Cain, Milwaukee’s Gold Glove Award-winning center fielder, and Williams, the 2020 National League Rookie of the Year, were the last of Milwaukee’s mainstays to make their 2021 Cactus League debuts during Saturday’s 4-1 win over the Reds at Goodyear Ballpark. Now it’s a sprint to the end of the exhibition season.
Cain played five innings in center field and went 1-for-3 with an RBI and two hard-hit ground balls. Williams touched 98 mph with his fastball, struck out Nick Castellanos with a series of his signature “Airbender” changeups, and he even snapped off a couple of sliders after Mike Moustakas extended the bottom of the fifth inning with a long battle.
Most importantly, both players came out of the game healthy.
“Physically, I felt strong,” said Williams, who was brought along slowly this spring after last year ended with a right shoulder injury. “It’s going to be more buildup from here, workload-wise. But physically, it felt really good.”
Said Cain: “I was a little shaky on my reads out there, a little shaky at the plate. But overall, it was definitely good to be out there and get some work in. … I’m expecting to be sore tomorrow.”
A week into last year’s pandemic-shortened regular season, Cain elected not to play the rest of the way over concerns about COVID-19 and a desire to reconnect with his faith. He expected to play extensively this spring, but early in camp, he strained his right quadriceps running the bases and was delayed by about three weeks. Along the way, the Brewers signed another Gold Glove Award-winning outfielder in Jackie Bradley Jr., who started in right field alongside Cain on Saturday.
In the first inning, Cain flipped the rosin bag behind his back as he departed the on-deck circle for the batter’s box, as is his custom. When Reds starter José De León struck Cain out swinging on a nice breaking ball, Cain saluted the right-hander.
His next two at-bats featured loud contact. In the third inning, Cain hit a sharp grounder that he thought was headed into right field before Reds second baseman Kyle Holder made a diving stop and threw Cain out. Two innings later, Cain hit a similarly well-struck ground ball the same way, and this time it got through for a run-scoring single.
“It was good to just make some solid contact in my first game back,” Cain said.
The first at-bat was just as telling as the next two. Cain admitted that he has some work to do to get comfortable with breaking balls.
“That’s the thing, just seeing offspeed again consistently,” Cain said. “The quad kind of set me back a little bit. I’ve been trying to see breaking balls off the machine as much as possible. Hopefully that gets me caught up as quick as possible. Hopefully I’m ready to go and prove that I can get the job done.”
“That’s the start of it, but it was really the perfect first day,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said.
Williams ‘plays with’ slider
Williams was on his way to a clean inning before Moustakas fouled off three two-strike changeups and eventually walked on the 10th pitch -- a slider, one of three that Williams threw Saturday. The next batter was Eugenio Suárez, who hung in there behind 0-and-2 in the count and hit a fastball for a booming double, which marked the Reds’ first run of the night, and pushed Williams over his pitch limit before the end of the inning.
Just like that, the Reds accomplished something -- scoring an earned run -- that no opponent did in Williams’ final 20 appearances of 2020 before he was sidelined by his right rotator cuff injury.
“[Moustakas] didn’t want to get out of the box, I guess,” Williams said. “It was a good test to see where I’m at. I probably wouldn’t typically throw that pitch that I ended up walking him on if it was the regular season. I was just out there trying to get my work in, so it is what it is.
“I threw three [sliders] today. I want to be able to play with it whenever I need it. It’s another weapon for me to go to when I get into a situation like that, when guys are just fouling off, fouling off.”
Williams said that he expects to pitch at least three more times before the end of the exhibition season.
“Just the way the ball came out of Devin’s hand makes us really happy,” Counsell said.
Last call
• Infielder Daniel Robertson tweaked a knee during Friday’s win over the D-backs and didn’t play as scheduled Saturday night against the Reds, though Counsell said that the club believed the issue was “nothing serious.” Robertson, positioned to make the team as a reserve infielder, is expected to be back in game action Monday at the Indians.
• Lefty Eric Lauer, optioned to the Triple-A roster this week, will follow Josh Lindblom in a "B" game against the Dodgers on Sunday. Lauer was bothered last year by a shoulder injury and was ineffective in his Cactus League appearances this spring.
“I think he threw the ball probably the best he has his last time out,” said Counsell, referring to Lauer’s 20-pitch inning in an intrasquad scrimmage Tuesday, “so there’s signs of improvement. Velocity was up. We’ve got to take some steps forward, but I think we are. The first couple didn’t go great. But he has been on the mound. He’s taken the ball. It didn’t go well at first. I’m still optimistic. It’s probably taken a little bit longer than we would have liked, but I’m still optimistic he’s on the right path.”
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