50 games have already come and gone for the Milwaukee Brewers. Coming off a 5-0 loss to the San Francisco Giants last night, they currently have a 27-23 record which is good for first place in the NL Central. The Pittsburgh Pirates are just a game and a half away. Milwaukee holds on despite losing several players. With only 112 games left guaranteed, here’s what we know about the Brewers after 50 games.
The pitching injury bug continues
Before the year started, the Brewers had a good rotation with Corbin Burnes, Brandon Woodruff, Freddy Peralta, Eric Lauer and Wade Miley. Aaron Ashby and Adrian Houser were supposed to be part of the bullpen, but both suffered injuries. Today? Only Peralta and Burnes have been healthy all season, Lauer is currently on the disabled list, Ashby is probably done for the year, Woodruff is probably out until almost the All-Star break, and Miley is also on the disabled list. . Fortunately, Houser is back and in the rotation.
Milwaukee has had to rely on the likes of Colin Rea and Julio Teherán to get out of the minors and cover starts in the absence of these players. Tehran was solid last night and Rea was really good in his last start against the Astros. Launch space is getting tight for a group that was already pretty tight when the season began. Hopefully the guys can start to get healthy down the stretch.
The offense is striped
The Brewers’ offense was pretty consistent going into the year. Since then, they are currently the 22nd-ranked offense in the league. It’s not a big surprise because they are playing against young and rookie players almost every night.
We are also seeing trends from previous years. Bats are either alive or they are not. One night they will be quiet like last night and only registering 4 hits or they will be playing home run ball and scoring 4+ runs. There doesn’t seem to be a middle ground on offense. I still believe inconsistent offense has hurt this team in the last 5 years to advance to the playoffs or beyond. Nights off will happen, but it still seems like it’s becoming a trend.
Milwaukee should be a contender come September
Despite an inconsistent offense and a slew of pitching injuries, the Brewers rank first in the NL Central and possess the fourth-best record in the NL. That’s kind of crazy when you think about it. While it’s still May and there’s a lot of baseball to play, if the Brewers can ride this ship until the likes of Woodruff, Lauer and Miley return, you’ve got to like this team’s chances in September. They could be squarely in the NL Central race and in a place to compete and make it to October. All you have to do is enter the postseason. Crazy things can happen.
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