Jason Wang

The Brewers made eight more picks on the second day of the 2023 MLB Draft, acquiring six pitchers and two position players to set up the future of the farm system. Image courtesy of © Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports Eric Bitonti (SS) - Picked 87th Overall A shortstop out of Aquinas High School in California, the 17-year old received positive reception from scouts. He demonstrated plus power and arm strength. The slot value of the 87th overall pick was $796,200. Here's a snippet of MLB.com’s scouting report, where he was ranked 68th overall. As for his defense, here's a portion of Baseball America’s scouting report, where he was ranked 59th overall: Jason Woodward (RHP) - Picked 119th Overall A pitcher from Florida Gulf Coast University, he was unranked by MLB and Baseball America. He was picked earlier than expected, especially given his relatively recent Tommy John surgery. In his most recent season with FGCU, he posted a 1.32 ERA and 0.95 WHIP but in a small sample of just 13 2/3 innings. The slot value of the 119th overall pick was $557,900. Ryan Birchard (RHP) - Picked 155th Overall A pitcher from Niagara County Community College, Birchard was also unranked by MLB and Baseball America. In his last season with NCCC, he posted a 1.88 ERA and 76 strikeouts over 38 1/3 innings pitched. The slot value of the 155th overall pick was $392,700. Cooper Pratt (SS) - Picked 182nd Overall Hailing from Magnolia Heights High School in Mississippi, Pratt was ranked somewhat highly as a shortstop. A well-rounded prospect, he showed off strong skills in almost all parts of his game. The slot value of the 182nd overall pick was $309,900. MLB.com ranked him 45th overall, praising his defensive upside. Baseball America was slightly less bullish overall, ranking him 63rd, but their scouting report hints at his offensive upside. Tate Kuehner (LHP) - Picked 212th Overall A lefty from the University of Louisville, Kuehner posted a respectable 3.99 ERA and 1.278 WHIP over 38 1/3 innings, primarily being used as a reliever but also making two starts. He was unranked by both MLB.com and Baseball America. The slot value of the 212th overall pick was $242,400. Craig Yoho (RHP) - Picked 242nd Overall Craig Yoho is a pitcher from Indiana University who posted a 3.41 ERA and 1.405 WHIP coming out of the bullpen in the 2023 season across 37 innings. He was also an unranked prospect. The slot value of the 242nd overall pick was $196,700. Mark Manfredi (LHP) - Picked 272nd Overall Manfredi is a lefty from the University of Dayton who made 15 starts this past season and posted a 5.67 ERA to go along with a 1.374 WHIP. He was also an unranked prospect. The slot value of the 272nd overall pick was $176,700. Morris Austin (RHP) - Picked 302nd Overall A right-handed pitcher from Houston Christian University, Austin posted a 9.00 ERA with a 1.778 WHIP over 9.0 innings coming out of the bullpen. Over the 44 1/3 innings of his college career, he posted a 6.50 ERA with a 1.805 WHIP. View full article

To continue bolstering their infield, the Milwaukee Brewers selected Mike Boeve, a third baseman from the University of Nebraska-Omaha. Another power bat in the hot corner, Mike Boeve had an incredible third year with the University of Nebraska-Omaha, Boeve slashing .401/.512/.563 for an OPS of 1.075. In addition to hitting for average, his plate discipline is excellent, boasting 32 walks while striking out just nine times in 211 plate appearances. Unlike fellow draftee Brock Wilkens, Boeve lacks in power, hitting just four home runs and 15 doubles, but their skillsets seem to complement each other, and Boeve might be a much-needed consistent leadoff hitter. His incredible hitting talent is undoubtedly a bright spot in the future of the Brewer organization if things work out. The draft slot associated with the 54th pick is $1,546,100. Baseball America's scouting report, where he ranked 61st overall. MLB.com's scouting report, where he ranked 81st overall. View full article

aye aye cap'n.

With the 33rd pick of the 2023 MLB Draft, the Milwaukee Brewers have selected Josh Knoth, a right-handed pitcher from Patchogue-Medford High School in Medford, New York. Image courtesy of Brewer Fanatic While relatively small at 6'1 and 190 pounds, Josh Knoth is a crafty pitcher with arguably the best curveball in the entire draft class. Earning a 60-grade from MLB scouts, it boasts a spin rate of ~3,000 RPMs and will continue to develop. He also utilizes a 55-grade fastball, 65-grade slider, and a 45-grade changeup, the weakest pitch in his arsenal. Players are often difficult to evaluate properly out of high school, especially pitchers who may run into injury issues after seeing an increase in workload. If things work out, he has the chance to have a long career in the major leagues, hopefully most of which is spent getting outs for Milwaukee. The draft slot associated with the 33rd pick is $2,543,800. You can read a brief profile about Knoth by Jeremy Nygaard here. Baseball America's scouting report, where he was ranked 41st overall. MLB.com's scouting report, where he was ranked 98th overall. How do you feel about the selection of Josh Knoth? View full article

