Milwaukee Brewers: Patience is key with young pitchers

The young pitchers in the Milwaukee Brewers starting rotation are going to take their lumps early in the season but fans need to remain patient.

The Milwaukee Brewers are off to a fantastic start this season with an 8-3 record. However, there seems to be some concern around the three young pitchers in the starting rotation. We aren’t even two full weeks into the season and there are rumblings that something needs to be done after a few inconsistent outings.

Whether it’s wanting Corbin Burnes, Freddy Peralta, or Brandon Woodruff moved to the bullpen or sent to Triple-A, we need to pump the brakes on those “hot takes” and realize there is going to be a learning curve since they’ve never been in this position before.

With that said, there is plenty to be excited about and when it comes to these pitcher’s young careers, ups and downs are to be expected, but so is patience.

Freddy Peralta

Of the group, Freddy Peralta is going to have the highest variance, in fact, his two starts this season is a perfect representation of the kind of pitcher that he is right now.

In his season debut, Peralta would last just three innings while giving up six hits, three walks, and four earned runs. Then in start number two against Cincinnati, he would put together a phenomenal performance that covered eight innings, while allowing just two hits, no runs and striking out 11 batters.

At only 22-years-old, Peralta struggles with his command at times and relies heavily on his fastball. But with more experience and as he develops confidence in his curve, the sky is the limit for Freddy.

Corbin Burnes

Transitioning to Corbin Burnes, last season he was a star for this Milwaukee Brewers team out of the bullpen, pitching in 38 innings, and allowing just 11 earned runs with 35 strikeouts. He would also pitch well in some big moments during the playoffs.

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2019, on the other hand, has been up and down through his first two starts. We have seen him pitch absolutely brilliantly or he has struggled to keep the ball in the ballpark. Against the St. Louis Cardinals, Burnes would strike out a whopping 12 batters but allowed four runs and gave up three home runs as well. Then against Chicago, he would strike out six in five innings of work, however, Burnes would give up seven earned runs.

Currently, Burnes is working on perfecting a five-pitch arsenal and as we’ve seen, when he’s on, he is quite dominant. Yet, the issue this season has been with the location of his fastball, which has contributed to the majority of the home runs he has given up.

Nevertheless, Burnes relied heavily on his fastball in 2018 and we saw how effective he was with it. Burnes was a very successful starting pitcher in the minors and has always hammered the strike zone, his command will improve. Remember, it’s only been two starts.

Brandon Woodruff

Lastly, we have Brandon Woodruff who is perhaps the steadiest pitcher of the bunch but has had his own struggles to start the season. Through nine innings in 2019, Woody has struck out 13 batters but has also given up six earned on three walks and 12 hits.

Now, we also have to remember that this is the pitcher who put together a fantastic September and October that included 16 strikeouts and just one earned run in 12.1 innings pitched, along with an eight-strikeout performance against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLCS.

We also have to take into account that the Milwaukee Brewers are going through a difficult schedule to start the season. Ten of their 19 total games against St. Louis will be played before the month of May, as well as their entire season series against the red-hot L.A. Dodgers. Milwaukee will also go up against the Chicago Cubs, Colorado Rockies and the New York Mets, all of which are playoff contenders.

But yes, so far this season we have seen all three of the pitchers take their lumps, however, realistically this is to be expected. We’ve also seen a number of great performances from the trio as well.

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There is a lot of incredible potential within this young core and the experiences they are going through now, will make them better in the long run when we need them most in August, September, and October. So put the panic buttons away!

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