Brewers Week In Review: April 11 — April 17
An eventful week for the Brewers in Baltimore and back home in Milwaukee saw the back end of the team’s bullpen hold up better than the American Family Field parking lot porta-potties on Thursday afternoon. There are great weeks, there are horrible weeks, then there are some that fall in the middle. That’s what April 11 to April 17 was for the Crew. There were a few impressive wins, there was a nail-biter and there were some brutal losses. But that’s baseball.
We’re back on this Sunday evening to recap the first full week for the 2022 Milwaukee Brewers.
Record: 4-3
Current Standing: 5-5 (4th in NL Central)
The Good: Bounce-Back Starts
The Brewers’ top starting pitchers Corbin Burnes and Brandon Woodruff had nightmarish starts to their 2022 campaigns last weekend in Chicago — Woodruff allowing 7 earned runs in just 3 2/3 innings and Burnes 3 earned runs in 5 innings. The two stars performing at the top of their games is a significant key to the team’s success this season. So if there was one “good” to take from this week, it was the bounce-back performances from both star pitchers.
Woodruff toed the rubber Thursday against a good Cardinals lineup and posted 5 scoreless innings on his way to his first win of the season. Burnes, on the other hand, dominated the Orioles on Wednesday with 8 strikeouts through 7 scoreless innings. Their combined line this week: 2 wins, 12 innings pitched, 10 strikeouts, 6 hits allowed, 2 walks.
Unfortunately, Freddy Peralta is another story, as the Cardinals roughed him up on Friday to break the Brewers’ 3-game winning streak. Give it a few weeks and he will soon find his name listed in this end-of-the-week category.
The Bad: Devin Williams
There was a lot of “bad” to choose from after a 4-3 week which saw the team get shutout Monday in Baltimore and drop two straight to St. Louis. When the offense clicked, the Brewers won baseball games. But the team’s combined run total in its three losses? Only 2. Those performances were not a week-long trend, though, as the wins were full of timely hitting from all over the lineup.
That is why this week’s “bad” is Devin Williams. The reliever’s final stat line: 3 games, 2 innings pitched, 4 earned runs, 5 hits, 6 walks, 18.00 ERA. The most alarming number of all is the walks. Williams did well to escape a two-walk inning in Baltimore on Tuesday, walked one while giving up 2 runs during 1/3 of an inning on Wednesday and gave out three free passes during a near-complete collapse against St. Louis on Sunday.
Williams’ 12.00 ERA through four appearances in the Brewers’ first 10 games is the only real blemish for a bullpen that has pitched its way to a 3.02 overall ERA so far. Williams and Peralta need to find a groove as the month continues for Milwaukee’s pitching to return to its league-best levels.
MVP(s): SP Corbin Burnes, 1B Rowdy Tellez
Story Of The Week: Two Levels Of Offense
The Brewers in wins this week: 5 runs per game.
The Brewers in losses: 2 total runs in 3 games.
Stat Of The Week: Josh Hader joined Dan Plesac (133) and John Axford (106) as the only Brewers with 100 saves.
Best Video:
Two innings. Two great catches by Tyrone Taylor.
Which one was better? pic.twitter.com/41uxJ5EP7b
— MLB (@MLB) April 11, 2022
Best Tweets:
-Last week’s struggles with runners in scoring position carried over to Monday in Baltimore
The Brewers are 2-for-22 with runners in scoring position through four games.
— Adam McCalvy (@AdamMcCalvy) April 11, 2022
-There was some discipline handed down after last week’s scuffle in Chicago
3-game suspension of Cubs pitcher Keegan Thompson for intentionally throwing at Andrew McCutchen on Saturday
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) April 11, 2022
-Not a lot of length from the starters early
First turn through the rotation for the Brewers
Burnes, 5 innings (83 pitches)
Woodruff, 3.2 innings (89 pitches)
Peralta, 4 innings (88 pitches)
Houser, 3.2 innings (76 pitches)
Lauer, 4.1 innings (89 pitches)— Will Sammon (@WillSammon) April 13, 2022
-The new wall in Baltimore looks stupid
Trey Mancini is the first batter to fall victim to The Wall. Almost definitely would have been a homer in year's past. Instead it's a double. pic.twitter.com/ni8wMxInu0
— Zachary Silver (@zachsilver) April 13, 2022
-Walks are a problem
Through the Mullins slam, Brewers pitchers had a 15.4 percent walk rate this season. That's highest in the Majors by a decent margin — Padres were second at 13.1 percent.
— Adam McCalvy (@AdamMcCalvy) April 12, 2022
-Thursday was a bad day to be a porta-potty
One could say it’s a little windy at American Family Field for the @Brewers home opener today! We are broadcasting live all day leading up to first pitch at 4:14pm. pic.twitter.com/sgKXtgTKVQ
— 620wtmj (@620wtmj) April 14, 2022
-Enough said.
Lance Barrett’s zone is … odd pic.twitter.com/2bYMhgulc7
— Andrew Wagner (@ByAndrewWagner) April 14, 2022
-Brent Suter: 1, Dugout Rail: 0
Me: 1
Dugout Rail: 0
Series to never be continued https://t.co/zrNqLDzWhx— Brent Suter (@bruter24) April 17, 2022
Here’s the Brent Suter video pic.twitter.com/qbFajrHI4t
— Doug Hughes (@Hughes2392) April 16, 2022
-Mike Brosseau was pumping 59 MPH…and lowered his career ERA to 3.38
Mike Brosseau 59 MPH pitch pic.twitter.com/Eerqugmw7K
— Master flip (@Masterflip_) April 16, 2022
-The Brewers’ offense started the season slow. Chorizo started slower.
Another horrendous start to the season for Chorizo — believe that's three straight last-place finishes.
— Will Sammon (@WillSammon) April 17, 2022
Next Week: vs. PIT, @ PHI