The newest member of the Milwaukee Brewers is Brock Wilken, who the team chose with the 18th overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft. The slugger is a third baseman from Wake Forest University. Image courtesy of Brewer Fanatic An extremely dangerous hitter, Brock Wilken slashed an amazing .345/.506/.807 in his third season at Wake Forest, good enough for an OPS of 1.313. With 31 home runs and 15 doubles, he's definitely earned his 70-grade for power and will join a stacked farm system with some serious bats. With a 6'4, 225 pound frame, who's to say more power isn't to come? To go along with his excellent slugging ability, he walked more than he struck out over 320 plate appearances (69 BB, 58 SO). The draft slot associated with the 18th pick is $4,021,400. Baseball America's scouting report, where he ranked 23rd overall. MLB.com's scouting report, where he ranked 25th overall. View full article

The Brewers get to work early, striking first and finding victory in the first game of the series against the current NL Central leader. Image courtesy of © Michael McLoone-USA TODAY Sports Box Score Starting Pitcher: Corbin Burnes - 6.0 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 4 BB, 6 K, 90 pitches, 50 strikes (55.6%) Home Runs: Joey Wiemer (12), Willy Adames (14) Top 3 WPA: Willy Adames (.172), Corbin Burnes (.114), Joey Wiemer (.102) Bottom 3 WPA: Tyson Miller (-.040), Blake Perkins (-.036), Christian Yelich (-.033) Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) Burnes Goes Scoreless (Almost) Corbin Burnes had a strong beginning to his start, cruising through the first time through the lineup in order. After a walk of TJ Friedl in the fourth inning, a forceout, pickoff, and strikeout kept his dominant pitching performance going. The fifth inning is when things started to come apart at the seams. After giving up a single and a stolen base to Elly De La Cruz, Joey Votto blasted a home run to right center field to give the Reds their first two runs of the game. Burnes followed up by conceding two more walks before finally getting out of the inning with a flyout and a groundout. In his final inning of work, he’d give up a single and yet another walk but escape unscathed. On the bright side, his cutter was back to usual nasty form, topping out at 96.3 mph. Bullpen Keeps It Up Hoby Milner had another standout performance, striking out four batters in 1.2 innings without giving up a single hit or walk. Tyson Miller wasn’t as lucky, giving up two walks and a double to Joey Votto to assign himself an earned run before allowing Devin Williams to step in for the save, his 19th of the season. In his defense, it was Miller’s first major league relief appearance since June 14th where he gave up just one walk in 1.0 inning against the Twins. While his ERA is a somewhat subpar 5.79 over 9.1 innings, it’s important to know that ERA can often be skewed for relievers, especially those with a small sample size of innings pitched. His WHIP of 1.286 is slightly closer to the acceptable range. Brewers Have A Field Day The offense was cooking as Milwaukee scored in four separate innings, finally proving that they can indeed hit lefty pitching after all. Three consecutive doubles by William Contreras, Willy Adames, and Owen Miller scored the first two runs for the Brewers in dominant fashion and put Reds starter Andrew Abbott on high alert. Not wanting to miss out on the fun, Joey Wiemer hit a 2-RBI home run in the second inning to give the Brewers an imposing 4-0 lead very early in the game. His 397-foot bomb to left center field brought Milwaukee’s win probability to an optimistic 87.2% After Votto’s 2-RBI home run to bring the score to 4-2, the Brewers responded with a 2-RBI home run of their own, courtesy of Willy Adames. His 378-foot moonshot to left field essentially sealed the deal, bringing the win probability to 93.3%. Last but not least, Victor Caratini continued his late-inning RBI streak by hitting a single in the seventh inning to score Blake Perkins who had gotten on base after a walk. What’s Next? Colin Rea will take the ball against righty Luke Weaver to try and keep the momentum going. With a dominant home win to start the series, who’s to say the Brewers aren’t able to carry this positive tempo through the rest of the season? Milwaukee is currently a single game behind the Reds and 6.0 games ahead of the Chicago Cubs. Postgame Interviews Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet MON TUE WED THU FRI TOT Milner 0 19 20 0 23 62 Williams 19 0 25 0 15 59 Payamps 16 0 14 14 0 44 B Wilson 0 31 0 10 0 41 Peguero 0 12 0 16 0 28 Miller 0 0 0 0 22 22 Mejia 0 0 4 17 0 21 Tweet Highlight View full article

