Brewers (2-10) vs Reds (5-7): Series Preview

The Brewers have been terrible in the early goings but the Reds haven't been that much better. They're in 4th place with a 5-7 record so if the Brewers sweep them they'll be tied for last place! Misery loves company.

Joey Votto and Zack Cosart (yes really) are about the only 2 Reds batters showing any kind of offense. Todd Frazier has hit a few home runs, but outside of that has been pretty bad at the plate. But it's early so all of these things will look very different in another month. It's so early they could look drastically different by next week even. In other words, I'm not buying Cosart is an offensive threat.

The bats to worry about are still the same as last year: Votto, Frazier, Mesoraco, and Jay Bruce (sort of). Bruce hasn't been very good for a while but he can still put one over the fence so you still have to be careful. Mesoraco is apparently away dealing with a family matter but will return on Tuesday.

Pitching Match-ups

Monday April 20th, 6:20 pm CST: Wily Peralta vs Anthony DeScalfani

Wily Peralta has has one pretty solid start and one pretty mediocre start. He hasn't quite had one of those games where you can see front line potential in him. The main problem has been lack of strikeouts. He only has 3 in 12 IP. He is more of a contact pitcher than a strikeout pitcher, but even a great contact pitcher needs to get some Ks.

Anthony DeScalfani has been lights out for the Reds. He's a right handed pitcher who throws a fastball (92-93 mph), slider and change. I'm not quite convinced his hot start is sustainable long-term, but I wouldn't be surprised to see him keep it up against the Brewers.

Tuesday April 21st, 7:10 pm CST: Mike Fiers vs Jason Marquis

Mike Fiers had that rough start against the Pirates where he gave up 5 runs in in 5 innings but striking out 8 batters. He seemed to rebound a bit against St. Louis but the strikeouts weren't there. I still think he's going to be pretty solid going forward so I'm expecting him to put it all together sooner rather than later.

Jason Marquis has been hit pretty hard this year including a 4 inning performance last time out that saw him allow 7 hits, 3 walks, and 5 runs (4 earned). He seems to have abandoned his four seam fastball altogether and throws primarily a sinker along with a change and a slider.

Wednesday April 22nd, 7:10 pm CST: Jimmy Nelson vs Johnny Cueto

Before the regular season started I don't think anyone would have expected a Nelson/Cueto meeting would be a duel of aces but so far this year that's exactly what Nelson has been. He's the most exciting Brewers pitcher to watch right now.

Johnny Cueto is off to a tremendous start. The Brewers are really going to have to be on their game if they want to score any runs. Enhanced by his unique mechanics he throws a four-seam fastball (92-93 mph), two-seam, cutter, slider, change, and the occasional curve.

Statistics courtesy of FanGraphs