It took Brewers pitcher Jake Cousins 43 minutes to complete a strikeout Saturday against the Reds
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CINCINNATI – As a rookie, Jake Cousins has experienced plenty of firsts coming out of the bullpen for the Milwaukee Brewers.
But he’d never encountered a situation – at any level – like the one that faced him Saturday at Great American Ball Park.
The right-hander entered the game in the seventh, recorded the first two Cincinnati Reds batters he faced and then threw a first-pitch strike to the third batter, Tucker Barnhart, before the skies opened up and the umpires called for the tarp.
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A 43-minute rain delay followed.
Once play resumed, it was Cousins back out on the mound and he made short work of Barnhart, striking him out with only two more pitches to complete a weird but scoreless appearance.
“It was definitely unique,” Cousins said Sunday, before the Brewers completed their series sweep. “I’ve never done that before, so I walked in and talked to a bunch of guys and said, ‘I’ve never been in this position before, so what should I do?’
“I biked a little bit a little bit, sat around a little bit, threw a little bit, sat on the heating pad a little bit. But (pitching coach Chris) Hook said, ‘You’ve got Barnhart. He’s your guy.’
“But going back out there, being under the lights was enough to get it all going again.”
Because of the delay, the Brewers weren’t required to bring Cousins back to fulfill the three-batter minimum requirement.
Cousins, meanwhile, was so locked in that the possibility he might not have to go back out there hadn’t even dawned on him.
“Oh, is that the rule? I had no idea,” said Cousins. “Oh yeah, I guess the three-batter rule – I didn’t think about that.”
The Brewers went on to win, 7-4, in 11 innings.
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By retiring the side in order, Cousins has limited opposing hitters to 1 hit in 33 at-bats (.030) over 10 appearances since joining the Brewers on June 21. He’s also struck out 18 in 11⅓ innings while throwing his slider 59.8% of the time and a sinker that averages 96.1 mph.
“It’s been awesome,” said Cousins. “I’ve been pitching well, but every time you go out there it’s a clean slate and the prior statistics don’t really matter. I’ll just try to keep doing what I’m doing, take every day for what it is and keep it rolling.”
Cousins is also receiving more opportunities to pitch in high-leverage situations, a role that could expand in upcoming games with setup man Devin Williams on the injured list and Brad Boxberger’s availability uncertain after he left Saturday’s game mid-inning with a sore shoulder.
“It’s fun,” Cousins said. “Throwing in the big leagues, that’s fun in itself. But throwing in bigger situations also adds on. But they’ve prepared me for it I’ve been doing it all through the minors and getting here, they’ve gradually put me in bigger situations.
“Whatever I can do to help the team get wins is what I’m here for, so whatever that entails I’m ready for.”
Ethan Small sidelined
Left-hander Ethan Small, the organization’s top pitching prospect, was placed on the injured list at Class AAA Nashville with a strained tendon in his left middle finger.
Farm director Tom Flanagan said Small had been dealing with the issue for a bit and then aggravated it during his appearance in the Futures Game last Sunday in Denver.
Small is expected to miss a few weeks with the injury and then will need time to build back up once he’s cleared. In seven starts split between Nashville and Class AA Biloxi this season, Small is 3-2 with a 1.77 ERA and WHIP of 1.21 while striking out 73 batters in 56 innings.
Also, catcher Mario Feliciano – the organization’s top catching prospect – is expected to begin a rehab assignment Monday in the Arizona Complex League after missing nearly two months with a right shoulder impingement.
Feliciano was hitting .114 with a homer and three RBI in 12 games with Nashville before being injured. He made his major-league debut with the Brewers on May 1 and scored the winning run against the Los Angeles Dodgers after walking as a pinch-hitter in his lone plate appearance.
Catching runners is tag-team event
Brewers catchers Omar Narváez and Manny Piña have done a good job of controlling the running game of opponents, nabbing 27.5% (14 of 51) and 30.4% (7 of 23) of those attempting steals, respectively, entering Sunday.
But helping them on the other end have been middle infielders Willy Adames and Kolten Wong (when healthy) with their slick tagging skills.
Such was the case Friday night in the sixth inning when Narváez nabbed Cincinnati’s Shogo Akiyama on a steal attempt of second with the Brewers holding a 6-5 lead at the time. Adames made a lightning-quick tag to get Akiyama just before he touched the base, helping Cousins record a key out.
“The art of tagging, especially in this world of replay, (Chicago’s) Javy Báez has probably been the famous guy for this,” Counsell said. “His skills have taught other infielders about the best way to make tags and how important tagging is. It’s become more important in the replay world.
“Willy made a great tag (Friday) night. A lot of tagging is letting the ball travel to the runner as much as you can. The ball is going faster than you can move your arm to tag a guy. Willy let that ball travel yesterday so the ball kind of tagged him as the throw got there.
“That’s an important part at being good at that. We have middle infielders that have that ability and it definitely can be described as a little thing that makes a difference. It can get you an out.”
As for how quick Narváez has been getting throws off, Counell said, “It’s funny. You know, we want the guys to be as fast as they can, but at the same time I think sometimes players become fast when they’re smooth. When they’re smooth, the game kind of speeds them up to that right level.
“The thing about Omar is that looked really fast (Friday), but to me it looked smooth. When Omar is smooth, he tends to make really great transfers and great throws, and that’s what he did.”
He’s a raptor, not a vulture
When reliever Brent Suter enters a game with the Brewers trailing or tied, he seems to be a good-luck charm for the team’s offense, which is why he leads the club with nine victories. Such was the case Friday night in the comeback 11-6 victory over the Reds.
Suter entered the game in the bottom of the fifth with the Brewers trailing, 4-3. Cincinnati scored an unearned run off him to go up by two, but the Brewers rallied for three runs in the sixth to jump on top and never relinquished the lead, giving Suter the victory.
“You know what’s been done to the win,” Counsell said. “It’s a little arbitrary, for sure, the statistic, especially when it goes to relievers. It just means there’s a lot of scoring around Brent’s appearances; that’s what it’s meant.
“It’s probably good for us. There’s a lot of wins there. We’ve scored a lot when he pitches. I don’t know if he’s a good cheerleader when he comes in the dugout, or if it’s something around. Or if he inspires our offense? I’m not sure.”
One thing Counsell is sure of is that Suter does not like the old-school description of relievers who pick up victories in such a manner: a vulture.
Call him a raptor – his longtime nickname – but not a vulture.
“Brent doesn’t want to be called a vulture,” Counsell said. “He told me that. He doesn’t like that term. We were actually debating it. There’s terms associated with the wins he’s collected. He mentioned the word vulture and he doesn’t want to be referred to as a vulture.
“I don’t know if it has to do with ‘the Raptor’ or not, but he does not like that connotation.”
Said Suter: “It’s weird. More of a credit to the offense. I’ve definitely vultured a win or two in there. Those you don’t feel so good about. But otherwise, just coming in and doing the job. But otherwise, just coming in, doing the job, having the offense pick us up – I guess we’ll take those wins any day of the week.
“Some people already are (calling me vulture) and I’m like, ‘No, stop it!’ “
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: It took Brewers pitcher Jake Cousins 43 minutes to complete a strikeout Saturday against the Reds