The Climb

(I couldn't resist)

So. Right now the Brewers are the Yankees of the NL. They essentially have the top Wild Card spot all locked up, are statistically ahead of another few division leaders, and have the right momentum at this point in September. Going back to last September, when they caught momentum at the exact wrong time, and lost out on a WC spot to two already-red-hot NL West teams...this is a nice change of pace.

It's also nice that the formerly-homegrown rotations have taken on a few veteran augmentations, like Jhoulys Chacin, the staff's ace, Wade Miley, who's been having a comeback year, and Gio Gonzalez, who's been fantastic in his two starts thus far. And even with them, the mainstays like Chase Anderson, Junior Guerra and Zach Davies have all been great. Heck, even the bullpen, with Josh Vader and Jeremy Jeffress pitching like pros in middle relief, is ferocious.

This is a team that's very ready for playoff contention, even if they're likely going in as a Wild Card team. The Cubs are only two games ahead of them, but the Brewers have won eight of their last ten, they have the momentum, and they have Curtis Granderson. So even though the Brewers are still probably going in as a Wild Card team, I'm not calling the division just yet.

The Brewers, if they do end up with the WC spot, would either be going up against the Cardinals, who are fading, or the Dodgers, who are rising quickly. And right now...I think they're up to either challenge. They're just wholly great this year.

Coming Tomorrow- One of the last remaining consistent pitchers in Arlington.