD Between Shota Imanaga, Steele and Javier Assad, you hear conversations debating who’s the true ace of the Cubs rotation. Absent from that conversation is the 6-foot-6 righty, Ben Brown. This isn’t necessarily a mystery, given that the 3.20 ERA and 1.19 WHIP aren’t exactly eye-popping, but the 130 ERA+ is a notable accomplishment by any rookie. Expect the fireballing righty to put up a good fight for his Cubs. As of Sunday evening, the Brewers have not yet announced a starting pitcher for Tuesday’s game. The healthy options on the 40-man roster at Nashville are Aaron Ashby and Janson Junk, but neither has looked good even in Triple-A settings this year. At the moment, returning DL Hall from his rehab assignment as one fresh arm in a bullpen game feels most likely. Failing that, we could see a lot of Enoli Paredes and/or Mitch White, after which either would become a strong candidate to be designated for assignment. Wednesday, May 29th Shota Imanaga (5-0 0.84 ERA) vs. Freddy Peralta (3-3 3.81 ERA) I wrote about Imanaga as a player to watch in this series, but I really can’t stress enough how true that sentiment is. There are two feelings with which to watch him: fear and admiration. On the first count, he’s literally the most dominant pitcher in baseball right now. He’s only 30, and he’s a member of the most competitive rival the Brewers have lurking in their division. That sentiment bleeds into the second one: the sub-1.00 ERA isn’t by virtue of insane good luck or a small sample size. Imanaga has proven himself each and every time he’s taken the mound. He’s an absolute force, and even if he’s kicking your butt, you kind of have to appreciate how exquisitely he’s doing it. It was a nice rebound for the de facto Brewers ace in his most recent start, as he held the Marlins to just one run over seven innings pitched in what would ultimately be a tough-luck loss. Prior to that, Peralta had given up 11 runs in his last 16 innings pitched. If there's one way Fastball Freddy could affirmatively convince fans that he's still as dominant as he'd ever be, it would be to dice up Cubs bats as relentlessly as he's shown himself capable of doing in the past. Thursday, May 30th Jameson Taillon (3-2 2.58 ERA) vs. Bryse Wilson (3-1 2.86 ERA) For a time last season, it looked like Jameson Taillon’s contract might mirror that of Tyler Chatwood - a high-ceiling hurler who can’t find his stuff and eventually regresses into the dubious distinction of being an expensive swingman. This year, though, not only has Taillon rediscovered his former self, but (although in a tiny sample, after having started the season on the injured list himself) he’s quite possibly having the best season of his career. He’s pitching to a lot of contact, and is quite a bit below league average in strikeouts, but spare one uneven start (his most recent against the Cardinals), Taillon has had a remarkable control-driven season. While we’re on the topic of consistent, solid pitching, Bryse Wilson put in another solid start in his most recent appearance against the Red Sox. Over 5.1 innings, he gave up six hits and a walk but limited Boston to only two runs. Time and time again, the decision to slide Wilson from the pen to the rotation looks like a bit of a happy accident. While the peripherals surrounding Wilson aren’t the most bullish on him, hovering around a 2.86 ERA is a good way to win games. PLAYERS TO WATCH Shota Imanaga: The numbers speak for themselves, but Imanaga is worth hearing out on an even broader basis. The last time a rookie won a Cy Young Award was in 1981, when Fernando Valenzuela went 13-7 with a 2.48 ERA. The way pitching is looked at and the award-worthy numbers that are valued are vastly different than they were 40 years ago, but still, Imanaga is exceeding literally all of them, including Valenzuela’s. An absolute marvel. Nico Hoerner: After being drafted by the Cubs in the first round in 2018, Nico Hoerner has been an impressive contributor. Rocketing his way through the minors, Hoerner made his debut in September 2019, just over a year after being drafted. In the time since he’s made it to the bigs, he has yet to put up any black ink in the offensive categories, but he did take home last year’s Gold Glove at second while still being a dynamic threat at the plate. Enoli Paredes: In a four-game series, it’s increasingly important to look down the depth charts at the players who are likely to contribute as things stretch on. The 28-year-old former Astro Enoli Paredes signed a minor-league deal with the Brewers in the offseason, and has since been dominant in Nashville. Over 20 2/3 innings, he’s put up a 1.31 ERA. There have been some control issues, and an 11% walk rate would be something to worry about if he wasn’t also striking out an astounding 41.5% of batters he’s faced. Another prodigy salvaged from the scrap heap? Time will tell, but the numbers are promising. Oliver Dunn: With what Joey Ortiz has been putting