Padres Series Preview: Padres in Milwaukee to Take On Brewers
The San Diego Padres are coming off their best day of the season as the Padres beat the Chicago Cubs twice in the same day. The Padres will now travel 92 miles to Milwaukee to take on the Milwaukee Brewers in a four game set.
The Brewers are just flat out bad. They’re one of the worst teams in MLB, yet at 14-20 they almost have the same record as the Padres who are at 15-20. Even so the Padres should have no problems winning this series. If the Friars can go 4-3 against the Mets and Cubs collectively there is no reason why the Padres can not win at least three games from this series.
The only problem I see that can affect the Padres this series is fatigue. The Padres last off day was on April 28 (Even though they had a rain out on Monday). The Friars are also coming off playing a double-header against one of the best teams in Baseball. If the Padres can not take this series, it will almost certainly come down to fatigue and being away from home.
Pitching Matchups
Christian Friedrich vs Junior Guerra
Luis Perdomo vs Wily Peralta
The Padres should definitely have the edge in everything this series, but especially in the pitching. The Padres pitchers have had a great month so far posting a 2.97 ERA. On the other hand the Brewers have the worst pitching staff in the majors.
The Brewers have allowed 50 home runs this year which is second worst in MLB. Brewers pitchers collectively have an ERA of 5.42 which is the worst in the majors to date. Three out of the four pitchers going in this series have an ERA of six or worse. These numbers are absolutely abysmal.
The Padres should take full advantage of their opponent in this series. The best pitcher going for the Brew Crew in this series is Jimmy Nelson who has an ERA of 3.74. Hopefully James Shields can bounce back and get himself a win against Nelson and the Brewers. After giving up that home run to Bartolo though who knows. The Brewers do have decent hitters in their lineup like Ryan Braun, Jonathan Lucroy and Chris Carter. Even so the Padres should definitely have the edge in the pitching matchups in this series.
Players To Watch
Ryan Braun
“The Hebrew Hammer” is the best player on the Brewers. It is quite possible he won’t be a Brewer for much longer though. But we will see him in action this series. The former MVP is off to an amazing season batting .380 with seven homers and 27 runs batted in. In the Brewers last series which came against the Marlins, Braun went 6-12 with two walks and three RBIs. Braun is currently in an eleven game hit streak where he has a .447 BA. Safe to say he is in good form right now. It is almost impossible for Braun not to extend his hitting tonight against the man who gave up a home run to Bartolo Colon. If the Padres do struggle in this series, expect Braun to be a factor.
After Jemile weeks went down with an injury last Saturday, Pirela is now getting some game action. The former Yankee looked decent in Chicago going 3-6. Pirela has never really been spectacular with the bat. Who knows though, if Pirela can keep up what he did in Chicago he might just stick on the team. I believe Pirela can have a nice series in Milwaukee as the Brewers pitching is the worst in baseball. If Pirela can’t perform against the type of pitching the Brew Crew has, there is no reason for him to be on the team. This series can be vital to decide whether Pirela should keep on getting game time.
The Padres Catchers
Derek Norris has been really inconsistent lately. On Wednesday against the Cubbies he had a nice game going 3-5. To contrast that on Tuesday Norris did not have a nice game going 0-4. With the type of pitching the Brewers possess there is no reason why Norris should have an 0-4 day. Norris is due to have a nice time in Milwaukee. The other Padres catcher, Christian Bethancourt has looked extraordinary in his last two games. Bethancourt has gone 4-7 with two home runs and three runs batted in his last two games started. Those are out of this world numbers. Maybe Andy Green should consider starting Bethancourt for two games in this series. I mean if Bethancourt can do that against Matt Harvey and John Lackey, just imagine what he can do to the Brewers pitchers who have given up 50 dingers this year.
Matchups
Jon Jay vs Wily Peralta
Before joining the Friars Jay spent his baseball career with the St. Louis Cardinals. In that time with the Cards, Jay saw quite a bit of Wily Peralta. Jay faced Peralta 30 times to be exact. In those 30 at bats Jay did pretty good getting 10 hits. Jay never manged to get a homer off of Peralta, but maybe he can do it this Saturday. Peralta has been struggling heavily this season with an ERA of 6.75. Jay should be able to take full advantage of that and help guide the Padres to the win.
Cesar Vargas vs The Brewers
“El Calmado”is coming off his worst start of his career. Vargas gave up six runs in four innings on Tuesday against the Cubs. There shouldn’t be much worry concerning Vargas though, the fact is that the Cubs are a very good team. The loss and bad start is understandable even for the standards Vargas has been setting. This Brewers lineup isn’t bad, especially with Ryan Braun in there. Still Vargas has done great against stronger lineups than the Brewers. Like the Rockies, Dodgers and Cardinals. Cesar should be able to bounce back on Sunday after his rough start in Chicago. Hopefully Vargas can finally get that first win which has heavily eluded him.
Storyline
Can The Padres Avoid What Happened In Philly
Earlier this season we had a four game series against a team which was believed to be inferior. That series was against the Philadelphia Phillies. The Padres proved to be the inferior team and lost three out of the four games. That was the worst series of the year so far. Sure the Phillies in all fairness are looking decent. Still that was not a series which the Padres should of lost. This upcoming series against Milwaukee is definitely one that the Padres should not be losing either. Not only should the Padres not be losing this series but they should also dominate.
When you are going to face three pitchers with an ERA of six or above you better believe you have the upper hand. This will be extremely worrying if the Padres can not win this series. The Padres are on a decent run. The Friars have won or tied their last four series. These series have been against some great teams as well. I mean they played the two best teams in the National League (Mets and Cubs) and went 4-3 in seven games. There is no reason why the Padres can not take this series and maybe even get their first sweep of the year. Maybe a four game sweep is a bit far fetched but the Friars are more than capable of doing it.
Francisco, 26, Chula Vista/Tijuana. I have been a Padres fan all my life, did most of the series previews and recaps in the Padres’ 2016 season for EVT. Now I focus more on the local soccer scene. Tijuana Xolos, San Diego Loyal, San Diego Wave.