Guerra back to starter role
ST. LOUIS – Manager Craig Counsell selected a new candidate to start for the Milwaukee Brewers on Saturday, if you can call your opening day pitcher “new.”
Right-hander Junior Guerra, who opened the season in the No. 1 spot in the rotation before eventually pitching his way back to the minors, will start against St. Louis in what has been a “bullpen day” since Matt Garza was removed and Jimmy Nelson was injured.
Counsell has used swingman Brent Suter – now occupying the fourth spot in the rotation – reliever Jeremy Jeffress and newcomer Aaron Wilkerson to start those “bullpen games,” with mixed results. Now, with the team still fighting for the National League's second wild-card berth entering this series, Guerra gets his chance.
Counsell said Guerra was the choice unless things got crazy Friday night and he had to be used out of the bullpen.
“We certainly don’t expect a normal 90-100 pitches from him,” Counsell said. “I think he’s capable of it but I don’t expect that to happen. It’s really about getting as many outs as he can and get us to a place where we feel comfortable managing the rest of the game.”
Guerra earned the right to start on opening day with his surprising 2016 showing (9-3, 2.81 ERA in 20 starts) as a 31-year-old rookie. But he suffered a serious calf strain breaking out of the batter’s box three innings into that opening start against Colorado and missed six weeks of action.
In essence, Guerra never recovered. He wasn’t the same pitcher upon returning to action, going 1-4 with a 4.96 ERA while having trouble throwing strikes (39 walks in 61 innings) before finally being sent to Class AAA Colorado Springs.
Guerra returned to the Brewers as a September call-up but had pitched only in relief over seven outings, never for more than an inning.
The fact the Brewers remained in the playoff hunt while filling two spots in the starting rotation down the stretch was a minor miracle, but somehow they did it.
“The Jimmy Nelson injury was a huge blow, obviously, and was very impactful, and unexpected,” Counsell said. “The way we’ve gotten through it, I don’t think it’s affected us a big amount, with how we’ve covered those games.
“It’s put extra work on the bullpen but they’ve done a marvelous job with it, and are still performing at a very high level. So, I think we’ve gotten through it pretty good.”
Piña still out: It is evident that catcher Manny Piña, who suffered a sprained ligament in his left thumb last Friday night tagging out Chicago’s Anthony Rizzo at the plate, will not be able to play this weekend. Piña has made progress with the thumb but not enough to catch in a game.
The plan was for veteran Stephen Vogt to catch all three games against the Cardinals, if the Brewers stay in contention, meaning he would start eight in a row to finish the regular season.
"The best way for Manny to get involved is for us to keep winning,” Counsell said. “The chances that he is involved this weekend are very slim.”
Vogt, who suffered a significant knee injury in mid-July that sidelined him for a month, said he has held up well under the increased workload.
“I feel great,” he said. “Obviously, I’ve caught a lot lately but I feel great. Our training staff is the best; they’ve gotten me ready to go. I try not to think about how many in a row it’s been. I just try to show up every day and give it everything I’ve got.”
Another whiff record: With nine strikeouts Thursday in their 4-3 victory over Cincinnati, the Brewers’ season total rose to 1,546, breaking the major-league record of 1,543 they set last season. With 220 home runs, second-most in franchise history, the Brewers are the epitome of the way the game is played these days, with gobs of homers and strikeouts.
Domingo Santana (175 strikeouts), Keon Broxton (172) and Eric Thames (160) ranked in the top 10 in strikeouts in the NL, but Counsell said the focus would continue to be on run-scoring, which has been an issue for the Brewers in the second half. Their 264 runs since the break ranked 29th among the 30 clubs.
“We have to understand how much the strikeouts are affecting run-scoring,” Counsell said. “The team that won the World Series last year (the Cubs) struck out a whole bunch, and they scored a lot of runs. I’d say the focus is more on how we can score more runs.
“It’s something we can get better at. We’ve got to score more runs. We’re 11th in the National League right now, and in our park we’ve got to be better than that.”