Michael Trzinski

For now, the list is going to be top-heavy with righties, as the organization only has four southpaws that made two or more starts during the first month of the season. The eight players listed are all righthanders. Honorable Mentions John Holobetz, Carolina Mudcats – 4 G, 3 GS, 18.2 IP, 3-0, 2.89 ERA, 1.69 FIP, 0.86 WHIP, 13 H, 3 BB, 26 K. Manuel Rodriguez, Wisconsin Timber Rattlers – 5 G, 5 GS, 25.0 IP, 0-1, 1.80 ERA, 3.68 FIP, 1.00 WHIP, 20 H, 5 BB, 25 K. Logan Henderson, Nashville Sounds – 4 G, 4 GS, 20.0 IP, 3-1, 2.70 ERA, 3.50 FIP, 1.05 WHIP, 10 H, 11 BB, 29 K. TOP 5 STARTING PITCHERS FOR APRIL #5 – Tyson Hardin, Wisconsin Timber Rattlers - 4 G, 4 GS, 18.2 IP, 2-0, 0.96 ERA, 2.02 FIP, 0.96 WHIP, 14 H, 4 BB, 21 K. Hardin was selected by the Brewers in the 12th round of the 2024 draft out of Mississippi State, where he worked mostly as a reliever. He made two appearances last year at Low-A Carolina but moved up one level to the T-Rats this year. The 6-foot-1, 188-pound Hardin made a positive impression on his employers, striking out three in two scoreless innings in the Spring Breakout Game in March. From Spencer Michaelis’ 2024 draft recap: A two-pitch pitcher, Hardin’s calling card is a mid-90s fastball with a ton of horizontal run, which he can run up to 97 MPH. Coming from his low arm slot, the fastball has a really interesting shape to it. His other pitch is a mid-80s slider that could use some improvement in its consistency. The 23-year-old started out his season on April 8 against the Quad Cities River Bandits and went five innings without allowing a hit. He walked one while striking out four in a 4-0 Timber Rattlers victory, earning his first win of the year. Five days later, Hardin pitched another dandy, allowing just four hits in four innings and whiffing five batters in a 5-1 win over the River Bandits. Hardin notched his second victory when he allowed four hits and one walk in 5.2 innings, striking out a season-high seven in a 2-0 win over the Lansing Lugnuts on April 19. In his fourth start on April 26, Hardin struggled a bit and left the game after four innings, trailing 2-1 against the Cedar Rapids Kernels. The T-Rats battled back for a 4-2 victory. #4 – Carlos Rodriguez, Nashville Sounds – 5 G, 5 GS, 24.2 IP, 2-0, 1.09 ERA, 1.99 FIP, 1.01 WHIP, 17 H, 8 BB, 33 K. Although a native of Nicaragua, Rodriguez was drafted in the sixth round of the 2021 draft out of Florida SouthWestern State College in Fort Myers, Florida. Now in his fourth year in the organization, Rodriguez is one of several promising hurlers in the Brewers system. Currently ranked 18th on the Brewer Fanatic Top Prospects list, his scouting reports reads as follows: A true six-pitch pitcher, Rodriguez throws all three variations of fastballs (four-seam, sinker, and cutter). He also throws a changeup, curveball, and slider. None of them stand out as plus pitches, but all of them are average or better. Rodriguez helps his stuff play up by messing with the timing of hitters. The 5-foot-11, 205-pound Rodriguez had five starts in April and excelled in three of them. On March 28, he earned his first win in a 7-1 win over the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp. In five innings, he allowed three hits, one unearned run, and one walk while whiffing seven. Rodriguez got roughed up in his next outing, managing only four innings while giving up six hits, two runs, and a walk. He struck out four in the 10-2 contest that saw Jacob Misiorowski get the victory in relief over the Gwinnett Stripers. Game number three was the best game of all, a 7-1 win over the Memphis Redbirds on April 11. Rodriguez allowed just one hit and one walk in 5 2/3 innings and punched out seven Redbirds. Six days later, Rodriguez had problems finding the strike zone, walking five while giving up four hits and two runs in 4 2/3 frames in which the Sounds eked out a 5-4 decision. His final start was by far the most disappointing, as the bullpen cost him a win. In 5 1/3 innings, Rodriguez gave up three hits and struck out a season-high eight, but watched three relievers give up nine runs in the last two innings in a 9-7 loss to the Durham Bulls. #3 - Bishop Letson, Wisconsin Timber Rattlers – 4 G, 3 GS, 16.1 IP, 