The Tanking Plan Backfires

 

There's a show I watch called Mock the Week that does an ending quick fire improv round, like Scenes from a Hat from Whose Line, and there was a 'lines you wouldn't hear in a sci-fi film' suggestion, and a comedian goes up and says something to the effect of 'we've fired our lasers directly at the giant space beast coming towards us, but all it's done is improved its eyesight'.

I thought about that when looking at this Brewers team to this point. They gave up their best pitcher, lost their other best pitcher to an injury, lost their manager for a rival, were projected to finish fourth in the division, and yet they're leading with even more great pieces than they ended an already-strong 2023 with. The plan was to rebuild and cool off and instead they're a first place team with a pretty decent shot at the postseason. Kind of incredible, honestly. I bet Craig Counsell's really astonished.

The single best thing this Brewers team has going for it is you can see the next iteration of it doing a lot of work. Last year the concerning detail was Wiemer and Turang not hitting, and now Turang's one of the best players on the team. All these second years and young players are contributing so much. Blake Perkins is having an awesome season, not only as a defensive outfielder, but as a decent contact guy with some power perks. Garrett Mitchell's beginning to get back to where he was before the injuries, he's hit .243 in 13 games. Sal Frelick is still a fan favorite, with a .269 average and the occasional amazing defensive moment. Jackson Chourio's gotten over his slow start and now has 10 homers and 40 RBIs. Even Tobias Myers has become a strong third to Peralta and Rea, with a 6-4 record and a 3.14 ERA. 

The other great thing about this Brewers team is that they've become a very good 'is someone not playing well for your team? Send him to us' club. Aaron Civale famously got sent over from Tampa, and I think he's a bit better suited for the Brewers, despite the fact that he's winless in 3 games [the bones are there]. The Brewers also seem to have fixed Bryse Wilson after struggles in Pittsburgh, made Jared Koenig into a substantial arm after being lit up in Oakland, and somehow gotten an explosive start out of Eric Haase, who's hitting .429 as a Brewer. This didn't seem to work for Dallas Keuchel, but it's worked for all of these guys, and I bet they're thankful.

This Brewers team is 5 games ahead of the competition and looking to have a really easy week. I'd love for them to actually make a dent in the playoff race this year, even if the Phillies and Dodgers will be tough to beat. They have enough to make a run I think, especially if it continues at this pace.

Coming Tonight: A closer for a team that's desperately trying to jumpstart the lineup.