Carlos Gomez leads the Brewers with a .390 average. Credit: Reuters

By of the

This leadoff thing is working out just fine so far for Carlos Gomez.

Installed in that spot by manager Ron Roenicke just a couple of weeks before the Milwaukee Brewers broke camp this spring, Gomez has come out of the gate blazing hot at the plate.

Entering Friday's game against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Miller Park, Gomez was leading the Brewers with a .390 average, 16 hits, eight runs scored, a .432 on-base percentage, .732 slugging percentage and 1.164 OPS.

Gomez also was tied with Jonathan Lucroy for the team lead with seven extra-base hits, which included a team-high-tying three home runs.

Roenicke talked in March about Gomez being a "scary" at-bat for opposing pitchers, especially early when they might just be trying to groove the ball over the plate to get a game started.

He's been exactly that, touching Atlanta's Alex Wood for a first-pitch, leadoff homer last week at Miller Park and in general just hitting the ball hard to all fields.

"I didn't know exactly what we were going to get with him," Roenicke said. "I knew he was going to be aggressive. I probably didn't even know he was going to be this aggressive. Last night, first pitch he sees, Cliff Lee knows he's going to be swinging at the first pitch, throws a fastball over the plate and he hits a bullet to right field.

"I keep watching him and he keeps squaring up balls, and it's not that easy to do. First pitch it's not that easy, but he keeps hammering the ball. So he's probably even a little better and more aggressive than I thought he'd be."

Last season out of necessity, Gomez started at least one game in spots 1-8 in the lineup but hit leadoff only once. Still, it's not a job that's foreign to him, as he started 90 games as the Minnesota Twins' leadoff hitter in 2008. Success didn't come easily, as he hit just .246 with a .281 on-base percentage.

Gomez was a much different hitter then, however. Now 28 and coming off his first all-star season, he has learned the value of patience and adjustments.

"Back then I hit (.258) and I had no idea — I was just swinging," said Gomez. "Tried to hit the ball on the ground, bunted a lot. With no idea, I hit (.258). Now with experience, and knowing and recognizing what the other team is trying to do to me, it's easier. I'm getting more consistent each year. Now I know what I'm doing.

"I make adjustments quick. I strike out, but you throw me that pitch again and I'm not going to miss it. It's preparation and being ready every time."

Roenicke, unlike Minnesota's coaching staff during Gomez's tenure with the Twins, encourages Gomez to remain aggressive at the plate.

"He wild-swings, and at times you can see it. But he's not chasing a lot," Roenicke said. "He's very aggressive — but on the pitches he wants to swing at. That's the biggest key with anybody."

Gomez went 1 for 3 with a run scored and an RBI in the Brewers' 4-2 victory Friday.

Going with the hot hand: With Lucroy hitting .371 and posting an OPS of 1.064 entering Friday, it wasn't much of a surprise to see him and not Martin Maldonado catching Wily Peralta.

"Also, we feel Wily's throwing well enough to where he doesn't have to be paired up," said Roenicke. "We may go back to it later, but right now we like Luc in there today."

Maldonado caught Peralta's only other start, last Saturday in Boston, but Roenicke also was able to get Lucroy into the lineup as the designated hitter.

Roenicke had said throughout the spring he wanted to at least get all his starting pitchers more comfortable throwing to both Lucroy and Maldonado, in part to be able to start Lucroy on days Peralta might be pitching when the matchups were favorable.

Lucroy hit .250 with a double and two runs batted in over eight at-bats against Pirates starter Francisco Liriano in 2013. But with seven extra-base hits already — tied for the team lead — Lucroy made even more sense to Roenicke for Friday's game.

Maldonado, meanwhile, is in a tough spot. He went 0 for 5 in that start in Boston and has no other plate appearances. After hitting just .169 last season, he could find it hard to get it going offensively again.