The Milwaukee Brewers will kick off a three-game series against one of baseball's hottest teams on Friday.
The Milwaukee Brewers will face the New York Yankees for the first and only time this season when they host them for a three-game set beginning on Friday.
Before the series begins, here are some things worth noting:
The Records
After defeating the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday, the Brewers have improved to 19-16.
Over their last 10 games, the Brewers are 6-4 and, after Wednesday’s win, are fourth in the National League Central Division. Meanwhile, they must prepare to welcome a red-hot Yankees team to American Family Field.
Since April 17, the Yankees are 16-3. At 26-12, they are tied with the Atlanta Braves and the Chicago Cubs for the best record in baseball.
The Pitching Matchups
Getting the starting nod for Milwaukee on Friday will be right-hander Jacob Misiorowski in his seventh start of the season.
So far, Misiorowski has been a bright spot for a Brewers pitching staff that has struggled with injuries. In his seven starts, he is 2-2 with a 2.84 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP. He also has 59 strikeouts over 38 innings of work.
In his last three starts, Misiorowski has logged eight or more strikeouts while not allowing any more than three walks in each of those outings.
Misiorowski will face New York right-hander Max Fried, who has also had a productive season up to this point. Over eight starts, Fried is 4-1 with a 2.39 ERA and a 0.89 WHIP. In 52 ⅔ innings, he has 43 strikeouts.
Points of Emphasis
Misiorowski and the Brewers’ defense will have their hands full with the Yankees, who lead Major League Baseball in home runs (61), have the second-best slugging percentage (.456), and the second-best OPS (.794).
The powerhouse players in New York’s offense that Milwaukee will have to be aware of are Aaron Judge and Ben Rice. One of the reasons that the Yankees are MLB's home run leaders is because they employ Judge, who is atop MLB with 15 long balls.
Meanwhile, Rice is first in on-base percentage (.455), slugging percentage (.759) and OPS 1.214. He is also second in batting average at .343.
The good news for the Brewers is that they have plenty of offensive weapons as well, especially with the recent returns of Jackson Chourio and Andrew Vaughn.
Chourio made his season debut during the series against the Cardinals after recovering from a fractured left hand. It looked like he hadn’t missed any time at all after going 6-for-9 (three doubles) with an RBI.
Vaughn also returned from a left hand fracture during the series against St. Louis after missing more than a month. In Wednesday’s 6-2 win over the Cardinals, he hit a three-run home run in the top of the first inning.
The Brewers also have Brice Turang, whose strong year has placed him just behind Rice in on-base percentage (.439).
Milwaukee and New York will kick off the series at 6:40 p.m. CT on Friday.
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