BrewCap: Davies Adds His Name To Home Opener Busts

This headline is a lot meaner than it actually is honestly. I’m not ragging on Zach Davies. Home opener and Brewers starters go together like oil and water. Since 2015, Milwaukee has been a tire fire at the starting pitcher position. Kyle Lohse, Wily Peralta and Junior Guerra were all awful. I wouldn’t call Davies awful, but he added his name to the list by giving a home run to Miles Mikolas, the opposing starting pitcher. Brewers lose their first game of the season to St. Louis, 8-4.
Not ready to get worried about the starting staff
I know the local hot take media will run to the point that Milwaukee has no starting pitching. I don’t believe that to be true after four fucking games. Let’s give it some time before we start freaking out about the pitching staff. Davies’ starting line will look brutal, but that’s in part to Brandon Woodruff giving up a home run to Peter DeJong. You could add Woodruff to the list of things to worry about with the starters, but we are just not there yet. Way too early to get concerned about this part of the Brewers team.
Eric Thames is seeing the ball early on
Even though it took until today for Eric Thames to have his first hit, he’s been all over the baseball again in April. Thames hit the ball right on the screws consistently in San Diego then did again today vs. St. Louis including his first home run of the year. This is where things get hard for Craig Counsell. Another righty tomorrow with a fresh Ryan Braun, do you keep Domingo Santana on the bench? You can’t rest Lorenzo Cain or Christian Yelich with the way they’re humming right now.
Mikolas doesn’t impress first time out
Milwaukee saw one of St. Louis’s additions in the offseason with Miles Mikolas, but I didn’t see much to make me this guy is going to be a difference maker for the team. It might take some time for him to get back to the Major League Baseball hitters. That said, Milwaukee took him yard three times before the sixth inning. Manny Pina, Lorenzo Cain and Thames all went yard against the new Cards pitcher. We’ll see in the coming weeks whether he figures it out or not.
Next up
Milwaukee sends Chase Anderson back to the mound who should be feeling better than he was against San Diego. Anderson pitched pretty well against St. Louis last season striking them six or more times on multiple occasions. Jack Flaherty goes for St. Louis. The young right-hander is a top prospect, but he did not pitch like one last September. Brewers do have a book on him beating him last October. Milwaukee would like to get this win considering Carlos Martinez looms on Wednesday night.