On The Horizon: Cubs vs. Brewers series preview

The Brewers had kind of a “perfect storm” season in 2018, where everything went right for them on their way to a win over the Cubs in the N.L. Central tiebreaker game and their first division title since 2011.

This year? Not so much. Mediocre performances by several key players, plus injuries, have the Brewers just three games over .500 entering this series.

For more on the Brewers, here’s Kyle Lesniewski, manager of our SB Nation Brewers site Brew Crew Ball:

This will be a pivotal series for the Milwaukee Nine. The club has been playing lackluster ball for well over a month now, going 15-21 since June 14 to fall to third place in the division. The slide has created plenty of unrest within the fanbase. A good portion is calling for a sell-off of assets, essentially giving up on this season and hoping to reload for next year. David Stearns isn’t there yet and continues to say that his preference is to add, and how the Brewers do over the next three games could go a long way towards determining how aggressively he does so. If the Brewers sweep or take two of three and stay right around the top of the division, he’ll likely be more motivated to plug the holes left by recent injuries to Brandon Woodruff and Jhoulys Chacin in the rotation. If — God forbid — the Cubs were to sweep and put the Brewers 5+ games back of a playoff spot, that could very well change Stearns’ approach regarding the deadline.

Fun fact

Prince Fielder set the Brewers’ single-season home run record in 2007, with 50. Christian Yelich is on pace for 54. (Hopefully, none this weekend!)

Pitching matchups

Friday: Kyle Hendricks, RHP (7-8, 3.41 ERA, 1.145 WHIP, 3.81 FIP) vs. Gio Gonzalez, LHP (2-1, 3.60 ERA, 1.257 WHIP, 3.37 FIP)

Saturday: Jon Lester, LHP (9-6, 3.87 ERA, 1.346 WHIP, 4.21 FIP) vs. Chase Anderson, RHP (5-2, 3.90 ERA, 1.241 WHIP, 4.15 FIP)

Sunday: Jose Quintana, LHP (8-7, 4.42 ERA, 1.366 WHIP, 4.16 FIP) vs. Zach Davies, RHP (8-3, 3.17 ERA, 1.364 WHIP, 4.40 FIP)

Times & TV channels

Friday: 7:10 p.m. CT, NBC Sports Chicago

Saturday: 6:10 p.m. CT, ABC7 Chicago

Sunday: 1:10 p.m. CT, ABC7 Chicago

Prediction

Lester and Quintana, in particular, have done well against the Brewers, and Hendricks put together his best start since coming off the injured list in his last outing. The teams have been pretty evenly matched this year, splitting six games, but the pitching matchups should allow the Cubs to win two of three.

Up next

The Cubs have Monday off, then head to St. Louis for a three-game series against the Cardinals beginning Tuesday evening.