up so far this season, it was a curious (and semi-controversial) decision to option Joey Wiemer to Triple-A and recall Oliver Dunn, who’s back with the Brewers after a forgettable start and his own sojourn in Nashville. Against minor leaguers, Dunn has put up an undeniably impressive .310/.394/.517 slash, earning the 26-year-old another shot. It will be interesting to see if Dunn can capitalize on the faith the front office is putting in him, or flounder against MLB pitching. PREDICTIONS It’s hard to imagine the Brewers not showing up with an especially large chip on their shoulder and much to prove against their former manager. I’m certainly not going to predict a sweep by the Brewers, with the likes of Imanaga as one of their opponents, but the momentum, home turf and aforementioned magnification of an already fiery rivalry make me believe the Brewers can win this series, taking three of four. View full article

After consecutive series losses against the Astros and Marlins, the Brewers head to historic Fenway Park hoping to get right. Unfortunately, the resurgent Red Sox are looking to change their own story. After consecutive losing seasons, the Sox seem to have unlocked something in their starting rotation - and are now crawling up the ladder of a viciously competitive AL East. Can the Brewers salvage a road trip off to a sour start, or will Boston's rotation shut them down? Let's break it down. Image courtesy of © Eric Canha-USA TODAY Sports The Brewers punctuated their series with the Marlins with a dazzling start from Freddy Peralta, which would ultimately go to waste in a 1-0 loss. That loss cemented a series loss to a very bad Marlins team, and made for consecutive road series losses. It’s not an ideal trajectory for a team clinging to a 1.5-game lead in their division. The Red Sox have crept up over .500 in a ferocious AL East, and are looking to expand on that lead as they host the Crew at Fenway. Do the Sox have what it takes to jeopardize the Brewers' already fragile division lead, or do the Brewers push them back into the losing column? PITCHING MATCHUPS Friday, May 24th Bryse Wilson (2-1 2.79 ERA) vs. Kutter Crawford (2-2, 2.17 ERA) The transition from pen to rotation isn’t always an easy one, but thus far, Bryse Wilson has held his own. The innings load hasn’t been tremendous, maxing out at six innings in one start and not making it through five in any other. Still, considering he’s a swingman, Wilson does an excellent job of controlling action on the base paths. Given the quality of Milwaukee’s bullpen, Wilson generally just needs to put up a few quality innings to start the game and keep the team in it. Few pitchers have put it together and taken a leap more convincingly than Kutter Crawford. With an average fastball velocity of 92.7 MPH, Crawford doesn’t profile as the kind of arm that blows batters away, but he’s consistently getting players to chase and drawing weak contact from almost everyone who does make contact. This kind of surgical precision feels anachronistic in the UCL-testing era of fire-balling pitchers, but the repertoire is working for Crawford--so well that he’s leading the team’s rotation in WAR. Given the consistent output and his history of relative durability, he’s a dark-horse Cy Young candidate. Saturday, May 25th Colin Rea (3-2 4.07 ERA) vs. Nick Pivetta (2-2 3.04 ERA) All eyes are on Colin Rea, whose luck seems to be in a tenuous place after a red-hot start to the season. Rea’s ERA so far in May is 5.14, with an even uglier xERA of 5.58. Each start seems to build on the worrying trend of a degrading stat line, one that (from the start) looked to be bolstered largely by good luck. In his last start, the Astros tagged him for five runs over 4 1/3 innings. He did manage to strike out five over that period, but he’s likely pushing up against a conversation where the viability of his role as a starter has to come into question. The numbers have never been especially eye-popping for Nick Pivetta, but 2024 seems to be revealing a new form for the Canadian-born righty. Last season ended with a respectable 4.04 ERA, which constituted substantial tightening-up for Pivetta, who has always hovered at or below average in walk rate. This year, with 99 batters faced, Pivetta has walked only two. Compare that to 30 strikeouts in 26 2/3 IP and you can see why he’s raised a few eyebrows. Still, FIP doesn’t love Pivetta. At 4.52, there’s over a run in discrepancy between the two numbers, suggesting that there is a route to picking Pivetta apart, especially if the Crew can force him to throw a good number of pitches. Sunday, May 26th The Milwaukee Brewers vs. Tanner Houck (1.94 ERA) If you’re tired of reading about the Red Sox and their formidable rotation, I have bad news for you. In a stable of seemingly prime talent, Tanner Houck is arguably leading the pack. Last year looked like trouble for Houck, but he rebounded from an ugly 1.3 WHIP and 5.01 ERA with (to