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The Milwaukee Brewers will see a familiar face when the Houston Astros roll into town.
Closer Josh Hader has entered the second year of his five-year, $95 million contract with Houston, and he's been filthy as always this year, with a 1.80 ERA in 13 games and eight saves.
Hader has struck out 20 batters in 15 innings, with a mere three walks and nine hits allowed. He did just allow his first homer of the year in his last outing, April 29, a two-run shot by Detroit's Gleyber Torres. But that was with two outs and Houston owning a 6-2 lead; the Astros won, 6-4. The Astros have won all 13 games in which Hader has appeared.
Three other former Brewers — utility man Mauricio Dubón, backup catcher Victor Caratini and reliever Bennett Sousa — are with the Astros this season, too.
How have former Brewers fared during the first month of the 2025 Major League Baseball season? Let's check in:
The 2021 Cy Young Award winner will miss his next start due to right-shoulder inflammation. For now, Arizona hopes Burnes can avoid a trip to the injured list.
Burnes, who signed a six-year contract worth $210 million before the season, has struggled, with a 1.378 WHIP that's much higher than any he's had since his career rebirth following 2019 in Milwaukee.
In six starts this year, he has a 3.58 ERA and has allowed five homers, with 28 strikeouts in 32 innings. Arizona is 3-3 in Burnes' starts, including a win over Milwaukee on April 12, despite scoring 5.8 runs per game in those outings.
Adames, in his first year of a seven-year deal with the Giants worth $182 million, had a breakthrough May 4 when he hit two homers and drove in three runs for victorious San Francisco, one of the best teams in baseball, at 22-13.
Adames has also struggled compared with his Brewers career, posting a .675 OPS and four homers in 135 at-bats, with 18 RBIs and a .312 on-base percentage. He has played in all 35 games. Statcast regards his defense as one of the worst in baseball among qualified players.
After back-to-back brutal outings in late April, Williams was removed from the closer's role in New York, but he's had three strong outings since, allowing just one walk and facing the minimum in three complete innings of work. He's needed only 34 pitches to negotiate those three innings, too.
The overall numbers (8.18 ERA, 1.818 WHIP) will continue to look unimpressive for a while. Traded to the Yankees in the offseason for the deal that brought back Nestor Cortes and Caleb Durbin, Williams is still on track to become a free agent this offseason.
Smith never pitched with the Brewers, but he's one of the more intriguing storylines of the early season after the Brewers exposed him to the Rule 5 draft and the White Sox made him the first overall pick.
Smith gave up three runs (one earned) in five innings against his former team April 30 in a Brewers victory, and the Sox have lost five of Smith's six starts. But that's not Smith's fault; Chicago has scored a grand total of 14 runs in those six games.
Armed with a new changeup, Smith has been mostly excellent, posting a 2.23 ERA in his 32 innings and a 1.082 WHIP. He has 26 strikeouts.
Suter's impressive career rolls on. At age 35, in his second year with the Reds, he's appeared in 10 games and has a 2.30 ERA and 0.830 WHIP in nearly 16 innings. He's walked just two batters.
Tellez has a .660 OPS with the Mariners, with four homers and 14 RBIs over 74 plate appearances. He's reaching base a .257 clip.
Bad news for those who love to hate Winker; he's still playing well. After playing a big role in the Mets' defeat of the Brewers during last year's playoffs, he has a 111 OPS-plus and a .738 OPS with a homer, five doubles and two triples (already matching a career high).
Taylor continues to be productive, although his OPS has dipped to .647 and he has just one homer in 96 plate appearances. But he's the center fielder for a first-place Mets team (22-13) and is still just 31.
A key component of the 2023 Brewers as a trade-deadline acquisition, Santana, 39, is having a rough start at the plate with a .632 OPS, but he still plays reliable defense at first base.
What has gotten into Grisham? A reliable center field defender, Grisham is having an absolute breakout at age 28, with a .979 OPS in 91 plate appearances, including eight homers (his career-best for a season is 17), 15 RBIs and a .374 on-base percentage.
He's forced his way into more playing time and is outperforming Juan Soto, the player with whom Grisham was traded from San Diego to New York.
Soto plays for the Mets now, but Grisham is a gift that stayed behind. The former Brewers first-round draft pick started his career in Milwaukee in 2019.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: How are former Brewers like Hader, Adames, Burnes, Williams faring?
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Closer Josh Hader has entered the second year of his five-year, $95 million contract with Houston, and he's been filthy as always this year, with a 1.80 ERA in 13 games and eight saves.
