Brewer Daily News for July 18th: Lottery pick, series against Marlins

Good morning everyone and welcome to the Thursday edition of Brewer Daily News. Yesterday, the Milwaukee Brewers, alongside five other MLB teams were given a first round pick in 2014’s Competitive Balance Lottery. In the second bit of news, the Brewers will take on the Miami Marlins tomorrow night for a three-game, weekend series at Miller Park.

Brewers’ general manager Doug Melvin (right) will look to be smart with the picks next year. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports

The Brewers, alongside the Rockies, Marlins, Indians, Orioles and Royals, will be receiving a first round pick for next year’s lottery draft. This season, the Competitive Balance Lottery was held for the first time and the Brewers will hopefully benefit from it next year.

What the lottery does is gives teams with not only the lowest revenues, but also those in the smallest markets, a chance to receive extra draft picks. In the first round for next year’s lottery, the Brewers have the sixth and last pick. This year, the Brewers used one of their picks to draft shortstop Tucker Neuhaus for the 2013 MLB Draft.

Tomorrow night, the Brewers will host a three game series with the Marlins. Heading into this first series after the All-Star break, the Marlins at a low 35-58 record and are many games out of first in the National League East.

Offense has been a problem for the Marlins as they rank last in every category across the board. Third baseman Placido Polanco leads the team in batting average at .251 while center fielder Justin Ruggiano leads in nearly every other stat aside from hits. The Fish did get slugger Giancarlo Stanton back in mid-June as he spent a good portion of the season on the disabled list.

Pitching wise, the Marlins have huddled around 20 year-old All-Star Jose Fernandez who has become the head of the rotation with Ricky Nolasco being traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers. In the bullpen, Steve Cishek has done a fine job as the closer, racking up 17 saves with an ERA of 3.24.

For the Brewers, they sit at 38-56, in last place of the NL Central. Offense hasn’t been much of a problem from an individual standpoint with the likes of Jean Segura, Carlos Gomez and Norichika Aoki, but as a whole the team has struggled with runners in scoring position.

The pitching has become decent as of late for the Brew Crew with some of the starters really turning it around from previous blow-ups this season. Bullpen wise, everything has remained solid, but the team may part ways with closer Francisco Rodriguez as the trade deadline approaches.

The projected pitching match-ups for the Marlins against the Brewers:

Friday: Jacob Turner (3-1, 2.33 ERA) vs Kyle Lohse (5-7, 3.67 ERA) at 8:10 p.m. ET / 7:10 p.m. CT

Saturday: Nathan Eovaldi (2-0, 2.93 ERA) vs Yovani Gallardo (7-8, 4.83 ERA) at 7:10 p.m. ET / 6:10 p.m. CT

Sunday: Henderson Alvarez (0-1, 4.58 ERA) vs Wily Peralta (7-9, 4.61 ERA) at 2:10 p.m. ET / 1:10 p.m. CT