Brewers: Adrian Houser Carries Momentum Over from 2019 Performance

With Brandon Woodruff on the IL in 2019, it was Adrian Houser who picked up the slack for the Milwaukee Brewers, and he has carried that momentum over to 2020.

At the top of the Milwaukee Brewers starting rotation in 2019 was supposed to their trio of young and up and coming pitchers in Brandon Woodruff, Corbin Burnes, and Freddy Peralta. Unfortunately, Woodruff would miss about two months from mid-July to mid-September with an injury, while Burnes and Peralta just couldn’t put it together and were relegated to the bullpen as well as the minors.

However, something positive that came from all of that was the emergence of Adrian Houser. Through the first half of the season, Houser made a few starts but was primarily used out of the bullpen. But when Woody went down with that injury, Houser’s role increased, and he did not disappoint.

From July 30th to September 29th – right in the heart of the Milwaukee Brewers’ playoff push – Houser would make 12 starts that covered 57.2 innings and struck 63, gave up 16 walks, posted a 3.28 ERA and held opponents to a .641 OPS. As we all know, the Brewers would go on to clinch a playoff berth.

Fast forward to this unusual 2020 season, and that momentum that Houser created at the end of 2019 has carried over. Now pitching behind Woodruff in the starting rotation, in two starts that have spanned 12 innings of work, Houser has given up just one run, he’s posted a 0.75 ERA, a WHIP of 0.917, along with nine strikeouts, five walks, and six hits.

This includes an excellent performance in his last outing against the Chicago White Sox, where Houser went seven scoreless innings as Milwaukee eventually secured the 1-0 victory.

And as manager Craig Counsell put it in an article by Will Sammon of The Athletic (subscription required), “he’s (Houser) been fabulous his first two starts.”

Houser continues to use a five-pitch mix that helps keep hitters off-balance, with his four-seamer and his sinker being his two favorite pitches. However, it’s his curveball that’s looked particularly good early on this season.

He’s also been pounding the lower half of the strike zone – something that he did quite often in 2019 as well – which has led to a ridiculous groundball rate of 74.1 percent, according to Fangraphs.

Houser’s next start will come on Monday against the Minnesota Twins, where he will really be tested against one of the better offenses in baseball. But based on what we’ve seen from him in the starting rotation over the past 12 months, there’s no reason to think that he isn’t up for the challenge.

For a Milwaukee Brewers team that has struggled to put runs on the board consistently – hopefully, Sunday’s performance was the breakout that they needed – they’ll need Houser to continue providing them this stability in the rotation.