1-0, 1.65 ERA, 1.99 FIP, 0.80 WHIP, 10 H, 3 BB, 17 K. A lanky (6-foot-4, 170-pound) righty from Floyd Central (Indiana) High School, Letson was picked in the 11th round by the Brewers in the 2023 draft. Letson had a solid year at Low-A Carolina in 2024, allowing a meager six hits per nine innings. Per Jake McKibbin, (The Brewers Farm System Is (Once Again) An Arm Factory): Bishop Letson was the 11th-round pick of the 2023 draft and is one of the more intriguing arms out there. The Brewers area scout who picked him up talked about his changeup making some big strides in 2023, along with some velocity jumps on the fastball, which reached 94 mph (it was sitting in the upper 80s earlier in the season). He threw a lot of strikes, but one of the most interesting things was that he’d never had a pitching coach, and the Brewers thought they could take him forward. Although Letson has only one win to his credit, two of his three ‘game scores’ in his starts are rated as ‘good’ by FanGraphs. Think they might know a thing or two about baseball? In his first start against the Cedar Rapids Kernels on April 5, Letson only pitched 3 1/3 innings and allowed one hit, two walks, and two runs while striking out four. Six days later, Letson pitched five innings against the Quad Cities River Bandits and gave up three hits while whiffing a season-high eight batters. Letson pitched in relief one week later, going 2 2/3 innings, allowing two hits, one walk, and one run. On April 25, Letson earned his first win of the season, going 5 1/3 innings against the Kernels, keeping the opponents off the board on four hits while striking out four. #2 – Alexander Cornielle, Biloxi Shuckers – 4 G, 4 GS, 17.2 IP, 1-0, 0.51 ERA, 2.08 FIP, 0.96 WHIP, 9 H, 8 BB, 22 K. Cornielle signed as an international free agent in 2019 and is now in his sixth year as a Brewer. He spent two seasons at High A Wisconsin before getting promoted to Double A Biloxi in 2025. In four starts this year, Cornielle allowed one hit in six innings in a no-decision against the Columbus Clingstones (sounds like a personal problem); struck out the first nine Birmingham Barons in a four-inning, 11-strikeout effort; pitched just 2 2/3 innings five day later against the Barons, allowing one hit, three walk, and three runs (one earned). Cornielle got his first Double A win against the Montgomery Biscuits (who makes up these names?) on April 26, pitching five innings while allowing three hits and one walk while shutting the Biscuits out. The 23-year-old Dominican Republic native is fully bilingual and routinely translated for his teammates last year at High A Wisconsin. #1 – Jacob Misiorowski, Nashville Sounds – 6 G, 5 GS, 29.2 IP, 1-0, 1.82 ERA, 4.07 FIP, 0.91 WHIP, 14 H, 13 BB, 38K. ‘Miz’ was a second-round draft pick by the Brewers in 2022 and has moved up nicely in his fourth year as a Brewer. Currently ranked number one on the Brewer Fanatic Top Prospect list and # 44 on Baseball America’s listing, Misiorowski is without doubt the next big pitching thing for Milwaukee fans. Once again, Jake McKibbin provides some insight into the 23-year-old’s success: Misiorowski has been getting ahead in the count more often this season, with significantly less wildness. If he can maintain this type of pitch mix (with occasional sliders and changeups, to keep hitters off-balance), he may have found an arsenal that he can really command at the big-league level. Misiorowski was named the International Pitcher of the Week for the second time in 2025 last week, based on 11 scoreless innings while allowing only four hits and one walk while striking out 17. Overall, Misiorowski had four starts where he allowed three or fewer hits and had three games with seven or more strikeouts, with a high of nine against the Durham Bulls on April 27. Ironically, Misiorowski got his only victory this year while pitching in relief on April 5 against the Gwinnett Stripers, allowing four walks while striking out a similar number in 3 2/3 innings. As of April 28, Misiorowski led all Triple A with 38 strikeouts and had the sixth-best ERA with 1.82. During his career, Misiorowski has won seven Pitcher of the Week awards in the Carolina League, Southern League, and International League, respectively.

