I think it's a good time to remind you all that no one was talking about the Brewers in May. They sort of bobbed along for a bit, were a decent second or third, didn't have it together. You'd occasionally hear about how Freddy Peralta was on, or how Caleb Durbin did something cool, but for a while they were potentially sellers. Rhys Hoskins was looking like a 1B addition for Philly for a bit.
And...now they're one of the best teams in baseball, and began August with a fourteen game winning streak. Amazing what can happen as a season progresses.
I did not expect THIS lineup to feel so immaculate. Joey Ortiz as the nine man has been really good in the past week, and his defense is miles ahead of last year. Andrew Vaughn has filled right in at 1st where Rhys Hoskins left it, and is hitting .343 with 9 homers and 35 RBIs in 28 games, the kind of damage he was never able to do in Chicago. Christian Yelich is on fire, headed for another 30 homer year. Blake Perkins has been excellent filling in for Chourio in center, hitting .264 with 3 homers and 9 RBIs in 22 games. And Isaac Collins is the kind of contact-hitting piece the Brewers just needed more of. He's hitting .288 with 41 RBIs and an .833 OPS. I think he's a more deserving ROY candidate than Drake Baldwin, because I see Collins having a longer career.
And the rotation just seems to have solutions for everything. Peralta-Woodruff-Quintana-Priester-Miz does not sound like an unbeatable rotation, but that's what we're looking at. Quinn Priester, even in his occasional struggles, is 11-2 with 100 Ks. The Pirates and Red Sox tried to get great seasons out of him but couldn't find a place for him, and it's wild that Milwaukee is that place. Quintana is 10-4 with a 3.44 ERA, another really strong season from the veteran. Woodruff is 4-0 in 7 starts, with a 2.06 ERA and 49 Ks. That's vintage Brandon Woodruff. And Freddy Peralta might get Cy Young votes this year, thanks to a 14-5 record, a 2.90 ERA and 148 Ks. Peralta has pinned this rotation down this year when many worried he wouldn't be able to. The guy has come a long way.
Oh yeah and in addition to all that, Jacob Misiorowski 4-1 with 50 Ks in his first 8 starts. He may be a little more easy to hit now that teams are doing their research, but he still throws hard as hell.
The Brewers were inches away from losing their first game of the month last night, and then they found the flaws in the Reds, which are their defense and their bullpen. The fact that that game still went to extras, and was as evenly matched as it was, regardless of how it ended, is worthy of something. Even if they bring out the closer on one day rest and he gives up an RBI double cause Sal Frelick knocks it into the bullpen, they still have the leverage. Even when they lose, they still tire you the hell out. And even when you've driven yourself to another level to get ahead of them, they bring out a third string infielder and he hits a 3-run homer off you in the 11th. And that's precisely why they're so scary heading into the home stretch of this season. They're trying to do something no Brewers team has done since before the pandemic, and this team has the insane energy to pass that threshold. But do they have the luck?
Coming Tonight: The Mariners got him to annihilate opposing pitching, and that's exactly what he's done.
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