Mother’s Day is always an interesting milestone in the baseball season. By mid-May, you typically know which teams are out of the playoff chase. The remaining 50%-60% of teams are bucketed into a large group of potential contenders. At this point, you start to get a sense for the real strengths and glaring weaknesses of teams, but because there is so much baseball left to be played, teams and individual players can still flip the script and redefine their seasons, both for better and for worse.
The past week of Brewers baseball has been a microcosm of their entire season. It featured four wins and two losses. One of their wins was a thrilling and improbable come from behind victory that required 9th and 10th inning heroics. Both of the losses were shutouts, bringing their season total to 8 – the same number of times they were shutout in all of 2017. In critical situations, the bullpen was flawless, and in more games than not, the starting pitching was surprisingly solid. Wash, rinse, repeat – that’s pretty much been the story of every week of the 2018 season thus far.
Fresh off a couple of terrible series at at the plate, the Brewers desperately needed a trip to Colorado to try to break out of the offensive slump that was plaguing the majority of their team. They took advantage of the thin Denver air, averaging 5.75 runs per game, well above their 3.7 average heading into the series (good for 28th in the league). It was a much needed confidence boost for both this team, and in my opinion, this fanbase, which continues to overreact to every loss despite the Brewers ranking in the top 10 of most National Power rankings.
There are two different types of Brewers fans right now. Some are panicking because they feel like the Brewers cut the rebuild short too early, and the offense hasn’t been as good as advertised. These fans can’t take solace in the fact that the Brewers are 8 games above .500 because they feel like the pitching won’t be able to sustain this level of success, and the offense is in a state of disarray beyond repair. They look at this team as a ticking time bomb with “we messed up” written all over it.
Then there are the other fans. The smart ones. The CALM ones. These fans see a team that has found a way to win early despite a laundry list of injuries to critical players and some offensive slumps that are, admittedly, hard to watch. They see a lineup of proven major leaguers that are all hitting below their career averages as nothing more than a statistical anomaly that is bound to correct itself any day now. They see a minor league system that is still among the best in all of baseball, and continues to provide the Brewers with solid options when the injury bug bites. They see a bullpen absolutely loaded with talent that seems capable of bringing any lead to the finish line if the starters can get it to the 6th inning. They see a team that is showing flashes of greatness, but is still nowhere near hitting their peak. Beneath all of the flaws we’ve seen over the past month and a half, they still see a playoff team.
Spoiler Alert – I’m one of these fans… and we’re absolutely a minority in Milwaukee.
Still, the Brewers have plenty of work to do before they’re crowned 2018 World Series Champions. Just because they scored a bunch of runs in Colorado doesn’t mean the offense is necessarily “back”. Despite being a notorious Brewers optimist, even I have my concerns; but thus far, I’ve been pleased with how Craig Counsell and David Stearns have handled the team and organizational management thus far. They’ve managed their bullpen from a position of strength, they haven’t been afraid to send struggling players such as Jacob Barnes and Eric Sogard down to the minors, and they appear to be creating an environment of competition where playing time is earned, it’s not guaranteed.
With one exception, and it’s starting to wear on me.
Ryan Braun does not deserve to be in this lineup anymore.
He needs to sit, and not just for a “scheduled day off”. Some have suggested moving him down lower in the lineup. I disagree – Braun needs to sit until he can justify keeping Domingo Santana or Jesus Aguilar on the bench, which is a far cry from where he’s at right now.
Short of his two game winning home runs, Braun has been terrible this year. He’s batting .222, and slugging just .430 (both career lows) with 28 strikeouts and just 8 walks. This is a guy who’s a career .300 hitter who owns a 2.3 to 1 K:BB ratio. He’s simply not seeing the ball well. His body language has been terrible – he’s chirping at umpires and rolling his eyes more than I’ve ever seen. Part of building a championship roster means making tough decisions to sit good players who are playing poorly. The Brewers need to sit Ryan Braun until he plays his way back in the lineup.
Lineup decisions aside, the Brewers leave Colorado in 1st place in the NL Central, thanks in part to one of the greatest Major League debuts you will ever see. Freddy Peralta struck out a rookie franchise record 13 batters en route to his win this afternoon. He almost certainly earned himself another start this week, and gave Brewers fans yet another reason to stay positive amidst concerning news that Chase Anderson hit the DL with a lingering stomach bug. It’s been a “next man up” couple of weeks for the Brewers, but they continue to press on amidst all of the doubt about their ability to contend. For this fan, the Brewers continue to be right where they need to be, and then some. The fact that they’re a first place team is just the icing on the cake.
Happy Mothers Day to my Mom and my new Mother-in-law! I love you!