The Milwaukee Brewers picked up their second straight win on Tuesday and aim to make it three in a row—and their first series victory in over a week—on Wednesday evening at home versus the Diamondbacks.
Yesterday, Chad Patrick battled wildness (and vision problems and vomiting, apparently) but allowed just two earned runs in five innings, and the Brewer offense broke through for a massive, Brewersy sixth inning that was the backbone of a 13-2 victory. Tonight, Milwaukee sends Brandon Sproat to the mound to face the veteran lefty Eduardo Rodriguez.
Before we get to the pitching matchup, though, there are a couple of roster notes to cover. We’ll start with the good news: Jackson Chourio and Andrew Vaughn were both officially sent to Triple-A Nashville to begin rehab assignments. They’re expected to be available to the Brewers on Monday for the beginning of next week’s series in St. Louis.
The not-as-good news is in relation to lefty Ángel Zerpa, who looked good with Team Venezuela during the World Baseball Classic but has had a rough start to the 2026 season. It turns out there could be a reason for that. Zerpa has been sent to the 15-day IL with what is being called “left forearm tightness,” which is not what you want to hear when it comes to pitchers. Even more troublingly, Pat Murphy’s concern level appears high:
It sounds like the best-case scenario that Brewers fans should hope for for now is that Zerpa does not require elbow surgery. Best wishes to him in his recovery, and we’ll hope to hear from a healthier Zerpa again before the season is over.
To replace Zerpa on the roster, the Brewers have called up another lefty, Brian Fitzpatrick. Drafted in the tenth round in 2022 out of Rutgers, Fitzpatrick will be making his major-league debut whenever he first appears in a game with the Brewers. Fitzpatrick is not really considered a prospect—he turns 26 on June 1st and did not appear on FanGraphs 53-man list of top Brewers prospects. But he’s off to an excellent start at Triple-A Nashville this season, and has not allowed an earned run in 10 1/3 appearances. Fitzpatrick was primarily a starter until midway through the 2024 season, but he’s been pitching out of the bullpen since. Last season, he earned a 1.82 ERA in 23 appearances (34 2/3 innings) for Double-A Biloxi, but had a hard time in 13 appearances after a promotion to Nashville. Things have been much smoother this season, and we’ll se how things go whenever he gets a shot.
Pitching tonight for the Brewers is Brandon Sproat, who has showcased enticing stuff even when he’s been bad this season. Sproat is still rocking a less-than-desirable 6.45 ERA, but his last two starts have been encouraging; on April 16th against Toronto, he had one of the best Brewers starts of the season when he allowed one run and walked only one batter in a 2-1 victory, and he followed that up by allowing three runs in 5 1/3 innings (while walking two) in a duel with Tarik Skubal in Detroit on Thursday. Sproat walked as many batters in each of his first three outings as he did in his last two combined, so keeping those walks down seems like a big key to his success.
For Arizona, Eduardo Rodríguez got off to an incredible start but has not been as good in his last two outings. The 33-year-old lefty began the season by allowing just one earned run across his first three starts (which spanned 18 innings), but he’s allowed four runs in five innings each of his last two times out (in games against the Orioles and White Sox). Rodríguez is in his 11th season as a big leaguer, has thrown over 1300 innings, and is closing in on his 100th career win (he enters the night with 96); I know that wins don’t matter, but it’s hard to rack up 100 wins in modern baseball, and it is a testament to his durability and longevity.
With the left-handed starter tonight, the Brewers send out their “yikes” outfield of Brandon Lockridge, Greg Jones, and Blake Perkins, and with Joey Ortiz in at shortstop, runs may be hard to come by. Luis Rengifo is starting at third base, with William Contreras behind the plate and Gary Sánchez at DH. Brice Turang and Jake Bauers round out the starting nine. Of note in the Diamondbacks’ lineup is the presence of Ildemaro Vargas, who last night extended his hitting streak to 21 games (24 if you count the end of last season).
First pitch tonight is at 6:40 p.m. on Brewers TV and the Brewers Radio Network.