MILWAUKEE BREWERS NOTES:

THIS AFTERNOON’S GAME: The Brewers open the 2023 season with a 3-game, 4-day road trip to Chicago-NL…..following this series, the team begins its home schedule with a 6-game, 7-day homestand against New York-NL (3g) and St. Louis (3g).

OPENING DAY ROSTER:
PITCHERS (13) – RH Corbin Burnes, RH Matt Bush, RH Javy Guerra, LH Eric Lauer, LH Wade Miley, LH Hoby Milner, RH Joel Payamps, RH Freddy Peralta, RH Peter Strzelecki, RH Gus Varland, RH Devin Williams, RH Bryse Wilson, RH Brandon Woodruff

CATCHERS (2) – Victor Caratini, William Contreras INFIELDERS (8) – Willy Adames, Brian Anderson, Mike Brosseau, Owen Miller, Rowdy Tellez, Brice Turang, Luis Urías, Luke Voit

OUTFIELDERS (3) – Garrett Mitchell, Jesse Winker, Christian Yelich IN THE TRAINER’S ROOM: RHP Jason Alexander (right rotator cuff), LHP Aaron Ashby (left labrum), RHP Adrian Houser (right groin), OF Tyrone Taylor (right elbow) and LHP Justin Wilson (left elbow) are on the injured list…..Alexander is on the 60-day IL.

THE NEW BREW: INF/OF Brian Anderson (free agent), C William Contreras (trade with ATL), RHP Javy Guerra (trade with TB), LHP Wade Miley (free agent), INF/OF Owen Miller (trade with CLE), RHP Joel Payamps (trade with OAK), RHP Gus Varland (Rule 5 Draft from LAD), 1B Luke Voit (free agent), RHP Bryse Wilson (trade with PIT) and OF Jesse Winker (trade with SEA).

GONE FROM 2022: RHP Brad Boxberger (CHC), C Mario Feliciano (DET), RHP Trevor Gott (SEA), RHP Jandel Gustave (ARI), RHP Trevor Kelley (TB), OF Andrew McCutchen (PIT), C Omar Narváez (NYM), RHP Luis Perdomo (Japan), INF/OF Jace Peterson (OAK), OF Hunter Renfroe (LAA), INF/OF Pablo Reyes (OAK), LHP Taylor Rogers (SF), OF Esteury Ruiz (OAK), LHP Brent Suter (COL), RHP Justin Topa (SEA) and 2B Kolten Wong (SEA).

NOTABLE OFFSEASON TRANSACTIONS: 11/18, acquired RHP Javy Guerra from Tampa Bay in exchange for a player to be named (RHP Victor Castaneda)…..11/22, acquired RHP Janson Junk, RHP Elvis Peguero and LHP Adam Seminaris from Los AngelesAL in exchange for OF Hunter Renfroe…..12/2, acquired OF Jesse Winker and INF Abraham Toro from Seattle in exchange for 2B Kolten Wong and cash….. 12/7, selected RHP Gus Varland from Los Angeles-NL in the first round of the Major League phase of the Rule 5 Draft…..12/12, acquired C William Contreras (ATL), RHP Joel Payamps (OAK) and RHP Justin Yeager (ATL) in a three-team trade with Atlanta and Oakland, sending OF Esteury Ruiz to Oakland…..12/14, acquired INF/OF Owen Miller from Cleveland in exchange for a player to be named or cash…..1/4, acquired RHP Bryse Wilson from Pittsburgh in exchange for cash…..1/9, signed LHP Wade Miley to a 1-year contract with a mutual option for 2024…..1/23, signed INF/OF Brian Anderson to a 1-year contract.

MANAGER: Craig Counsell – the longest-tenured active manager in the National League and third in the majors – is in his ninth season as Brewers manager (615-555) and eighth full season…..he has the most wins of any manager in franchise history…..his 1,170 games managed are second to Phil Garner (1,180)…..Counsell was named the 19th manager in franchise history on 5/4/15, replacing Ron Roenicke…..he is signed through the 2023 season.

