Game Thread #38: Milwaukee Brewers (21-16) vs. New York Yankees (26-14)

Henderson will look to keep that going with his third big-league start of the season, and second since being recalled from Triple-A Nashville last week. Henderson was fantastic against the Nationals last Sunday: in six innings, he allowed only three hits, didn’t walk anyone, and struck out eight. Washington, though, managed two runs against Henderson, and the Brewers offense couldn’t muster much, and Henderson took a hard-luck loss in a 3-2 Nationals victory.

Rodón, who was an All-Star in 2025 and finished sixth in American League Cy Young voting, will be making his season debut after surgery in October to remove a bone spur from his pitching elbow. Rodón, who is 33, has been recovering deliberately; he made three rehab starts in the Yankees’ system, culminating with 6 1/3 innings on 85 pitches for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Tuesday. Last year, Rodón set career highs with 33 starts and 195 1/3 innings, and allowed just 6.1 hits per nine, which led the American League. He pitched to a 3.09 ERA and earned 4.6 bWAR, which was by far his best season since joining the Yankees in 2023. Rodón’s All-Star selection last year was the third of his career, after he made the game in back-to-back years in 2021 (with the White Sox) and 2022 (with the Giants). The Brewers, who of course struggle with lefties, will hope he’s still got some rust to shake off.

To counter the left-handed Rodón, the Brewers will start Gary Sánchez (at catcher, with William Contreras as the DH), and they’ve also got Blake Perkins starting in right field, giving Sal Frelick (and not Garrett Mitchell) the afternoon off. I know lefties have been a problem for the Brewers this season, but boy does it sure look nice to see Jackson Chourio and Andrew Vaughn back in there.

No “getaway day” lineup as far as the Yankees are concerned: their big hitters are all in the lineup, with just a couple of positional shuffles (Aaron Judge will serve as the designated hitter, Ben Rice is back at first base), the re-insertion of Ryan McMahon into the starting lineup, and a start for backup catcher J.C. Escarra.

First pitch this afternoon is at 1:10 p.m. on Brewers TV and the Brewers Radio Network.