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.

Uncustomed Heroes of 2025: Brewers

After years of being in position to dominate and constantly getting knocked out in the first round of the playoffs, the Milwaukee Brewers finally had a team that could go the distance. For the first time since 2018, the Brewers made the NLCS, and though they weren't any match for a surging Dodgers team, they proved that with a lineup like this, and with the young pitching they've developed, this may be a regular occurrence. You can see we're beginning to shift from the team of Yelich, Woodruff and Peralta to the team of Chourio, Contreras and Misiorowski, and both factions could unite this year to produce a team that even edged out the Cubs thanks to a blistering second half. 

With so many great players to choose to make customs of every week and a half, that means some even more worthy subjects had to be kept until December. Meaning I had to wait until now to make a custom of Rookie of the Year candidate and immediate Milwaukee success Caleb Durbin. I dunno, maybe I'm still mad that we traded him for Devin Williams. That could have been OUR third baseman, man. Regardless, Durbin was fantastic in his first full season in the bigs, hitting .253 with 11 homers and 53 RBIs, plus 18 stolen bases and some strong defensive work at third. Between Durbin and Collins, the Brewers immediately found some answers at even more positions, and are firming their team up to be at this for a while.

2026 Prediction: Firmer stats in a second year, closer to 25 homers perhaps.

Joey Ortiz has found a niche as the nine man in this lineup, but even he had some strong moments this season, hitting .343 in August with 24 hits and 12 RBIs in 20 games. Clearly the Brewers love Ortiz for his defense, even if it wasn't as good this year at short [his first year there after Adames' departure], but he's definitely capable of some contact moments.

2026 Prediction: If the Brewers are gonna make any upgrades this offseason, it will be at shortstop. Meaning Ortiz might need to get used to utility/bench work.

After Jose Quintana's start to this decade, where he fell apart for the Cubs and was too injury-waterlogged to make any impact for the Angels, I did not think his career had much longevity left in it, especially after a decade of strong work with the White Sox and Cubs. But lo and behold, the 2022 season brought him back, and Quintana even became a crucial healthy arm for the Mets last year. The Brewers took a flyer on Quintana on a similar role, a veteran starting arm that could step in for injured guys. And even as an Opening Day guy, Quintana outdid everyone's expectations, going 11-7 in 24 starts with a 3.96 ERA and 86 Ks. Quintana could still be a big game guy for this team, even with much younger and starrier options around him, and proved himself even at 36. 

2026 Prediction: Who even knows. Look, I see somebody like the Phils or the Giants picking him up, and...it not going nearly as well.

After a terrific rookie season in 2023, Abner Uribe had a chance at becoming closer in Milwaukee, and blew it, getting hurt in April and leaving the position open for Williams again. Which honestly proves that Uribe might just be better as a middle relief guy right now. Anyway, moved back to the eighth in 2025, Uribe had an even better season, with a 2.7 WAR, a 1.67 ERA and 90 Ks. Once the closing option got injured, he even held his own in the ninth and notched 7 saves. He was also fantastic in the playoffs, striking out 6 in 6 innings, with one save. 

2026 Prediction: After a year like that it's gotta come down somewhat, but I still see him being healthy enough to play a big role in this team's October success.

The primary closing option, a year after Devin Williams' departure, was Trevor Megill. Megill, like Williams, is a reliever first and a closer afterwards, but Megill's strong work in Milwaukee led to him being RP1 going into the season, so given that job he got a lot done, with 30 saves in 50 appearances, plus a 2.49 ERA and 60 Ks. His midyear injury did open the door for Uribe a bit, but he was back in time for the playoffs, where he had a 2.25 ERA in 5 appearances. 

2026 Prediction: Breaks 30 saves again, gets another ASG nod.

So, stop me if you've heard this one before: the Brewers called up one of their top pitching prospects, they were excellent for 5 or so games and then immediately got hurt and had to miss the rest of the season. If this sounds like Robert Gasser last season, you're right. Logan Henderson's promotion was a huge deal in April, and he impressed, going 3-0 with a 1.78 ERA and 33 Ks in 5 starts. Then, of course, he gets hurt, and misses the rest of the season. Ironically, Robert Gasser was able to help out in October in his place, though not well.

2026 Prediction: Henderson and Gasser will get in a fistfight in the minors, as they're literally competing for the same roster spot. Henderson might win, as he's the better overall pitcher. 

Blake Perkins was hurt for the entire first half of the season, but luckily managed to come back to a vacancy in center field due to Jackson Chourio's injury. He was alright in 54 games, hitting .226 with 3 homers and 19 RBIs. Perkins just needs everything to fall in line for a full season, but with Chourio, Frelick and Collins all confirming outfield positions, he might just be better off as a bench guy.

2026 Prediction: A fuller year, and a statistically more valuable year, as a backup.

Finally, 2025 represented the long awaited return of Brandon Woodruff, after a year and a half of injury and contract hell. The Big Woo did exactly what he set out to do upon his return, going 7-2 with a 3.20 ERA and 83 Ks in 12 starts. It may have been a smaller sample size due to another injury taking him out for October, but Woodruff delivered in a year where many Brewers fans didn't know if he'd have anything left. The Brewers' brass helped matters by signing Woodruff to one more year.

2026 Prediction: A very strong season that sets him up for either a superfluous multi-year deal somewhere less competitive or, more likely, Kershaw money to keep him in Milwaukee til he retires.

Coming Tomorrow- A lot of small pieces of a Cardinals team lacking in big takeaways.