COACHES: First base coach Quintin Berry (3rd season), hitting coach Connor Dawson (2nd season), bullpen coach Jim Henderson (2nd season), pitching coach Chris Hook (5th season), third base coach Jason Lane (8th season, 3rd as 3B coach), associate pitching, catching and strategy coach Walker McKinven (4th season), bench coach Pat Murphy (8th season) and hitting coach Ozzie Timmons (2nd season) all returned from the 2022 staff…..Néstor Corredor, who had previously been bullpen catcher (2021-22), is now a coach.

2022 IN REVIEW: The Brewers went 86-76 last season, missing the postseason for the first time since 2017…..the team was eliminated from NL Central contention on September 27 and eliminated from postseason contention on October 3, snapping their franchise-record four consecutive years of making the playoffs…..the team won at least 86 games for the fifth consecutive full season (since 2017), joining the Dodgers (since 2012), Astros (since 2017) and Yankees (since 2017) as the only teams to accomplish the feat during this stretch (does not include 2020).

TODAY’S STARTER: #39 – RHP CORBIN BURNES (33gs, 12-8, 2.94 in 2022)

BURNES AT A GLANCE: Corbin Burnes, 28, is making his second career Opening Day start…..he also started the opener last season on 4/7 at Wrigley Field and received no decision in a 5-4 loss (5ip, 4h, 3r, 3er, 3bb, 4k, 1hr)…..he went 12-8 with a 2.94 ERA in 33 starts last season, finishing seventh in NL Cy Young Award voting after winning the award in 2021…..Burnes was an All-Star for the second straight season and was named Brewers Most Valuable Pitcher for the second year in a row…..his career-high 243 strikeouts led the National League and ranked second in the majors behind the Yankees’ Gerrit Cole (257)…..he became the first pitcher in franchise history to lead his league in strikeouts…..he also ranked among the NL top five in starts (T1st, 33), AVG (2nd, .197), K/9IP (2nd, 10.83), H/9IP (2nd, 6.42), innings pitched (4th, 202.0), K/BB (4th, 4.76), quality starts (T4th, 21) and WHIP (5th, 0.97)…..the team went 20-13 in his starts…..Burnes was selected by Milwaukee in the fourth round of the 2016 First-Year Player Draft out of St. Mary’s (CA) College…..he is under club control through 2024.

CY BURNES: Burnes won the 2021 National League Cy Young Award after going 11-5 with a Major League-best 2.43 ERA in 28 starts…..he became the third pitcher in franchise history to win a Cy Young Award, joining Rollie Fingers (1981) and Pete Vuckovich (1982)…..he became the first pitcher in franchise history to lead his league in ERA.

CAREER: Is 35-19 with a 3.21 ERA in 135 games/74 starts (515.2ip, 184er)…..is in his sixth Major League season, all with the Brewers (2018-23)…..is 27-16 with a 2.93 ERA as a starter (433.2ip, 141er) and 8-3 with a 4.72 ERA in relief (82ip, 43er)…..Burnes is a two-time All-Star (2021-22) and was a 2021 All-MLB First Team selection.

CAREER AT AMERICAN FAMILY FIELD: Is 17-12 with a 3.47 ERA in 66 games/39 starts (272.2ip, 105er)…..went 7-4 with a 3.04 ERA in 18 starts last season (109.2ip, 37er).

CAREER ON THE ROAD: Is 18-7 with a 2.93 ERA in 69 games/35 starts (243ip, 79er)…..went 5-4 with a 2.83 ERA in 15 starts last season (92.1ip, 29er).

CAREER vs. CUBS: Is 2-2 with a 3.16 ERA in 14 games/8 starts (57ip, 20er), including 0-1 with a 2.37 ERA in 3 starts last season (19ip, 5er)…..Burnes has five 10+ strikeout performances over his last 6 starts against Chicago, including a career-high 15 on 8/11/21 at Wrigley Field…..he has gone 1-0 with a 2.63 ERA in 8 career games/3 starts at Wrigley Field (24ip, 7er).

