The team with the best record in all of baseball is coming to town.
The Brewers have cooled off somewhat since winning 14 in a row at the beginning of the month. They lost 3 of 4 to the Cubs, 2 of 3 to the Giants, and just split four games with Arizona. They're nearing the end of a particularly grueling bit of the schedule that will require them to play 19 games in 18 days. And their closer just went on the IL.
They're still formidable. They're a team without anyone likely to draw much in the way of MVP votes, but they have lots and lots of good hitters. Only one of their regulars, DH Christian Yelich, has an OPS north of .800, but only one NL team (Arizona) has scored more runs. They get on base (best in the NL), and they like to run.
While centre fielder Jackson Chourio was expected to return to the lineup tonight, they're still missing a few regulars. One of the missing, shortstop Joey Ortiz, is also the one guy in their lineup who doesn't hit much at all. His replacement, Andrew Monasterio, has been an offensive upgrade.
And so has the man filling in for first baseman, Rhys Hoskins. The White Sox drafted Andrew Vaughn third overall back in 2019. That comes with a certain amount of expectations. After one season at various levels of A ball (his second pro season was the pandemic year), he made the big club. They put him in left field, a position he had never played, in college or the minors. (I can understand the logic there - at 5-10, Vaughn is not really built for first base.) But Vaughn didn't seem to be developing as a hitter, not even a little bit, and after a few years he seemed to be positively regressing. In May of this year, hitting .189/.218/.314, the White Sox sent him down to AAA Charlotte. He was 27 years old, and establishing himself as one of the great first round flops.
In mid-June, the Brewers were looking to unload Aaron Civale, who was unhappy because there was no room for him in the Milwaukee rotation. They found a taker in the White Sox. Civale went to Chicago in exchange for Vaughn, who was promptly sent to Milwaukee's AAA affiliate in Nashville. But then in early July, Hoskins sprained his thumb, Vaughn was called up to the big club to fill in - and he's been their best hitter ever since. Hoskins has been on a rehab assignment these past two weeks, and Christian Yelich has played fewer games in the outfield this year than either George Springer or Anthony Santander. Pat Murphy will have some interesting decisions to make in the weeks ahead, but these are the problems one likes to have.
And I think we do have to wonder if there might be something lacking in the way the Chicago White Sox do things. As if their record didn't have you convinced already. Vaughn's saga doesn't speak very well for whatever their idea of player development might be.
Matchups
Fri 29 Aug - Peralta (15-5, 2.68) vs Bieber (1-0, 1.50)
Sat 30 Aug - Priester (11-2, 3.44) vs Gausman (8-10, 3.87)
Sun 31 Aug - Woodruff (5-1, 3.10) vs Scherzer (5-2, 3.82)
The Brewers have cooled off somewhat since winning 14 in a row at the beginning of the month. They lost 3 of 4 to the Cubs, 2 of 3 to the Giants, and just split four games with Arizona. They're nearing the end of a particularly grueling bit of the schedule that will require them to play 19 games in 18 days. And their closer just went on the IL.
They're still formidable. They're a team without anyone likely to draw much in the way of MVP votes, but they have lots and lots of good hitters. Only one of their regulars, DH Christian Yelich, has an OPS north of .800, but only one NL team (Arizona) has scored more runs. They get on base (best in the NL), and they like to run.
While centre fielder Jackson Chourio was expected to return to the lineup tonight, they're still missing a few regulars. One of the missing, shortstop Joey Ortiz, is also the one guy in their lineup who doesn't hit much at all. His replacement, Andrew Monasterio, has been an offensive upgrade.
And so has the man filling in for first baseman, Rhys Hoskins. The White Sox drafted Andrew Vaughn third overall back in 2019. That comes with a certain amount of expectations. After one season at various levels of A ball (his second pro season was the pandemic year), he made the big club. They put him in left field, a position he had never played, in college or the minors. (I can understand the logic there - at 5-10, Vaughn is not really built for first base.) But Vaughn didn't seem to be developing as a hitter, not even a little bit, and after a few years he seemed to be positively regressing. In May of this year, hitting .189/.218/.314, the White Sox sent him down to AAA Charlotte. He was 27 years old, and establishing himself as one of the great first round flops.
In mid-June, the Brewers were looking to unload Aaron Civale, who was unhappy because there was no room for him in the Milwaukee rotation. They found a taker in the White Sox. Civale went to Chicago in exchange for Vaughn, who was promptly sent to Milwaukee's AAA affiliate in Nashville. But then in early July, Hoskins sprained his thumb, Vaughn was called up to the big club to fill in - and he's been their best hitter ever since. Hoskins has been on a rehab assignment these past two weeks, and Christian Yelich has played fewer games in the outfield this year than either George Springer or Anthony Santander. Pat Murphy will have some interesting decisions to make in the weeks ahead, but these are the problems one likes to have.
And I think we do have to wonder if there might be something lacking in the way the Chicago White Sox do things. As if their record didn't have you convinced already. Vaughn's saga doesn't speak very well for whatever their idea of player development might be.
The Brewers have lined up their three best starters for this weekend, and they will kick things off with the guy who's been their ace this season. Freddy Peralta has been one of the best pitchers in the whole National League this season, which is mildly surprising - he's been a dependable quality starter for several seasons, but he's never really looked like an ace before this year. Sunday starter Brandon Woodruff has often looked like an ace in the past, but he's always had trouble staying healthy - he's made just 9 starts this year, but he's been quite ace-like in those. In between those two, Quinn Priester gets the ball on Saturday. Priester skipped his last turn through the rotation, to rest a sore right wrist.
The Brewers were so flush with pitching at one point that they were practically giving away useful starters to teams in need - Civale to the White Sox, Nestor Cortes to the Padres - but rookie Jacob Misiorowski has been scuffling lately (0-1, 8.16 in his last four starts) and old Jose Quintana must be doing it with mirrors at this point. They've picked up Erick Fedde and Shelby Miller to help them get through these tough times.
Matchups
Fri 29 Aug - Peralta (15-5, 2.68) vs Bieber (1-0, 1.50)
Sat 30 Aug - Priester (11-2, 3.44) vs Gausman (8-10, 3.87)
Sun 31 Aug - Woodruff (5-1, 3.10) vs Scherzer (5-2, 3.82)
