What the hell is going on with Chase Anderson? Like this was totally unexpected. Brewers sixth starter came up big for the second straight start as Anderson shuts down Toronto Blue Jays bats in a 2-0 shutout where Brewers got a little offense from Keon Broxton and Jonathan Villar. Brewers find themselves at 4-5 heading to a hot-hitting Cincinnati for the weekend where runs will be aplenty. Brewers played Blue Jays at the right time without question.

Player of the Game: Chase Anderson (P) (Brewers) – Let’s break this down here… Anderson went seven innings only allowing three hits and striking out seven batters. Through two starts, Anderson allowed a total of five hits with one run allowed in 13 innings with 11 strikeouts. Anderson did start out well last year, but it was different in these two games given his dominance against two high-powered offenses. This will be something to monitor going forward. Anderson will get Chicago Cubs next week.

(Not) Player of the Game: Kirk Nieuwenhuis (Brewers) – This has been a rough start for Kirk Nieuwenhuis who is 1-for-17 to start the season. I’m not going to the level where Nieuwenhuis is unplayable, but the last thing I would do is be unplayable as an outfielder with how many of them are in the Brewers system. Something to watch.

Player of the Game: Marcus Stroman (Blue Jays) – Even though Stroman took the lost, he pitched his ass for the second straight game as he continues to develop as an ace. Stroman went the distance in a losing effort allowing seven hits, walking one and striking out four. It only took Stroman 100 pitches to get through nine innings.

Positive: Pitching rotation problems are solved – Good news for Milwaukee Brewers is Anderson will be the starter in place of Junior Guerra. Craig Cousnell announced that Matt Garza will be back in eight days which would be the series against St. Louis Cardinals. Wonder if Counsell would try to get him in Chicago for the 4/19 game when Tommy Milone’s spot is up. Another move could be Garza pitching in Anderson’s place on April 22nd then push Chase back to the 24th.

Negative: Counts need to be worked more – Fine and dandy that Brewers won 2-0, but Stroman still made very quick work of this team. He only needed 100 pitches to get through the game. That tells me Milwaukee isn’t working him long enough in the count. They still got seven hits and had opportunities to score yet working the count gets Stroman out quicker.

Next up: Brewers head to a suddenly red-hot Cincinnati team. Reds are 7-2 to begin the year. They swept through Pittsburgh earlier this week, and this is very unexpected given how bad they were supposed to be this year. Great American Ballpark is a mystery to Brewers. Many things can happen. It starts with Jimmy Nelson versus Bronson Arroyo who had his way with Brewers in the past.

Charlie.