CHICAGO CUBS NOTES:

NO. 148 BEGINS: The Chicago Cubs today begin their 148th National League campaign with the first of three games in four days against the Milwaukee Brewers … Chicago last season was 74-88, the team’s second-straight sub-.500 season (71-91 in 2021) following a run of six-straight winning campaigns from 2015-20.

© The Cubs open the season with 16 of their first 25 games through April 27 at Wrigley Field … of those first 25 tilts, just six are against their own division, the N.L. Central: this Brewers series is followed by a three-game set in Cincinnati, April 3-5 … in fact, after April 5 the Cubs play 29-straight games outside of the division until hosting the Cardinals for three games, May 8-10.

© What’s even more odd? … following the three-game set in Cincinnati, April 3-5, the team’s next road series against an opponent in its own division is not until June 19-21 for three games in Pittsburgh.

© Starting with an April 10 home game vs. the Mariners, Chicago will have a stretch in which 13 of 16 games through April 27 are against 2022 playoff teams (3 games vs. the Mariners, seven games in 10 days against the Dodgers and three games vs. the Padres).

OPENING DAY FACTS: The Cubs have an 80-65-2 all-time Opening Day record … Chicago is 49-40 when opening the season on the road and 31-25-2 when opening at home (includes the 2000 opener in Japan) … the Cubs are 24-24-1 in season openers played at Wrigley Field.

© The Cubs are opening a season against the Brewers for the second-straight season (5-4 win last year) and for the fourth time ever, with Milwaukee winning two of the first three … March 31, 2008, the Cubs fell to the Brewers, 4-3, in 10 innings … July 24, 2020, the Cubs beat the Brewers, 3-0, in the opener that was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

© The Cubs will be opening the season at Wrigley Field for the fourth-consecutive season (2020 vs. Milwaukee, 2021 vs. Pittsburgh, 2022 vs. Milwaukee).

IT’S EARLY: The Cubs today will play just their 13th game in March in franchise history and first since going 1-2 to open the 2019 season in Texas … this will be the earliest home game (and Wrigley Field game) in franchise history … the only other time the Cubs played at home in March was March 31, 2008, against the Brewers, a 4-3 loss in 10 innings at Wrigley Field … (note that the Cubs were the “home team” for the 2000 season opener against the Mets in Japan on March 29, 2000 – but that certainly was not a home game).

© Chicago is 5-7 in March but has outscored (77-61), out-hit (123-101) and outhomered (17-13) the opposition in those 12 games … the team has scored in double digits in three of the last four March games.

FIRST-TIMERS CLUB: Four Cubs have made their first career Opening Day rosters: Javier Assad, Mark Leiter Jr., Miles Mastrobuoni and Hayden Wesneski.

ROSSY AT THE HELM: David Ross today begins his fourth season as manager of the Cubs after he was named the 55th manager in franchise history, October 24, 2019, replacing Joe Maddon … this is Ross’ 26th professional baseball season … he played 15 major league seasons as a catcher, including his final two with Chicago (2015-16) … is a two-time World Series champ with Boston (in 2013) and Chicago (2016).

© Ross in 2020 led the Cubs to the N.L. Central Division title … the 2021 club was 71-91, a season in which Chicago utilized a MLB single-season record 69 players, and last year went 74-88.

THIS AND THAT: With Marcus Stroman making the Opening Day start and Yan Gomes getting the start behind the dish, this marks the first time both the pitcher and catcher are making their first Opening Day starts for the team since 2016 when Jake Arrieta (P) and Miguel Montero (C) did so.

© With Trey Mancini making today’s start at DH, the Cubs will be using their fifth designated hitter in five Opening Days … the other four: Jorge Soler (at the Angels in 2016), Ben Zobrist (at the Rangers in 2019), Victor Caratini (vs. the Brewers in 2020) and Rafael Ortega (vs. the Brewers 2022).

