A lot has happened in the last couple of days! Coming off of a series win over the weekend against the Philadelphia Phillies, the Brewers have a brand new shortstop to debut as they welcome the Cleveland Guardians to town.
Cooper Pratt is, of course, in the starting lineup tonight, and Luis Rengifo has been designated for assignment. Pratt will bat eighth, and with a glimpse into what the Brewer infield might look like in the coming weeks, David Hamilton will start alongside him at third base. If I had to guess, Hamilton and Joey Ortiz will move into a platoon situation at third base, but we’ll see how often Pratt and Ortiz are in the lineup together and, when they are, who will play where.
In Milwaukee’s lineup alongside Pratt and Hamilton this evening we will see Christian Yelich at designated hitter, Jackson Chourio, Garrett Mitchell, and Jake Bauers in the outfield, William Contreras behind the plate, and Brice Turang and Andrew Vaughn on the right side of the infield, so tonight is a win for the “get Bauers and Vaughn into the lineup no matter what” folks. Cleveland’s lineup is notably absent their biggest weapon, as the typically ultra-durable José Ramírez was placed on the injured list on Sunday with a broken hamate bone. Old Friend Rhys Hoskins gets the start at first base, while a former Brewer farmhand, David Fry, will start in right field and bat cleanup. (Fry, who was a 2024 all-star, was drafted by the Brewers in 2018 and sent to Cleveland in 2021 for J.C. Mejía. A front-office miss.)
On the mound for the Brewers is the lefty Robert Gasser, who is making his fifth start of the season. He got beat up a bit his last time out, but that game was on the moon in Las Vegas, so I’m willing to give it a pass; I actually thought Gasser did a pretty solid job against the Athletics until they broke through with two homers in the fifth inning. In his previous outing in a real ballpark, Gasser had his best outing of the season: on June 3rd in San Francisco, he held the Giants to one run on five hits in five innings.
The Guardians counter with the right-handed Slade Cecconi, who has had mixed results this season. Cecconi sports a 4.83 ERA in 72 2/3 innings, but his FIP is significantly better at 4.28. He’s also been much better lately; Cecconi has allowed three runs or fewer in each of his last seven starts, a span in which he’s gone 2-1 with a 3.16 ERA in 37 innings. Cecconi isn’t a hard thrower (he sits at about 93 mph with his fastball) and he doesn’t strike out a whole lot of batters, so hopefully the Brewers will be able to take advantage tonight.
A couple of injury notes: Brandon Woodruff is headed to the Quad Cities to start for the Timber Rattlers tonight, and is slated to throw about 85 pitches. Additionally, Logan Henderson, who hasn’t pitched since May 22nd because of a back strain, is throwing bullpens. The news isn’t as good on Quinn Priester: he’s got a meeting scheduled to determine the next step in recovery for his thoracic outlet syndrome. (The vibes aren’t good here.)
First pitch tonight is at 6:40 p.m. on Brewers TV and the Brewers Radio Network.
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