The Milwaukee Brewers are 6-2 to start the season entering play against the Cincinnati Reds on Monday night. Through their first eight games, several players have stood out offensively. Most notably, 2018 NL MVP Christian Yelich appears to have found his swing again, hitting .308/.379/.654 with three home runs and four RBI.
Indeed, the Brewers’ offense has been one of the best in all of MLB through their first eight games. They rank fifth in batting average (.270), sixth in home runs (12), second in stolen bases (16), seventh in on base percentage (.349), fourth in slugging percentage (.448), and fourth in OPS (.797).
The Milwaukee Brewers Have Had Good Staring Pitching, Too
While much of the excitement surrounding the Brewers has been because of their offense, their starting pitching has been among the best in Major League Baseball as well. According to Fan Graphs, Milwaukee’s starting pitcher rank fifth in ERA (2.72), ninth in FIP (3.46), fifth in left on base percentage (79.7%), home runs given up per nine innings (0.45), and second in home run to fly ball ratio (4.3%).
Milwaukee has been able to accomplish this even though they have used six different starting pitchers this season: Freddy Peralta, Colin Rea, DL Hall, Joe Ross, Jakob Junis, and Aaron Ashby (started Monday night).
While the starting pitching has been solid, there is one concerning trend early on in the season: very few of them are pitching deep into games.
Milwaukee Brewers Starting Pitchers Are Not Pitching for Long
Unfortunately, the Brewers have had to rely heavily on their bullpen early on in the season. In fact, the rank 27th in innings pitched (39.2) in 2024. The only teams with starting rotations that have logged fewer innings are the Chicago Cubs (go figure), Atlanta Braves, and Minnesota Twins.
Of all the pitchers that have started for the Brewers in 2024, just two of them have pitched six full innings: Peralta and Rea. DL Hall is the only other pitcher who has even made it to the fifth inning.
The question, for many, is whether or not the Brewers have a problem with their starting rotation as most of their arms have yet to pitch late into games. Pitching coach Chris Hook and manager Pat Murphy don’t seem to think so.
Milwaukee Brewers Coaches Address Starting Pitching Concerns
In an interview with Brewers beat writer Adam McCalvy of mlb.com, the Brewers’ skipper and pitching coach tried to ease the early concerns surrounding the starting rotation. According to McCalvy, Murphy called the situation “a work in progress.”
Hook went into a little bit more detail:
“I think it’s just early-season stuff. We’ll lengthen out as we get going. It’s letting these guys get their feet on the ground. It’s a great opportunity for somebody to step up.
“Those are the good things about this game. We get a bunch of new guys and throw them in a role they haven’t been in before and give them an opportunity to do it, and see if they take it.”
As always, the team is preaching and practicing patience so early in the season, and that does make sense. Many of their pitchers have yet to even make their second start of the season yet.
Wade Miley will return to the rotation on Wednesday, which should provide a boost. Hopefully he can help eat some innings and give the bullpen some relief.
The situation is worth monitoring, though. They will need reliable starting pitching as the season goes on.
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