Starters Eric Lauer, Freddy Peralta to pitch for Brewers on regular rest vs. Philadelphia Phillies

Whenever possible, Brewers manager Craig Counsell has tried to give his starting pitchers an extra day of rest between outings to protect their arms in going from the pandemic-shortened 60-game season in 2020 to the full 162 games this year. But lefty Eric Lauer and right-hander Freddy Peralta were slated to pitch on the regular four days of rest in the final two games of the Philadelphia series.

There were multiple reasons for going with Lauer and Peralta on regular rest against the Phillies. For one, it allows the Brewers to get by this week without replacing injured starter Brett Anderson (bruised shoulder) in the rotation, particularly with a scheduled off day Thursday.

Though Lauer went a season-high seven innings last time out in San Francisco, throwing 90 pitches. But he has not had a heavy workload overall, with 89 1/3 innings pitched for the Brewers.

In his first outing coming off the IL with shoulder inflammation, Peralta went only two innings, throwing 53 pitches in a shaky start (four runs) against St. Louis. Accordingly, Counsell thought he could handle coming back on the fifth day.

“It was the plan for Freddy from the start, to pitch him short and bring him back in four days, and then Eric, we bumped up a day,” Counsell said. “It was as stress-free an outing as you can have (for Lauer). I don’t think he was taxed.

“With the off days (coming), we have a lot of flexibility in how we move forward after that.”

Anderson, who went on the 10-day IL after being struck on the pitching shoulder by a line drive in San Francisco, is coming along well, Counsell said.

“He played catch today; he played a light catch yesterday, really with no issues,” Counsell said.

Houser had it in him

With so much attention given the Brewers’ “Big 3” in the starting rotation – Brandon Woodruff, Corbin Burnes and Peralta – and deservedly so, it probably surprised some folks that Adrian Houser would be the one to break a long individual shutout drought for the Brewers when he blanked the Cardinals in a 4-0 victory Saturday night.

Houser became the first Brewers pitcher to go nine innings in a shutout since Kyle Lohse on Sept. 14, 2014, a span of 1,011 games, a major league record. No Brewers pitcher had gone nine innings, period, since Jimmy Nelson on June 18, 2017 in a 2-1 squeaker over San Diego.

Houser has been up and down since moving into the starting rotation during the 2019 season. He struggled badly during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, going 1-6 with a 5.30 ERA in 12 games (11 starts).

This season, Houser had turned in more productive outings, going 7-6 with a 3.69 ERA over 23 games (21 starts). But he still had some notable hiccups, such as his previous start in Minnesota when he allowed six hits, three walks and five runs in six innings in a 6-4 defeat.

Houser was at his strike zone-pounding best against the Cardinals, throwing 76 of 100 pitches for strikes while issuing no walks. He surrendered three harmless singles while logging seven strikeouts.

“I think Adrian is having a really nice season,” Counsell said. “Just look at the numbers (8-6, 3.41 ERA with the Brewers going 15-7 in his starts), look at the body of work. It’s clearly a step forward if you measure it over a season’s length. He’s getting better.

“As much as anything, it’s experience. I think his sinker is better this year. That pitch is a better pitch and there’s a lot of metrics that bear that out. It’s been a more effective pitch. Everything else gets lumped in there – command and secondary pitches.

“The thing with Adrian is that the ball is on the ground (a lot). In general, lower strikeout rates and the ball on the ground, I think our improved defense matters for Adrian. That stuff factors into a pitcher like that.”