this point) a 216 ERA+ and a 0.9 HR/9. The last start for Houck was spectacular: seven shutout innings with only two hits allowed. Houck is also the author of a rare complete-game shutout this season against the Guardians, and in only three of his starts has he surrendered more than two runs. As of Thursday afternoon, the Brewers have not yet announced a starting pitcher for Sunday’s game. Tobias Myers is certainly one candidate, after coming up in Joe Ross's stead earlier this week and making only a short relief appearance in Miami. PLAYERS TO WATCH Brice Turang: For all the well-deserved hype William Contreras has garnered, it’s been easy to overlook the incredible output by Turang. Yes, the Brewers faithful are paying attention, but in the national press, you barely hear a peep. This, despite the fact that Turang sits exactly 0.1 WAR back from Contreras. Literally every metric on defense and offense has taken a jump from last season to now, with the exception of sprint speed--which was already elite. If it’s reasonable to have Contreras in the MVP discussion, numerically speaking, it should be every bit as rational to include Turang. Bryan Hudson: With an embattled rotation and a swingman game in the rotation, the Brewers are likely to be relying heavily on their bullpen in this series. Luckily, there are some elite arms in that pen, including rookie lefty Hudson. He was unceremoniously dumped by the Dodgers last year for an 18-year-old prospect who hadn’t even pitched in affiliated ball. Call it luck or propitious analysis by the front office, but the Brewers appear to have struck gold in unlocking Hudson’s potential. In 26 innings, he has a 0.68 ERA and 31 strikeouts - all good for an almost comical 600 ERA+. Rafael Devers: Ever since trading Mookie Betts to the Dodgers and letting Xander Bogaerts walk in free agency, Devers has become the face of the franchise. Adding to the mystique of 20 WAR and almost 200 home runs in his career, all in a Red Sox uniform, is that he just hit six of those home runs in as many games, setting a new franchise record. Devers may not be a surefire Hall of Famer like Betts, but he’s still reliably excellent, with two All-Star appearances and MVP votes in four of the last five seasons. Wilyer Abreu: This electric rookie hit for a .316/.388/.474 slash in 28 games last season, which was a convincing enough test run to see him break camp with the team to start the season. He’s been a rejuvenating force not only at the plate, but (along with fellow newcomer Tyler O’Neill) for what was the dismal defense of the Red Sox outfield. In matching his elite arm strength with bat speed near the league average and the discipline to steadily get on base, Abreu is putting the pieces together. PREDICTIONS This is a tough one to gauge. The Brewers have the better division, but the records between the two teams are pretty close. It’s also worth considering that the Red Sox play in a far tougher division. There’ve been a few question marks popping up for the Crew lately, with the most recent red flag being a shutout by the lowly Marlins. The same offense that couldn’t handle them is about to face back-to-back-to-back pitchers who have put up elite numbers this year. Sadly, I think Boston takes two of the three and provide a fitting end to a punishing road venture. View full article

The Brewers reunite with one-time division rivals, the Houston Astros. In their time in the American League, the Astros have cemented themselves as a powerhouse, synonymous with dominant play in October. The narrative has drastically shifted at the outset of this season, though, and the Astros enter mid-May below .500, with only the lowly Angels looking up at them in the AL West. Can they go toe-to-toe with the NL Central-leading Brewers, or does Milwaukee have what it takes to add to the Astros' woes? Image courtesy of © Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports In 2023, a stalwart team synonymous with winning their division fell from first to worst, when the Cardinals unceremoniously plummeted to the NL Central’s cellar. As the season reaches the quarter mark, it looks like the lousy play of the Cardinals wasn’t just a fluke, and now, they have another high-profile team for company in their miserable corner. The Brewers used to share a division with the Astros, but that was 11 years ago now. Since then, they’ve cemented themselves as a dynasty, with seven consecutive ALCS appearances and two World Series rings. As they defend their home turf, does Houston polish their damaged armor and begin their scrape back to relevance, or does the Brewers' division-leading play sustain? Let’s break it down. PITCHING MATCHUPS Friday, May 17th Freddy Peralta (3-1 3.63 ERA) vs. Hunter Brown (0-4 7.79 ERA) Being heralded as the ace of a team who was (just last year) associated with having a trifecta of them has to be a source of some pressure. While Peralta may not be exactly putting up Cy Young-level