After going blow-for-blow, Victor Caratini decides enough is enough and secures the win with a moonshot, ending the most exciting series of the season. Box Score Starting Pitcher: Freddy Peralta - 5.1 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 10 K, 104 pitches, 64 strikes (61.5%) Home Runs: Christian Yelich (11), Victor Caratini (5) Top 3 WPA: Christian Yelich (.315), Victor Caratini (.299), Joel Payamps (.163) Bottom 3 WPA: J.C. Mejia (-.259), Brian Anderson (-.164), Brice Turang (-.073) Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) Peralta Battles For 10 Strikeouts Like most of his starts this season, Freddy Peralta gave up a few hits and a few earned runs on his way to double digit strikeouts. In all fairness, he gave up just one earned run in his first five innings, the result of back-to-back doubles by Christopher Morel and Cody Bellinger in the second inning. In the sixth inning, a walk by Seiya Suzuki paired with a Cody Bellinger home run and a pitch count over 100 signaled that it was time to make a call to the bullpen. Despite giving up some hard contact, Freddy Peralta’s performance was dazzling, flashing some phenomenal stuff and touching up to 98.7 mph with his four-seam fastball. Peralta is still performing worse than his career average, posting a 4.70 ERA and a 1.30 WHIP vs. his average figures of 3.98 and 1.16. Mejia Makes a Boo-Boo, Payamps Saves The Day A team effort from Bryse Wilson, Elvis Peguero, J.C. Mejia, and Joel Payamps combined to pitch the final 3.2 innings of the game following Peralta’s departure from the mound. While Wilson and Peguero were excellent, conceding no baserunners and striking out two of their three assigned batters, J.C. Mejia got himself into hot water. After getting a double play, he gave up a single to Cody Bellinger and a game-tying home run to Yan Gomes, a shot that brought the score to 5-5. Despite striking out Jared Young in the very next at-bat, the Cubs were right back in the game with a 41.8% chance to win the game. Luckily, Joel Payamps was lights out, giving up just a single to Trey Mancini before retiring the next three Cubs in order to close out the game. It’s Milwaukee’s Turn To Squeak Away With The Win After going scoreless for the first half, the Brewers finally started to find their swings in the fifth inning, putting up four runs. Following a single and a walk to put Raimel Tapia and Victor Caratini on first and second, Joey Wiemer’s single sent Tapia home to tie the game at 1-1. To continue the scoring fun and his own redemption arc as of late, Christian Yelich hit a three-run blast to left field, scoring three runs and giving us a glimpse of the old Yelich we all know and love. Yelich was in the spotlight again in the seventh inning, walking, stealing second base, advancing to third from a throwing error by catcher Yan Gomes, and finally coming home after a Willy Adames sacrifice fly. But it was Victor Caratini who would strike the final blow. After the Chicago Cubs tied it up in the eighth inning, he hit a clutch home run to right field, giving the Brewers a 6-5 lead they would maintain until the last pitch. What’s Next? Continuing their tour of divisional rivals, the Brewers will host the Cincinnati Reds in the first game of a crucial six-game set composed of two, three-game series. Corbin Burnes will face Andrew Abbott, a lights-out leftie with a 1.21 ERA over 37.1 innings pitched. And no, the Brewers still have not improved their hitting against lefty pitching and are still the worst in MLB (.661 OPS). This series will definitely cause some movement within the division as the Brewers are currently 2.0 games behind Cincinnati and 6.0 games ahead of the Chicago Cubs. Postgame Interviews Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet SUN MON TUE WED THU TOT Williams 9 19 0 25 0 53 Peguero 20 0 12 0 16 48 Payamps 0 16 0 14 14 44 B Wilson 0 0 31 0 10 41 Milner 1 0 19 20 0 40 Mejia 0 0 0 4 17 21 Miller 0 0 0 0 0 0 Tweet Highlight View full article

