After a six-game West Coast road trip, the Milwaukee Brewers are headed home to welcome the Detroit Tigers for a three-game set beginning Monday evening. The Brewers won two of three over the Rockies before dropping two of three against the D-backs, going 3-3 overall as they moved to an even 8-8 on the year.
On the other side, the Tigers, 9-6 this season, have won every series since being swept by the Dodgers to begin the season. Over the weekend, they took the first two in Minnesota against the Twins before dropping their series finale Sunday afternoon.
Milwaukee’s IL includes plenty of pitchers, including Tobias Myers, Brandon Woodruff, Nestor Cortes, Aaron Civale, Robert Gasser, Connor Thomas, Aaron Ashby, and DL Hall. Blake Perkins and Tyler Black are also out until at least May with a shin fracture and wrist fracture, respectively. On the injury front for Detroit, Parker Meadows, Jake Rogers, Wenceel Perez, Matt Vierling, Jose Urquidy, Alex Lange, Alex Cobb, and Manuel Margot all find themselves on the IL entering this series.
Jackson Chourio leads the Brewers with five homers, six doubles, a triple, 17 RBIs, and 14 runs, hitting .292/.288/.611 this year. Brice Turang’s 22 hits lead the team, while Sal Frelick is near the top of the leaderboard with 18 hits, though he hasn’t provided much power (.393 slugging percentage). As a team, Milwaukee ranks 17th in OPS with a .236/.310/.378 line, hitting 17 homers and scoring 81 runs in 16 games. They also have 17 steals, tied for seventh-best in the majors.
Spencer Torkelson, sent down to Triple-A last season, has been great so far for Detroit this year, with a team-high five homers and five doubles. He’s hitting .309/.409/.673 with 11 RBIs, 13 runs, and eight walks. Kerry Carpenter is second on the team with four homers, while Riley Greene has three homers of his own. Zach McKinstry is hitting .298/.382/.447 with eight RBIs and 14 hits this year. As a team, the Tigers rank seventh in OPS with a .249/.329/.417 line, hitting 18 homers and scoring 71 runs in 15 games. They rank 29th with five steals this season, only ahead of the A’s (three).
Nick Mears is quickly turning into a key part of the bullpen, as he’s been virtually perfect through four appearances, striking out four across 3 2⁄3 innings. Bryan Hudson, who had a bit of a slip-up Sunday, still has a 1.42 ERA through 6 1⁄3 innings this season and has struck out seven. Jared Koenig (2.57 ERA over 7 IP) and Abner Uribe (1.17 ERA over 7 2⁄3 IP) have also been solid. Closer Trevor Megill had an extremely disappointing outing Saturday night as his ERA jumped to 5.79 through 4 2⁄3 IP with three runs allowed in the loss to Arizona. As a staff, the Brewers rank 28th with a 4.93 ERA and 15th with 133 strikeouts this year. Their starters rank 14th with a 3.87 ERA and the bullpen is 28th with a 6.28 ERA.
John Brebbia, Beau Brieske, Brenan Haniffee, Tyler Holton, and Will Vest all lead the team with six appearances, with all but Brieske (8.53 ERA) being fairly successful so far. Tommy Kahnle has made five appearances with a 1.80 ERA, and Brant Hurter and Kenta Maeda also work out of the bullpen, though Maeda has really struggled (five earned runs over 3 2⁄3 innings). As a staff, the Tigers have 3.56 ERA (10th) and 117 strikeouts (25th) over 131 1⁄3 innings. They’re fairly balanced with a 3.35 starter ERA (seventh) and 3.91 reliever ERA (15th).
Probable Pitchers
Monday, April 14 @ 6:40 p.m.: Tyler Alexander (2.84 ERA, 4.02 FIP) vs. Tarik Skubal (3.78 ERA, 4.13 FIP)
Like Chad Patrick, Tyler Alexander did not enter 2025 expecting to be a regular part of Milwaukee’s rotation. Luckily, he’s turned out to be a reliable piece through two starts, sporting a 2.84 ERA and 12 strikeouts through 12 2⁄3 innings (across four total appearances). The longtime Tiger — he spent five seasons from 2019 to 2024 there — has already compiled 0.3 bWAR this season, which would be his highest mark since 2021. He made two appearances (one start) against Detroit with the Rays last year, allowing two runs and striking out 10 across nine innings.
Tarik Skubal, the reigning AL Cy Young winner, hasn’t been quite as sharp through three starts this season, with a 3.78 ERA and 16 strikeouts through 16 2⁄3 innings. His last start was his best one, as he went six scoreless frames against the Yankees, striking out six and giving up four hits and no walks. Skubal made a start against the Brewers last June in Detroit, picking up the win as he allowed one run over 6 2⁄3 innings with 10 strikeouts.
Tuesday, April 15 @ 7:40 p.m.: Quinn Priester (1.80 ERA, 5.19 FIP) vs. Jack Flaherty (1.62 ERA, 2.69 FIP)
Quinn Priester had a solid Brewers debut Thursday against the Rockies, allowing one run on six hits and a pair of walks with four strikeouts across five innings. Now in his fourth major league season, Priester has a career 6.02 ERA with 73 strikeouts in 104 2⁄3 career innings. This marks Priester’s first career appearance against the Tigers.
Flaherty, a longtime Cardinal, spent the first half of 2024 with Detroit before being traded to the Dodgers at the trade deadline. He returned to the Tigers on a two-year deal this offseason, and he’s looked fantastic through three starts this year. He’s allowed three runs on nine hits and seven walks with 21 strikeouts in 16 2⁄3 innings. In 19 career appearances against Milwaukee, he has a 4-7 record with an ERA of 4.58 and 121 strikeouts across 94 1⁄3 innings. He made a start against the Crew while with the Dodgers last August, allowing three runs and striking out seven over five innings.
Wednesday, April 16 @ 12:10 p.m.: Jose Quintana (0.00 ERA, 2.42 FIP) vs. Reese Olson (6.00 ERA, 3.92 FIP)
Quintana, now with his eighth MLB team, had a strong Brewers debut Friday night in Arizona, allowing no runs on four hits with a pair of strikeouts across seven hyper-efficient innings (80 pitches). He’s made 23 career appearances (22 starts) against the Tigers, with a 6-6 record and 4.85 ERA with 98 strikeouts in 130 innings. However, this is his first appearance against them since 2022.
Olson, a 13th-round pick by the Brewers back in 2018, was sent to the Tigers for Daniel Norris at the trade deadline in 2021. He’s now in his third MLB season and is coming off a solid 2024 campaign in which he had a 3.53 ERA with 101 strikeouts across 112 1⁄3 innings. He’s struggled through three starts this year, however, allowing 10 runs on 17 hits and eight walks with 13 strikeouts over 15 innings. Olson made one start against Milwaukee last June, allowing eight runs on 12 hits and a walk with six strikeouts over four innings.
How to Watch
Monday, April 14: FanDuel Sports Wisconsin and MLB.TV (out-of-market viewers); listen via radio on the Brewers Radio Network
Tuesday, April 15: FanDuel Sports Wisconsin, FOX 6 in Milwaukee and other local over-the-air stations across Wisconsin (see more details here), and MLB.TV (out-of-market viewers); listen via radio on the Brewers Radio Network
Wednesday, April 16: FanDuel Sports Wisconsin and MLB.TV (out-of-market viewers); listen via radio on the Brewers Radio Network
Prediction
Like the Brewers, the Tigers have been fairly consistent this season, winning every series since their sweep at the hands of the Dodgers. That being said, I think this will be a good battle on both sides of the ball, but I’ll take the Brewers to win two of three with a home-field advantage.