production, he is doing a reasonably good job of holding his own. The Cardinals were able to find a way to gnaw at his stuff a bit in his last start, in what would ultimately be a no-decision. They tagged him for eight hits and three runs. Still, Peralta was solid enough to go six innings. Early in the season, it’s not uncommon to see inflated ERA’s and pitchers getting FIPed to death on account of bad luck or shoddy infield defense, but it’s pretty difficult to take a look at the numbers Hunter Brown has put up and blame it on that. Hitters aren’t exactly barreling his pitches, but they're hitting it hard enough that it’s landing, to the tune of an ugly 2.01 WHIP. The only reason it’s not even higher is that, in his most recent appearance, he came out in long relief behind Cristian Javier to perform mop-up duties. He looked excellent, striking out seven and surrendering a single hit over five shutout innings. This was apparently enough to earn him another shot in the rotation, but it’s hard to imagine he’ll have a particularly long leash if things start going awry. Saturday, May 18th Bryse Wilson (2-1 2.65 ERA) vs. Justin Verlander (2-1 3.38 ERA) It was a hideous last start for Bryse Wilson, who walked more Cardinals than he pitched innings against them (five to four). He's allowed a slip here or there, though, given how excellent Wilson has been outside of that outing. Even with all that action on the basepaths, the Brewers righty still has an ERA of 1.80 over 10 innings in May, and has been generally solid. What is really left to say about Justin Verlander? At 41, he’s already eclipsed the retirement age for most big-leaguers, but he’s also just a season and a quarter removed from his third Cy Young Award. The future Hall Of Famer has built his résumé not only on his elite arm, but also his above-average durability. The injuries have begun to creep up in his last couple of seasons, and with them have come a bit of diminishment in play, but Verlander is still a thing to behold on the mound when he’s locked in. That his start is sandwiched between two pitchers whose ERAs sit in the 7s should tell you that this might be the game to watch. Sunday, May 19th Colin Rea (3-1 3.45 ERA) vs. Spencer Arrighetti (1-4 7.52 ERA) It’s a concerning stretch for Colin Rea, who (for the second time in as many games) got knocked around by opposing batters. Six hits and a walk led to three earned runs and ultimately a loss, but what’s more concerning is the sky-high expected batting average (xBA). It's now solidly at the .300 mark. The Astros aren’t playing with the ferocity they’ve been associated with the last several years, but that doesn’t mean they can’t absolutely destroy the pitching of someone who’s not on their game. Another young Astros starter who probably hasn’t given Houston fans a whole lot to be optimistic about in this down season. Obviously still a work in progress, Spencer Arrighetti entered the majors as the Astros' third-rated prospect. Like most young arms, Arrighetti is taking his lumps, and nothing about his present struggles necessarily locks in his future ceiling. Still, if the Brewers are able to take advantage of his green arm, I don’t think fans will feel too badly about it. PLAYERS TO WATCH Kyle Tucker: A team can’t descend as drastically as the Astros, and from such great heights, without several key players either getting injured or taking huge steps back. One player who seems to have been immune from whatever is hexing Houston is the mighty Kyle Tucker. Every year for the last three seasons, Tucker has moved higher up the MVP ballot, going from 20th to 15th to 5th, and with consistent numbers like he’s putting up this year, it’s not hard to see why. Currently, Tucker is leading the league in homers with 13 and an intimidating .997 OPS. The Crew is going to have to remember that, despite their opponents' unimpressive play, they can’t just sleepwalk through this lineup - not with a monster like this lying in wait. Jeremy Pena: It raised some eyebrows when the Astros let erstwhile cornerstone Carlos Correa walk at the end of the 2021 season, after he put up an astounding 7.2 WAR season, but the front office in Houston had their eyes on a young player on the come-up. Young Jeremy Pena immediately wowed everyone with what was ultimately Gold Glove defense and a whopping 22 home runs - something you’d be happy to get from any shortstop. It was a slow start to the season for Pena, but in the last 10 games, he’s gotten 13 hits and smashed a homer. The prolific power of his bat may be subdued compared to his rookie season, but he still has what it takes to help lift the Astros out of the cellar if he can keep hitting. Joey Ortiz: If the peripherals mean anything, we’re about to see Joey Ortiz break out in a huge way. His .277/.384/.511 is a perfectly acceptable slash line by any major-league standard, but his xwOBA is an astounding .440, nearing the top five percent of the entire