In a rare blown save, Devin Williams failed to secure the last out needed to claim victory. A couple of well-placed hits and a couple of insufficient plays by the Brewers defense allowed the Cubs to squeak by with a narrow 4-3 victory. Image courtesy of © Michael McLoone-USA TODAY Sports Box Score Starting Pitcher: Adrian Houser - 5.0 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 4 K, 104 pitches, 60 strikes (57.7%) Home Runs: Willy Adames (13) Top 3 WPA: Adrian Houser (.160), Hoby Milner (.132), Brian Anderson (.116) Bottom 3 WPA: Devin Williams (-.725), Joey Wiemer (-.104), Brice Turang (-.089) Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) Houser Leaves It All On The Field Adrian Houser was able to limit the tepid Cubs lineup to just one run in his five-inning start. It wasn’t easy, requiring over 100 pitches from him after giving up six total hits, but he was able to escape inning after inning. His only earned run came in the third frame, after he hit Mike Tauchman with a pitch. Tauchman advanced to second following a failed pickoff attempt and two more singles from Seiya Suzuki and Ian Happ brought him home, to give Chicago the first run of the game. With two runners on, Houser got a crucial double play out of Dansby Swanson to escape the inning. The fifth inning started to seem like more trouble, with two walks and a single loading the bases with just one out. Once again, a handy-dandy Swanson double play ended the inning and Houser’s day. Houser currently has a 3.68 ERA and a 1.54 WHIP over 51 1/3 innings pitched. While his ERA is serviceable for a starter, a 1.54 WHIP is quite high, boosted by starts like today. Bats Slow Down, But Do Enough Milwaukee’s offense wasn’t as explosive in Wednesday’s game as the rest of the series, but it was enough to take a lead in the sixth inning. The Brewers tied the game in the third, following a single by Andruw Monasterio. He advanced to second on a groundout by Christian Yelich and scored on a William Contreras single to right field. The go-ahead run came in the form of a monstrous leadoff home run by Willy Adames, a 390-foot bomb to left center field that put the Brewers up 2-1. After a single and a stolen base by Jahmai Jones, Brian Anderson’s dad-powered RBI single made the score 3-1 heading into the seventh inning. Disaster Strikes Devin After three scoreless relief innings by Hoby Milner, J.C. Mejia, and Joel Payamps, Devin Williams stepped in to close out the game. Tasked with preserving a 3-1 lead, it seemed like just another day in the office for Williams, who had blown just one save all season. After two singles and two outs, Williams needed just one more out to seal the deal and walk away with yet another victory. Unfortunately, a Tauchman double scored Cody Bellinger and Jared Young to the game at 3-3, a catastrophic outcome. To make matters worse, Nico Hoerner hit a ground ball to Anderson, who made a throwing error to allow Tauchman to score the go-ahead run. While Hoerner was the third out at second base after trying to stretch his luck, it was too late for Milwaukee. The Brewers were retired in order in the ninth inning, fully blowing the small but very real lead they had at the start of the inning. What’s Next? Freddy Peralta will duel Marcus Stroman in the fourth and final game of the series. Currently down 1-2, the Brewers will hope to tie it up and prevent the Cubs from inching closer to their spot in the NL Central. This series has been extremely competitive and the final game of the set should be no different. Milwaukee is now 2.0 games behind the Cincinnati Reds and 5.0 games ahead of the Chicago Cubs. Postgame Interviews Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet SAT SUN MON TUE WED TOT Williams 0 9 19 0 25 53 Payamps 13 0 16 0 14 43 B Wilson 11 0 0 31 0 42 Milner 0 1 0 19 20 40 Peguero 0 20 0 12 0 32 Mejia 0 0 0 0 4 4 Miller 0 0 0 0 0 0 Tweet Highlight View full article

The Brewers come alive in the late innings to overcome a 6-2 deficit heading into the bottom of the 8th inning before losing by one run in the 11th. Image courtesy of © Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports Box Score Starting Pitcher: Wade Miley - 5.0 IP, 9 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, 87 pitches, 59 strikes (67.8%) Home Runs: None Top 3 WPA: Raimel Tapia (.254), Willy Adames (.204), Jesse Winker (.159) Bottom 3 WPA: Owen Miller (-.364), Clayton Andrews (-.299), Brice Turang (-.294) Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) Wade Wobbles Through Start While Miley’s start wasn’t necessarily horrible, his four earned runs gave the Cubs important early momentum to carry until the last two innings. After a smooth first inning, he gave up a triple to Seiya Suzuki and a double to Yan Gomes to give the Cubs an early 1-0 lead. He also conceded a home run to Dansby Swanson to lead off the third inning but pitched a scoreless fourth. In his final inning, a single by Ian Happ and double by Christopher Morel led to two more Chicago runs after a sacrifice fly by Trey Mancini and a single by Cody Bellinger. In Miley’s defense, the Chicago Cubs are one of the best teams in baseball at hitting lefties, posting a team OPS of .768, 8th in MLB. He’s still posting great percentile figures for a soft contact pitcher, including a 78th percentile average exit velocity, 84th percentile HardHit%, and a 81st percentile walk rate. Brewers Spread ‘Em Out Rather than depending on a few breakout innings as per usual, the Brewers scored in four different innings. The first run came in the fifth inning after a single and stolen base from Owen Miller placed him on second with one out. After a Blake Perkins ground out advanced him to third base, he was waved in off of a single by Brice Turang. In the sixth inning, Yelich followed suit to score Milwaukee’s second run, hitting a single and stealing second base, coming home after a William Contreras single. The Cubs looked like they were going to cruise through the eighth inning, hitting Joey Wiemer with a pitch before recording two quick outs. Unfortunately for them, Contreras and Rowdy Tellez hit back-to-back singles to score Wiemer and a double from Willy Adames scored Contreras, bringing the score to 6-4. The ninth inning was as dramatic as it gets. Down by two runs, Raimel Tapia and Brice Turang hit back-to-back singles before a Yelich single scored Tapia and Jesse Winker was hit by a pitch to load the bases. A Contreras sacrifice fly would tie the game before Tellez would strike out, slamming his bat in frustration for not sealing the deal. Bullpens Duel In Extras Following Miley’s start, Bryse Wilson would relieve 2.1 innings, giving up just one hit and one earned run. Hoby Milner would finish the remainder of the eighth inning, giving up two hits and an earned run of his own. In a clutch situation, J.B. Bukauskas and Elvis Peguero pitched the ninth and tenth innings, giving up no hits and keeping the game winnable. Bukauskas especially had a great outing, striking out two of his three assigned batters. Unfortunately, Clayton Andrews couldn’t keep the boat afloat, conceding a lone single to Nico Hoerner to score the extra-innings runner, giving the Cubs the lead at an eventual final score of 7-6. What’s Next? Adrian Houser will take the ball against left-handed breakout phenomenon Justin Steele in the third game of what’s been an immensely competitive series thus far. While the Cubs are great at hitting against lefties, their hitting against righties is slightly less impressive, posting a team OPS of .710, 18th in MLB. Meanwhile, the Brewers remain the worst team against lefty pitching, posting a dismal .656 OPS. The Brewers are currently 1.0 games behind the Cincinnati Reds and 6.0 games ahead of both the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Chicago Cubs. Postgame Interviews Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet FRI SAT SUN MON TUE TOT Andrews 0 30 0 0 13 43 B Wilson 0 11 0 0 31 42 Peguero 0 0 20 0 12 32 Payamps 0 13 0 16 0 29 Williams 0 0 9 19 0 28 Bukauskas 0 0 0 11 10 21 Milner 0 0 1 0 19 20 Tweet Highlight View full article

