Grandal thriving from right side of plate

ST. LOUIS -- Yasmani Grandal ’s two-run home run in the Brewers’ 5-2 win over the Cardinals on Saturday was his 27th this season, matching his career high. He’s not the first player to move to Milwaukee’s Miller Park and see a power surge, but there’s more to Grandal’s story than the ballpark.

A switch-hitter, he’s done more damage than ever this season from the right side of the plate. Some of that, Grandal said, is a matter of opportunity.

“Knowing I’m going to be in the lineup no matter what, whether there’s a lefty or righty on the mound, is huge,” Grandal said. “Being able to game plan for those days, whether it’s righty or lefty, and then being able to game plan throughout the year; what’s working, what’s not working, how they’re pitching to me, how my swing is. In the past, I couldn’t quite do that.”

Grandal slugged as a rookie right-handed hitter for the Padres in 2012, but in 2014, he slumped from that side of the plate and his opportunities diminished. In recent years with the Dodgers, many of Grandal’s right-handed at-bats came off the bench late in games against the toughest left-handers.

So, perhaps it is not surprising that his numbers as a right-handed hitter looked like this, entering Sunday:

2012: 59 PAs, 4 HRs, .971 OPS
2013: 51 PAs, 1 HR, .752 OPS
2014: 96 PAs, 0 HRs, .512 OPS
2015: 61 PAs, 1 HR, .794 OPS
2016: 96 PAs, 4 HRs, .780 OPS
2017: 98 PAs, 2 HRs, .668 OPS
2018: 131 PAs, 4 HRs, .727 OPS
2019: 186 PAs, 11 HRs, .954 OPS

Part of the increased opportunities this year are the result of factors around him. When the Brewers traded first baseman Jesus Aguilar to the Rays on July 31, it opened opportunities for Grandal to start at first base against left-handed hitters while Manny Pina, who has great numbers against lefties, handles catching duties. And because Grandal has often been positioned in the lineup next to Christian Yelich or Mike Moustakas, he has picked up at-bats against lefty relievers brought in to face those lefty sluggers.

“I always say [switch-hitters] are like two different people,” Brewers hitting coach Andy Haines said when Grandal made the National League All-Star team. “There’s Yasmani the right-handed hitter and Yasmani the left-handed hitter, and I think he’s benefited from playing every day and he’s taking advantage of that. If you look all the way back to early days right-handed, he was a really productive right-handed hitter back in San Diego and the Minor Leagues. He had high hands, he had a big leg kick. And then he kind of got away from that in L.A., probably from not playing a lot [against lefties]. So that was something we spent a lot of time on in Spring Training. We knew he was capable of way more right-handed.”

Woodruff plan TBD

As of Sunday morning, the Brewers still weren’t ready to decide whether they would pitch Brandon Woodruff at the start of games or save him for high-leverage opportunities at the back end of games when he returns to active duty this week from a left oblique strain. For now, that means Zach Davies, Gio Gonzalez, Adrian Houser and Jordan Lyles will start in that order during the four-game series against the Padres beginning Monday night.

“I’m not trying to be coy about it. We just haven’t made any decisions,” said manager Craig Counsell, who reported that Woodruff’s last bullpen session on Saturday went off without issue.

How much of an impact can be expected in two weeks from a pitcher who isn’t stretched out to start?

“About 7-9 innings of impact. Realistically, that’s about what he’s going to be able to do,” Counsell said. “The decision, really, lies in [using him at] the start of the game and trying to build him up in those appearances, or in the middle or back of games and putting him in big spots, at the same time understanding that he hasn’t thrown a competitive pitch in two months. We have to figure all those things out, and also get him primed to make an impact in October.”

Last call

• Drew Pomeranz struck out 41.6 percent of batters faced in his first 19 appearances for the Brewers, the eighth-highest rate in MLB since the Trade Deadline among pitchers who have logged at least 10 innings. Pomeranz is three spots below Josh Hader, who struck out 45.6 percent of hitters from Aug. 1 through Saturday.

“It’s always a challenge to figure out which guys are going to benefit from the bullpen,” Counsell said. “Some guys, it’s the same. And then you see a guy like Drew, and it’s night and day. I think from Drew’s perspective, it’s, ‘I can just let it fly.’ That’s what he’s doing.”

Pomeranz transitioned to the bullpen for the Giants just before the Brewers traded for him and right-hander Ray Black on July 31.

• There’s no firm date for Keston Hiura to return to the starting lineup, Counsell said. Hiura appeared as a pinch-hitter in Saturday’s game for the first time since he strained his left hamstring on Aug. 30 at Wrigley Field.

“We have to start getting him at-bats,” Counsell said. “He hasn’t seen live pitching in a couple of weeks. He just took live BP with Brandon. So, we need to stack some at-bats under him so that when he’s healthy and he’s in there for four at-bats a night, we can hit the ground running.”