league! He’s hitting for a reasonable amount of power, he’s walking at a stellar rate and he’s barely ever striking out. Small sample sizes are what they are, but it’s not a ridiculous thing to say that the combination of Ortiz and Turang could make for a “best infield in the baseball” talking point if what these peripherals are whispering comes anywhere close to fruition. Matt Trueblood wrote about this very thing yesterday. Christian Yelich: It seems like the Brewers are proceeding with caution when it comes to Christian Yelich. After abruptly putting an end to his MVP-caliber 2019 season by cracking a foul ball against his knee, Yelich hasn’t really put the pieces back together to be the fearsome batter he was for the season and a half before that. Early numbers have fans wondering if a delayed return to form may miraculously be manifesting, but having just returned from the IL with a strain in his back, it’s reasonable to see a gingerly paced return to action. Yelich was out of the lineup to wrap the series against the Pirates on Wednesday, so it’s likely that he’ll play a big part in this series. PREDICTIONS The Astros are at home, and recent play has suggested that they may be finding their magic again. Still, two of the starters scheduled to pitch for Houston have been categorically bad to start the season. Being precious or pedantic about the Brewers offense at this point is insulting to how good they’ve been. The Brewers do what they do and take this series, two out of three. View full article

The Milwaukee Brewers couldn't finish off a sweep of the Cardinals this weekend, but they get a second chance to emphatically pummel an NL Central cellar dweller this week at home. It's time to fly the Jolly Roger upside down. Image courtesy of © Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports As the sun set over Milwaukee on Saturday evening, the Brewers were celebrating another win over the St. Louis Cardinals and a +36 run differential while sitting atop the NL Central. One division rival deserves another, and as the Cards lick their wounds and take their leaves, the Pirates move in. Can the Crew build on their division lead, or does the promising Pittsburgh squad have what it takes to put a dent in Milwaukee’s momentum? Let’s take a look. PITCHING MATCHUPS Monday, May 13th Mitch Keller (3-3 4.41 ERA) vs. Colin Rea (3-0. 3.29 ERA) The luster of a potential ace seems to have worn from Mitch Keller’s reputation over the past few years, who in his approaching 600 career innings has only amassed exactly 4.0 career WAR. Still, the righty can muster instances of formidability (if not brilliance), and in his last start, he did just that. It wasn’t a shutout, but he gave up just one run and five hits while pitching a complete game against the Angels last Monday. In his first outing in a week, Keller will hope to duplicate that measure of mastery against the Brewers. Contrasting his counterpart, Rea’s last start against Kansas City wasn’t illustrious. After surrendering four runs on seven hits, Rea was pulled before he could get through the fifth inning. The peripherals haven’t liked the well-traveled hurler all year, but he’d pitched with fantastic success despite them. Whether getting picked apart by the pesky Royals was the outlier or whether the aforementioned success was a mirage has yet to be determined, but Brewers fans hope the Pirates will provide clarity--in Rea’s favor. Tuesday, May 14th Quinn Priester (0-3 3.86) vs. Joe Ross (1-4 4.75 ERA) If there’s one pitcher whose stat line doesn’t tell the full story, it’s Priester. His 0-3 doesn’t look like a shining record, but it becomes much more forgivable when you take into account one fact: he has had exactly zero runs in support during any of his starts to date. Still, the future is uncertain for Priester, who (at 23) still looks very much like an incomplete product. With the playoffs being an unlikely outcome for Pittsburgh this year, Priester will be given a reasonably long leash in the rotation to perfect his tantalizing sinker and sharpen the rest of his repertoire, all of which sees a steep decline in quality after his main pitch. It was another rough start for Ross last time out; he's in the star-crossed portion of the young season. The xERA for Ross sits at a reasonable 4.15, more than half a point lower than his actual one on a team full of xERA beaters. Still, the 19:8 strikeout-to-walk ratio he’s achieved over the last 26 innings indicates more of a literal dip in quality than just poor luck. Regardless, the next few starts for Ross should prove crucial in determining his viability as a starter. Wednesday, May 15th Martín Pérez (1-2 3.60 ERA) vs. Robert Gasser (1-0 0.00 ERA) Consistent back-of-the-rotation innings eaters rarely get fanfare, but Pérez has been a pretty valuable version of that guy since 2012. Now in his 12th year in the majors, the longtime Rangers arm finds himself a veteran presence in a boisterous young