Takeaways from Brewers’ 9-3 win over Cubs in Game 1 of playoff series
JR Radcliffe joins Dominique Yates to recap the Milwaukee Brewers’ 9-3 win over the Chicago Cubs in Game 1 of their best-of-five playoff series.
Aaron Ashby will serve as the opener for the Milwaukee Brewers in Game 2 of the National League Division Series against the Chicago Cubs.The left-hander is being used to counter the Cubs’ potent lineup of left-handed and switch-hitters.Right-hander Quinn Priester is expected to follow Ashby in a lefty-righty tandem the Brewers have used previously.Ashby has had a strong season after recovering from an injury, posting a 2.16 ERA over 43 appearances.
Aaron Ashby has started games for the Milwaukee Brewers over his four-year career.
He’s closed games. He’s served as a long reliever. He’s pitched in high-leverage situations.
Now on Monday night, Oct. 6, Ashby is going to be asked to serve as an opener against the Chicago Cubs in the teams’ Game 2 matchup in the National League Division Series at American Family Field as a way to mitigate a group of left-handed or switch-hitters creating a potent top of the lineup for the Brewers’ Central Division rival.
“Like all of the other outings leading up throughout the years, it’s kind of been, ‘Just get outs,'” the left-hander said on Sunday, Oct. 5, shortly after manager Pat Murphy announced Milwaukee’s pitching plans.
Right-hander Quinn Priester is expected to follow Ashby in the same sort of lefty-righty tandem that the Brewers utilized five times previously this season.
The Brewers went 3-2 when employing the tactic, and Ashby has opened one time previously this season, throwing two perfect innings with three strikeouts against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Aug. 27.
“I think they’ve made it clear that your job is just to get outs. And then when they ask you to stop getting outs, that’s when you stop,” Ashby continued. “Going into tomorrow, it’ll kind of be the same situation. Just prep the same. I feel like I have a good routine to get me ready, so that’s what we’ll do.”
Ashby threw an economical and effective 1 â…“ innings in Milwaukee’s 9-3 Game 1 victory on Oct. 4, taking over for starter Freddy Peralta and retiring Pete Crow-Armstrong to close out the sixth and then retiring Chicago in order in the seventh to complete his 16-pitch effort.
Now, the 27-year-old will be asked to carry a heavier load in a more prominent role on two days’ rest as the Brewers seek to take a 2-0 series lead before heading to Wrigley Field.
“They had mentioned it to me like, two days ago, that there was maybe a possibility of it happening,” Ashby said. “I kind of knew going in. Obviously, keeping yesterday somewhat short is helpful. Body feels good today. It’s kind of on that same throw-day off-throw schedule as most of the year has been.”
And it’s been a productive year to say the least for Ashby, a 2018 fourth-round pick who’s put together his best body of work to date since making his major-league debut in 2021.
After recovering from a right oblique strain that sidelined him from the end of spring training through late May he’s gone 5-2 with a 2.16 ERA, WHIP of 1.17 and 76 strikeouts in 66 â…” innings over a career-high 43 appearances.
Further underscoring Ashby’s tremendous versatility, he’s gone 3 for 3 in save opportunities – two of which were three or more innings – and logged six holds while throwing as many as 52 pitches and filling 3 â…” innings out of the bullpen when the situation has called for it.
The upswing has carried over from last season when Ashby finally got over the hump from shoulder surgery that sidelined him for all of 2023, rediscovered his velocity and nasty sinker and became a valuable relief weapon over the final month-plus.
“He’s matured,” manager Pat Murphy said. “His confidence level went up. He realizes, ‘Wow, I’m pretty good and I know my strengths and weaknesses. I know what it takes for me to be good.’
“He’s very consistent. He’s a diligent worker. He loves to throw. And we’ve found the role for him that he really likes.”
Ashby is throwing his power sinker more (50.7% of the time) and harder (97.5 mph, 91st percentile in the majors) than ever before and both his ground-ball rate of 62.4% rank and barrel percentage (3%) rank in the 99th percentile.
“It’s nasty,” said fellow reliever Nick Mears. “Sinker at 99 from up top, up to 100? That’s got to be uncomfortable for hitters. Glad he’s on our team.”
Ashby has made a slight change to his repertoire from years past, essentially flip-flopping his curveball (26.4%) and changeup (11.6%) usage while utilizing his slider – his most-used pitch as a rookie in 2021 – only on occasion now (8.1%).
“I’ve always said that your stuff will ebb and flow and hitters will adjust to pitchers’ stuff,” Ashby said. “There have been points in time this year where I feel like guys weren’t swinging at the curveball as much as they were last year, later in the year.
“So, it’s a constant cat-and-mouse game between, ‘What are you going to swing at? What are you going to take?’ I feel like the changeup has always been the favorite pitch that I have and there’s certain times and places it has gotten me out of some stuff.
“But when the curveball is there I don’t think that it’s a pitch that, when thrown and executed, there’s a whole lot of chance for damage there. I’ll probably regret saying that.”
Ashby came into this postseason on the heels of consecutive forgettable outings with the stakes at their highest – a blown save against the Atlanta Braves in the decisive Game 4 of the NLDS in 2021 and a nightmare outing in the Brewers’ Game 1 loss to the New York Mets last year in the wild-card round.
“I processed it after the season,” Ashby said of his outing against the Mets. “I tried not to think about it the next day. I was wanting back in there, wanting to fix what went wrong. And it wasn’t until the offseason that I was kind of able to process it.
“It sucks that it ended on that, but it doesn’t necessarily take away from the whole body of work.”
Ashby’s performance in Game 1 against the Cubs was a good step toward exorcising those demons, and getting the Brewers off on the right foot in Game 2 as the opener could be even bigger for him.
“It’s been a good feeling to contribute to this team, this bullpen,” he said. “I think that’s been one of my favorite things – not necessarily the high-leverage innings, but coming in and taking care of two-plus, three innings when the bullpen’s needed it.
“Being down there all year you know how important it is to have those innings covered. It feels good to take care of each other.”