The Milwaukee Brewers are the most impressive playoff team this season.
No, that’s not hyperbole. It’s just the truth. Granted, the Brewers have never been the “sexy” team or the team that boasts the most elite talent. But despite that, they found a way to run away with their division, leaving the rest of their NL Central rivals in their wake.
On Wednesday, Milwaukee became the first team to clinch a postseason berth this season. With the Cubs’ loss to the Oakland A’s, the Brewers captured their second consecutive NL Central crown and sixth postseason appearance in the past seven seasons.
Despite their propensity for reaching October, there weren’t many who believed the Brewers would be postseason-bound going into this season. During the offseason, their longtime manager, Craig Counsell, decided to head south to become the manager of the Chicago Cubs, leaving the keys to former bench coach Pat Murphy.
When the Brewers also dealt their ace and former NL Cy Young Award winner Corbin Burnes to the Orioles, it looked like Milwaukee was headed for a rebuild. Even throughout the season, the challenges continued to arise, including the loss of the team’s best player, Christian Yelich, to a season-ending back injury.
None of that stopped Milwaukee from being one of baseball’s best teams, and with each passing month, they seem to have gotten better and better. And that’s not only through the eye test; the numbers back up their dominance as well.
What makes the Brewers such a good team? There simply aren’t many things they don’t do well. Offensively, they rank fourth in runs scored and second in OPS with runners in scoring position. Defensively, they’re fourth in MLB in both defensive runs saved and outs above average. And their pitching has held up its end of the bargain as well, ranking fourth in team ERA.
Milwaukee has gotten consistent production from throughout its lineup all season, with All-Star performances from William Contreras, Willy Adames and Yelich before his injury. But the player who has helped take this team to another level is rookie phenom Jackson Chourio. Chourio has become every bit the star the Brewers thought he would be when they signed him to an eight-year, $82 million extension before his debut. The 20-year-old has a .901 OPS since June 1.
Across the season as a whole, the Brewers not only built the largest divisional lead in baseball (10.5 games as of Wednesday), but they have also held their division lead the longest. Milwaukee has had a share of or sole possession of first place in the Central since April 12, when they began pulling away from the rest of the division en route to the title.
It’s hard to look at the Brewers and not see Murphy’s imprint throughout the roster. After several years as Counsell’s bench coach, Murphy has transitioned seamlessly to the role of manager. You have to imagine that his presence in the Brewers’ dugout for so many years before he got the job built the kind of trust that it would take other first-year managers much longer to develop.
Also, the “us against the world” mentality doesn’t often go very far, but it feels like a pretty apt attitude for this team.
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This season, the Brewers are a combined 11-14 against the Dodgers, Phillies, Padres, Mets and Diamondbacks, with a minus-4 run differential in those games that shows just how close they were. In the postseason, the numbers — and the outcomes — could easily flip in Milwaukee’s direction.
It’s impossible to predict what’s in store for the Brewers in the ever-volatile NL wild-card round, but their ability to play their best game on a consistent basis makes this a team worth keeping an eye on as the calendar turns to October.
