Series Preview: Milwaukee Brewers (8-11) at Chicago Cubs (14-5)

In Series Previews by berselius77 Comments

The Cubs kick off a six game homestand with a three game series against the Brewers. In fact, sixteen of the Cubs next nineteen games are at home, which seems kind of odd, scheduling-wise. They pay the piper going into the all-star break, when they play 14 or 17 on the road, including road series with the Mets and Pirates. Still, this is a good time to pile on that division lead, especially now that we know that Cardinals Devil Magic is still a thing, and has simply moved to pinch hitters' bats down there. 

The Brewers come into this series having given up the third-most runs in the National league, nine behind the Reds and two behind the Rockies. As both of those teams have faced the Cubs and the Brewers have not, I would not be surprised to see them take the lead following this series.

Team Leaders

Brew Crew

  • OBP: Braun (.432)
  • ISO: Carter (.393)
  • HR: Carter/Braun (5)
  • R+RBI: Braun (27)
  • wRC+: Braun (176)
  • BSR: Lucroy (0.8)
  • SP K/9: Anderson (6.75)
  • SP BB/9: Anderson (2.70)
  • SP FIP: Anderson (4.44)
  • RP K/9: Thornburg (12.96)
  • RP BB/9: Cravy (0.00)
  • RP FIP: Cravy (1.33)
  • WAR: Braun (0.8)

Cubs

  • OBP: Fowler (.506)
  • ISO: Rizzo (.377)
  • HR: Rizzo (8)
  • R+RBI: Rizzo (35)
  • wRC+: Fowler (212)
  • BSR: Heyward (1.9)
  • SP K/9: Lackey (9.59)
  • SP BB/9: Hendricks (1.50)
  • SP FIP: Hammel (2.51)
  • RP K/9: Rondon (18.00)
  • RP BB/9: Grimm (0.00)
  • RP FIP: Rondon (-0.91)
  • WAR: Fowler (1.9)

Pitching Matchups

K/9, BB/9, 2016 ERA, 2016 FIP, 2016 projected ERA listed for all pitchers

Tir's day: Jimmy Nelson, RHP (6.58, 3.46, 3.46, 5.79, 4.22) vs Kyle Hendricks, RHP (7.50, 1.50, 4.00, 2.65, 3.63), 7:05 PM CT

Nelson has had a lots of trouble with the long ball this year giving up at least one homer in each start. He has managed to limit the damage, for the most part. It's pretty tough to allow only eleven runs when you'd coughed up six homers over four starts. Not a big strikeout guy, Nelson gets a decent amount of ground balls instead. He also struggles at throwing strikes at times, which is something this lineup loves to see.

Woden's day: Taylor Jungmann, RHP (5.82, 5.29, 8.47, 5.27, 4.08) vs Jake Arrieta, RHP (7.55, 1.74, 0.87, 2.84, 2.63), 7:05 PM CT

It would be nice to see Maddon give Arrieta's arm a bit of a rest here after the no-hitter, and the Cubs have a good matchup to do it. Jungmann has been a bit of a horror show for the Brewers so far, already having both an eight run game and a six walk outing under his belt so far this year. He gave the Brewers 21 solid starts last year, despite fairly middling minor league numbers. If he has another bad outing, I would not be surprised if he's the next victim of the Cubs offense that gets sent to the minors the day after facing them. 

Thor's day: Zach Davies, RHP (5.40, 4.32, 9.72, 5.25, 4.08) vs Jon Lester, LHP (7.57, 1.65, 1.98, 3.39, 3.08), 1:20 PM CT

Based on his media photo, Davies shares a lot in common with his manager, namely, they would have to show two forms of ID to buy liquor and even then the cashier would have to wonder how this 17 year old kid got such good fake IDs. He's made two starts this year against the Pirates and the Phillies. At least he was able to strike out more Phillies than he walked, but that doesn't look as nice when you are on the ropes all game after allowing ten baserunners in six innings. He is a supposed to be big ground ball guy, but it sounds like that sinker needs to sink a lot more. 

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Comments

  1. Millertime

    Living in Milwaukee, I actually hope the Brewers can turn things around and get some good young players to root for.

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  2. Author
    berselius

    Who do you think the 49ers stumble into, Ryno?

    I’m guessing the Packers end up with another interior defensive lineman.

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  3. Ryno

    berselius,

    I’d bet on Stanley or Buckner at this point, but I just have a feeling that Lawson could be the guy there.

    GB really needs to address the LB position, don’t they?

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  4. Author
    berselius

    Ryno,

    Yeah,, but don’t really see them taking an ILB in the first round. They definitely need to get Matthews back outside though.

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  5. Rice Cube

    cerulean:
    Most wins in baseball: Nats, Cubs, Drake LaRoche’s former hangout. One of these is not like the others.

    I don’t think Drake LaRoche ever got to hang out in the Cubs clubhouse, so…

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  6. Author
    berselius

    Brewers Braun-less squadron

    RF Santana
    2b Gennett
    C Lucroy
    1B Carter
    CF Nieuwenhuis
    3B Hill
    SS Villar
    LF Flores
    P Nelson

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  7. dmick89

    I see the site has been updated so non-admins may not be able to post images right now. I’ll see if I can get that fixed tonight. If not, tomorrow morning. Can someone please confirm that is accurate?

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  8. dmick89

    Wenningtons Gorilla Cock,

    WP must only overwrite that specific file for the major updates. This one was 4.5.1. I know they did it for 4.5 and they’ll probably do it for 4.6. Good to know. It’s interesting because the file I modify is the exact same as it’s been since at least 2009 so there’s no reason to ever overwrite it.

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  9. Author
    berselius

    Montero has a stiff back, Rosstakes his place, batting 8th.

    Baez is the emergency catcher, though Montero could fill in for Ross if needed.

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  10. Rizzo the Rat

    If the umpire makes calls like that with the wind blowing as it is, this game could go scoreless for nineteen innings.

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  11. cerulean

    Apparently Arrieta has been consuming in performance-enhancing food and doing performance-enhancing workouts.

    Though he did also say that he thinks those who test positive for steroids shouldn’t get multiple chances, so he is obviously on drugs. I am disappoint.

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  12. Rizzo the Rat

    dmick89,

    This might be the first time this year he pulled a starter earlier than he otherwise would have for the sake of using a pinch-hitter.

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  13. cerulean

    This team is inevitable. I can imagine the opposition feeling like pianos and anvils are perched above their heads. Impending doom.

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  14. cerulean

    109 pitches in 5.1 innings for Nelson. There are very few bullpens that won’t have their soft underbelly exposed for 3.2 innings, especially since this seems to happen every night. Meanwhile, Hendricks being pulled at 69 is a strength of this team with all the capable long men. More like this in crucial moments with the pitcher’s spot batting, please Joe.

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  15. cerulean

    Rice Cube,

    Wrong antecedent. I was talking about the Cardinals. It was a veiled poke at any bestfans that might stumble upon this site. By accident, surely.

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