Highlights-Lowlights: Brewers-Reds (5/1-5/4)

This is SnoTap's version of recap of the two, three or four game series Milwaukee Brewers will play this season. We focus on the positives and negatives with topics about the game and topics that were nowhere near close to part of the game.

Highlights
Wily Peralta - Easily, the best performance of the weekend.  The young Brewers pitcher dazzled on Friday night going eight shutout innings giving up three hits and striking out seven batters. Peralta has been one of the stars of the young season as he rapidly improved from last season. Also Wily drove in the only two runs for the Brewers on Friday so he did it all to ensure the only Brewers victory of the weekend.

Jonathan Lucroy - Good weekend for Johnny Luc whom drove in a run on Sunday going two for two plus he had a three hit day on Friday night. Lucroy is the only Brewer right now with a batting average over .300 at .312. He needs to keep hitting with this Brewers offense looking weaker and weaker without Ryan Braun. Hopefully, he continues to set the pace.

Johnny Cueto - More people should be talking about the start Cueto is having this season. He did allow two runs on Saturday, but they were two solo shots by Mark Reynolds and Aramis Ramirez. Other than that, he allowed three total hits, striking out 10 batters in eight innings of work. This is the third start out of four where Cueto has struck out 10 or more batters. In those starts, he has struck out 37 batters averaging 9.25 strikeouts per start. Cueto is second in the league with 60 strikeouts with only Jose Fernandez having more with 65.

Todd Frazier - With Jay Bruce having a tough start to his season, someone needed to replace his Brewer Killer role and it was Mr. Frazier. He is known for big series against the Brewers before, but he had his hand in a lot of things that happened for the Reds this weekend. He drove in six runs this weekend plus added a home run as well.  I don't know if we can anoint Frazier a new Brewer Killer, but he is definitely building his case for it.

Carlos Gomez's Catch - OOPS HE DID IT AGAIN. HE PLAYED WITH JOEY VOTTO'S HEART, GOT LOST IN THE GAME. OOOO BABY OOO. Seriously, it was a great catch.



Lowlights
Jim Henderson - Not a great appearance for Henderson on Thursday night as he gave up five runs on four hits plus a home run happened in there as well. He went from having an ERA around three to being around seven after this disastrous appearance. Of course, the day after he went on a Disabled List with shoulder inflammation. I don't know why it took Ron Roenicke a dumpster fire eighth inning to figure that one out, but it did.

Inevitable Disabled List - Ryan Braun will miss two more series with the rib cage injury. Brewers bats are pretty cold right now, and it appears they will have to do without their star for another week. He would return next week Monday to play in the Pittsburgh if he is ready to go. If not, he could return against Chicago over the weekend next week. We shall see what happens with Braun's rib cage injury. I want him as healthy as possible so if he needs more time, that's not a problem.

Marco Estrada - Pretty bad start from Marco. I am not really surprised though. Even though he pitched well at Cincinnati in the past, Great American Ballpark can be a type of stadium where Estrada would struggle in being a fly ball pitcher. He gave up two homers, one was super weak that would only go out at GABP, but still the fact remains, Estrada surrendered them both. What I am worried about is him walking four batters. Hopefully that's just a blip on the radar.

Tyler Thornburg - Not a good weekend for one of the more promising Brewers this season. Thornburg gave up two runs on Saturday giving Cincinnati some much needed insurance runs late in the game, and then he gave up a double to Frazier in the 10th giving Cincinnati the win. In his last seven starts, Thornburg has walked at least one batter. Is that worthy of a concern?  Maybe. It is always one batter, but still, it would be nice to see him have a clean frame.

Aramis Ramirez - Remember when he had a red hot start where we thought this year would be different for him?  And then he has gone ice cold in the last week. Even though he had a homer on Saturday, Ramirez's average is down to .248.  We are only 27 days away from Aramis Ramirez Day folks, don't worry about it.

Charlie.

Brewers-Reds Preview (5/1-5/4)

Brewers previews to get you ready for the series where we have five things to watch, pitching matchups and prediction. We add a YouTube video in the mix, it could be really anything.   

Pitching Matchups
Thursday: Marco Estrada (2-1 2.87) vs. Homer Bailey (1-2 6.15)      6:10 pm FSNWI
Friday:     Wily Peralta (3-1 2.56) vs. Mike Leake (2-2 3.82)             6:10 pm FSNWI
Saturday:  Yovani Gallardo (2-0 1.91) vs. Johnny Cueto (2-2 1.15)    6:10 pm FSNWI
Sunday:     Kyle Lohse (4-1 2.70) vs. Alfredo Simon (4-1 1.60)         3:10 pm FSNWI

Five Things To Watch
1.) No Disabled List for Braun, Ramirez and Segura return - Brewers decided to send down Elian Herrera and bring up Rob Wooten as Aramis Ramirez and Jean Segura return to the lineup tonight. Ryan Braun will be missing from the lineup for the fifth straight game. There is no Disabled List appearance, but you wonder if he will be there by Saturday when Logan Schafer's stint is up on Saturday. Getting Ramirez and Segura will definitely help this offense, and hopefully, their injuries will not affect their play this weekend.

2.) Why is Wei-Chung Wang on the team? - I am even more convinced if Wei-Chung Wang would get put back with say Seattle or Kansas City, he wouldn't be on this roster, but since, Milwaukee would give him back to Pittsburgh, they want to avoid it if they can. Yet it would be really nice to have Caleb Gindl, a quality outfielder with a little bit of pop. The other thing is Mike Fiers is dominating Nashville right now striking out everybody in sight, and he has already proven to be an adequate long reliever. Same goes for Jimmy Nelson who did okay his first time around.  This is a very timely article from Jim Owczarski from OnMilwaukee about Wang.

3.) Mark Reynolds is playing right field for two games, is this real life? - With Milwaukee only having two infielders, my guess is Reynolds plays right field tonight which could get real ugly. At least Great American Ballpark is bandbox which means it could be easier for Reynolds than other places even like Miller Park. The other thing is keeping  Lyle Overbay's hot bat in the lineup plus add Reynolds' home run ability at GABP is a sneaky part of it and yes, I just talked myself into having Reynolds in right field. Also Dan provides a solid point here.

@SnoTap12 We'll get through it. Can't be any worse than Kotsay in Center in a crucial NLCS game.
— Dan Maciejewski (@dmaciejewski) May 1, 2014

4.) Gallardo vs. Cueto should be quite good - While Yo has been good so far this season, Cueto is having one of the best seasons thus far as a pitcher. He isn't getting run support, but Cueto has not allowed more than five hits in any of his starts this season.  Additionally, he struck out 27 batters in the last three outings. If you want a silver lining, Ramirez handles Cueto pretty well. Gallardo is not a slouch against Cincinnati either. He shut them out three times last season, once at GABP. I think we are in for a dandy on Saturday night.

5.) Great American Ballpark struggle bus - My apologies for not finding the statistics on what Milwaukee's exact record at this stadium, but they have not played well there in the past. Weird shit always tends to happen especially late in games. One of those places that makes you nervous as a fan.

Appropriate YouTube Video


I wish I could have some Skyline Chili. It's freezing in Milwaukee today. Also the mascots are TERRIFYING.

Prediction
I am seeing a split. Cannot expect them to beat both Simon and Cueto plus today's game with a still beat-up bullpen makes me a bit nervous even if Cincinnati is not playing well.