Alright, kids: we've reached Game 139 on the season, which means that I can't tell you anything you don't already know about Zack Greinke: the delicious K/9 (10.75), the impressive BB/9 (2.12), the slightly irritating HR/9 (1.06), the BABIP's that's regressed all the way back to his career norm (.309 for the season, .307 for the career), the acumen on the basepaths (1-for-1 in steal attempts this year). I mean, you've got this all down, right?
Here's what I can tell you about the Astros who've faced Greinke quite a bit: there aren't a lot of them. Carlos Lee has the most plate appearances (16), and he's put together a .143/.250/.357 line. Clint Barmes is the only other 'Stro who's faced Greinker more than five times, and he's got four hits (all singles) in seven plate appearances.
On the bump for the Astros is 26-year-old Lucas Harrell. A 6'2", 210-lb right-hander, Harrell's been stashed at AAA Oklahoma City since the Astros claimed him on waivers from the White Sox, and I can't tell you the first thing about him. But here's what our friends from the Crawfish Boxes had to say:
He doesn't have overpowering stuff, but put up good enough numbers in limited time with Oklahoma City that fans have been clamoring to see more of him for about a month now. Against the Brewers, he's likely to give up some runs, but I think he has enough potential to warrant sticking around for a while.
For whatever it's worth (and it might well be nothing), Harrell has been outstanding in his short stint on the Astro farm: he's 5-2 with a 1.72 ERA in nine starts for Oklahoma City, and he was 7-3 with a 3.27 ERA (12 starts) for the ChiSox AAA affiliate in Charlotte. He struck out 6.7 batters per nine and walked 3.6 per nine between the two AAA clubs. In three games (five total innings) with the Sox earlier this year, Harrell gave up 11 hits and four runs while striking out five of the 26 batters he faced.
The Brewers lineup hasn't changed a bit since last night:
Corey Hart RF
Nyjer Morgan CF
Ryan Braun LF
Prince Fielder 1B
Casey McGehee 3B
Yuniesky Betancourt SS
Jerry Hairston, Jr. 2B
Jonathan Lucroy C
Zack Greinke P
Out in the 'pen:
Frankie de la Cruz 1 inning (8 pitches) yesterday and pitched 2 innings (23 pitches) on Wednesday.
Marco Estrada pitched 1 inning (24 pitches) on Wednesday and 1 inning (24 pitches) Tuesday.
Kameron Loe pitched 2.1 innings (28 pitches) yesterday.
John Axford pitched 1 inning (17 pitches) Sunday.
Francisco Rodriguez pitched 0.1 inning (8 pitches) Sunday.
LaTroy Hawkins pitched 0.1 inning (19 pitches) Saturday.
Takashi Saito pitched 1 inning (9 pitches) yesterday.