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The Brewers will give Aramis Ramirez a rest from third base duties Easter Sunday, starting Jeff Bianchi in his place against the Pirates.
It's a bit of a tough situation for Milwaukee. The team has been hoping to give Ramirez more days off in 2014 after a season that saw the now 36-year-old play in just 92 games due to knee injuries. Keeping Ramirez healthy will be crucial to the Brewers' 2014 hopes.
At the same time, Ramirez has been one of the few consistent contributors in the lineup this season. He is currently hitting .352/.395/.465 with a pair of doubles, a pair of homers, and a team-leading 15 RBI.
With Ramirez out, Jonathan Lucroy and Khris Davis are both bumped up in the order. Lucroy will hit clean-up as he hopes to enjoy a red-hot start that has him hitting .344/.412/.541. Davis, meanwhile, is not enjoying the same success. After a nice stretch to start the season, he has just two hits over the last week with a 269 OPS. He did pick up an RBI single last night, so maybe he's coming out of it a bit.
Marco Estrada will be making his fourth start of the season. He has been excellent so far, with a 3.06 ERA with outings against the Red Sox, Cardinals and Phillies. His earned runs have gone up by one in each start though. He gave up one in his first appearance, two in his second, three in his third. Hopefully that trend doesn't continue today! On the season, Estrada has a 15:6 K:BB ratio over 17.2 innings.
Newly-acquired first baseman Ike Davis will stay in the lineup for Pittsburgh. He reached base three times and scored twice yesterday in his first game as a Pirate. Meanwhile, talented young starter Gerrit Cole will take the mound. In three career starts against the Brewers he has a 3.72 ERA and has allowed a 764 OPS.