The latest additions to the Milwaukee Brewers Players Project are pitcher Lew Krausse, and outfielders Von Joshua and Larry Hisle. They all played for the Brewers in the 1970s, but they never played together while on the Brewers. Krausse pitched in 1970-1971, Joshua played in 1976-1977, and Hisle played from 1978-1982. Lew Krausse Krausse was a phenom high school pitcher for Chester (PA) High School. Wanna hear a crazy number? Krausse pitched 18 no-hitters in his four-year prep career. According to the MaxPreps.com website, only Rusty Rugg of Downsville, LA threw more no-nos, with a record of 19 no-hitters between 1986-1989. Krausse signed with the Kansas City Athletics (and owner Charles O. Finley) for $125,000 in 1961 and big things were expected of him. Since he was a ‘bonus baby,’ the right-hander was required to pitch in the major leagues for one season. Krausse made his big-league debut on June 16 against the Los Angeles Angels and tossed a complete game shutout, allowing just three hits and five walks. He finished the year with a 2-5 record, an ERA+ of 86, and a FIP of 4.66. He would pitch for five teams In his 12-year career, including two seasons with Milwaukee. Krausse was the pitcher for the first game in Brewers history but fared poorly in a 12-0 loss to California. He won 21 games for Milwaukee, and a total of 68 in his career. Arm injuries curtailed a once-promising career, which ended in 1974 at age 31. Von Joshua Joshua was a first round pick (17th overall) in the 1967 January draft by the San Francisco Giants, but he chose not to sign and went to Laney College in Oakland instead. Joshua had not signed prior to the June draft, so he was eligible to talk with other teams. He signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers in late June. It was slow going for the lefty-hitting outfielder, as he played only 253 games in five seasons in Los Angeles. He was waived and picked up by the Giants in January 1975 and played by ‘The Bay’ for one season, even though he had career highs in several categories and batted .318/.359/.448 with an OPS+ of 120. The Brewers purchased Joshua in June 1976 and he played 107 games for the Brew Crew and 144 games the following season. But just before the 1978 season, the Brewers cut Joshua. He played in the Mexican League and then played a part-time role for Los Angeles in 1979 and San Diego in 1980. After two more years in the Mexican League, Joshua retired. Larry Hisle At Portsmouth (OH) High School the 6-foot-2 Hisle was so good at basketball that he had 100 college teams drooling over him. The great Oscar Robertson called him one night at home to try to convince the two-sport star to follow the ‘Big O’ to the University of Cincinnati. Hisle chose baseball and was drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies in the inaugural MLB Player Draft in 1965. Hisle was fourth in NL Rookie of the Year voting in 1969 but slumped over the next two years and was dealt to Los Angeles after the 1971 campaign. He played exclusively in Triple A in 1972 and was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals on October 26, 1972. A month later—without playing a game for the Cards—was shipped to the Minnesota Twins. Hisle spent five years with the Twins, including an outstanding 1977 season when he made the AL All-Star team and led the league in RBI with 119. After that season, he opted for free agency and became a Brewer. The right-handed outfielder had one good year with the Brewers, helping the team to its first 90-win (93) season when he led the team with 34 homers, 115 RBI, and an OPS+ of 153. Hisle suffered rotator cuff damage in 1979 and although he tried everything from rest to rehab to surgery, nothing helped. Hisle played a total of 79 games over the next four years before retiring in 1982. Are you interested in Brewers history? Then check out the Milwaukee Brewers Players Project, a community-driven project working to discover and collect great information on every player to wear a Brewers uniform!

When Milwaukee signed Larry Hisle as a free agent just before Thanksgiving in 1977, Brewers fans were excited. One of the first big-name free agents to play for Milwaukee, Hisle was seen as a power hitting outfielder that would lead the Brew Crew into the 1980s. Unfortunately, 1978 was the one and only great season for Hisle as a Brewer. He suffered a rotator cuff injury the following season and only played 79 games over the next four years before retiring in 1982. Larry Eugene Hisle was drafted out of Portsmouth (Ohio) High School in the second round of the very first MLB draft in 1965 by the Philadelphia Phillies, two picks behind Johnny Bench and one pick in front of long-time Minnesota Twins infielder Danny Thompson. He chose baseball over basketball even though he had over 100 colleges talking with him, along with basketball star Oscar Robertson, who tried to get Hisle to play at Big O’s alma mater, University of Cincinnati. After just two years in the minors, Hisle broke camp with the Phillies in 1968. The right-handed Hisle singled off Claude Osteen of Los Angeles in his first major league at-bat and started off his year batting .400 (4-for-10) in his first three games. But after sitting on the bench for a week or so, the Phillies optioned Hisle to Triple A San Diego to get him regular playing time. He finished the season with San Diego, slashing .303/.365/.446 with six home runs and 17 stolen bases across 267 at-bats. His season ended in early July when he was diagnosed with hepatitis. Hisle starred in his ‘rookie’ season in 1969, hitting .266/.338/.459 with 20 homers, 18 stolen bases, and an OPS+ of 124 over 482 at-bats. He finished tied for fourth in the National League Rookie of the Year race, finishing behind winner Ted Sizemore, Coco Laboy, and Al Oliver. In 1970, Hisle dropped off, hitting only .205/.299/.353 with 10 homers. The following season, Hisle started the season with Philadelphia but after getting only 42 at-bats in the first two months, was sent down to Triple A Eugene. He tore it up in Oregon, slashing .328/.400/.597 with 29 extra-base hits in 186 at-bats. For his reward, he was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers after the season. He spent all of 1972 at Triple A Albuquerque and was named to the Pacific Coast League All-Star team after batting .325/.410/.561 with 23 homers and 20 stolen bases. After the season, Hisle was traded…twice. First, on October 26 he was traded to St. Louis and then on November 29, he was traded to Minnesota. Over the next five years, Hisle played 140 games or more four times and was named to the AL All-Star team in 1977. In that same season, Hisle batted .302/.369/.533 with 28 homers and a league-leading 119 RBI, along with an OPS+ of 144. That off-season, Hisle signed a six-year, $3.155 million free agent contract with Milwaukee. The 1978 season was arguably Hisle’s finest season. He batted .290/.374/.533 with a career-high 34 homers, 115 RBI, and had an OPS+ of 153. He was once again named to the AL All-Star team and was third in AL MVP voting, trailing only winner Jim Rice and pitcher Ron Guidry. Hisle began the 1979 season and was batting .313/.353/.625 on April 20 when he hurt his right shoulder making a throw from left field. He played exclusively at DH the next two weeks but went on the disabled list when the pain became too great. He returned for two games but was shut down for the season in mid-September. In the off-season, Hisle was diagnosed with a torn rotator cuff. He rehabbed in 1980, had shoulder surgery in 1981, and after another disabled list stint in 1982, retired after the season. Hisle coached in the minor leagues for a few different organizations and in the bigs as a hitting coach for Toronto from 1992-1995.

For those of you old enough to remember, Von Joshua was a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers for six years and played in the majors for 10 seasons back in the ‘70s. But did you know that Joshua amassed the most at-bats for any one team in just two years with the Brewers? The left-handed Joshua, an Oakland native, was selected 17th overall in the first round by the San Francisco Giants in the January 1967 out of Laney College. He didn’t sign with the Giants but instead inked a free agent contract with the Dodgers in June 1967. After just three years in the minors, Joshua made his big-league debut in September 1969, and played a handful of games, mostly as a pinch-runner and defensive replacement for the Dodgers. Joshua got his first major league hit on October 1 and went 2-for-3 off Houston’s Larry Dierker. Joshua would split time between the Dodgers and their Triple A teams at Spokane and Albuquerque over the next three years before playing exclusively for Los Angeles in 1973-1974. He suffered a broken wrist when hit by a pitch in mid-April 1973 and missed 33 games. The following season, Joshua went on the disabled list almost the same time of year, this time missing 24 games with back spasms. He finished the season with just 124 at-bats across 81 games. Joshua asked to be traded but after no trade partners could be found, was released. San Francisco signed him in late January 1975. The outfielder got a chance to play full-time with the Giants and Joshua responded with career highs of 75 runs, 161 hits, 25 doubles, 10 triples, 20 steals, all three ‘slash numbers,' and an OPS+ of 120. The next season, Joshua lost his centerfield job to Larry Herndon and once again asked to be traded. The Giants put him on waivers, and he was claimed by the Brewers in early June in a waiver 'trade' for a player to be named later. Joshua took over the CF spot from Gorman Thomas and played 107 games and posted a 93 OPS+. In 1977, Joshua played 144 games and set career highs with nine homers and 49 RBI. The next spring, the Brewers acquired outfielders Larry Hisle and Ben Oglivie and released Joshua. He rejuvenated his career with Tabasco (the team, not the hot sauce) in the Mexican League in 1978 and got part-time jobs with Los Angeles (1979) and San Diego (1980). After being released by the Padres late in the year, Joshua played in the Mexican League for two more years before retiring. In 1989, Joshua batted .349 in 21 games for St. Lucie in the Senior Professional Baseball Association. Of his career 2,234 at-bats, 959 came with the Brewers.