Kinda bad luck. They're 7-12 in one-run games and rarely get blown out. They have a positive run differential of +22 (Milwaukee's is -14) mostly from losing a bunch of close games and winning a bunch by a wide margin.

In one of the best comebacks of the season, the Brewers get through an early 6-0 deficit to get an important win at home. Image courtesy of © Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports Box Score Starting Pitcher: Julio Teheran - 6.0 IP, 9 H, 6 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, 93 pitches, 65 strikes (69.9%) Home Runs: None Top 3 WPA: Jahmai Jones (.396), Christian Yelich (.318), Joel Payamps (.107) Bottom 3 WPA: Julio Teheran(-.257), Brice Turang (-.198), Owen Miller (-.057) Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) Teheran Recovers From Early Struggles In his second rough start in a row, Julio Teheran gave up six earned runs across the second and third inning. He had a great start, giving up just one baserunner in the first inning off of an error by Owen Miller, but quickly started to spiral. To start things off in the second, Dansby Swanson hit a leadoff double before being scored by a Cody Bellinger single. Christopher Morel hit an RBI-double to bring the Cubs lead to 2-0 before Tucker Barnhart’s RBI single brought Morel home as the third run. The third inning seemed like Teheran was starting to settle in, recording two outs with just Dansby Swanson on first. After Christopher Morel’s single to put runners on the corner, it kicked off an episode of deja vu. Nick Madrigal’s 2-RBI double put the score at 5-0, before he came home off of a Tucker Barnhart single. While it ultimately had no impact on the game, Teheran balked Barnhart to scoring position before finally getting Mike Tauchman to ground out. On the bright side, he was able to pitch the second half of his start without giving up another earned run, an impressive feat given the punishment he received in the first half of the game. After conceding 13 runs in his past 11.2 innings pitched, Teheran’s season numbers have finally regressed to his career averages. His current ERA and WHIP of 3.64 and 1.02 seem to be more sustainable than his outstanding numbers earlier in the year. Jahmai Jones - Remember The Name By the bottom of the third inning, the Brewers were already facing a grim 6-0 deficit. With just a 6.1% chance to win the game, the team began one of the most exciting comebacks of the season. Who powered this comeback? It was Brian Anderson’s paternity leave replacement, Jahmai Jones. With his last major league appearance in 2021, most were not expecting him to break out the way he did today. The comeback started with a Brice Turang walk, followed by an RBI double by William Contreras and an RBI triple by Christian Yelich (who is looking like Yelich of Yesteryear, by the way). With the score at 6-2, Willy Adames scored Yelich with a single of his own before two more strikeouts by Owen MIller and Blake Perkins to close the inning. The seventh inning seemed like it would be quick, with Christian Yelich hitting a single in between two outs. Owen Miller and Raimel Tapia kept things going with two back-to-back walks to load the bases before a massive Jahmai Jones double cleared the bases to tie the game at 6-6. The bases were loaded again following a walk of Joey Wiemer and Victor Caratini being hit by a pitch, but a Brice Turang strikeout kept the game even. The eighth inning is where the Brew Crew finally began to take over. After two back-to-back singles by William Contreras and Christian Yelich, Yelich stole second base. The go-ahead single by Willy Adames was insured by a Rowdy Tellez sacrifice fly. Coupled with the shutout performance by the bullpen, Milwaukee kept the score at 8-6. Bukauskas Makes Strong Brewers Debut, Bullpen Continues to Impress In his first relief appearance for Milwaukee and just his second inning pitched all season, J.P. Bukauskas gave up just two baserunners. Bukauskas used his slider and sinker to induce weak contact, getting an important double play to compensate for a leadoff hit by pitch. Joel Payamps retired his three batters in order in the eighth inning, a crucial outing for what was at the time, a very close game. In his 18th save of the season, Devin Williams got two groundouts while giving up a double to Nico Hoerner and a walk to Ian Happ. Facing a dangerous hitter in Dansby Swanson in a clutch situation, Williams caught him looking with a perfectly painted four-seam fastball to finalize the amazing comeback. What’s Next? In the second game of the series, Wade Miley will face off against Kyle Hendricks, a dangerous right-handed opponent on the mound. The Brewers are riding some decent momentum, hitting at a team average of .754 over the past seven days, 13th best in MLB. In comparison, the Chicago Cubs are batting just .657 over the same period, 25th best in MLB. With this victory, the Brewers have officially reclaimed the top spot in the NL Central, 0.5 games ahead of the Reds and 6.0 games ahead of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Postgame Interviews Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet THU FRI SAT SUN MON TOT Williams 26 0 0 9 19 54 Payamps 18 0 13 0 16 47 Andrews 0 0 30 0 0 30 Peguero 3 0 0 20 0 23 Milner 15 0 0 1 0 16 B Wilson 0 0 11 0 0 11 Bukauskas 0 0 0 0 11 11 Tweet Highlight View full article

