Milwaukee Brewers shake up rotation for first post All-Star break series
The MLB All-Star break will provide a welcome respite for most players around the league this coming week (except of course, those named as All-Stars). After the four-day layoff, regular season games resume this Friday. The Milwaukee Brewers will welcome the Philadelphia Phillies to town, and today the club announced the starters for that series. The rotation will get a bit of a shake up as Zach Davies (97.1 IP, 4.90 ERA/5.00 FIP) will take the ball in the first game, Jimmy Nelson (104.0 IP, 3.20 ERA/3.11 FIP) will start the second game, and Matt Garza (72.1 IP, 3.98 ERA/3.97 FIP) will take the hill for the series finale. Brent Suter (27.1 IP, 2.96 ERA/2.79 FIP) has been assured that he'll make another start after holding the Yankees in check yesterday, so he'll likely get the nod in the series opener in Pittsburgh. The wild card is beleaguered ace Junior Guerra (49.0 IP, 4.78 ERA/7.15 FIP). Guerra looked a bit better in a shortened final start before the All-Star break, allowing one earned run in 3.1 innings. He had little help from the defense behind him, though he did give up another homer. His velocity had gotten back into the 92-93 MPH range with a couple 94's mixed in, and he was able to get several swings-and-misses along with 3 K's. He walked 3 batters but his command looked sharper around the edges than it had in his previous few starts. Unfortunately, Guerra was hit in the calf by a line drive comebacker right before the rain delay in Friday's game, and may require a disabled list stint. (Statistics courtesy of Fangraphs)