Over the last six weeks of Lew Krausse’s high school career at Chester (Pennsylvania) High School, he pitched three no-hitters, a one-hitter, a two-hitter, and a pair of three-hitters. In that span of eight games, Krausse whiffed 114 batters and allowed a total of 17 hits. Krausse finished his high school career with 18 no-hitters. Hours after his high school graduation, Krausse signed with the Kansas City Athletics for $125,000. Since he was a ‘bonus baby,’ he was required to spend his first year in the majors. Eight days after signing his contract, Krausse made his major league debut on June 16, less than two months after his 18th birthday. In front of 25,869 fans in Municipal Stadium, the right-hander tossed a complete game shutout, allowing only four hits to the Los Angeles Angels in a 4-0 win. After that sparkling debut, Krausse got roughed up in his next five starts, losing each game. Manager Hank Bauer pulled his young pitcher from the rotation, and he made only two starts over the last two months of the season. But he ended the year the way he started it, with a complete-game 3-2 win over the Washington Senators. In what would be a struggle throughout his career, Krausse battled control issues, walking batters at a rate of 18.0%. Krausse spent most of the next four years in the minors before returning to the bigs in 1966. He set career highs with 14 wins and a FIP of 3.33 that year. He pitched three more years with the A’s, the last two in Oakland. Krausse started only 60 games of the 127 he appeared in from 1967-1969, winning 24 times and earning 17 saves in a part-time late inning role, including 1969 when the A's were trying to make a starter out of Rollie Fingers. In early 1970, Krausse was traded to the expansion Milwaukee Brewers, where he spent two seasons. He led the team with 35 starts that first year, and finished second with 13 wins, 216 innings pitched, and 130 strikeouts. The following year, in 43 appearances (22 starts) he fashioned a career high ERA+ of 117. Krausse was involved in a 10-player mega-deal with Boston after the 1971 season, going to the Red Sox with Tommy Harper, Marty Pattin, and Pat Skrable for Ken Brett, Billy Conigliaro, Joe Lahoud, Jim Lonborg, Don Pavletich, and George Scott. Krausse only pitched in 24 games (seven starts) for Boston and was released the following spring. He pitched one game with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1973 and then saw some action with the Atlanta Braves in 1974, appearing in 29 games with four starts. His 91 ERA+ was the third best of his career. After a disappointing 1975 season with Oakland’s Triple-A Tucson club, Krausse hung up his spikes. With his success in high school and his spectacular big-league debut, many experts saw greatness in Krausse’s career, but control problems and some injuries derailed that plan.

Wei-Chung Wang signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates as an international free agent in 2011 out of Taiwan but after the team found that Wang needed Tommy John surgery, they voided his contract and re-signed him to a new deal. The slender (6-foot-1, 160 pound) southpaw performed well for the Bucs’ Rookie team in the Gulf Coast League in 2013 but was snapped up by the Brewers in the 2013 Rule 5 Draft. Wang pitched decently in spring training and made his big-league debut for Milwaukee on April 14 against St. Louis. He allowed one hit in an inning of work in a 4-0 loss. Over the first three-plus months of the season, Wang was rarely called upon, appearing in only 13 of the team’s first 93 games before he was placed on the 15-day disabled list with left shoulder ‘tightness.’ After making seven appearances (six starts) at three minor league stops, Wang pitched in one more game for Milwaukee in September before finishing his season with six starts in the Arizona Fall League. In 2015, Wang made 25 starts at High-A Brevard County in the Florida State League, winning 10 games and posting a 3.54 ERA. He also made one start at Triple-A Colorado Springs toward the end of the season. The following season, Wang split time between Double-A Biloxi (19 starts) and Triple-A Colorado Springs (five starts) and had a combined 3.78 ERA and struck out 114 batters in 133.1 innings while walking only 35. The Brewers decided to convert Wang to relief in 2017 and he made 47 appearances at Colorado Springs, posting a 6-2 record and an ERA of only 2.05 with one save. Called up to Milwaukee in September, Wang epitomized the ‘lefty-one-out-guy’ (LOOGY) as he faced nine batters in eight appearances. Unfortunately, he got lit up, allowing five hits and two runs while posting a 9.91 FIP and a 41 ERA+. The following January, Wang was released by the Brewers. Wang signed on with the NC Dinos in the KBO League in South Korea. He made 25 starts and posted a 4.26 ERA. In January 2019, the Oakland A’s signed him as a free agent. He began the season at Triple-A but was called up by Oakland in late May. After his first 14 appearances, Wang owned a nifty 1.47 ERA. But then reality hit as Wang got knocked around in his next six outings, when he allowed 13 hits, seven runs, and five walks and saw his ERA balloon to 3.33. Oakland DFA’d Wang in late August and he was quickly scooped up by the Pirates, who were willing to give him another chance. He fared no better, posting a 6.75 ERA in five appearances. He was released after the season. Wang was drafted by the Wei Chuan Dragons in the Chinese Professional Baseball League first overall in the 2020 CPBL draft and he has been pitching for them ever since. In parts of three major league seasons, Wang made 47 appearances and compiled a 3-0 record, an ERA of 6.52, ERA+ of 65 and a FIP of 6.18.

