The Brewers are finally back from playing baseball games in various cities on the moon! Tonight, they start the first of a three-game series with the NL East-leading Phillies, who are 29-14 since ending a 10-game losing streak on April 25th.
It’s Miz Day in Milwaukee, as the lanky Brewer righty takes the mound for the 14th time this season. He’s coming off his worst start since April: he allowed a run! And walked three! But that run was unearned, and he struck out eight in seven innings, and he did
this in Denver, where the thin mountain air not only boosts offense but hurts pitching. Folks, he’s a superstar.
The Phillies are sending lefty Tanner Banks to the mound as an opener tonight, and he’ll be followed by the bulk man, the right-handed super-prospect Andrew Painter. Painter is a true rookie; the 23-year-old hadn’t thrown a pitch in the majors until he made the Phillies’ rotation out of Spring Training. He’s still very young, but it’s been a long road: Painter was the 13th pick of the draft in 2021, but suffered an elbow injury that cost him all of the 2023 season and most of 2024. He has ranked as high as number five on Baseball America’s top-100 prospect list, though his results post-injury haven’t been as good as the incredible numbers in 2022 that put him on the prospect map. Things haven’t clicked yet in the big leagues: through 12 games (11 starts), Painter is 1-7 with a 6.21 ERA and 5.08 FIP and is striking out just 7.3 batters per nine innings.
In roster news, Coleman Crow has been placed on the 15-day injured list with an ominous-sounding right forearm flexor strain. That might be a minor injury, but flexor strains are often precursors to injuries that require surgery. We’ll hope for the best for Crow. His place on the roster has been taken by Craig Yoho, who pitched twice for the Brewers in Colorado before getting optioned back to the minors on Monday to make room for the new acquisition, Joel Kuhnel. Yoho made one appearance with Nashville in his short stint back there; he struck out four of six batters he faced in two perfect innings. He’s done about as much as he can do in the minors, and the silver lining to Crow’s injury is that he’s back to show us what he can do.
Quinn Priester is also back in Milwaukee, but that’s not because he’s ready to pitch. Priester’s thoracic outlet syndrome isn’t healing the way he’d hoped, and the team is looking for further opinions on what the next step should be. Don’t be surprised if Priester doesn’t pitch for the Brewers this season.
Jake Bauers is getting the start in right field tonight, as both he and Andrew Vaughn are in the lineup once again. Bauers joins Garrett Mitchell and Jackson Chourio in the outfield, while Christian Yelich is the DH, William Contreras catches, and the infield goes Vaughn, Brice Turang, Joey Ortiz, and David Hamilton from right to left. The Phillies have a major-league debutant in their lineup tonight: 25-year-old Gabriel Rincones Jr. will start in right field for his first ever big-league action.
First pitch at 6:40pm on Brewers TV and the Brewers Radio Network.