© Ian Happ will be making his fifth Opening Day start and becomes the 80th player in Cubs history with at least five Opening Day starts … he is 5-for-15 (.333) with two doubles, two homers and five RBI in his first four Opening Day starts … on Opening Day 2018, he hit the very first pitch of the major league season for a homer off Miami’s Jose Ureña.

‘STRO SHOW: Marcus Stroman today makes his third career Opening Day start as he earned the win for Toronto in 2016 at Tampa Bay (8.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R/ER, 1 BB, 5 SO) and garnered a no-decision for the Blue Jays in 2019 vs. Detroit (7.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R/ER, 4 BB, 7 SO).

SUMMARIZING THE SPRING: The Cubs finished Spring Training with a 17-12-2 record, the third-best Cactus League mark behind the Angels (18-11-2) and Royals (19-13-1) … Cubs pitching recorded a 3.90 ERA (117 ER/270.0 IP), the lowest mark in the Cactus League and second-best in the majors behind Houston (3.30) … Chicago batted .241 (243-for-1,009) with 35 home runs and a .729 OPS.

JUST A MATTER OF TIME: Just two of Chicago’s 31 spring games went over three hours: the team’s opener, Feb. 25 vs. the Giants (3:06) and March 25’s game at the Angels (3:07) … the team’s quickest game this spring was the next day, March 26, a tidy 1-hour, 57-minute contest vs. the Royals.

0 RHP Marcus Stroman (0-0, 0.00)

W-L % ERA G GS GF CG SHO SV IP H R ER HR BB IBB SO HBP
2022 – Cubs 6-7 .462 3.50 25 25 0 0 0 0 138.2 123 61 54 16 36 0 119 4
2023 – Cubs (Spring Training) 2-0 1.000 0.90 3 3 0 0 0 0 10.0 9 2 1 0 3 0 10 0
Major League Totals 67-67 .500 3.62 204 198 1 3 1 1 1167.0 1137 523 469 111 324 5 972 28

Last Time Out
Marcus tossed 5.2 innings, allowing one unearned run, March 24 in a Spring Training
tuneup vs. Texas … walked one and struck out five, allowing five hits.
Date Opp. Result IP H R ER BB SO PC-S Left
3/24 TEX W, 5-3 5.2 5 1 0 1 5 — —

2023 Spring Training Notes
In Spring Training with the Cubs, Marcus made two high quality starts, and finished the Cactus League season with a 2-0 record and a 0.90 ERA (1 ER/10.0 IP), while recording 10 strikeouts.

© Made two starts for Team Puerto Rico in the 2023 World Baseball Classic, posting a 3.00 ERA (3 ER/9.0 IP).

Career Notes
Marcus is in his ninth major league season since debuting in 2014 with Toronto … signed a three-year contract with the Cubs on December 1, 2021.

© Marcus is 67-67 with a 3.62 ERA (469 ER/1,167.0 IP) in 204 career games, all but six as a starter, with the Blue Jays (2014-19), Mets (2019, 2021) and Cubs (2022).

© Has made 30-or-more starts in four of the five full seasons since 2016, tied for the second-most such campaigns in the majors.

© Since making his big league debut with Toronto in 2014, his 0.86 home runs allowed per 9.0 innings are fourth-lowest among all pitchers with at least 190 starts in that span.

© His 57.4-percent ground ball rate ranks second-highest since the start of 2014, surpassed by Dallas Keuchel (59.1).

© Started two series-clinching wins for the Blue Jays in the postseason … started Game 5 of the 2015 ALDS vs. Texas and the 2016 A.L. Wild Card game … delivered a quality start in both games to help Toronto advance.

© Earned 2017 World Baseball Classic MVP honors, posting a 1-1 record with a 2.35 ERA (4 ER/15.1 IP) for Team USA … took a no-hitter into the seventh inning of the championship game, an 8-0 victory over Puerto Rico.

© His work in the final game earned him the USABA International Performance of the Year Award.

© Selected by Toronto in the first round (22nd overall) of the 2012 Draft out of Duke University. Became Duke’s first ever first-round selection in the MLB Draft.