The Brewers couldn’t capitalize on their first chance to close out the Cubs, as they dropped a 4-3 contest at Wrigley Field this evening. Chicago put up a four spot against Quinn Priester in the first inning, building a 4-1 cushion from which the Milwaukee bats couldn’t recover.
Priester didn’t make it out of the first. Manager Pat Murphy used five pitchers — Nick Mears, Jose Quintana, Grant Anderson, Jared Koenig and Chad Patrick — to combine for 7 1/3 scoreless frames out of the bullpen. The damage had been done, however, and the Brewers will need to try to close things out again tomorrow.
Neither Milwaukee nor the Cubs have announced a starter for tomorrow’s game, though ESPN’s Jesse Rogers reports that Chicago will give the ball back to Matthew Boyd. The Brewers pummeled Boyd for six runs in the first inning in Game 1 and cruised to a victory behind Freddy Peralta. Milwaukee could turn back to Peralta on four days rest for the same matchup, though Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel notes that they’ve worked to provide their starters with an extra rest day when possible during the season.
Saving Peralta for a potential Game 5 on Saturday would probably mean the Brewers go back to a bullpen game, which they did in Game 2. Aaron Ashby opened that contest and surrendered a three-run homer to Seiya Suzuki, but the Brewers blanked the Cubs from then on and won 7-3. Running a bullpen game one day after their starter failed to escape the first inning isn’t ideal, but Murphy mostly relied on lower-leverage arms tonight. The Brewers stayed away from Ashby, Jacob Misiorowski, Abner Uribe and Trevor Megill entirely. Koenig only threw seven pitches and is surely still in the mix for tomorrow.
On the position player side, Jackson Chourio played the full eight innings in left field tonight. He went 1-4 with a strikeout. Chourio has battled a nagging right hamstring injury and made early exits in favor of defensive substitute Brandon Lockridge in Games 1 and 2. Those were mostly precautionary absences with Milwaukee holding decent leads.
Meanwhile, Rhys Hoskins is watching the NLDS from the dugout, a difficult outcome for a player who had a solid season. Even though he didn’t make the postseason roster, Hoskins has remained involved as a teammate. “You got to play the hand that you’re dealt and try to help these guys accomplish the goal we set out to do,” the first baseman told Hogg in a separate column at the Journal Sentinel.
With Andrew Vaughn and Jake Bauers handling first base duties, the Brewers opted for Lockridge to add a speed element and provide cover for Chourio with their final roster spot. While Hoskins admitted to being frustrated, he accepted the role of supportive teammate after Murphy pushed to keep him in the mix. “He’s a great voice for these young players,” Murphy told Hogg. “He’s also well-respected and being genuine really adds to our whole unit.”
The NLDS exclusion wasn’t the first time Hoskins was pushed aside this season. After the veteran went down with a thumb injury in early July, Vaughn emerged as a key cog in the middle of Milwaukee’s lineup. Hoskins was limited to bench duties once he rejoined the team in September. The lefty-hitting Bauers provides more balance in a platoon with the right-handed Vaughn.
Hoskins was hitting .242/.340/.428 across 318 plate appearances when he suffered the injury. That opened the door for Vaughn, who cemented himself in the lineup with a monster performance as soon as he was recalled from Triple-A. Hoskins was limited to pinch-hitting when he returned, going 1-10 in eight games.
There’s a decent chance he’s made his final appearance with the Brewers. The team will buy him out for $4MM in lieu of an $18MM mutual option. He’ll be a free agent and almost certainly will head to a team that has more at-bats available at first base. Milwaukee could still swap Hoskins onto the roster for future playoff rounds should they advance, but they’re already carrying 14 position players. While Lockridge would probably be the player they might swap out, they’ll be reluctant to subtract outfield depth while Chourio is at less than full strength.
Could see San Diego, Washington, Colorado, Arizona or Miami signing Hoskins cheap. He will have to fight for a job in ST wherever he goes.
Are you suggesting he won’t get a guaranteed deal? He was still 9% better than average at the plate by wrc+ this year, and had stretches of his old dominant self.
Though aging 1B have had a hard time getting even modest deals lately, Id be shocked if he cant land at least 1/5 deal.
