Freddy Peralta is off to a great start to the season. Peralta has been near unhittable in his first two starts of the season. In his two starts against the Chicago Cubs, Fireball Fred (We’re trying it out) has struck out 18 batters, allowed three hits, walked six batters (Only one last night), and allowed one run. He could not be touched through the first two times through the rotation. Now, it could be that the Cubs’ offense scores less than I did in college, but let’s not approach that angle just yet. Peralta’s excellent pitching night plus a massive sixth inning led to the Milwaukee Brewers winning their third straight game, 6-3.

FIVE STARS
Freddy Peralta – The cool thing about Peralta’s season thus far is that it is not just the fastball. He developed a few more pitches out there and is doing some crazy things on the mound. Batters are very confused when they face Peralta. The assumption is that a book will come out on Peralta sooner rather than later and end this dominance but until then, ride the wave. This slider is one of the best things I’ve seen from a pitcher in a long, long time.

Freddy Peralta, Vicious 81mph Slider. 😨 pic.twitter.com/fcqtOkmPcZ

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) April 13, 2021

Luis Urias – What a moment for young Luis! He is 2-for-27 this season. Not playing well at all to start the year. Then Craig Counsell pinches hits Dan Vogelbach for him with the bases loaded. Urias comes through with a three-run double to give the Brewers, a 3-1 lead. That was such a big spot for Urias and he came up huge. Hopefully, this jumpstarts his season a little bit.

FOUR STARS
Billy McKinney – I am a noted Billy McKinney believer. I like what he’s done thus far. McKinney had three hits in this game and is now 6-for-9 on the young year. He has yet to start a game. But he looks like an integral part of the Brewers’ bench moving forward. Given how well he’s played lately, McKinney does deserve a start at some point. Hopefully, he gets that chance very soon.

THREE STARS
Devin Williams – Work is still needed for Williams this season. He walked two batters in an inning of scoreless work. This is only his third appearance of the young year including Spring Training. Williams still needs time to get back to his normal dominance. This does make me question though if he can be put in a high-leverage situation at this point. It might be too early for that yet I have no idea who the Brewers use instead. J.P. Feyersein? Williams needs more time out there.

TWO STARS
Christian Yelich’s back – I’m not entirely concerned that Yelich’s back is a long-time thing, but it still sucks. He had issues with it before and want him to be healthy. Let’s hope he can return today. My guess is the Brewers might sit him again tonight and maybe play him for the Wednesday afternoon game. Or play tonight then sit tomorrow then the day off on Thursday.

ONE STAR
Craig Counsell’s lineup guy – What a near disaster this was for Milwaukee. Angel Perdomo was set to pitch the ninth inning for the Brewers. Perdomo ended up not on the lineup card meaning that he could not pitch in the game. Drew Rassmussen had to pitch instead and he was a wreck again (Not his fault) then Josh Hader had to come in for the final out. Someone will have a firm talking to tomorrow.

NEXT UP
Brewers-Cubs game two will be a rematch of Brandon Woodruff and Kyle Hendricks. They dueled until the final moments of Wednesday’s game. Hendricks is never easy for the Crew.

Charlie.