ANAHEIM - The Brewers opened a 17-day grind the way a club wants to: with a steady arm, a big inning, and a win that kept the day-to-day juggling on the right side of the ledger.
Rookie left-hander Shane Drohan gave Milwaukee six solid innings, Brice Turang and Jake Bauers each went deep in a five-run fifth, and the Brewers beat the Angels, 6-2, on Friday night at Angel Stadium. With the Trade Deadline looming Monday at 5 p.m. CT, it was the kind of night that fit the moment - productive on the field, with more help possibly on the way soon.
The game also launched a brutal stretch of 17 games in 17 days, including two West Coast trips. Milwaukee just came through 18 games in 17 days before the All-Star break, a run that forced the club to manage its roster carefully, and the same kind of maneuvering is expected again during this span.
“It’s a work in progress,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “It’s a big part of it right now, especially when you have rookie starters and you have everybody exceeding their [innings] limits. It’s a delicate time.”
Drohan’s outing was a big reason the Brewers could breathe easier. The club had pushed his scheduled start from Wednesday in San Francisco to Friday in Anaheim to give him extra rest, even though that meant taking a loss behind spot starter Thomas Pannone before designating him for assignment two days later.
Milwaukee decided the move was worth it to protect Drohan, who piled up 36 innings in July, easily the most on the team. Robert Gasser was next with 21 2/3.
“You think about July, and who were our difference-makers?” Murphy said of the Brewers’ 16-10 month. “You’ve got to mention [Drohan] in the first breath.”
The Brewers also welcomed back lefty reliever DL Hall from the injured list for the series opener, hoping he can resemble the pitcher who posted a 2.03 ERA in 24 appearances before a pectoral injury sidelined him in June. If Hall settles back in, he could help lighten the burden on Aaron Ashby, who was tagged for a 6.75 ERA in 12 July outings after putting up a 6.43 mark in 13 appearances in June.
Another arm could be coming soon, too. Lefty starter Kyle Harrison is expected to be an option as soon as next week against the Pirates after throwing 68 pitches and covering parts of six innings in a rehab start for High-A Wisconsin on Thursday night. Murphy stopped short of naming a return date, but made clear the Brewers liked what they saw.
“We anticipate with that amount of pitches he threw, that he’s ready to go.”
And while the win over the Angels mattered, the larger picture still points straight at Monday’s deadline. Milwaukee wants to be aggressive, whether that means landing a difference-making starter, a high-leverage reliever or even a position player. The Brewers are ready to chase all three once the market starts moving, with Tigers ace Tarik Skubal still sitting as the top target for Milwaukee and other contenders.
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For Brewers fans, any Peralta trade news is bound to sting a little more than most. He was one of the more familiar high-end arms in the organization not that long ago, and seeing him continue his career elsewhere keeps his name tied to a familiar question around Milwaukee: what kind of pitcher might he look like once he settles in somewhere again? [Read more 🡒]