Brewers head further east to finish up road trip
The Brewers offense has been raking lately, and they’ll look to keep it going against the high-octane Baltimore Orioles on the road this weekend.
The Orioles, fresh off a 101-win season, are 7-4 this season heading into their series finale against the Red Sox on Thursday. Meanwhile, Milwaukee is 8-3 after a 2-1 series win over the Reds that had the fourth game of the series canceled due to rain.
This is the third straight season with a series between Milwaukee and Baltimore, with the Brewers going 2-1 in each of the previous matchups.
Each team’s offense is filled with young names to watch, led by the Jacksons — Jackson Chourio for the Brewers and Jackson Holliday for the Orioles. While Chourio started the season on Milwaukee’s roster, Holliday was called up on Wednesday and made his debut against the Red Sox. The No. 1 overall prospect in baseball, Holliday is the son of former MLB All-Star Matt Holliday.
Baltimore’s offense also includes names like Adley Rutschman, Gunnar Henderson, Ryan Mountcastle, Jordan Westburg, Colton Cowser, Cedric Mullins, and Anthony Santander, among others. While Baltimore’s offense has managed to stay healthy thus far, their pitching staff is already suffering from some injuries. Star closer Felix Bautista is out for the season after undergoing Tommy John surgery, while starters John Means and Kyle Bradish are both out with throwing arm injuries.
Probable Pitching Matchups
Friday, April 12 @ 6:05 p.m: Freddy Peralta (1-0) vs. Tyler Wells (0-1)
Fastball Freddy was originally slated to start on Thursday in the series finale against the Reds, but he’s now starting Friday after that game was postponed. Peralta has picked up right where he left off in 2023, starting the season with 15 strikeouts and a 3.09 ERA across 11 2⁄3 innings in two starts, both of which were wins for the Crew. In his only career start against the Orioles last June, Peralta went five innings and struck out nine while allowing two runs on six hits and no walks.
Baltimore will send out Tyler Wells, now in his fourth season with Baltimore. Wells has made two starts this season, going 0-1 with a 4.76 ERA and 10 strikeouts in 11 1⁄3 innings. Last season he was 7-6 with 117 strikeouts across 118 2⁄3 innings with a 3.64 ERA in 25 appearances (20 starts).
Saturday, April 13 @ 3:05 p.m: DL Hall (0-1) vs. Dean Kremer (0-0)
Hall, a former top prospect for the Orioles, will face his former team for the first time on Saturday. He’s looked just OK through two appearances with the Brewers, totaling 9 1⁄3 innings with a 4.82 ERA and six strikeouts.
On the other side, Dean Kremer will make his third start of the season. Kremer has looked solid through two games, with 11 strikeouts and a 2.19 ERA across 12 1⁄3 innings. He went 13-5 with a 4.12 ERA and 157 strikeouts across 172 2⁄3 innings in 32 starts a season ago. He’s the only one of the three starters for Baltimore this weekend to have faced Milwaukee, as he lost his only decision by allowing six runs on nine hits with five strikeouts in five innings last June.
Sunday, April 14 @ 12:35 p.m: Colin Rea (2-0) vs. Corbin Burnes (2-0)
Rea will take the mound for the series finale, as he’s been one of Milwaukee’s biggest surprises thus far. Through two starts, he’s 2-0 with a 1.64 ERA despite having just five strikeouts in 11 innings. Rea also pitched against the Orioles last June, allowing no runs on three hits and a walk while striking out eight across five innings in one of his best starts of the season.
Burnes is lined up to make his first start against his former team the day after DL Hall, one of the two prospects he was traded for, starts for the Brewers. Burnes has had a strong start to his time in Baltimore, as he’s 2-0 with a 1.93 ERA and 20 strikeouts in 18 2⁄3 innings across three starts.
Prediction
Given the pitching matchups and how good Baltimore’s offense is, I’m going to take the Orioles to win two out of three this weekend as the Brewers drop their first series of the year.