Milwaukee Brewers: Chase Anderson finally turning the corner?

For the first two months, Milwaukee Brewers ace Chase Anderson was not pitching like the ace we thought him to be. But he could be getting back into form after last night’s performance.

Coming into his start against the Chicago Cubs, Anderson had a 4.57 ERA through his first 12 starts. He had allowed at least one earned run in every start since Opening Day and 11 earned runs in his past three starts. Anderson has only made it through six innings once in his past six starts before this.

Last year, when Anderson truly broke out, he allowed only 14 homers all season. He’s already at 13 home runs allowed and it’s only June 13th. He’s been roughed up a lot early on this season.

But he would not allow that trend to continue on Tuesday night.

Anderson went seven strong innings, giving up only one hit; an infield dribbler that Travis Shaw wasn’t able to barehand. Virtually nothing was hit hard off of Anderson all night long. He struck out six and looked like his old self.

Chase Anderson’s stuff returned

Possibly the biggest reason for his success against the Cubs was the return of his fastball. He was able to hit 95-96 MPH on the radar gun after sitting more in the low 90s in his recent starts.

Finally healthy, Anderson can now return to the pitcher he was prior to his stomach bug. His entire four pitch mix was working well, and he stymied the Cubs’ hot bats. His pitches were moving like they should and he avoided barrels all night long.

Pitching Like an Ace

This was one the Milwaukee Brewers needed. The bullpen was gassed after a long game the night before and Craig Counsell needed a long start from Anderson, and he delivered. After Travis Shaw gave the Crew an early lead with his back-to-back two RBI doubles, Anderson made sure nothing else was needed.

This was the longest start by a Brewers pitcher since April, and Chase was able to give the big arms in that bullpen in Knebel, Hader, and Jeffress a day off as Taylor Williams and Jacob Barnes were able to close the game out.

Bottom line, Anderson stepped up when the team needed him to. Even though it’s still mid-June, this is a big win for the confidence that this team can beat the Cubs. They’re still 2-8 against them on the season, but this could carry momentum in the Brewers favor as they head into the rubber match and the rest of the year. It’s going to be down to the Brewers and the Cubs for the NL Central title and winning games like this are important.

The Milwaukee Brewers rotation has been effective enough to win games, but it hasn’t shown any reason to believe any of the starters can be trusted to win a playoff series. Chase Anderson just took a big step in changing that narrative.

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The Brewers will take on the Cubs this afternoon and hopefully will be able to win the rubber match and take the series.