MILWAUKEE — Freddy Peralta threw Heat, Christian Yelich carried the Cheesehead and the Brewers finished an opening homestand that surpassed all expectations.
Peralta displayed the best fastball speed of all his 69 career starts, and Yelich and Willy Adames assisted him with home runs in the Brewers’ 6-1 win over the Cardinals under an open dome on Sunday at American Family Field. The Brewers are 7-2 this season after winning five of six games in a difficult opening game against the Mets and Cardinals that followed a series win over the improved Cubs at Wrigley Field.
“We’re just together, you know?” Yelich said of Bally Sports Wisconsin’s Sophia Minnaert after the duo was doused in Gatorade. “We have a lot of fun together.”
Here’s more on that, plus some other takeaways from a stellar start to a home game:
1. Peralta feels good, very good
While holding the Cardinals on a four-hit, three-walk run for six innings and 102 pitches, Peralta lit the radar gun. His 95.4 mph fastball average and 97.8 mph max — a ball for Cardinals rookie Jordan Walker in the fourth inning — were both career highs for each of Peralta’s major league starts.
After a 2022 season marred by a shoulder injury, these bode well.
“I feel really good about the routine that I’m doing,” Peralta said. “I have a coaching staff that does a great job with me. Health is number 1 for me.”
While Wade Miley completes two rounds through the rotation Monday night in Arizona, Peralta leads the Brewers with 14 strikeouts, 12 innings and a .75 ERA. Brandon Woodruff is right behind him with 12 strikeouts and a 0.79 ERA. Both pitchers struggled with injury problems last year.
For Peralta, “it’s really more like what we’ve seen since his first pitch this spring,” said Brewers manager Craig Counsell. “He was dialed in. He was great. It was markedly different from what he endured for most of the second half of last year. In a way, I’m not surprised because when he’s doing well, that’s what he looks like.”
2. Don’t worry about the bullpen, at least not yet
Peter Strzelecki spun a slider past Nolan Arenado to strand a pair of Cardinals runners in the seventh inning, and catcher William Contreras smacked his gauntlet. The Brewers’ bullpen, seen as a potential weak spot early in the season, was arguably their greatest strength, allowing runs in just one of Milwaukee’s first nine games.
Including Strzelecki’s five scoreless appearances (he has a 14-appearance scoreless streak dating back to last season), the Brewers’ relievers hit the road with a 23 1/3-inning scoreless streak that stretched into the series finale in goes back to Wrigley Field. According to FanGraphs, they have MLB’s best bullpen ERA at .84 despite having one of the lowest strikeout rates in the league (17.8 percent).
“You’re doing a hell of a job,” Counsell said. “They share the burden. They throw at different times if they have to. That was a great start for them.”
3. The offense could be fine
The Brewers’ lineup was better than you think last season — 10th in MLB in runs per game — but they hope to be less home run-dependent in 2023 as the new rules reward speed and athleticism. Home runs still work though.
Yelich and Adames contributed three hits apiece, with a solo home run and three RBIs for Adames and Yelich’s first home run of the season to spark a three-run seventh-place finish and finish the game. Adames, backup catcher Victor Caratini and equipment manager Jason Shawger sourced a foam cheesehead that has become a home run crown, and Yelich happily wore it on Sunday.
“It’s my first time wearing a cheesehead,” Yelich said. “Hopefully there will be more of these.”
It’s one of several ways the Brewers are growing together as a team.
“It’s just more of a conscious effort,” Yelich said. “I think the more you’ve been on winning teams, the more you realize how important that is. And when that comes off, it becomes difficult when you’re not together as a group. We’ve made a really big effort since day one of spring training to do more of that, come together as a team and build that chemistry and just get to know each other honestly.
“It was a lot of fun to be there. It’s a great group and a lot of good guys and hopefully we can keep it going. It’s still early and you just want to keep your head down and try to play the best you can.”