rotation, doing what he does best: quietly, reliably eating innings on a bargain salary. He’s limiting baserunners well by keeping walks to a minimum, but he’s also in the bottom 10% of the league in giving up extra-base hits. If the Brewers can pick their spots, approach with discipline and get Pérez to throw a lot of pitches, they can be his undoing. The last Brewers pitcher with a debut as stellar as Robert Gasser’s was Brandon Woodruff. Missed as he may be, the absence of that two-time All-Star feels a bit more palatable when you see a promising young arm come up and dominate a division rival. Gasser did just that, fanning four and walking none over the course of six dominant innings in his big-league debut against the Cardinals. One division-widening start deserves another, and Gasser will hope to prove himself once more this coming Wednesday. PLAYERS TO WATCH Andrew McCutchen: It’s been a long time since McCutchen has been the MVP-caliber player who became a number-retirement candidate for the Pirates, but his legacy and likability have made him worth keeping around despite the diminishing play. It’s near the middle of May and Cutch hasn’t been able to put it together. With a -0.2 WAR and a .175 average, it’s hard to see an upstart team like the Bucs continuing to make room for an aging vet. Still, in giving respect where it’s due, we should appreciate bearing witness to the last vestige of an era where names like Votto, Braun and McCutchen held marquee esteem in the baseball world. Paul Skenes: Even if he doesn’t record an inning during this series, the hype around Skenes has electrified the baseball world and should resonate even in stasis. The former first overall pick has all the makings of a star, from sitting 100 on the mound to the celebrity girlfriend. It’s hype in a pitcher the baseball world hasn’t seen since Stephen Strasburg fanned 14 Buccos in his debut, and he and Livvy Dunne have tandem star power akin to that of Justin Verlander and Kate Upton. Feel however you want about the celebrity ephemera, but it does undeniably imbue the game with something unique and magnetic. Rhys Hoskins: It’s taken a bit to get going, but it seems like the imposing bat that made Hoskins the hot commodity he was is starting to come out of hibernation. Since the beginning of May, his slash line has ascended from .207/.303/.448 to .230/.333/.460. The numbers themselves aren’t likely to turn heads, but if the trajectory maintains, it gives the Brewers fans yet another thing to look forward to. Jared Koenig: The 1,000th player in franchise history has carved out quite a dynamic beginning of the season so far. Signed on a free-agent minor-league contract after being released by the Padres last offseason, Koenig originally figured to be a short relief pitcher to help triage and mop up games. If his actual skillset is what we've seen so far, then Koenig is a valuable and malleable arm, a surefire stopper who can come into any game and shut down the opposition. With an astounding xwOBA of .248, Koenig is presently in the top 5% in the entire league. If he can keep this up, Koenig figures to be a pivotal part of the Brewers playoff run. PREDICTIONS By hook or by crook, the Brewers seem to be able to pick apart these incomplete-feeling teams in relatively convincing fashion. It’s not often that I bet on any team to sweep, and I won’t here, but I feel like the Brewers can walk away with two easy wins. View full article

After losing the last two of three games against the hated Cubs, the Brewers roll into Kansas City needing to get right. These two teams are clawing for the top spots in their respective divisions, with their producers being an even mix of seasoned vets and promising youngsters. It should be an exciting series at Kauffman Stadium; let's break it down. Image courtesy of © Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports At the start of the season, most people assumed the AL Central would be a Minnesota Twins 162-game cake walk into the postseason. Things have not panned out that way, and a month in, there’s a tangle at the top. The Guardians hold first place, with the Royals immediately behind them. The Kansas City roster has is a nimble blend of May and December, and for the moment, they look like legitimate contenders. PITCHING MATCHUPS Monday, May 6th Bryse Wilson (2-0 3.00 ERA) vs. Cole Ragans (2-2 3.44 ERA) Is the Top-100 prospect potential scouts once saw in Bryse Wilson coming to fruition in a Brewers uniform? It might be too early to say so for sure, but four hits with one earned run over six innings is certainly good value from a guy acquired for virtually nothing, who spent last season in a long relief role. It will be interesting to see how far beyond the 24-inning mark this level of production can go, but if it does perdure, the Brewers have quite the valuable young arm in the 26-year-old Wilson. Prognosticators and statheads both loved Ragans at the start of the