Milwaukee Brewers: Gio Gonzalez stabilizes starting rotation

It was a rocky start to the season for the Milwaukee Brewers starting rotation, but the addition of Gio Gonzalez has helped steady the ship.

Prior to Opening Day, the Milwaukee Brewers decided to go with their young core of pitchers to lead their starting rotation and most assumed that they would take their lumps early on, but the month of April went more poorly than anticipated.

Corbin Burnes was giving up multiple home runs every outing and would end up in Triple-A San Antonio to figure things out. Freddy Peralta struggled to make it past the fourth inning in most outings and would end up on the IL. And Brandon Woodruff would pitch well for the most part but would eventually give up the big inning.

Even Jhoulys Chacin was having issues and the only reliable pitcher in the starting rotation was surprisingly, Zach Davies.

At one point in April, the team ERA was 5.63 and ranked last in the NL, but after multiple weeks of good starts, the Milwaukee Brewers ERA has fallen to 4.29, which is a big jump given the number of innings that have been pitched.

At a bit of a loss for what to do, the Brewers would turn to an old friend in Gio Gonzalez.

Gonzalez was acquired at the end of last season to help Milwaukee make a playoff push and in September the Brewers would go 5-0 in his starts but in the offseason, they would decide not to re-sign him.

Gio would end up signing a minor league deal with the New York Yankees and would make a few starts in their Triple-A system before demanding a release as he saw it unlikely that he would be added to the 25-man roster. Once released the Milwaukee Brewers would sign Gio to a one year, $2 million deal.

There is just something about being in a Brewers uniform that brings out the best in Gonzalez. Last year he would struggle for much of the season with Washington and gave up a ton of walks, but once he arrived in Milwaukee things would turn around as noted above.

This year in three starts with Triple-A Scranton Wilkes-Barre, Gonzalez posted a 6.00 ERA and allowed 15 earned runs on 19 hits in only 15 innings pitched. However, in Milwaukee, he has made four starts covering 21.1 innings and has an ERA of 1.69 and has allowed only four earned runs, along with 15 strikeouts and the Brewers have a 3-1 record when he is on the mound.

The Brewers have gained a reliable pitcher that they know will be available every fifth day and will give them a deep start. Over his career, Gio has averaged nearly 165 innings pitched every season. That ability to consistently go 6-7 innings in a game is something that was lacking with this team early on and will also have a positive trickle-down effect to the bullpen.

With all that Gonzalez has provided on the mound in his short time in Milwaukee, it’s what he does off of it that makes him fit in well with this team. Even during his short stint here in 2018, Gio gelled quickly with the rest of the clubhouse which is a very important aspect to manager Craig Counsell and GM David Stearns. He is also someone who the young pitchers can lean on with questions or when guidance is needed.

All around Gonzalez has once again been a great addition to this Milwaukee Brewers team, and not just when he pitches but as a whole, the starting rotation has improved upon his arrival. What was once a concern has become a strength in recent weeks and Gio has been the catalyst.