The Brewers found their sea legs on a treacherous annual voyage to Pittsburgh, avoiding a tragic deja vu situation to maintain the lead, even after a six-run eighth inning by the Pirates. Starting Pitcher: Corbin Burnes - 7.0 IP, 1 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 7 K, 99 pitches, 65 strikes (65.7%) Home Runs: Christian Yelich (10), Raimel Tapia (3) Top 3 WPA: Christian Yelich (.192), Corbin Burnes (.131), Willy Adames (.087) Bottom 3 WPA: Victor Caratini (-.032), Bryse Wilson (-.025), Jesse Winker (-.020) Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) Burnes Burns The Bucs In a strong bounce-back performance following two disappointing starts against the Guardians and Diamondbacks, Corbin Burnes tossed five perfect innings before starting to come apart in the sixth. After walking Jared Triolo and Ji Hwan Bae, he hit Andrew McCutchen with a pitch to load the bases with two outs. Jack Suwinski hit a two-run single to end the shutout, but Burnes quickly got a groundout from Carlos Santana to avoid further trouble. He retired his last three Pirates in order in the seventh inning before departing the mound for good, turning back the clock to his former self. It’s clear the stuff is still there, and he hasn’t fully regressed as an ace, but I’m sure fans would love to see these types of outings more consistently. His ERA and WHIP stand at 4.00 and 1.13, quite a bit worse than his career averages of 3.34 and 1.06. Andrews Struggles In Big League Debut After seven innings of two-run baseball from Burnes, Clayton Andrews was brought in for relief. A recent callup from the Nashville Sounds, he and J.B. Bukauskas will be taking over for Matt Bush and Thomas Pannone, who were both designated for assignment. Unfortunately for Andrews, his first major-league appearance was not the most encouraging display of his skillset. Let’s see how he managed to give up five runs while recording just two outs. Ji Hwan Bae grounds out. Jason Delay hits a double. Josh Palacios hit a single to score Delay. The score is 11-3 in favor of Milwaukee. Andrew McCutchen grounds out, moving Palacios to second base. Jack Suwinski hits a home run, scoring himself and Palacios. The score is 11-5. Connor Joe walks Henry Davis hits a single. Joe advances to third. Bryse Wilson replaces Andrews Tucupita Marcano hits a triple, scoring Joe and Davis, serving as Andrews’s fourth and fifth earned runs. Andrews has been great in Triple A this season, posting a 1.65 ERA over 32 2/3 innings. After taking some time to adjust to major-league hitting, (hopefully) he'll find his spots a little better and avoid future outings like this. Brewers Are Heating Up Like A Microwave Oven Like I wrote about yesterday, the Brewers chose to do most of their scoring in two innings instead of spreading it across the board more evenly. After a sacrifice fly by Rowdy Tellez in the first inning, the second inning quickly got out of hand for Pittsburgh. Brian Anderson hit a single and then advanced to third on a Brice Turang single. After a Blake Perkins groundball, Turang was forced out at second while Anderson safely scored Milwaukee’s second run of the game and Perkins made it to first base. After a Raimel Tapia walk, Christian Yelich hit a crucial home run to right field to bring all three Brewers home, putting the Brewers up 5-0. A Jesse Winker walk and a Willy Adames double became the sixth run, after a Tellez groundout. But Wait, There’s More! The sixth inning was more of the same, starting off with back-to-back singles and a walk to load the bases with zero outs. Jesse Winker’s double cleared the bases, giving the Brewers an incredible nine-run lead. Wanting to express his love for round numbers, Victor Caratini hit an RBI single of his own to set the score at an even 10-0 heading into the bottom of the sixth inning. Last but not least, Raimel Tapia hit a solo home run to drive in the 11th and final run of the game for Milwaukee. This outburst of offense was crucial to saving the game, as even Pittsburgh’s six-run eighth inning was all in vain, with the Brewers maintaining a three-run lead throughout the duration of the ninth. What’s Next? Colin Rea will face current oldest-player-in-the-major-leagues Rich Hill in the deciding game of the series. Both games have been somewhat close, with Pittsburgh refusing to quit in the later innings, but the Brewers have demonstrated excellent resilience and have finally figured out how to put bat to ball. Milwaukee and Cincinnati are currently tied with records of 44-39, 4.5 games ahead of the Pirates and the Cubs, who are tied for second place in the division. Postgame Interviews Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet TUE WED THU FRI SAT TOT Payamps 0 17 18 0 13 48 B Wilson 14 21 0 0 11 46 Williams 0 13 26 0 0 39 Andrews 0 0 0 0 30 30 Milner 0 5 15 0 0 20 Peguero 0 9 3 0 0 12 Bukauskas 0 0 0 0 0 0 Tweet Highlight View full article

