Prior to the 2024 season, the Brewers traded away Corbin Burnes, Adrian Houser and Tyrone Taylor, cut Rowdy Tellez, and let Carlos Santana, Mark Canha, Jesse Winker and Victor Caratini leave in free agency. Meanwhile, the Cubs, Cardinals and Reds all had high profile free agency signings, while the Pirates called up two of their biggest pitching prospects early. And there were a lot of people who thought the Brewers' inaction, plus their hiring of Pat Murphy in the wake of Counsell's departure, would lead to a less potent, more disappointing team.
And now here we are. The Cubs, Cardinals, Reds and Pirates all fighting for second, while 6 games up the Brewers are hitting grand slams every other game and making it look easy.
Part of the Brewers' success has been their faith in cheaper, homegrown options rather than going and getting big free agents. Their biggest free agent signing was Rhys Hoskins, and even then he's a supplemental power hitter. The Brewers figured the kids from last season would inherit the team, and that's pretty much what's happened. Brice Turang is officially an MLB-level star, he's eclipsed even William Contreras as the best performer on the team. Blake Perkins isn't quite the hitter that he should be right now, but he's still on a tear. Jackson Chourio's finally heating up after a strong week. And now Garrett Mitchell's back, and so far he looks good. It's not up to veteran guys like Yelich and Adames as much as it used to be, and this team is proving they can carry the slack.
Even better, some of the trade returns are impressing people this year. Joey Ortiz, who had no room to play in Baltimore thanks to Ramon Urias, Jorge Mateo and Jordan Westburg, won 3rd base in Milwaukee handily, and has a .817 OPS with 28 RBIs and 7 homers. Ortiz is just a handy little hitter, efficient as hell and very consistent. He fits really well with the rest of this lineup, lots of explosive hitters who can just get you when you're not looking. The one issue I have with this team, aside from the lighter rotation, is the lack of true power options. There are hitters who CAN hit for power, like Yelich, Jake Bauers and Contreras, but...not a lot of proven power hitters. It's really just Hoskins. They'll probably get a true power bat at the deadline. Hell, Vlad Jr.'s not exactly out of the question.
The Brewers have a ton going for them, and are already primed for a killer second half. The hope is that their cheaper rotation will hold out, and with Dallas Keuchel struggling it's gonna need a reinforcement this month [EDIT: Okay, I was thinking someone later in the month but sure, let's see if Aaron Civale just needed a change in locale], but Peralta-Rea-Myers-Wilson has been surprisingly consistent, and if that holds, then they'll just need an innings eater to rest upon.
Perhaps this will be the Brewers team to actually get something done in the postseason. Wouldn't be that wild?
Coming Tomorrow- Another member of a rotation that is singlehandedly keeping their team in 1st.
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