A familiar face will take the mound Wednesday evening when the Milwaukee Brewers visit the Cincinnati Reds in the third contest of a four-game series.
Brewers left-hander Wade Miley will make his season debut after starting the year on the 15-day injured list with a left shoulder impingement.
Miley, 37, made a rehab start with Triple-A Nashville last Friday vs. St. Paul, allowing one run on two hits in three innings.
Miley was a valuable part of the Brewers’ rotation last season as the team captured the National League Central, posting a 9-4 record with a 3.14 ERA in 23 starts.
He was one of the most consistent pitchers in the rotation in his two seasons in Cincinnati, going a combined 12-10 with a 3.55 ERA in 34 appearances (32 starts) in 2020 and 2021.
Miley is 7-3 with a 2.86 ERA in 14 career games (13 starts) against the Reds. He faced them once in 2023, allowing just four hits and striking out eight over six scoreless innings in a 1-0 win in Milwaukee.
The Brewers are shuttling pitchers between Nashville and Milwaukee, the most recent being Aaron Ashby, who took the loss in Monday’s 10-8 setback in Cincinnati.
“With the injuries we have, he has to be part of it,” Milwaukee manager Pat Murphy said. “I think he did a really nice job. But I want him to improve. So I told him, ‘By the way you pitched you belong, but we needed depth in the bullpen.'”
Ashby, who allowed eight runs (four earned) in 3 2/3 innings, was optioned to Nashville before Tuesday’s game. That transaction made room for former Reds right-hander Kevin Herget to join the Brewers’ bullpen.
The Reds will counter on Wednesday with right-hander Hunter Greene (0-0, 2.53 ERA), who will make his third start of the season.
Greene didn’t face the Brewers in 2023 and will pitch against them for the first time since Sept. 22, 2022. He will look for his first career win against Milwaukee in his fifth start. Greene is 0-3 with an 8.00 ERA in four previous starts, allowing 16 runs on 19 hits in 18 innings.
Greene has been strong to start 2024, even though the Reds are 0-2 in his two starts. He has received a pair of no-decisions, including last Friday when he allowed just one run on three hits with six strikeouts in six innings of a 3-2 loss to the New York Mets.
He lasted just 4 2/3 innings on March 30 but allowed just two runs on five hits in a 7-6 loss to the Washington Nationals.
Meanwhile, Reds manager David Bell said Tuesday that outfielder TJ Friedl will have an MRI on his fractured right wrist.
“Friday he’s getting examined again and then he’ll be building up from there,” Bell said. “He feels great that it’s healing perfectly fine.”
Infielder Matt McLain continues to make progress from left shoulder surgery on March 26.
“I talked to Matt and he feels great,” Bell said. “He was moving his shoulder around he said two days after surgery, which I think is a good sign. So, sometime in August would be great. Getting him back at all would be great, but I think that’s realistic based on what we know right now.”
–Field Level Media