National League Central division leader Milwaukee Brewers travel to Windy City for a four-game series against the Chicago Cubs, beginning this Monday. Who takes Game 1? Check out our preview below of this Brewers vs. Cubs 2022 MLB season game.
The Brewers snapped a two-game losing skid in the St. Louis Cardinals series and scored an 8-0 win on the road Sunday night on the strength of a fantastic pitching performance by Corbin Burnes, who pitched seven scoreless innings and struck out 11 Cardinals hitters. That’s going to be a tough act to follow for Milwaukee’s starter in the series opener against Chicago, Ethan Small. The 25-year-old lefty has just been called up from the minors and will be making his major league debut in this contest. At Triple AAA this year, Small has made a big impact on the mound, posting a 3-1 record and a 1.88 ERA across eight starts for the Nashville Sounds. Behind Small will be the Brewers’ offense that is eighth in the majors in runs (218) and third in home runs (64).
The Brewers are 8-2 in their last 10 Game 1s of a series.
The Cubs are not having a very enjoyable season, as they are way below .500 thus far. And they have also lost three of their past four games, including a 5-4 defeat in extra innings on the road against the Chicago White Sox Sunday. But fresh faces could propel Chicago to a strong performance this Monday. The Cubs have promoted outfield prospect Nelson Velazquez, who will be making his major league debut in the series opener versus Milwaukee. That’s also the case with Cubs starter Matthew Swarmer, who’ll get his first taste of big-league action in this upcoming game. Swarmer recorded “ 2.08 ERA on a 27.3% K rate, 9.1% BB rate, a 0.69 HR/9, and a .165 batting average against” across 30.0 AAA inning this year, according to Bleacher Nation.
The Cubs are 6-0 in their last 6 games on a Monday.