season, with some even saying he was a Cy Young candidate. The fireballer hasn’t been quite as dominant to start the season as some might have predicted, but his most recent start against the Blue Jays may have reaffirmed the ace narrative surrounding him. Ragans struck out nine over 6 2/3 innings, in a masterful start that snapped a three-game losing streak for the Royals. If he brings that same juice in his start against the Crew, it could be trouble for Milwaukee. Tuesday, May 7th Colin Rea (3-0 2.67 ERA) vs. Seth Lugo (5-1 1.60 ERA) Honestly, it’s difficult to explain the continued excellence of Colin Rea. A 1.22 WHIP doesn’t generally lend itself to a sub-3.00 ERA, and the FIP suggests that luck continues to be Rea’s best friend, but start after start transpires and Rea’s success continues. There was one rough start against the Yankees, wherein Rea surrendered runs on three home runs, but he followed that up immediately with six shutout innings against the Rays. The delightful mystery continues. Speaking of mysteries, Seth Lugo spent seven years in the Mets organization, making the occasional start but mostly pitching out of the pen. Upon hitting free agency, he stretched out for the Padres and pitched well enough to decline the mutual option in his deal; signed with the Royals for $45 million over three years; and is suddenly pitching like an ace. The peripherals, however, give cause for skepticism. The ERA may sit below 2.00, but the FIP is at 3.44. He may be limiting action on the base paths, but he's pitching to contact and getting hit hard. It’s not dissimilar to his counterpart; he's defying metrics and making it work. Wednesday, May 8th Joe Ross (1-3 4.65 ERA) vs. Brady Singer (2-1 2.45 ERA) In what was ultimately an unimpressive series for the Crew in Chicago, Ross was a bit of a bright spot. In six innings, he gave up as many hits, but surrendered only one one in what felt like a fitting no-decision. Hopefully, Milwaukee can provide him with a bit more run support this time, as a typical Ross start tends to yield a bit more offense from the opposing team. It isn’t shaping up to be an easy road series for Milwaukee’s offense. After Ragans and Lugo comes 2018 first-rounder Brady Singer. Singer has a four-pitch repertoire, but relies heavily on his slider and sinker, and it’s not hard to see why. He’s at the very top of the league in getting ground balls, and his control is elite when he’s sticking to his offspeed pitches. Of the three pitchers the Brewers are scheduled to face (all of them quite good), Singer might be the most difficult. Players To Watch Cole Ragans: When the moves you make culminate in a World Series win, you’re sort of disqualified from complaining about what you sacrifice to get there, but it has to sit in the back of Rangers fans' minds that they traded a potential cornerstone starting pitcher for late-stage Aroldis Chapman. With the move from Texas behind him, Ragans looks poised to begin a new legacy in Royal blue, and he’s doing so with aplomb so far. Salvador Perez: It seems impossible, but Perez will only be turning 34 years old immediately after this series wraps. He's been manning the backstop at Kauffman Stadium since 2011 and amassed eight All-Star appearances, five Gold Gloves, four Silver Sluggers, a World Series MVP Award, and (for good measure) an AL Comeback Player Of The Year award in 2020 when he returned from serious injury and almost immediately played to his previous standard. Perez is arguably a Hall Of Fame candidate, and the 1.6 WAR he’s already put up this year only adds to that argument. Jackson Chourio: Is it time to worry? In the grand scheme of things, the answer is “of course not.” He’s freshly 20 years old, and still a strong contender to make his contract look like an all-timer in terms of team-friendly deals for young players. Still, it seems big-league pitching has caught up to Chourio, and hurlers have learned to suppress his bat to the tune of an ugly .223/.270/.359 slash line. Trevor Megill: As the Brewers add “suspensions” to the list of causes for pitcher attrition, the focus will be on how they can cobble together innings. Luckily, among the list of capable potential game-enders, Trevor Megill has emerged as a steady hand. It’s too early to really project where Megill could be over the course of a full season, but his stuff looks convincing. Not bad for a player whom they got for even less than they gave up to land Wilson. Predictions This might be the hardest prediction yet, because both teams share some distinctly potent idiosyncrasies. Small-market teams composed of brilliant young players, anchored by a solid core of veterans defying casual fans and prognosticators alike. That said, the pitching the Brewers are scheduled to face just looks too nasty. The offense isn’t in full-on hibernation, but in a bit of a tough stretch, it is fair to say it’s flagging. I think the Royals walk away with two wins here. View full article