Hader has struck out 20 batters in 15 innings, with a mere three walks and nine hits allowed. He did just allow his first homer of the year in his last outing, April 29, a two-run shot by Detroit's Gleyber Torres. But that was with two outs and Houston owning a 6-2 lead; the Astros won, 6-4. The Astros have won all 13 games in which Hader has appeared.
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Three other former Brewers — utility man Mauricio Dubón, backup catcher Victor Caratini and reliever Bennett Sousa — are with the Astros this season, too.
How have former Brewers fared during the first month of the 2025 Major League Baseball season? Let's check in:
Corbin Burnes, Arizona Diamondbacks
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The 2021 Cy Young Award winner will miss his next start due to right-shoulder inflammation. For now, Arizona hopes Burnes can avoid a trip to the injured list.
Burnes, who signed a six-year contract worth $210 million before the season, has struggled, with a 1.378 WHIP that's much higher than any he's had since his career rebirth following 2019 in Milwaukee.
In six starts this year, he has a 3.58 ERA and has allowed five homers, with 28 strikeouts in 32 innings. Arizona is 3-3 in Burnes' starts, including a win over Milwaukee on April 12, despite scoring 5.8 runs per game in those outings.
Willy Adames, San Francisco Giants
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Adames, in his first year of a seven-year deal with the Giants worth $182 million, had a breakthrough May 4 when he hit two homers and drove in three runs for victorious San Francisco, one of the best teams in baseball, at 22-13.
Adames has also struggled compared with his Brewers career, posting a .675 OPS and four homers in 135 at-bats, with 18 RBIs and a .312 on-base percentage. He has played in all 35 games. Statcast regards his defense as one of the worst in baseball among qualified players.
Devin Williams, New York Yankees
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After back-to-back brutal outings in late April, Williams was removed from the closer's role in New York, but he's had three strong outings since, allowing just one walk and facing the minimum in three complete innings of work. He's needed only 34 pitches to negotiate those three innings, too.
The overall numbers (8.18 ERA, 1.818 WHIP) will continue to look unimpressive for a while. Traded to the Yankees in the offseason for the deal that brought back Nestor Cortes and Caleb Durbin, Williams is still on track to become a free agent this offseason.
Shane Smith, Chicago White Sox
Smith never pitched with the Brewers, but he's one of the more intriguing storylines of the early season after the Brewers exposed him to the Rule 5 draft and the White Sox made him the first overall pick.
Smith gave up three runs (one earned) in five innings against his former team April 30 in a Brewers victory, and the Sox have lost five of Smith's six starts. But that's not Smith's fault; Chicago has scored a grand total of 14 runs in those six games.
Armed with a new changeup, Smith has been mostly excellent, posting a 2.23 ERA in his 32 innings and a 1.082 WHIP. He has 26 strikeouts.
Brent Suter, Cincinnati Reds
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Suter's impressive career rolls on. At age 35, in his second year with the Reds, he's appeared in 10 games and has a 2.30 ERA and 0.830 WHIP in nearly 16 innings. He's walked just two batters.
Rowdy Tellez, Seattle Mariners
Tellez has a .660 OPS with the Mariners, with four homers and 14 RBIs over 74 plate appearances. He's reaching base a .257 clip.
Jesse Winker, New York Mets
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Bad news for those who love to hate Winker; he's still playing well. After playing a big role in the Mets' defeat of the Brewers during last year's playoffs, he has a 111 OPS-plus and a .738 OPS with a homer, five doubles and two triples (already matching a career high).
Tyrone Taylor, New York Mets
Taylor continues to be productive, although his OPS has dipped to .647 and he has just one homer in 96 plate appearances. But he's the center fielder for a first-place Mets team (22-13) and is still just 31.
Carlos Santana, Cleveland Guardians
A key component of the 2023 Brewers as a trade-deadline acquisition, Santana, 39, is having a rough start at the plate with a .632 OPS, but he still plays reliable defense at first base.
Trent Grisham, New York Yankees
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What has gotten into Grisham? A reliable center field defender, Grisham is having an absolute breakout at age 28, with a .979 OPS in 91 plate appearances, including eight homers (his career-best for a season is 17), 15 RBIs and a .374 on-base percentage.
He's forced his way into more playing time and is outperforming Juan Soto, the player with whom Grisham was traded from San Diego to New York.
Soto plays for the Mets now, but Grisham is a gift that stayed behind. The former Brewers first-round draft pick started his career in Milwaukee in 2019.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: How are former Brewers like Hader, Adames, Burnes, Williams faring?
Continue reading...
