Brewers' rotation depth to be tested in second half

PHILADELPHIA -- Though the Brewers' bats went quiet in the club's 4-3 loss to the Phillies on Tuesday night at Citizens Bank Park, the theme of the evening for Milwaukee was unquestionably its pitching.

Sure, the Brewers' top five hitters went 0-for-20 as their four-game winning streak came to an end, but much of the talk both before and after the series opener in Philadelphia revolved around the pitching staff.

Some of it -- prospect Abner Uribe flashing his elite stuff and Brandon Woodruff taking a major step in his rehab -- was good. Some of it -- Julio Teheran struggling for a third straight outing and Wade Miley's left elbow injury -- was not.

Let's dive a bit deeper on each of those topics.

Teheran stumbles early

The starter put up a 1.53 ERA over his first six outings with the Brewers, allowing just six earned runs over 35 1/3 innings. Yet in Teheran’s three starts since, he has posted a 9.37 ERA, having allowed 17 earned runs in 16 1/3 innings.

Teheran gave up a home run to Kyle Schwarber on his first pitch of Tuesday's game en route to allowing four runs over 4 2/3 innings -- Teheran's shortest start as a Brewer.

“The last three outings have obviously been different from the six previous, but that’s part of the game,” Teheran said. “[Opponents are] watching me the same way I’m watching them. They’re getting to know what’s been working for me. … Now that they’ve made an adjustment, I’m the one who has to make adjustments.”

Eleven of the 18 balls put in play against Teheran had an exit velocity of at least 90 mph. He's allowed 39 such batted balls over his past three outings (an average of 13 per start) after allowing an average of just eight over his first six appearances.

“Just not quite as many executed pitches,” manager Craig Counsell said. “If you leave some pitches in the middle, the league is going to do damage with them.”

Uribe sets Crew record

Uribe first found his way onto everyone's radar due to, well, his radar readings. It's no secret the 23-year-old righty has an electric fastball -- and it was on full display against the Phillies.

Uribe’s 102.2 mph four-seam fastball on a 1-2 count to two-time MVP Bryce Harper in the seventh inning was by far the fastest pitch thrown by any Brewers pitcher in the pitch-tracking era (since 2008). The previous record was a 100.9 mph offering by Neftalí Feliz in 2017.

Harper fouled off the record-setting pitch, but Uribe struck him out one pitch later on a nasty slider. Getting production from that slider -- one that Uribe used to also strike out Trea Turner in the sixth -- is an encouraging sign.

“He went through the middle of their lineup, did a nice job -- that’s a confidence builder,” Counsell said. “He’s going to need both those pitches, for sure, so it was a good outing for him.”

Woodruff ready for big step

While the Brewers' rotation has shown its depth this season, it would certainly welcome the return of Woodruff. There finally seems to be a timeline for when that might happen with Woodruff expected to begin a rehab assignment on Saturday.

"It's a good step," Counsell said. " ... He's raring to go and we're ready to start game action."

Woodruff still has plenty of boxes to check, including stretching back out after not pitching for more than three months. With that in mind, Counsell said the team has mapped out Woodruff’s rehab schedule to include five starts, though it could be as few as three -- which would put Woodruff back in early August.

Rotation plan without Miley

Milwaukee’s rotation took another hit on Monday when the club abruptly placed Miley -- originally scheduled to start Wednesday’s game -- on the injured list to left elbow discomfort.

Fortunately for the Brewers, they have Colin Rea, who has made 15 starts this season, to slot into Miley’s spot for the time being. That rotation depth has afforded Milwaukee the luxury of doing things like giving Corbin Burnes an extra day of rest before 15 of his 19 outings this season.

But with the injuries piling up, the Brewers will need guys like Teheran and Rea to step up over the next few weeks.

“I feel like we've done as good as we can here, and now, when we have an injury and we're down to five starters, these guys are going to have to go,” Counsell said. “But the depth we have, we've managed around it so far and it's worked out pretty well.”