Not looking forward to the Brewers having to play the Phillies right now. Not that we're bad, but we're throwing Derek Hill out as a starter. The Miz game is the day Andrew Painter has to start. It's not gonna be pretty.
I don't know if the Brewers are the best team in the NL, but they might be the most lethal. Similar to the Braves, they've filled the lineup with people that are doing 100% what they were brought here to do, but unlike the Braves, there's like 5 or 6 more 'OH MY GOD' prospects waiting for one of the genuinely effective people to get hurt. We're still waiting on Jett Williams, Jeferson Quero, Jesus Made, Luis Lara, Cooper Pratt, Luis Pena even...and this team is currently extremely good without them. The infrastructure is there to insure that they will continue to be this good for a while. The Braves have some of that but not to this degree. Same with the Dodgers honestly.
Like, to give you an idea, the current mega-prospects who are working for this team at the MLB level are Jackson Chourio, Brice Turang, Jacob Misiorowski, Kyle Harrison, Logan Henderson, Brandon Sproat and Shane Drohan, plus secondary prospect guys like Robert Gasser, Coleman Crow, Chad Patrick and Sal Frelick. That's already the majority of the team. And not only are these guys working, they're elite. Chourio, despite the late start, is having a phenomenal year, hitting .304 with 6 homers and 20 RBIs in 32 games. Turang's chasing MVP numbers again, with 10 homers, 11 steals, 42 RBIs and some of the best 2B play in the league. The Miz has a 1.50 ERA, 116 Ks and a 0.808 WHIP. Video game numbers. And Kyle Harrison, even after the Vegas start where you could tell that playing in an a-ball park really hurt the pitching, has a 2.72 ERA and 7 wins.
The triumph might be some of the people brought in for nothing. Last year Quinn Priester was a terrific bargain acquisition, and though he's yet to appear he looms large over the second half. Jake Bauers was a low-rent utility guy who'd succeeded in Cleveland and New York, and now suddenly he's the starting 1st baseman, hitting .277 with 12 homers [meaning his next one will mark a career high] and 43 RBIs. And even crazier is Andrew Vaughn, who's now splitting time with him, is still on fire, hitting .370 with 2 homers and 18 RBIs in 29 games. I might even throw in Gary Sanchez, who's become a terrific DH/backup choice in his later years and has an .845 OPS in 39 games. Even David Hamilton's become a terrific utility infield option, topping even Andruw Monasterio, who he was traded for.
The Brewers are an efficient, deep, varied team that can beat you several different ways, and look like they're gonna get even better as they go, with Woodruff and Henderson expected back soon. I am really worried that the Phils might not be able to get anything done against these guys this weekend, but...can you blame them if not?
Coming Tonight: I follow Mina Kimes on Bluesky, and she just had a very nice interview with this guy on there. Pretty sure he's the real deal.
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