The Brewers are ready to strike...

The Brewers are ready to strike after winning the first two games of a three-game set against the Miami Marlins. Milwaukee looks to complete their first three-game series sweep since June 24th that came over the Cincinnati Reds. I welcome you back into another episode of Brewers Digest. I'm your host Taylor Brettel and I got you covered on everything you need to know about the Milwaukee Brewers. Milwaukee, a chance to go a perfect 3-0 coming out of the all-star break after unfortunately ending it going 0-3 against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Seems like the break was very effective. Milwaukee with an 8-6 win last night and then a 2-1 win in Game 1 of the series. We'll touch on both of those right now. Do want to start with Game 1. This 2-1 win for the Milwaukee Brewers in what was an absolutely crazy game. A pitching masterclass, a Garrett Mitchell masterclass, tons to touch on here. So despite a 2-1 result, you know, there was 13 total hits between the two teams. It was just lots of struggles trying to get those runners in after the were starting to get juiced. But Garrett Mitchell had the walk-off in the bottom of the 10th inning to send Milwaukee home happy. Want to talk about the arms in this matchup specifically though. The Brewers bullpen after a strong start from Logan Henderson just absolutely shut it down. This is what you love to see out of the all-star break. It shows that the break was effective and here is what the arms did. So Logan Henderson went five innings, only gave up three hits, one earned run, walked zero batters just like the entire Brewers pitching staff did for this game. Logan Henderson also with four strikeouts on the afternoon. And then you look at this bullpen. I mean, you got an inning each from Chad Patrick, Aaron Ashby, Abner Uribe, Trevor McGill, and Craig Yoho. Very, very, very solid outings. Only a hit apiece for those first four and then Craig Yoho putting up zeros in every single category. Would have been nice if he could have got some Ks, but hey, I'm not complaining because he allowed no hits, no earned runs, and no walks as well. So the only zero that Yoho didn't fill, I guess, was the Ks, but hey, the rest of the bullpen had his back on that part. Patrick with a strikeout, Ashby with two, Uribe with one, McGill with one. Just an absolute domination from that Milwaukee bullpen, which is huge to win a game like that because first of all, it's coming out of all-star break after you entered it struggling. Second of all, you used your entire bullpen and then if you lose a game like that, I mean, that puts you in such a divot for the series. So nice to see that Garrett Mitchell was able to play the hero in that contest, but I do want to touch on Craig Yoho. Very nice for him. He got his first win in his MLB career, was able to get the lineup card, a nice little piece of memorabilia for him to remember that game forever. And Yoho, I mean, coming into that 10th inning, very strong baseball. He's been playing so good in the month of July. He was kind of viewed as what people call a quad hate player, especially after last season. He'd go to AAA Nashville, pitch way too good to be at AAA Nashville, then go up to the majors to Milwaukee and struggle too much to be on that roster. It felt like if there was a quad A level, that is where Craig Yoho would fit in perfectly. But now it seems like he's starting to put it together in this month of July and he is fitting in very well with the Brewers. So I want to flash what he's done in this month for Milwaukee so far. And I know you're going to look at the recent contest. He did pitch in game two and give up three runs there, but we're going to ignore that for now because if you look at all of his outings in the month of July, which came on July 4th, 7th, 11th, 12th, and 17th, we'll stop right there. He gave up zero earned runs in all of those outings, eight innings of no run baseball out of the bullpen. I mean, you add that to the group of Ashby, Uribe, McGill, I mean, Patrick, like we saw in game one, and this is a very dangerous bullpen despite all the injuries that they are facing. Feels like Craig Yoho is finally starting to figure it out. Had a lot of issues with walking batters, especially last season. Those numbers are down as well. Did struggle in game two, which I'll touch on in just a second, but have to show the appreciation to Yoho because what he's done for the Brewers, he has really been kind of an unsung hero because I feel like a lot of people just, I shouldn't say forgot about him, but you know, remember the name. We're like, eh, he's just not really making it work on the major league level and kind of just put it to the side, but you do need to appreciate what Yoho is doing for the Brewers. He has been definitely that unsung hero, but I want to take that over to game two where Milwaukee got a little bit more of where Yoho did come in the game. Milwaukee with an eight to six win over the Miami Marlins. Yoho did give up three runs in that ninth inning, but I'm not going to put it too hard on him. He is still trying to figure out his role on the Brewers in the major leagues. He