Good question. I think we're still a bit away from this but when he does return, I imagine dropping Rea from the rotation as he is currently the weakest starter, but who knows for sure?

How did the Brewers lose in such heartbreaking fashion following a strong offensive display? Let's just say that one guy had a WPA of -.909 and there might be some bullpen changes moving forward. Image courtesy of © Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports Box Score Starting Pitcher: Freddy Peralta - 5.1 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 8 K, 108 pitches, 64 strikes (59.3%) Home Runs: None Top 3 WPA: Christian Yelich (.145), Owen Miller (.083), Raimel Tapia (.065) Bottom 3 WPA: Matt Bush (-.909), Blake Perkins (-.079), Brian Anderson (-.061) Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) Peralta Pitches Acceptably It feels like every Freddy Peralta start these days can be described as “meeting expectations.” It’s never anything extraordinary and the good aspects usually come with some asterisks. While he struck out eight Pirates and was pumping gas like a Shell employee in New Jersey, he gave up three earned runs and required almost 110 pitches to get through a little over five innings. While it’d take its own article to diagnose his current shortcomings, a few key things to highlight can be found on his Baseball Savant page. Simply put, he’s giving up a lot of hard hits, walks, and not getting guys to chase pitches. He’s great in the zone, but hasn’t been so great outside of it this season. While his recent 50 PAs have seen his xwOBA trend in the right direction, it's still trying to correct for a steady upward trend over the course of the season. He’s currently working with a 4.67 ERA and a 1.30 WHIP over 86.2 innings pitched. Big Third, Big Seventh Like Peralta’s satisfactory starts, another trend for the Brewers this season has been how concentrated their offense is. Rather than putting up one or two runs across several innings, they typically ride the momentum from good leadoff hitting and score all their runs at once. The third inning started with a hit by pitch by Joey Wiemer and a single by Raimel Tapia. A double by Christian Yelich (who has been hitting fantastically as of late) scored Wiemer and put Tapia at third. William Contreras would make it to first base after the Pirates failed to make a play at the plate, watching as Tapia slid across home to score the Brewers’ second run. A Rowdy Tellez single would score Yelich and move Contreras to third followed by a sacrifice fly to score Contreras, bringing the score to 4-0 in favor of Milwaukee by the end of the inning. The seventh inning was a similar story, starting with a fielding error and a hit by pitch to put Christian Yelich and William Contreras on base. After Brian Anderson popped out and Willy Adames struck out, Owen Miller hit an RBI double to score Yelich. Brice Turang hit a double of his own to score Conteras and Miller, giving the Brewers a comfortable 7-3 lead heading into the bottom of the seventh. Surely a winnable game, right? The Ninth…We Don’t Talk About The Ninth Before the Greek tragedy that was the final inning of this game, Thomas Pannone made his season debut, pitching 2.2 innings and giving up two earned runs while striking out four. While not the most inspiring outing, he posted a 2.70 ERA over 53.1 innings while primarily pitching as a starter in AAA this season, so we’ve yet to see if he’s truly an improvement over Peter Strzelecki. As we headed into the bottom of the ninth, the score was 7-5 in favor of the Brewers and Milwaukee had a 90.9% chance to seal the deal. In stepped Matt Bush to record the final three outs. Ji Hwan Bae hit a single followed by a groundout by Josh Palacios. As the tying runner, Andrew McCutchen hit a clutch double to score Bae and bring the score to 7-6. Henry Davis grounded out, and with the tying run in scoring position and two outs on the board, Carlos Santana hit a crushing home run to right field, walking off the Brewers while wearing some of the worst City Connect uniforms the league has ever seen. Matt Bush currently has a 9.58 ERA and three blown saves. In his current state, he will likely be moved from the team either by being traded designated for assignment. What’s Next? Corbin Burnes will face Johan Oviedo in a chance at redemption. While the Pirates will undoubtedly be riding the momentum of the home crowd following an impressive walk-off victory, the Brewers have shown that their offense has made the necessary adjustments to succeed against Pittsburgh’s pitching staff. The Brewers now trail the Cincinnati Reds by a full game and lead the Pirates by 3.5 games. The Cubs are only 4.0 games behind the Brewers and the Cardinals are still trying to relearn the sport of baseball, lagging behind Milwaukee by 9.0 games. Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet MON TUE WED THU FRI TOT Pannone 0 0 0 0 59 59 Williams 6 0 13 26 0 45 Payamps 0 0 17 18 0 35 Milner 15 0 5 15 0 35 B Wilson 0 14 21 0 0 35 Peguero 6 0 9 3 0 18 Bush 0 0 0 0 11 11 Tweet Highlight View full article

