So if there's no Gomez, no Ramirez, no Segura, no Braun, no Hart and no Weeks, what's left for this Brewer team?
We'll get our first glimpse at the answer tonight when the remaining Brewers take on Dillon Gee (3.54 ERA, 4.02 FIP) and the Mets. Gee is 27 years old and wrapping up his best major league season, having set a career-high with 193 IP and 140 strikeouts and a career-low for a full season with his 3.54 ERA. He beat the Phillies in a rain-shortened game on Saturday, allowing four runs on seven hits over six innings.
Gee was a 21st round pick in the 2007 draft, so he wasn't expected to develop into a guy who might pitch 200 solid innings at the major league level. He'll throw a 90 mph fastball with a heavy dose of sliders, changeups and the occasional curve. FanGraphs says the curve and change are above average pitches.
The Brewers have seen Gee twice before, but not this season. They roughed him up in their lone meeting in 2012. No active Brewers have seen him ten times or more, although as noted above we're running out of "active" Brewers.
He'll face Johnny Hellweg (7.43 ERA, 7.21 FIP), who will get one last chance to make a good impression in his debut season. Hellweg pitched five innings against the Cardinals on Friday and allowed two runs on seven hits, walking five and striking out just one. He's also hit six batters in his last four starts.
There are a lot of cringe-worthy stats in Hellweg's line, but the most notable might be that he's walked 22 batters over 26.2 innings (and hit six more) while striking out just six. He's the first Brewer ever to pitch 12 or more innings in a season with a K/BB ratio under 0.33.
Hellweg is, of course, facing the Mets for the first time.
Tonight's lineup has been changed to remove Carlos Gomez, who has been suspended for tonight's game:
Norichika Aoki CF
Scooter Gennett 2B
Jonathan Lucroy C
Khris Davis LF
Caleb Gindl RF
Yuniesky Betancourt 3B
Juan Francisco 1B
Jeff Bianchi SS
Johnny Hellweg P
And in the bullpen:
- Donovan Hand pitched .2 innings (12 pitches) on Tuesday.
- Brandon Kintzler pitched one inning (nine pitches) on Tuesday.
- Rob Wooten and Michael Blazek last pitched on Monday.
- Jim Henderson last pitched on Sunday.
- Alfredo Figaro last pitched on Saturday.
- Michael Gonzalez last pitched on Friday.
- Burke Badenhop last pitched on Thursday.
- Jimmy Nelson and Tom Gorzelanny are technically still on the active roster but Nelson is expected to start on Saturday and Gorzelanny is done for the season with shoulder soreness.
It looks like a nice night for baseball in New York. Expect a game-time temperature in the mid 60's under clear skies.