Will The Brewers Remain Hot On The Road Against Cincinnati?

The Milwaukee Brewers have started the season 6-2 in the MLB standings without SP Brandon Woodruff and RP Devin Williams around due to injuries. Meanwhile, the Brewers shipped former ace pitcher Corbin Burnes to the Orioles in the offseason and essentially began the season without their top two starters from last season.

In addition, Milwaukee even lost its former manager, Craig Counsell, to the Chicago Cubs. That left the Brewers with Pat Murphy, who signed a contract through 2026 to be the manager. Murphy had previous experience with the Padres as an interim manager but is mainly known for his time with Arizona State and Notre Dame in college.

But with all that’s gone on, it’s like the Brewers haven’t missed a beat to start the season.

This week, they’ll be on the road against the Cincinnati Reds in a crucial divisional matchup in April.

The Reds are sitting at 5-4 but are expected to have a winning season and make the MLB playoffs. They’re a young squad that showed a lot of potential last season. Expectations are now high for a Reds team that hasn’t had much success over the previous few seasons before last year. However, even last year’s team missed the playoffs despite a fun ride in the second half of the year.

Let’s see if the Reds can rally against the Brewers to strengthen their record early in the year.

Here’s a look at the Brewers vs Reds preview for the four-game series from Monday to Thursday.

Milwaukee’s Lineup Changes Worked

The Brewers decided to make a change on Sunday. Instead of having Sal Felick leadoff, he was moved to sixth in the order. Oliver Dunn got the start and led off, while Jake Bauers moved into the cleanup spot, where Dunn had been initially.

This was Dunn’s first time leading off in his career.

With the new lineup, the Brewers tallied 12 runs against the Mariners. The MLB stats took off to finish out the weekend. Dunn instantly added a single to start the first inning. After the single, he stole second and scored when Bauers singled him in.

When Frelick came up, he ripped a two-out, two-run double to left field that helped the Brewers take the lead for good in the first inning. The three batters that were moved around each knocked two hits and helped a 14-hit game for the Brewers.

Reds Might’ve Lost Tejay Antone for the Season

On Sunday, Tejay Antone came out for the Reds as a relief pitcher for Andrew Abbott. After throwing one pitch, he grabbed his elbow and left the game.

He will get an MRI, but the Reds fear the worst. Antone already missed 2022 while receiving his second Tommy John surgery. He also landed on the IL last year and could miss much time this year. There’s a good chance he’ll land on the 15-Day IL.

Therefore, expect Tony Santillan to get the call-up. If not Santillan, the next pitcher the Reds would look at would be Casey Legumina. Either way, this situation is unfortunate for Antone, who continues to deal with injuries throughout his career.

Brewers vs Reds Preview & Odds For Game 1: RL: Reds -1.5 (+170) ML: Reds  -109, O/U 9.5 +100/-120.

Aaron Ashby will make his first MLB appearance since 2021. While he’s got a record of 5-12 with a 4.47 ERA in his career, Ashby has also struck out 165 batters in 139 innings. The left-handed can rack up strikeouts, but he can also get wild and allow many base runners.

Ashby will face Graham Ashcraft of the Reds. Ashcraft is a 26-year-old right-handed pitcher with a career 4.77 ERA in 46 games. He’s not a high strikeout thrower like Ashby, but he’s at least become reliable for the Reds. Last season, he threw a career-best 145.2 innings and allowed 148 hits. He’s still good at earning ground balls and limited teams to 22.4% of fly balls last season. Ashcraft will certainly eat innings and keep walks down.

Since last season, the Reds have struggled against lefties. Only Spencer Steer is a genuine threat against lefties.

Meanwhile, the Brewers haven’t excelled against righties. Only Rhys Hoskins truly had success against righties at the start of the year. However, the Brewers will work counts and could get to the Cincinnati bullpen that already lost Antone. Consider the Brewers at -101 moneyline on the road.

Joe Ross made his first MLB start since 2021 on April 3. On April 3, he only lasted 3.2 innings and walked five batters while giving up two hits. While Ross didn’t allow a run, he still gave up seven base runners without even finishing four innings.

The Reds will roll with Frankie Montas. Montas is already 2-0 with a .77 ERA. While he’s only thrown 11.2 innings, he’s got nine strikeouts and a WHIP of 1.03. Cincinnati took a chance on Montas, who had been injured throughout last year. However, he’s looking like his old self with the Reds. After all, Montas has a career ERA of 3.84 in 605.1 innings pitched. A healthy Montas is a really good Montas.

Cincinnati can hit righties way better. The team has way more power and consistency against righties. The Reds should take Game 2.

Milwaukee’s major prize for Corbin Burnes was DL Hall. Hall is a young left-handed pitcher with a lot of potential. However, at the start of the season, he earned no strikeouts against 15 righties and allowed a .250 ISO and wOBA of .458 for those 15 righties. He’ll improve, but Hall might take a year or two to settle in.

Conversely, it’ll be Hunter Greene for the Reds in Game 3 of the series. Greene has a 2.53 ERA in two starts with 13 strikeouts in 10.2 innings. Greene has always had a high strikeout rate since coming into the league. However, his ERA is still very high, having pitched 248.1 innings in the MLB. It’s at 4.53.

This is the year Cincinnati expects him to elevate his game and perform like an ace. So far, he’s done that. We’d trust the Reds more in Game 3.

With our projections, Cincinnati would be up 2-1 heading into Game 4 of our Brewers vs Reds preview.

At this time, Freddy Peralta is the ace pitcher for the Brewers. The right-hander is already 1-0 with a 3.09 ERA in 11.2 innings pitched. Peralta has struck out 15 batters and has a WHIP of just .60. He’s got a super high strikeout rate and has limited walks very well.

Last year, Peralta added 30.7% of strikeouts, allowing a .296 wOBA to 700 batters.

Peralta will duel Nick Martinez of the Reds. Martinez hasn’t had the kind of success the other starters have had. He’s already got a 7.20 ERA in ten innings. Martinez was mainly a relief pitcher last season but is now being stretched out to be a starter for the Reds. He hasn’t been awful, but he definitely isn’t Cincinnati’s best option in the starting rotation.

We like Peralta and the Brewers to even the series at two in this one.

Brewers vs Reds Preview

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