comes off an extra innings, perfect outing, gets the win, and then the next day has to come in again, so I don't know if he's too used to that workload. Did give up three runs. Shows that maybe the bullpen might have to be managed a little bit different or Craig Yoho is just going to have to kind of figure out that that might be his role. You might have to pitch back to back days if you enter the ninth inning with a five run lead, because if you're into the ninth inning with a five run lead like the Brewers did, you're not going to put McGill or Areva out there if you don't have to because it's not even a safe situation, so Yoho did seem like the choice. That's what you get when you use five bullpen arms to get a win in game one. Someone's going to have to repeat there, and it ended up being Yoho, but we look at this as a whole. Milwaukee did have that They had a big offensive explosion in the bottom of the sixth inning and in the bottom of the seventh. A shout out to Christian Yelich who got a two RBI hit in this contest. He has really been struggling. Still in the top of the order in the number one spot as the DH from the Milwaukee Brewers. I know a lot of people are kind of 50-50 or maybe not even as much as 50-50 on if Yelich should be in that leadoff spot. I'm seeing a lot of stuff on X, a lot of stuff that you guys are commenting, and I think it's all very valid. It's tough. He's your 2018 MVP, your 2019 runner-up. He's your captain, but sometimes when a player is struggling, it's kind of like you might have the accolades in the past. You might have the title, but maybe you move something around, so I want you guys to let me know what do you think the Brewers should do with Christian Yelich because he has still struggled in the month of July, but I'll flash up some numbers in just a second. He is on a six-game hitting streak, so maybe he's figuring it out, but the six-game hitting streak is a hit apiece for six straight games, so kind of like a 250 batting six-game hitting streak if you want to put it in that retrospect. So, it's just really tough. Yelich, he is struggling at the plate, but you know Pat Murphy, you know Yelich, you know the relationship, you know Murphy's not going to put Yelich lower than like fourth in that lineup, so if Yelich, if you don't want him to be leadoff, where would you guys want him in the lineup? Second, third, or fourth? Because I'm very confident that Murphy would not put him lower than any of those. Hoping that Yelich is able to figure it out because he is such a key piece, you know, to start a rally or if the bottom of the order gets it through and it goes back to the top to continue a rally. And Christian Yelich right here, I'm going to take a look at these July numbers. So again, just batting 196 in the month of July, so still very much struggling, but you see that six-game hit streak, one for three in game two, he went one for four in game one, and then one for four before that, one for three before that, one for five before that, one for three before that. So yeah, basically batting like 250 over that six-game hitting streak right around there. It's only a hit apiece, but you still got to give credit where credit is due with that hitting streak and, you know, walking a little bit more. Two walks in game two, one in game one, which I think is why Murphy likes him at the top of the order because he is batting 196 in the month of July but still has an on-base percentage of 328, so that is why it might be a little bit more difficult to move him down, but you guys feel free to let me know what would you do with Jelich, what would you do with this workload, because it's tough. Andrew Vaughn sitting on the bench time and time again, even, you know, if a lefty or righty is on the mound, it's just Jelich as the DH no matter what. I feel like a lot of people want Vaughn in there instead of Jelich. There's many questions to ask about the situation, so you guys feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments down below, but Jelich isn't the main guy to talk about about the Brewers because we have to talk about the guy that now leads the Brewers in batting average and starting to crawl up to lead them in a lot more categories, definitely showing the best glove on the team, and that is the man Garrett Mitchell making an incredible catch in Friday night's contest and then on Saturday is also making some nice grabs there. I mean Garrett Mitchell getting it done on the defensive side, getting it done on the offensive side, had that walk-off in game one, had multiple hits again in game two, he has been on an absolute surge and I just have to tip your hat to him. If you want to take a look at the catches he made, these are over just the first two games right here in chronological order. The one on the left and the one in the middle are both in that game against Miami. You see one 105.9 off the bat, went 369 feet and expected batting average of 784. Garrett Mitchell able to track that one down. Then you go just honestly a couple batters later, 100.8 off the bat, 369 feet and expected batting average of 503. Garrett and then in this one right here, it was in play for a run