Jesse Orosco pitched in the major leagues for 24 seasons and holds the career record for pitching appearances with 1,252, a record that is unlikely to ever be broken. He spent three seasons (1992-94) pitching for Milwaukee. Jesse Russell Orosco was born in Santa Barbara, California and was drafted by St. Louis in the seventh round of the 1977 MLB January draft but stayed at Santa Barbara City College until the following January, when he was picked in the second round by the Minnesota Twins. The left-handed reliever made his pro debut at Elizabethton in the Rookie Appalachian League and then was traded to the New York Mets in February 1979. He made his big-league debut that season, appearing in 18 games to start the season before being sent down to Triple-A Tidewater, where he started 15 games. In 1982, Orosco became a full-time major league reliever for the Mets. Over the next six seasons for New York, he averaged 58 appearances and 18 saves per season, including a career-high 31 saves in 1984. Orosco earned his only two All-Star appearances with the Mets in 1983 and 1984. Two weeks before Christmas 1987, Orosco was involved in a three-team trade (Los Angeles Dodgers, Oakland A’s, New York Mets) that included Kevin Tapani, Wally Whitehurst, Alfredo Griffin, Jay Howell, Bob Welch, and Matt Young. Orosco spent one season with the Dodgers before signing as a free agent with Cleveland. After three solid seasons with the Indians (130 ERA+, 3.68 FIP), Orosco was dealt to the Milwaukee Brewers in December 1991. He spent the next three campaigns as a high-leverage lefthander, setting up closers Doug Henry and Mike Fetters. After the 1994 season, Orosco signed as a free agent with the Baltimore Orioles, where he became a stalwart from 1995-1999. Much like a hired gun, Orosco spent the next four seasons pitching for St. Louis, Los Angeles, San Diego, New York Yankees, and Minnesota. Orosco was traded from the Yankees to Minnesota in August 2003, neatly bookending his professional career, ending with the team that signed him out of college. The Twins, who made the postseason in 2003, elected to leave Orosco off the ALDS roster in the series with the Yankees. Orosco was a key player with the 1986 World Series winning Mets, earning two saves against Boston in the infamous ‘Bill Buckner Series.’ He struck out Buckner with the bases loaded in the eighth inning of Game 6 and ended the Series by striking out Marty Barrett as the final out in Game 7. He made 24 appearances in four different postseasons, notching two wins and two saves.

Jose Quintana Signed as a free agent in early March, Quintana stayed out west in ‘extended spring training’ to get ready for the season. The Brewers expected him to miss two starts and return in mid-April. In the meantime, the Brewers had scrambled back to a 7-6 record, one game behind the Chicago Cubs in second place in the National League Central division. On April 11, the southpaw made his Brewers debut against the Diamondbacks in Arizona. He allowed a single in each of the first two innings but got out unscathed thanks to a pair of 6-4-3 twin killings. He picked off Jake McCarthy in the third inning to end a potential threat and then retired nine consecutive D-Backs. With the Brewers leading 3-0, Quintana went out for the seventh inning and gave up a lead-off single. Despite a balk that moved the runner to second, Quintana got the final out of the inning, ending his night on the hill. Effective and efficient, Quintana gave up four hits and struck out a pair on just 80 pitches. FanGraphs ranks a pitcher’s Game Score that falls between 70-80 as ‘Great.’ Quintana’s Game Score was 71. In his second outing five nights later against the Tigers at Am Fam Field, Quintana struggled early, walking three in the first but getting out without damage thanks to another double play. The Tigers had three players reach base in the next three innings but Quintana kept the Tigers off the scoreboard until the sixth, when he gave up a solo home run to Spencer Torkelson. He gave way to Abner Uribe two batters later. The Brewers got a 5-1 win on the strength of homers by Christian Yelich, Rhys Hoskins, and Sal Frelick. Quintana went 5.2 innings, allowing four hits, one run, and three walks while striking out four. Two games, two wins. Not a bad debut. Quinn Priester Priester was acquired in a trade with the Boston Red Sox in early April for Yophery Rodriguez, a player to be named later, and a Competitive Balance Round A draft pick. The merits of the trade will be discussed over beers for the next few months, but if Priester can pitch to his potential, the grumbling should come to an end. The 6-foot-3 right-hander scuffled in his first outing in Denver against the Colorado Rockies on April 10, allowing six hits, one run, and two walks in a 7-2 loss. Priester left after five frames with the score tied at one, only to see Joel Payamps implode in a five-run eighth inning. Priester’s Am Fam Field debut on April 15 went better as he allowed four baserunners (one hit, three walks) in five innings while striking out four. While not as efficient as Quintana’s first start for Milwaukee, Priester threw 84 pitches and posted a Game Score of 66, which FanGraphs judges as ‘Good.’ He held the Tigers hitless until Gleyber Torres’ double to right-center to lead off the sixth inning. Manager Pat Murphy removed Priester at that point to a nice round of applause from the home crowd. Hopefully there will be a lot more of that in the coming weeks. Caleb Durbin After being recalled from Triple-A Nashville to replace the disappointing Oliver Dunn, Durbin made his major league debut on April 18 before a couple dozen family and friends at Am Fam Field. Batting ninth and playing third base, Durbin collected his first big-league hit in the third inning on a grounder to the left side. He grounded out in the fifth but then got his second knock on a looping liner to short left-center field in the seventh. He scored his first run on a Yelich groundout. Durbin finished up his first game by lining a ball to deep left-center that was caught by JJ Bleday in the eighth inning. Durbin flawlessly handled four chances in the field. All in all, it’s a nice debut for the 25-year-old. Going Forward Quintana and Priester add stability to a starting staff that was decimated by injuries in the spring. What happens when Brandon Woodruff, Tobias Myers, et al. are ready to return? I don’t know, but that will be a good problem that Murphy will have to sort out. And Durbin? Hopefully the diminutive speedster can solve the third base problem that has plagued the Brewers all spring. How do you feel about Quintana, Priester, and Durbin? Please let us know in the comments section and thanks for reading!

