Two weeks ago, the Milwaukee Brewers were trailing the Chicago Cubs by 5 ½ games in the National League Central. The Brewers now head into the weekend — for an NLCS rematch against the Dodgers — with a 1 ½-game lead in their division.
And make no mistake, this is their division until further notice, and this isn’t some Little Engine That Could, regardless of how badly their manager, for some reason, wants you to believe they are.
The Brewers (29-18 overall and 11-2 in their last 13 games) just went through a stretch where they swept the Yankees, took two of three from the Padres, two of three from the Twins and swept the Cubs. The Yankees were 26-12 before the series. The Padres were 24-16 before running into the Brewers. The Cubs were already struggling, but still had a 29-18 record overall and had been 18-5 at home before the series began.
This series was a debacle from the Cubs’ perspective, but among the contributing factors is just how good the Brewers are. They roughed up Shota Imanaga — who had been throwing like an ace — in the first game of the series. Keep in mind that Christian Yelich, Jackson Chourio and Andrew Vaughn have been hurt most of the season. They combined for six hits, three RBI and three runs in this one. The Brewers had an 8-0 lead before the Cubs scored.
The second game was more of a showcase of how much Brewers starter Jacob Misiorowski was toying with the Cubs. In six scoreless innings, he struck out eight against one walk, allowing only three hits. He’s in the Cy Young conversation right now.
Speaking of dominant starters, Kyle Harrison struck out 11 in seven scoreless innings on Wednesday. He only gave up two hits and one of those was to the first hitter of the game. Harrison now has a 1.77 ERA.
This isn’t a fluke. The arm talent has been there for a long time. He was once a consensus top-30 prospect and MLB.com ranked him as high as 18th. He was the centerpiece of the trade that sent multi-time All-Star Rafael Devers to the Giants.
The Brewers had the best record in baseball last season at 97-65. They had the best run differential at +172. They are within striking range of the best record and run differential again this season, and that’s while dealing with some injuries to key players (including Brandon Woodruff, at present).
They are exceptionally prepared, which is a nod to their scouting department. In the first game of the Cubs series, they pummeled first-pitch offerings from Imanaga, for example. The next game, it was a focus on attacking the breaking pitches from Ben Brown. They outthink their opponents as well as beating them physically.
Offensively, they are sixth in the majors in batting average and fifth in on-base percentage. They are second in steals. This all makes up for a relative lack of power, though with their lineup whole again, the power will tick up. On the other end, they sit third in team ERA and third in pitcher strikeouts. When the ball is put in play, they have a quality defense.
This is one of the model franchises in baseball. The Brewers have now won the NL Central three straight seasons and four of the last five. They’ve made the playoffs seven of the last eight years and haven’t had a losing record in a full season since 2016.
They have a former MVP in Yelich, an emerging superstar in Chourio, a legitimate star — even if underrated — in Brice Turang and a two-time All-Star catcher in William Contreras. Vaughn is a former third overall draft pick and top prospect who has figured things out with this ballclub. The rotation is fronted by a pair of incredibly talented arms who are throwing like aces this season.
There’s really nothing on this team that looks problematic right now. Well, except one thing. After their win on Monday night in Wrigley, Brewers manager Pat Murphy reported the following: “[The Cubs] don’t even know most of our guys names so they’re never going to be intimated by us, but we’re not looking for that.”
It wasn’t a one-off. In the playoffs last year, in the NLDS in which they beat the Cubs, he made comments about lefty Matthew Boyd being so highly compensated. Boyd is on a two-year, $29 million contract — not like a $300 million deal or something. In the NLCS sweep the Brewers suffered at the hands of the Dodgers, he mentioned player salary multiple times.
Yes, it’s true the Brewers — 20th in payroll — are outspent, rather heavily, by megamarket teams like the Dodgers and, to a lesser extent, the Cubs.
But, again, review everything above. The Brewers are loaded with great players and are one of the most well-run organizations in baseball. They are the titans of the NL Central right now. Talk like champions. Puff your chests out. Own it. Embrace a bullseye on your chest.
Their manager needs to quit acting like he’s playing with a group of no-talent underdogs just trying to scratch across a few wins. He needs to talk about his team like they are a bunch of badasses who own the rest of the NL Central and have designs on winning the World Series — because they are that good.
That’s exactly what kind of team he has. The Brewers are not underdogs. They run the NL Central.
