The Brewers' New Longest Tenured Rivals

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Brewers On Deck Circle

Last week new Cubs manager Craig Counsell announced that longtime Chicago starting pitcher Kyle Hendricks, two-time recipient of Cy Young votes and one of the longest-tenured active pitchers in Major League Baseball, was losing his spot in the rotation and moving to the bullpen. Hendricks has allowed an MLB-leading 38 earned runs across eight appearances this season for a 10.47 earned run average. He pitched out of the bullpen on Thursday for the first time since 2016.

Hendricks has spent his entire 11-year MLB career with the Brewers’ division rivals and has started against them 34 times, tied for the ninth-most of any opposing pitcher in the Brewers’ five-plus decades of franchise history. If he is nearing the end of the road, he’ll follow a recent trend of departures from the game for some of the Brewers’ longest-tenured rivals:

  • Longtime Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright made 48 starts against Milwaukee across his nearly 20 MLB seasons, the second-most of any opposing pitcher in Brewers history. He made his final pitching appearance against the Brewers last September before retiring.
  • Longtime Reds first baseman Joey Votto has batted against the Brewers 960 times, the most of any opponent in franchise history. About 11% of his career appearances have come in Brewers games, as have about 12% of his home runs. Votto has not technically retired but was a free agent all winter and through most of spring training before signing a minor league contract with the Blue Jays and has not yet been called up to the majors.

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These long histories with opposing players almost certainly matter more to the fans than to the players or teams themselves: Only one current pitcher (Brandon Woodruff) was with the team when Votto, for example, hit 16 home runs against the Brewers over a three-year span from 2015-17. Nonetheless, these long-tenured rivals are a significant piece of the fan experience. Along with Hendricks, here are some of the active opposing players that Brewers fans have had the most opportunities to get to know over the years:

Andrew McCutchen

The 2013 National League Most Valuable Player, Andrew McCutchen has logged over 2000 games across 16 MLB seasons but most of those have come with the Pirates, where he played from 2009-17 and has had a remarkable stretch in a second stop from 2023 to present (after it looked like he might be done as a big leaguer). Over his career he’s played in 174 games against the Brewers and come to the plate 753 times, the 18th most of any opposing batter in franchise history. He’s a career .278 hitter with a .349 on-base and .524 slugging against the Brewers, an .883 OPS that is 50 points higher than his overall career mark.

McCutchen is also the all-time leader in plate appearances against the Brewers by a player who also played for the Brewers. He’s batted against the Crew 29 more times than 2013-15 Brewer Aramis Ramirez and 41 more than 1997 Brewer Julio Franco.

Johnny Cueto

A three-time recipient of Cy Young votes, 16-year MLB pitcher Johnny Cueto spent the biggest chunk of his career with the Reds (his debut in 2008 through 2015) but has also pitched in the majors with the Royals, Giants, White Sox and Marlins. He’s faced the Brewers at least once in 13 of those seasons, including a single time as a Marlin in 2023. He’s started 24 games against Milwaukee and logged 152 innings as an opponent.

It could have been the end of the road for Cueto after a 6.02 ERA in 13 appearances for Miami in 2023, but it looks like he’s got at least one more run in him. He signed a minor league deal with the Rangers in late April and has been building up for a return to the majors. If he gets back to the majors with the Rangers and sticks there, then he could face the Brewers again when they visit American Family Field in late June.

Aroldis Chapman

Known as “The Cuban Missile,” Chapman started his career as one of the game’s most interesting curiosities and has spent much of his career as the owner of the fastest recorded pitch in MLB history. His career is much more than that curiosity, however, as he’s pitched in over 750 games and recorded 322 saves, the 21st most in MLB history. Chapman has pitched for six MLB teams, but he’s faced the Brewers 47 times across those stops, the fifth-most of any opposing pitcher. He has 21 saves and a 1.22 ERA against Milwaukee. 

Chapman actually entered the season with even better numbers against the Brewers, but they got to him for three runs across their two meetings in April. Chapman has walked more than a batter per inning this season and 52 of the first 77 batters he has faced have either struck out, walked or homered.