Bit of a good news, bad news situation with regard to the line-up for the opener in Milwaukee. Adrian Del Castillo is back, albeit at DH, after dislocating his finger on Sunday in Mexico. But still no Geraldo Perdomo, who twisted his ankle during the same series. Jose Fernandez gets another start at short: while his playing time in the field since coming up has mostly been at first-base, he has most experience at shortstop in the minors, so he’s not exactly unfamiliar with the position. However, last year he made 22 errors over 104 games for Amarillo, which does suggest it’s not Jose’s best position. Still, needs must. [Perdomo was seen taking grounders today]

Merrill Kelly will seek to bounce back after one of the worst outings of his career. Last time, against the White Sox, was the first ever occasion he had allowed 8+ earned runs, while also giving up double-digit hits. At 4,1 innings, it was also the shortest outing in his career with 10+ hits. The 13 overall base-runners (10 hits and 3 walks) had been surpassed only one, an August 2023 outing in Los Angeles where he allowed 12 hits and 3 walks over five innings. All told, the Game Score of 13 was tied for third-lowest, and was the worst of Kelly’s career when pitching at Chase Field. Lots of room for improvement, obviously.

The Brewers are last in their division, despite having a winning record. Figure that has to be kinda rare, more than a month into the season. It’s likely due to the lack of games within the division. Everyone in the NL Central has played at least 27 games in total, but the Pirates are the only ones to have played more than a single series against another team in the Central. All told, of the 141 games played by the five members of the division, only twenty have been versus each other. This series won’t help there, while the Cubs and Reds are also playing the West, in the shape of the Padres and Reds respectively.