Outlegged

 

Anyone else breathing a little easier now that the Dodgers aren't in first?

I mean yes, it's been tough matchups, they've had to play a surging Cubs team, they're beginning to cool off, and they will obviously be back because they're the Dodgers but...how about the fact that the best team in baseball right now is the self-made, lower-budget Milwaukee Brewers, the team that everybody thought was punting and would sink under the Cardinals and Reds? The Brewers are solid as hell and have enough reinforcements for days, and right now they're absolutely cruising, going 13-6 since the all-star break. 

The rotation still amazes me, because right now they're without Freddy Peralta, Brandon Woodruff and Quinn Priester, three guys who absolutely made the 2025 team as good as it was. And it's still one of the best rotations in baseball. Jacob Misiorowski is still having a Cy Young caliber season, going 11-5 with a league-leading 1.63 ERA and a league-leading 195 strikeouts. The velocity's high and he's still untouchable, and hopefully this is a sustainable metric because, as we're seeing with Paul Skenes, it takes some wear and tear. But even behind him, you have Kyle Harrison pitching a terrific year, 9-2 with a 2.84 ERA, Logan Henderson finally staying healthy in the bigs with a 6-1 record and a 2.70 ERA in 10 starts, Shane Drohan having an excellent rookie campaign with a 6-4 record and a 3.48 ERA, Robert Gasser surprisingly doing alright for himself as a fill-in, and now Dustin May, who had a terrific first start with only 2 runs allowed. That is an onslaught. So many terrific starting options. And that is why you deal a Peralta, because you know you have Drohan coming. 

Additionally...the bullpen crew have been so damn concise this year. Abner Uribe's having another god-tier season, with a 2.14 ERA, 47 Ks and 6 saves. Combine that with Trevor Megill, still good as the primary closer, Chad Patrick, who's been excellent as a longman, Aaron Ashby who has 12 wins and a ton of great long work, and somehow D.L. Hall, Bryse Wilson and Antonio Senzatela who are all suddenly ace relievers at this point. It's a really impressive unit with a lot of very steady pieces who are all going the right direction, and directly overtop of that is a lineup of prime Jackson Chourio, prime William Contreras, prime Brice Turang, rookie Cooper Pratt and Luis Lara, and the Jake Bauers season the Rays convinced themselves would never happen. The swiss army effect with this team is real, and there's so many guys that can beat you in so many ways.

And the strange part is...they haven't even needed Jett Williams or Jesus Made, because Joey Ortiz has had a crazy second wind and Cooper Pratt has been worth it at short. He's now hitting .289 with 17 RBIs and 10 steals, and finally feels like a valid MLB option, even at 21. The fact that there is a Made waiting in the wings to make this team even better is still insane.

The Brewers have the Twins and Padres next, two decent teams that wanna be the spoiler even if they're not definite playoff teams yet. They need to stay hot and command enough of the rest of this season if they want to stand any chance against the inevitable Dodgers October offense. I so badly want the Brewers to upset the Dodgers, because they're the more fun team and are trying to do something terrific here, even with a fraction of the budget the Dodgers have. And I really hope this can be the year.

Coming Tonight: A week or so ago, his team was in first and looking to buy. Now he's just trying to keep the lights on.