After being tied heading into the second half of the game, some timely hitting and lights-out pitching by the bullpen gave Milwaukee the win in the third game of their series in Queens. The Mets came unraveled in the eighth, and they might never ravel back up. Image courtesy of © Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports Box Score Starting Pitcher: Wade Miley - 4.0 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 3 K, 74 pitches, 40 strikes (54.1%) Home Runs: None Top 3 WPA: Christian Yelich (.194), Jesse Winker (.184), Blake Perkins (.122) Bottom 3 WPA: Brian Anderson (-.125), Rowdy Tellez (-.110), William Contreras (-.065) Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) Miley Works In And Out Of Trouble Wade Miley had some mixed results in his start, giving up two earned runs and having quite the tense fourth inning. After retiring the first four batters in a row, he gave up a solo home run to Tommy Pham in the second inning to bring the score to 2-1. After retiring the Mets in order in the third inning, Miley opened the fourth with a walk of Francisco Lindor, a single by Pete Alonso, and a walk by Pham to load the bases with no outs. After a Francisco Alvarez walk to tie the game at 2-2, Miley knew he had to lock it in. He struck out Brett Baty and got Mark Canha to ground into a double play, limiting the damage to just one run and leaving the mound in triumph. After a brutal 28-pitch workload for just one inning, the decision was made to replace Miley with Bryse Wilson; the bullpen would take us through the remainder of the contest. This was Miley's third start following his return from the injured list, so it makes sense that the team would be more conservative than not for the sake of longevity. One funny moment of the game that was caught on the broadcast was this friendly umpire call that was received quite poorly by Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer. Relievers Roll Through Mets Lineup Five relievers were used to finish the final five innings of the game: Wilson, Hoby MIlner, Elvis Peguero, Joel Payamps, and Devin Williams. Between the five of them, they’d give up four hits, zero walks, and strike out five batters. Not only were they unhittable, they were ruthlessly efficient. Peguero and Williams each recorded their three outs in fewer than 15 pitches. Williams recorded his 15th save of the season, and continues to dominate on the mound, posting a 1.63 ERA and a 0.94 WHIP. Did I mention his airbender is still one of the hardest pitches to hit in baseball? It currently boasts an opponent batting average of .140 and a Whiff% of 41.1, mostly due to its incomprehensible movement. Attention - The Brewers Are Finally Hitting In The Second Half While their offense is still one of the worst in baseball (.675 team OPS, 27th in MLB), they still found a way to win. Milwaukee put up two runs early, thanks to a double by Christian Yelich, a walk by Willy Adames, and a double by Jesse Winker to send them both home. After the Mets tied the game, the Brewers pulled ahead once again in the sixth inning following a leadoff double by Owen Miller and an RBI single by Blake Perkins. To add some insurance, they piled on more offense in the eighth inning with a double by Brian Anderson, a walk by Blake Perkins, a (highly controversial) hit by pitch by Joey Wiemer, and a two-run single by Christian Yelich to lift the score to 5-2. Despite their record and current divisional position, make no mistake: the Brewers have many weaknesses as a team. They are currently 23rd in MLB for run differential (-25) and are 26th in MLB for runs scored (321). While the pitching has gotten better and important roster moves (such as optioning Peter Strzelecki and calling up Thomas Pannone) will hopefully continue that trend, the offense must follow suit in order for the team to stay competitive. What’s Next? In the final game of the series, Adrian Houser will make his first start since June 9th against Max Scherzer, a truly exciting matchup on the mound. While Houser is looking to return to his regular spot in the Brewers rotation, Max Scherzer is looking to return to his regular form, as he's posted uncharacteristically shaky stats this season. With both teams victorious, the Brewers remain 0.5 games behind the Cincinnati Reds but are now 4.0 games ahead of the third-place Chicago Cubs. Postgame Interviews Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet SAT SUN MON TUE WED TOT Payamps 0 26 0 0 17 43 Milner 14 3 15 0 5 37 Peguero 3 19 6 0 9 37 Williams 0 16 6 0 13 35 B Wilson 0 0 0 14 21 35 Bush 19 0 0 0 0 19 Pannone 0 0 0 0 0 0 Tweet Highlight View full article