because it was a sacrifice, but it could have been a lot more damage. Garrett Mitchell, 101.8 off the bat from Miami, went 389 feet and expected batting average of 810. Would have been a homer in three out of 30 major league ballparks. Garrett Mitchell to track it down to only have it be one run allowed. He has been absolutely phenomenal. He has been on a heater. I'm going to get a video out on him specifically, so that's all I'm touch on for today, but really want to dive into what he's done for the Brewers. He's finally healthy. He's finally putting it together. He is making, I mean, I'm trying to think where I'd rank up amongst all offensive players on the Brewers right now, or maybe Brewers players in general on the team right now because his defense is just that good. So there's tons to talk about about Garrett Mitchell, but before we close out on game two, do have to touch on what the arms did in this one because we gave credit to the arms in game one. We look at it right here. Have to tip your cap as well. Shane drone getting his fifth win on the season. He's era now at 3.2. He had a career high nine strikeouts over six innings of work. Five hits allowed three earned runs. Only one walk again. This Milwaukee Brewers pitching staff very good at not allowing many free passes. And then you have a rebate who got the hold. Yoho did struggle there. I say, unfortunately, McGill did have to come into the game to get the save. So you've used a rebate, Yoho and McGill and back to back games will be interesting to see what the bullpen management will be like today in today's contest, hoping to complete that suite. But in today's contest, we can't talk about the bullpen if we don't talk about who's starting the game for Milwaukee. And that is Robert Gasser. He had arguably his roughest outing of his entire career in that 14 to five loss against the Pirates to close out the first part of the season before all-star break. He'll be going against Yuri Perez of the Miami Marlins. He's had pretty good numbers against the Milwaukee Brewers. But yeah, Gasser is he all right now back up above five, looked so good in his first July start, then rough in the second July start. I'll flash those up in just a second. But Gasser's still kind of a question mark. I mean, he was putting together a good June outside that game against the Athletics, which that whole series for pitchers, I don't even count. But Gasser's seeming to put it together, but then still struggling once again. So if we want to look at what he's done in July, again, just two games, but you go to that first game on the road against the Cardinals. He got the win, pitched seven and two thirds innings, only allowed four hits and two earned runs, only walking one batter. Not many strikeouts, only four, but still was getting the job done. And then you go July 12th against the Pittsburgh Pirates, and that one was not great in any aspect. Only lasted three innings, which was 58 total pitches, was throwing too many strikes with 44 of them landing in the zone, allowed seven runs, which all were earned. Two of them were homers and just very, very rough outing for Gasser. So hoping he can turn it around today for the Milwaukee Brewers, a bounce back outing. But seems like the bullpen will be thin. Gasser coming off a struggling start, hoping the Brewers can still complete the sweep. Not like many things are in their favor for it, but hey, this team is hot. I know it's just been two games since the all-star break, but seems like the vibes are high. So let's take a look at what today's lineup will intake. Can the Milwaukee Brewers complete the sweep? Well, this is who you got batting for Milwaukee. Jelich does get the typical batting leadoff in the DH rule, like I was just talking about, followed by Jackson Churio playing left field. Bryce Turang is back after having those foot and ankle issues. He'll be batting third, and then batting cleanup, you have Andrew Vaughn finally in the starting lineup playing first base. Unfortunately, the reason he's finally in the starting lineup is because of the injury to Sal Frelick, which puts Jake Bowers in the five spot and playing right field. Behind Bowers is the red-hot Garrett Mitchell batting sixth. Gary Sanchez gets the catching duties, not too shocked by this. Usually, Second Chairs get a break at the back end of the series. Then you have Shoemaker playing third base, and Joey Ortiz batting ninth, playing shortstop. So hoping Milwaukee is able to put it together, complete a series sweep. That'll be very nice, you know, out of the gate, a series sweep. I would not complain about that. And then they have the Mets next, but we can't look too far besides today's contest, so you guys can feel free as well. Let me know what are your score predictions down below. I honestly have no idea. I mean, two to one, and then eight to six, and now Gasser, who had a really good start, and then a really rough one, and then a hitting lineup that is a little mixed up. I don't know. I'm not going to make my prediction. I'll leave that up to you guys, but excited to see what the crew will be able to put together today, hoping for that sweep against the Miami Marlins.