Hoskins had an amazing April was batting .330/.420 and hit 9 of his 12 home runs. He went ice ice cold the rest of the season. His finishing .242/.340 was a brutal slow bleed.
Russell
No, I am not. He will get a guaranteed deal. He will need to fight for a job as a starter. I could have phrased that more clearly.
Feels like a Pirates signing to me.
He is a brutal fielding first baseman but hit the hardest home run that I have ever seen albeit ten years ago.
Hoskins is really a DH and for the last five years really should have been one.
He is an improvement over McCutcheon though and can spell Horowitz at first base against lefthanders.
The Pirates desperately need power and Hoskins may still be able to supply it.
Plus he would be a good veteran presence for a young team.
I would not go over about $7M for him though.
Great fit for the Rockies. Good guy, competitive, can mentor the youngin’s, and he could have some fun hitting at altitude.
He’s less of a fit for some of those other venues as his power is more based on batted ball profile than exit velocity. Give him a larger home venue, and you’re paying for more can ‘o corns.
He’s not going to have to fight for a job wherever he signs. 1B is a very weak position right now and if it weren’t for Vaughn’s emergence and Yelich taking up the DH slot, he’d be a solid option. He’ll probably get a 1 year/10-15 million deal to start
He’s going to get a guarantee.
Pretty good 1B market this year. Muncy, Alonso, Belli, Naylor.
There’s a lot of average-ish 1B’s on the market too. Lowe, Hoskins, likely Mountcastle, Josh Bell. Ohearn is somewhere above this group.
I think Hoskins is more of a $8MM guy given all the supply.
Muncy will most likely get his option picked up by the Dodgers and Bellinger probably will be signed as an outfielder/occasional 1B
That’s a guarantee. Didn’t realize he had an option. But Belli is a 1B option that I also agree is going to play some OF.
Go Brewers!
When the Cubs tie it up tomorrow I would really love to see Horton start game 5. That would make me immensely happy.
One foot in front of the other…… excellent game… yesterday…
Horton isn’t on NLDS roster
Nice idea Uncle—that would certainly provide us, the CBA, Brewers fans, the baseball world, and Ben Brown particularly a great case study on exactly how Brown “got injured” between game one and game five of the series. You can only replace an “injured” player.
The real injured player replacing the faked injured player in a game five winner take all tilt would be fun fodder for the winter.
I’m only throwing Ben Brown out there as he is probably expendable for 15 days. Oh, the agony of that curled left finger nail……
If Boyd starts, it seems likely that he’d only go a few innings. Civale/Soroka/Brown would all be the next in line to cover innings. Brown seems like the likeliest fall guy if they are serious about bringing Horton back for a potential Game 5. It was curious rostering Brown over Rogers, but maybe there was an underlying reason all along. Tin foil hat time.
Assuming there is a Game 5, which is a big assumption.
Brown will have to go full Rodney Dangerfield: “Oh my arm, it’s broken!”
You’ll have to find another source for happiness because IT AIN’T HAPPENING.
Pretty shocking they left Hoskins off the nlds for a player that can’t hit or apparently bunt the baseball
Lockridge was acquired from San Diego in the Cortes trade. He immediately started all 3 outfield positions for the Brewers and was serviceable offensively. With the Chorio situation I understand why Milwaukee chose the outfield depth option over Rhys.
I still get the feeling the Brewers will pull it out in the end. They just seem to have the baseball gods going for them right now.
curious… what’s your opinion of Hoskins to Mets? I’d rather they use a player in the minors, or maybe even vientos. but… what’s your thoughts?
why is this the late game?
It’s stacked in favor of the Dodgers to give them more rest for a possible Game 5.
Or TBS is throwing Chicago and Wisconsin and the rest of the Midwest a bone for a change.
Peralta should start tonight, don’t save him for a Game 5 that may or may not happen. Also gives him a start in game 2 of the NLCS if the Crew gets that far.
I hope this is the strategy. Do the bullpen game at home with an electric crowd behind them.
Absolutely amazing the White Sox took Vaughn after Rutschman and Witt and then have nothing to show for him.
I didn’t think the roster mattered as Horton IS INJURED and eligible to come off the IL for the last game. Does it just say you have to REPLACE an injured guy or when you’re eligible to come off you can be reinstated? I wonder……….