Eight days ago, I was in Goodyear to watch the Brewers pound on the Reds. Today the Brewers are back there to face the park's other inhabitants, the Indians. Alas, this time I'm at home on my couch.
Follow the jump for today's pitching matchup, lineup and more!
Chris Narveson (1.17 ERA this spring) will look to continue his impressive spring today. He's allowed just one run on six hits over 7.2 innings of work in his three outings, walking three and striking out four.
The only run Narveson has allowed this spring came on Thursday, when he allowed said run on four hits over 3.2 innings against the Rockies, in a game the Brewers eventually lost in extra innings.
Narveson has never started against the Indians, but did face them once in relief in 2009. It was a pretty forgettable outing for him, as he allowed three runs on three hits and three walks in 1.2 innings.
He'll face off against Indians right-hander Mitch Talbot (4.41 ERA, 4.48 FIP in 2010), who has had a pretty rough spring to date. This is Talbot's fourth outing, and he's allowed 14 runs (13 earned) on 15 hits and three home runs in his first 6.2 Cactus League innings. He last pitched on Friday, allowing three runs on five hits in three innings against the Mariners.
Talbot works in the low 90's with his fastball, but will also mix in a lot of cutters. When he's not throwing some variation of fastball, he also enjoys changeups and the occasional slider. FanGraphs says the slider was his only above average pitch in 2010, and he only threw it around 8% of the time.
Talbot has never faced the Brewers during the regular season.
Lineup:
With the Brewers short on healthy outfielders, both Luis Cruz and Mark Kotsay are out there today:
Rickie Weeks 2B
Craig Counsell SS
Mark Kotsay RF
Prince Fielder 1B
Casey McGehee 3B
Jeremy Reed CF
Mat Gamel DH
Luis Cruz LF
Wil Nieves C
Weather
I'm sure you never would've guessed this on your own, but it's hot in the desert again today. Weather.com says the game time temp will be around 84 and should climb to around 87.
Coverage
MLB.com isn't showing any Brewer coverage of today's game. There is an Indians audio feed, however, and MLB.TV coverage.
Enjoy the game!