98 to Beat

 

Now only could the Brewers set a new season wins record this year, which they've already pretty much done, but they could be a 100-game winner in an era where winning 100 games is so rare. And they could do it with a smaller market, farm system based team that's only getting better. I know they're in Philly this week and fundamentally I still want them to lose, but...considering that they're also my pie-in-the-sky World Series winner, I just want good things to keep happening to this team.

The way I've figured out that this is the best lineup in baseball is that even the guys who switch in and out still make it the best. David Hamilton is a glorified utility man who swoops in and covers 2nd and 3rd, and he's really good on defense and good in a pinch offensively, in addition to leading the team in stolen bases with 28. Luis Lara was brought in as an auxiliary outfield guy, to back up Frelick, and he's been wonderful, hitting .250 with 24 RBIs in 57 games, plus some amazing outfield catches. Andrew Vaughn and Jake Bauers are essentially sharing 1st base and both are wonderful, with Vaughn hitting .300 and leaning on his contact skills while Bauers leads the team in homers and has a .397 OBP. 

And Joey Ortiz was essentially made an infield swing once Cooper Pratt came up, and he's parlayed that into a starting 3rd base job thanks to some elevated batting numbers, including a .267 average, 9 homers and 46 RBIs. Ortiz is usually the ninth batter but he makes himself known, and he's a lot more dangerous than the usual caliber of guys batting ninth. And that's not even mentioning the fact that Gary Sanchez, who only catches against lefties, has 11 homers and 36 RBIs. They've got it all worked out. Chourio, Turang, Bauers, Mitchell and Contreras are a mighty backbone of this team, Pratt and Lara are both 21 and feel like they belong, and Made, Williams, Pena and Fischer haven't even gotten here yet. 

I put the bullpen in a similar category as the lineup, because it's very multifaceted. You'd think it was as simple as Megill and Uribe, but Chad Patrick and Aaron Ashby are long men that could start but are better utilized in relief, and they both have 9+ wins. D.L. Hall finally works as a setup man. Jojo Romero isn't Cardinals good but he's a handy guy to have around. Grant Anderson's a good piece too. It all fits together really well, and supplants an already-strong rotation combo of Jacob Misiorowski, Logan Henderson and Robert Gasser, who I assume's getting the third spot as Drohan and Harrison have fallen off. 

There's so much depth, so much truly working, and so many areas that aren't letting up, that I still think these guys have the best World Series case of anyone. The Dodgers are gonna try for it, and they have the legs, but the Brewers may have enough to keep them down, and potentially the rest of the NL. Whoever ends up beating these guys will need to do so with everything they have, because the Brewers truly have everything right now.

Coming Tomorrow- He's been looking at playoff situations for over a decade. He's staring down the barrel of another as we speak. 

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.

Why Add When You Could Subtract?

 

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.