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The Brewers are coming off another terrible series that saw them drop 3 out of 4 against the Reds. They showed some signs of life this time around though. They might have won the second game of the series had they put a pitcher on the mound instead of a pitching machine. Then in the third game Jimmy Nelson stayed hot but the offense didn't. Then yesterday everything clicked and Kyle Lohse earned his first win of the season.
At this point one has to question what's better for the franchise, more wins and a (ever so slim) chance at the second Wild Card, or more losses and a better chance at the number 1 overall pick in 2016's draft? The Cardinals won't make the former any easier for the Brewers, but let's put all that aside for this series. Whatever else happens this year, I just want to see the Brewers beat the Cardinals.
Let's take a look at last year's numbers.
The Position Players
| Player | Position | DRS | UZR | PA | BB% | K% | AVG | OBP | SLG | wOBA | wRC+ | fWAR |
| Yadier Molina | C | --- | 8 | 445 | 6.3 | 12.5 | 282 | 333 | 386 | 317 | 102 | 2.9 |
| Tony Cruz | C | --- | -4 | 150 | 8.7 | 18.7 | 200 | 270 | 259 | 242 | 51 | -0.6 |
| Matt Adams | 1B | 8 | 2.4 | 563 | 4.6 | 20.2 | 288 | 321 | 457 | 337 | 116 | 2.1 |
| Kolton Wong | 2B | 9 | 2.8 | 433 | 4.8 | 16.4 | 249 | 292 | 388 | 299 | 90 | 1.9 |
| Jhonny Peralta | SS | 17 | 12.0 | 628 | 9.2 | 17.8 | 364 | 446 | 443 | 343 | 120 | 5.3 |
| Matt Carpenter | 3B | -2 | -0.8 | 709 | 13.4 | 15.7 | 272 | 375 | 375 | 339 | 117 | 4.0 |
| Matt Holliday | LF | 0 | -1.9 | 667 | 11.1 | 15.0 | 272 | 370 | 441 | 360 | 132 | 3.6 |
| Jon Jay | CF | 6 | 3.1 | 468 | 6.0 | 16.7 | 303 | 372 | 378 | 336 | 115 | 2.4 |
| Jason Heyward | RF | 32 | 24.1 | 649 | 10.3 | 15.1 | 271 | 351 | 384 | 329 | 110 | 5.2 |
| Peter Bourjos | OF | 7 | 8.9 | 294 | 6.8 | 26.5 | 231 | 294 | 348 | 287 | 82 | 1.7 |
| Randal Grichuck | OF | 4 | 5.4 | 116 | 4.3 | 26.7 | 245 | 278 | 400 | 299 | 90 | 0.6 |
| Pete Kozma | UTIL | --- | --- | 26 | 11.5 | 15.4 | 304 | 385 | 435 | 365 | 135 | 0.3 |
| Mark Reynolds | UTIL | --- | --- | 433 | 10.9 | 28.2 | 196 | 287 | 394 | 302 | 87 | 1.7 |
It's still so early in the season it's hard to come up with anything new to say since a week ago when last these two teams faced each other. Matt Carpenter and Matt Holliday are especially hot to start the season so the Brewers will have to be wary of them.
The Pitching Staff
| Player | Position | IP | K% | BB% | HR/9 | BAA | WHIP | ERA | FIP | xFIP | SIERA | fWAR |
| Adam Wainwright | SP | 227.0 | 19.9 | 5.6 | 0.40 | 219 | 1.03 | 2.38 | 2.88 | 3.34 | 3.52 | 4.8 |
| Lance Lynn | SP | 203.2 | 20.9 | 8.3 | 0.57 | 235 | 1.26 | 2.74 | 3.35 | 3.81 | 3.84 | 3.4 |
| John Lackey | SP | 198.0 | 19.7 | 5.6 | 1.09 | 262 | 1.28 | 3.82 | 3.78 | 3.48 | 3.64 | 2.4 |
| Michael Wacha | SP | 107.0 | 21.0 | 7.4 | 0.50 | 232 | 1.20 | 3.20 | 3.17 | 3.71 | 3.74 | 1.9 |
| Carlos Martinez | SP | 89.1 | 21.8 | 9.3 | 0.40 | 260 | 1.41 | 4.03 | 3.18 | 3.54 | 3.45 | 1.3 |
| Trevor Rosenthal | CL | 70.1 | 28.3 | 13.6 | 0.26 | 218 | 1.41 | 3.20 | 2.99 | 3.73 | 3.40 | 1.1 |
| Jordan Walden | RP | 50.0 | 30.2 | 13.2 | 0.36 | 1.85 | 1.20 | 2.88 | 3.79 | 3.29 | 3.10 | 0.8 |
| Seth Maness | RP | 80.1 | 17.4 | 3.5 | 0.78 | 253 | 1.10 | 2.91 | 3.38 | 3.19 | 2.88 | 0.4 |
| Matt Belisle | RP | 64.2 | 15.3 | 6.7 | 0.70 | 282 | 1.44 | 4.87 | 3.74 | 3.92 | 3.85 | 0.3 |
| Randy Choate | RP | 36.0 | 21.6 | 8.8 | 0.50 | 208 | 1.11 | 4.50 | 3.58 | 3.58 | 3.00 | 0.2 |
| Kevin Siegrist | RP | 30.1 | 26.4 | 11.4 | 1.48 | 262 | 1.58 | 6.82 | 4.62 | 4.14 | 3.40 | -0.2 |
| Carlos Villaneuva | RP | 77.2 | 21.0 | 5.5 | 0.70 | 277 | 1.39 | 4.64 | 3.13 | 3.61 | 3.28 | 1.2 |
The Brewers got to face both Adam Wainwright and Lance Lynn last time around. They fared quite well against Wainwright securing a victory. In the game against Lance Lynn they were only able to score one run off of him but they did drive him from the game after 5 innings. They're both very good pitchers. And so is Carlos Martinez though this will be his first full year in the rotation. He's been solid so far but has struggled with the home run.
Pitching Match-Ups
Friday April 24th, 7:10 pm CST: Matt Garza vs Carlos Martinez
Garza's first three starts were bad-good-bad. Let's see if he can have a good start tonight and just take it from there. I haven't noticed anything in his velocity, pitch usage, or zone profile that is vastly different than any other year that could explain the increased contact so there is some hope he is just in a rough patch.
Saturday April 25th, 6:10 pm CST: Wily Peralta vs Adam Wainwright
Peralta's first start was pretty good and the next two got increasingly worse. I know he's a good pitcher so it's only a matter of time before he get's it locked in.
Sunday April 16th, 12:10 pm CST: Mike Fiers vs Lance Lynn
I was at Mike Fiers last start. He gave up 2 grand slams and 8 runs total but only 4 were earned. His ERA is thankful for Jason Rogers' errant throw from third base. I simply don't believe Mike Fiers is this bad. I never believed he was a sub-2.00 ERA guy, but I firmly believed 3.50 ERA over 180 IP was realistic and I still do.