Manny Pina has been with the Brewers for the last few years. He burst onto the scene in 2017 hitting .279 for Milwaukee and nine homers. Pina is also a damn good defensive catcher. After a decent 2018 but a step back from 2017, Brewers brought in Yasmani Grandal. Pina did not complain, did not make an issue of it, and kept being the second catcher on this team. The same goes for when Omar Narvaez came to town. Pina went as far to mentor Narvaez as they’re both from Venezuela. But Pina, not Narvaez, is having a fast start to the season and it’s hard to leave him out of the lineup. Pina hit two home runs last night and played a large role in Milwaukee’s comeback victory over the Minnesota Twins, 6-4.

Player of the Game: Manny Pina – He brought the Brewers closer with his first blast to put them down 4-2 then his second blast tied up the ball game. Pina is hitting over .300 to start the year. While Milwaukee traded for Narvaez, I don’t think Pina should be out of the lineup. They could always DH Narvaez or play him at first base, a position that continues to be a trouble spot for Milwaukee. Pina is too hot to sit regularly. We’ll see if he gets the start tonight.

Honorable Mention: Brewers bullpen – Milwaukee’s pen went six strong tonight not allowing one single run after Josh Lindbloom gave up four. Kudos go to Devin Williams, Alex Claudio, Eric Yardley, David Phelps, and Josh Hader for settling it down. They allowed three hits, two walks, and eight strikeouts. It has been a sore spot for the Crew and they came back strong.

One thing I’m surprised about: Ryan Braun coming back is shocking – I’m genuinely surprised that Ryan Braun is playing baseball again. I thought for certain he would be out after his 10 day IL stint. Braun deciding to stay boost the Brewers offense and gives them another bat in the order. We’ll see if the big Js ask him about this because I’m curious to know what made Braun stay versus going the Lorenzo Cain route.

Next up: So remember when I previewed the Kenta Maeda-Eric Lauer matchup? Yeaaaah that was for today. Sorry about that, y’all. Maeda struggled as a road pitcher for his career. Lauer looks to respond after his tough outing on Friday. While I would usually worry about the bullpen and needing Lauer to go deep, Corbin Burnes and Brent Suter are probably available if needed tonight.

Charlie.