Lorenzo Lamar Cain was born in April 1986 in Valdosta, Georgia. His family moved to Florida and Cain graduated from Madison County High School in 2004. He was selected by the Brewers in the 17th round of the 2004 MLB Amateur Draft but instead chose to attend Tallahassee Community College. After his freshman season, Cain signed with the Brewers for $100,000 and began his pro career in 2005. For a player that didn’t start playing organized baseball until he was a sophomore in high school, the right-handed hitting outfielder moved up steadily in the Brewers chain, making stops at every level. In 2006, Cain was named to the Single-A South Atlantic League’s All-Star team, leading the league with 162 hits and finishing in the top five with 36 doubles and 91 runs scored. He set a West Virginia Power team record for hits in a season. After five seasons in the minors, Cain made his big-league debut with the Brewers on July 16, 2010. Milwaukee had a triumvirate of All-Star centerfielders that year, as Cain made 30 starts, Carlos Gómez made 61, and Jim Edmonds started 34 games. Cain had a nice rookie season, slashing .306/.348/.415 over 147 at-bats. After the season, the Brewers traded Cain, Alcides Escobar, Jake Odorizzi, and Jeremy Jeffress to the Kansas City Royals for Zack Greinke, Yuniesky Betancourt and cash. Cain spent most of the 2011 season at Triple-A Omaha and batted .312/.380/.497 across 487 at-bats. He got called up to the Royals and played the last six games of the season, batting .273/.304/.318. The lanky 6-foot-2 Cain started with the Royals in 2012 but injured his groin after crashing into the outfield wall in the fifth game of the season. Cain was doing rehab at Double-A Northwest Arkansas when he tore a hip flexor. He did a rehab stint at Triple-A Omaha and then finished the season with the Royals and played in almost every game, ending with a slash line of .266/.316/.419 with seven homers and 10 stolen bases over 61 games and 222 at-bats. Cain made it to mid-August 2013 before the injury bug struck again. This time it was a strained left oblique that put him out of commission for a month. He finished the campaign with a batting line of .251/.310/.348 over 399 at-bats. The next two seasons saw the Royals making it to the World Series. In 2014, Cain hit .301/.339/.412 across 471 at-bats. The Royals lost in seven games to the San Francisco Giants. The next year was even better. Cain was an All-Star for the first time and garnered enough MVP votes to finish third in the AL MVP race. He set career highs with 101 runs scored, 34 doubles, six triples, 16 home runs, 72 RBIs, and an OPS+ of 125. The Royals beat the New York Mets in five games to win their first World Series since 1985. Cain missed two months in 2016 (hamstring, wrist) but still did well, batting .287/.339/.408 across 397 at-bats. The following season saw Cain play in 155 games, which was a career high. His slash line read .300/.363/.440 over a career-high 584 at-bats. After the 2017 season, Cain received a qualifying offer from the Royals but declined it. In January he signed a five-year, $80 million contract with the Brewers. The first two years with the Brewers saw Cain earn All-Star status in 2018 with a slash line of .308/.395/.417, career-high 30 stolen bases, and a 119 OPS+. Cain had four multi-hit games in 10 post-season games, but the Brewers lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers in seven games in the NLCS. Although his batting dropped off (.260/.325/.372) in 2019, Cain earned his first and only Gold Glove. The next three seasons were disrupted by Covid (2020), injury (2021), and poor play (2022). He was released by Milwaukee in June 2022 and announced his retirement in March 2023. He signed a one-day contract with Kansas City and retired as a Royal. Cain played seven years with Kansas City and six with Milwaukee and ended his big-league career with a slash line of .283/.343/.407 with 1,220 hits, 225 doubles, 87 home runs, 454 RBIs, 190 stolen bases and an OPS+ of 102.

