Pirates-Brewers Preview (4/11-4/13)

Brewers previews to get you ready for the series where we have five things to watch, pitching matchups and prediction. We add a YouTube video in the mix, it could be really anything.   

Pitching Matchups & TV Time
Friday:        Francisco Lirano (0-1 3.00) vs. Wily Peralta (0-0 3.60)           7:10 pm FSNWI
Saturday:    Edinson Volquez (0-0 1.17) vs. Yovani Gallardo (2-0 0.00)     6:10 pm FSNWI
Sunday:      Charlie Morton (0-0 3.75) vs.    Kyle Lohse (1-1 4.50)            1:10 pm FSNWI

Five Things To Watch
1. Yovani Gallardo' scoreless streak - From what I gathered, Yovani's second outing of shutout ball was a little bit of smoke and mirrors. He returns to Miller Park in what figures to be a big crowd on Saturday evening. In a weird way, I would almost rather have him give up a solo homer in the first two innings so he just doesn't have to think about it for the rest of his outing. Yovani had an up and down year against Pittsburgh last season, but other than Andrew McCutchen, no one has seem to give him a ton of problems. Hopefully, he keeps doing what he's been doing these last couple of games.

2. Brewers bullpen to remain strong? - Currently, there are only two Brewers in the bullpen with earned runs. What's funny is one of them, Tyler Thornburg, is on a complete hot streak right now and dealing like a boss. This bullpen seems to be a strong one, but at some point, you have to except a couple of them to scuffle. Also keep an eye out on Francisco Rodriguez if he gets any opportunties as Jim Henderson seemed to figure it out in the last couple games so the pressure is definitely up on K-Rod.

3. Pirates bat have been quiet to start the season - It has not been the best start of the season for Pittsburgh's bats even though they have won their first six of nine games. There is not one player in their order whose hitting above .300 (Sterling Marte, known Brewer killer is at .297). McCutchen, known Brewer killer Neil Walker and Pedro Alvarez are all hitting below .230. The scary thought is they could all be poised for big weekends which would not be good for the Brewers.

4. Will Rickie Weeks get two starts? - He will likely start tonight facing off against Francisco Lirano tonight but he has very solid numbers against Edinson Volquez, Saturday's starter and a right-handed pitcher. It will be interesting to see if Ron Roenicke decides to give Weeks three straight starts, and how Weeks responds to it. If he were to struggle against Lirano and Volquez, I think the platoon will be slowly and surely disappearing.

5. Dealing with Pedro Alvarez - Basically  Alvarez is putting on his best Russell Branyan impression to start the season. Five of his first eight hits have been home runs which is pretty hilarious to think about, but it also means Milwaukee's pitchers need to keep the balls away from his hot zones. He has done well in Miller Park before, and I am sure with the Brewers wealth of left-handers in the bullpen will see a bunch of Alvarez in the later parts of the game.

Appropriate YouTube Video


Honestly, it is the first weekend series at Miller Park with a hot baseball team and 50 percent off tickets. My expectation is it will get pretty damn wild. Glad I will be there for two of them. Say hi if you're there on Friday or Saturday.

Prediction 
Honestly, I think the streak ends at some point this weekend. Maybe Sunday when Roenicke inserts a Sunday lineup before St. Louis. I do think Milwaukee gets two out of three. And if they sweep.... Guess the media will have to talk about this team.

Charlie.