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Brewers set pitching rotation to start season (AUDIO)

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Craig Counsell

Milwaukee Brewers manager Craig Counsell completed his five-man starting rotation on Thursday.

Following opening day starter Jhoulys Chacin, the Brewers will go with Freddy Peralta, Corbin Burnes, Brandon Woodruff and Zach Davies.  Davies has been slotted into the fifth spot, while the order in which Peralta, Burnes and Woodruff appear is yet to be determined.

Chase Anderson is the odd man out and will start the season in the bullpen.

Burnes pitched out of the bullpen for the Brewers last season, making 30 appearances and finishing with a 7-0 record and 2.61 ERA.

Woodruff bounced back and forth between the Brewers and their Triple A affiliate.  He ended up making four starts and 15 relief appearances, finishing 3-0 with a 3.61 ERA.

Peralta appeared in 16 games with 14 starts, finishing 6-4 with a 4.25 ERA.

Davies won 17 games in 2017, but rotator cuff inflammation last season meant just 13 starts and a 2-7 record with a 4.77 ERA.

AUDIO: Craig Counsell said the young guys are ready :18

AUDIO: Craig Counsell on Chase Anderson as a reliever :21

 

Knebel dealing with elbow injury (AUDIO)

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Corey Knebel

Milwaukee Brewers reliever Corey Knebel is headed for a second opinion after it was discovered he was pitching with a damaged ulnar collateral ligament (UCL).

Brewers manager Craig Counsell told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that it’s not a complete tear, and wouldn’t likely require Tommy John surgery.

“We don’t know that,” Counsell said of Knebel possibly needing that procedure.  “Corey has pitched with this for a long time.  We’ve got to figure out what’s there, what’s new.  Make sure we get the right answer and then move forward.”

It means the Brewers will start the season without both Knebel and fellow reliever Jeremy Jeffress.  Jeffress is sidelined with shoulder weakness, but the Brewers expect to get him back before the end of April.

Jeffress made 73 appearances last season, which is a career high.  He finished 8-1 with a 1.29 ERA, striking out 89 in 76 2/3 innings.

Knebel finished strong last season and pitched in nine postseason games.  In 10 innings, he posted a 0.90 ERA with 14 strikeouts.

Counsell said they’ve been down this road before.  “In 2016 we lost Will Smith and Corey the week before the season, and we performed pretty well.  Those next guys picked up the slack and did a pretty nice job still.  That’s when J.J. kind of stepped up and did a great job.”

AUDIO: Craig Counsell said they’ve been through this before :21

AUDIO: Craig Counsell said they are not panicking :16

AUDIO: Craig Counsell said this may not be a forever thing :15

 

Brewers’ Nelson suffers arm fatigue

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Jimmy Nelson

Milwaukee Brewers right-handed pitcher Jimmy Nelson has been shut down for a few days after experiencing what is being termed “arm fatigue” by team officials.

Nelson is trying to make his way back from a shoulder injury that saw him miss the entire 2018 season while recovering from surgery.

GM David Stearns told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that he’s not concerned right now.  They’re skipping a bullpen session and will wait until Nelson feels he’s ready to throw again.

“He didn’t play catch over the weekend,” manager Craig Counsell said.  “There was just a little discomfort, and so we just went slow.  It’s a very minor setback, and he’ll be back out tomorrow playing catch and moving forward again.

“I think he is close to pitching in a game, but it’s not going to be this week.  He’s going to have to face hitters first, so he’s got some steps to go.  Look, we’re being conservative.  That’s first.  There’s no red flags beyond that.  It was really just three days we’ve slowed him down.

“It’s just part of the bumps in the road in this thing that we need to get through.” [Read more…]

Brewers to give Moustakas a shot at second base

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Mike Moustakas – MLB Photo

The Milwaukee Brewers had planned to give Mike Moustakas a shot at second base when they acquired him in a trade deadline deal last year.  The move never happened because Travis Shaw took to the position so well that it wasn’t necessary.

With Moustakas signing a free agent deal with the Brewers this week, the opportunity to keep Shaw at third and try Moustakas at second is in the works.

Moustakas has never played second base at the Major League level, but Brewers manager Craig Counsell said this is what Spring Training is for.

“We would explore Mike at second base, is what we’re going to do, because that’s what we don’t know about,” Counsell said.  “At some point, we would have to make a decision.

“What we’ve talked about is not anything different than the conversation we had in late July last year when we were debating this whole thing.  Basically, what happened is Travis did a really nice job (at second base) and we ended up not exploring Mike at second base.

“Now that we’re in spring training, we have time to do that.  This is what spring training is for.”

Counsell said whoever plays second base, they will still have some third base time but one of them will be the primary second baseman.

The Brewers first full squad workout is Tuesday.  They’ll open Cactus League play against the Cubs on Saturday.

 

Brewers set catching rotation

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Craig Counsell

Milwaukee Brewers manager Craig Counsell unveiled his catching rotation plans for the upcoming season and barring injury, veteran Erik Kratz is the odd man out.

The Brewers aren’t expected to break spring training camp with more than two catchers, but the 38-year-old Kratz gives them insurance if something were to happen with either starter Yasmani Grandal or his top backup Manny Pina.

“It’s a tough spot for Erik; we understand that,” Counsell said on Wednesday.  “He made a very meaningful contribution. Acquiring Yasmani kind of put us in that spot.

