Frenemies clash again
Two scrappy Central teams who get the most out of their money wil tangle in Cleveland over the next three days.
The Cleveland Guardians are 23-17 with a -17 run differential, 15th in MLB with a 97 wRC+, 23rd in MLB with -1.7 Baserunning Runs Above Average, eighth in Defense at -0.8, 26th in starting pitcher SIERA at 4.60, and 11th in relief pitching SIERA at 3.49. The Milwaukee Brewers are 20-21 with +3 run differential, 24th in MLB with an 88 wRC+, sixth in Defense at 1.3, 24th in starting pitcher SIERA at 4.56, and 22nd in relief pitching SIERA at 3.97.
Matchups:
Game One, Monday, 6:10PM EDT – Freddy Peralta, RHP 3.60 SIERA vs. Ben Lively, RHP 4.87 SIERA
Game Two, Tuesday, 6:10PM EDT – Quinn Priester, RHP 5.29 SIERA vs. Logan Allen, LHP 5.39 SIERA
Game Three, Wednesday, 1:10PM EDT – Jose Quintana, LHP 4.50 SIERA vs. Gavin Williams, RHP 4.19 SIERA
The Brewers are relying on Eric Haase 156 wRC+, Jake Bauers 141 wRC+, Rhys Hoskins 126 wRC+, Brice Turang 115 wRC+, Sal Frelick 111 wRC+, and Jackson Chourio 102 wRC+. The Guardians have been led by Daniel Schneemann 154 wRC+, Steven Kwan 148 wRC+, Jose Ramirez 129 wRC+, Kyle Manzardo 119 wRC+, Gabriel Arias 110 wRC+, and Angel Martinez 107 wRC+.
I don’t think the Brewers are a very good team this year, but they always find a way to play above their talent level, seemingly. They will be feisty and the Guardians will need to find a way to get to a great pitcher in Peralta and a crafty veteran lefty in Quintana. They need to hope that Jose Ramirez continues his recent hot stretch and they can find something of help in the struggling bats of Nolan Jones and Jhonkensy Noel, plus get Bo Naylor and Kyle Manzardo back on track after a bit of a rough weekend. The top of the order will not be able to win the Guardians’ this series on their own.