Kyle Johnathan Peterson was born in April 1976 in Elkhorn, Nebraska. The right-handed pitcher was named to the Nebraska All-State team for both his junior and senior years at Omaha Creighton Prep high school and signed a letter of intent to play at Stanford University. Peterson was named college baseball’s Freshman of the Year after a 10-win season. He was drafted 13th overall in the first round by the Brewers after his junior year in the 1997 MLB Amateur Draft. Peterson finished his college career tied for second all-time at Stanford with 35 wins, third with 398.1 innings pitched, and tied for second with 363 strikeouts. The lanky 6-foot-3 hurler played at four levels—Rookie ball, High-A, Double-A, and Triple-A—in his first two years. In 1999, he began at Triple-A Louisville, making 18 starts before getting called up to Milwaukee in mid-July. In his third start, he got his first big-league win over the Montreal Expos, pitching eight innings and allowing four hits and one walk while shutting out the Expos. Peterson had a decent season, making 17 appearances (12 starts) and posted an ERA+ of 100 and a FIP of 3.89. Peterson was expected to be a member of the 2000 Brewers rotation, but shoulder discomfort led to shoulder surgery in early February. He returned in early August when he made three rehab starts at Single-A Beloit before moving to Double-A Huntsville. But after one start, he experienced tightness in his right forearm, and he was shut down for the season. In 2001, Peterson was sent down to Triple-A Indianapolis to begin the season. He was called up three separate times, pitching in one game in each instance. He earned a win in May, took a tough-luck loss in June, and got shelled in what would be his final major league appearance in early July. The next year didn’t start any better as Peterson underwent his second surgery in January and missed the whole season, after which he retired. In his short major league career, Peterson appeared in 20 games (14 starts) and posted an ERA+ of 96 and FIP of 4.05. Since 2003, Peterson has worked as a baseball analyst for ESPN and the SEC Network.

Ricardo Bones (pronounced ‘BO-ness’) was born in April 1969 in Salinas, Puerto Rico and was signed as an international free agent in May 1986 by the San Diego Padres. He had success in the lower minors, winning 37 games in three years at the A and Double-A levels. The righty made his big-league debut for the Padres in August 1991 and finished the season with San Diego, making 11 starts and posting a 3.43 FIP. In three of his starts, he allowed zero runs. The following March, Bones was traded along with Matt Mieske and José Valentin for Gary Sheffield and a minor-league pitcher. The trade sent the unhappy Sheffield to the Padres, where he played only two years before finishing his career with six other teams. Bones was a mainstay in the Brewers rotation for the next five years, making 137 starts (and 14 relief appearances) in that span. He made the American League All-Star team in 1994 but did not pitch in the game. “It would have been great to get in the game, but I was here. I’ve got my All-Star ring,” Bones said. Toward the end of the 1996 season, Bones was involved in another interesting trade. He was the PTBNL in a trade with the Yankees that sent shortstop Pat Listach and pitcher Graeme Lloyd to New York in return for pitcher Bob Wickman and outfielder Gerald Williams. Listach was returned to Milwaukee when it was found he had a broken foot. Bones made only four appearances for the Yankees and was released after the season. He played five more seasons in the majors with four different teams: Cincinnati, Kansas City, Baltimore, and Florida. After making 13 starts combined in 1997 with Cincinnati and Kansas City, Bones became a full-time reliever. In 1998, Bones posted a 157 ERA+ and an ERA of 3.04 in 32 appearances and notched his only major league save for the Royals. While playing for Florida in May 2000, Bones went on the disabled list due to a back strain…suffered when he turned his head while watching TV in the Marlins clubhouse. After appearing in a career-high 61 games for Florida in 2001 with an ERA+ of 84, he was released. The Los Angeles Dodgers signed him the following spring and he appeared in 30 games at Triple-A Las Vegas but did not make it back to the majors. In 2003, Bones pitched in three games for Saltillo in the Mexican League but after posting an ERA of 9.45, called it a career. Bones worked as a pitching coach in the Mets and Blue Jays organizations, and then advanced to the big leagues, serving as the Mets bullpen coach for ten years and then with the Washington Nationals as a bullpen coach starting in 2022 and is still in that position in 2025. As a pitcher for Milwaukee, Bones posted 47 career wins (tied for 17th overall), 883 innings (15th), and 137 starts (15th).