Grandal started 110 games and played in 135 games for the Dodgers last season.  Manny Pina made 84 starts for the Brewers while Kratz started 54.

The Brewers first official workout with pitchers and catchers was cut short on Thursday by rain.  There is more precipitation in the forecast today.

Counsell missed out on NL Manager of the Year

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Craig Counsell – Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI

Milwaukee manager Craig Counsell led the Brewers to their first playoff berth since 2011, winning the National League Central crown.  But Counsell fell short in the voting for National League Manager of the Year, as the Baseball Writers gave the honor to Atlanta’s Brian Snitker.

Snitker picked up 17 of 30 first-place votes to 11 for Counsell.  Counsell is the fourth Brewers manager to finish runner-up, joining Tom Trebelhorn, Phil Garner and Ron Roenicke.  No Brewer manager has ever captured the honor.

Snitker helped take the Braves from 72 wins a year ago, to 90 wins this past season.

Counsell’s Brewers won eight straight games to finish out the regular season, overtaking the Chicago Cubs for the Central Division title. [Read more…]

Yelich And Counsell Are MLB Award Finalists

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Christian Yelich

Finalists for Major League Baseball’s postseason awards are out and Milwaukee‘s Christian Yelich and Craig Counsell are among them.

Yelich headlines the National League MVP class after leading the league in hitting with a .326 average.  He clubbed 36 home runs and drove in 110 runs.  He got red-hot in the second half of the season.  In the final 65 games, Yelich hit .367 with 25 home runs and 67 RBI.

If he wins, Yelich would become the Brewers’ fifth-ever MVP.  Ryan Braun last won it in 2011 while Rollie Fingers captured the award in 1981 and Robin Yount did it twice, in 1982 and 1989.

Colorado’s Nolan Arenado and Chicago’s Javier Baez are the other two finalists for the award.

Counsell is one of three finalists for the National League Manager of the Year award.  He led the Brewers to a franchise best 102 victories this season.  The 96 regular season wins tied for the most in franchise history.  The Brewers have never had a manager of the year.

Counsell is joined by Colorado’s Bud Black and Atlanta’s Brian Snitker with the winners to be announced next week.

Rookie of the Year award winners will be announced on Monday, managers on Tuesday, Cy Young winners on Wednesday and MVP’s next Thursday.

 

Brewers facing elimination after game 5 loss to Dodgers

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Milwaukee Brewers manager went with another bullpen game on Wednesday afternoon, but this time, they ran into a dominating pitching performance as Clayton Kershaw led the Dodgers to a 5-2 win in Los Angeles.

Kershaw held the Brewers to a run and three hits in seven innings as the Dodgers took a 3-2 lead in the NLCS.  It puts the Brewers in a must win scenario in game six on Friday night at Miller Park.

Kershaw’s outing came after he didn’t make it out of the fourth inning in game one of the series at Miller Park.

Wade Miley started for the Brewers but faced just one batter before Craig Counsell went to Brandon Woodruff out of the bullpen.  After Miley walked the first hitter, Woodruff hit Justin Turner but struck out David Freese and got Manny Machado to ground into an inning-ending double play. [Read more…]

Brewers grab NL Central Division title in a playoff

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Craig Counsell’s celebration interrupted by questions from a reporter.

The Milwaukee Brewers finished the season with eight-straight wins and the eighth is the one that won the Central Division title over the Chicago Cubs.  It was a battle like many others this season between the two teams and when the smoke cleared, it was the Brewers coming out on top, 3-1 over the rival Cubs.

The win gave the Brewers the best record in the National League at 96-67 and guarantees them home field advantage throughout the National League playoffs.  The Cubs, with a 95-68 record, the second best in the National League, but it gets them nothing more than a spot in Tuesday nights wildcard game.

If the Cubs beat the Colorado Rockies in tonight’s wildcard game, they would meet the Brewers in Milwaukee in the first round NLDS starting Thursday night at Miller Park.

The Brewers went 20-7 since the first of September and trailed the Cubs by five games on Labor Day and 3 1/2 games on Sept. 18.  At that point in time, most followers believed the Brewers were playing for a wildcard.  But the Brewers themselves never gave up on the division.

The Cubs hosted game number 163 because they won the season series 11-8.  Chicago fans invested heavily in their team by purchasing tickets at Miller Park during the regular season.  Brewers fans did the same for game 163 on Monday.  They were plentiful and boisterous throughout the game. [Read more…]

Brewers 90th win draws them closer to playoffs

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Eric Thames File Photo: by Bill Greenblatt/UPI

Eric Thames tripled and scored on a throwing error in the eighth inning and the Milwaukee Brewers went on to knock off the St. Louis Cardinals 6-4 at Busch Stadium in St. Louis on Monday night.

Ryan Braun homered and Christian Yelich drove in a pair of runs as the Brewers won for the fourth time in their last five games and for the 90th (90-67) time this season.  They moved three games in front of the Cardinals for the top wildcard spot in the National League.  The Brewers also drew to within 1 1/2 games of the Central Division leading Cubs in the Central Division after the Cubs fell to the Pittsburgh Pirates 5-1.

The Brewers went with a bullpen by committee to secure this win.  It started with Dan Jennings getting the first out of the game by retiring Matt Carpenter for his only batter faced, and it finished with Corey Knebel slamming the door in the 9th for his 16th save.  In between, the Brewers used seven other pitchers for a total of nine for the game.  Corbin Burnes (7-0) got two outs for the win. [Read more…]