The most impressive series of the first half of this week belongs to the Milwaukee Brewers. They entered San Diego and swept the Padres, allowing just three runs in three games for a fairly talented ball club.
The Brewers are now leaving for Chicago to face the Cubs in a weekend series. They will be 11-7 in first place when Friday’s afternoon game in Wrigley begins.
Keep in mind that the Padres came to this series at 10-7, after losing just two of three against the Dodgers and simply saying ‘two of three’, do no justice to that series. After an outside innings marathon on Friday and a game that was almost just a grass on Saturday, the Padres were not too far from the best team of baseball. At the very least, they have shown that they can stand up to each other with the Dodgers.
And then the Brewers showed up and swept them, and hardly allowed an offensive moan from the Padres.
Those who have paid attention to the Brewers so far this year will of course not be surprised.
We can start with Corbin Burnes, who closed the Padres on Tuesday. After revamping his arsenal last season, he leveled to the status of bait. So far this year, he has allowed just one run in 24 1/3 overs. He has a 0.37 ERA, 0.33 WHIP, 0.69 FIP and that is not even the most impressive figure. The 1107 ERA + really jumps out as ridiculous, even in these little monsters. How about 40 victims and zero walking? This is the first time in modern history that a pitcher has had at least 40 casualties without starting a season.
While Burnes deserves spotlight, he should share at least a little bit of it.
Brandon Woodruff took the win on Monday. He now has a 1.96 ERA and 0.74 WHIP with 26 strikeouts against six runs in 23 overs this season. On the first day, he gave up three merit runs in four overs, but has been almost untouchable since then (19 IP, 5 H, 2 R).
On Wednesday, it was the job of fullback Adrian Houser to get through the opponent a few times. He conceded two runs on five hits in 4 2/3 overs of work. He’s not one of the top three starters, but he’s still sitting with a 3.32 ERA and the Brewers have won two of his four times. It will play from the back.
The other top three frontrunner is the emerging Freddy Peralta. He did not hold on to the rotation after his rookie year in 2018, but now he is back and looks like she’s part of a forward. Through 18 overs, he has a 2.00 ERA, 1.11 WHIP and 31 strikeouts this year. The twelve walks are high, but he only allows an opposite average of .133 and with all the swing-and-miss, he puts traffic. And if you have not seen him hit yet, then look for the nasty slider.
The left starter, Brett Anderson, was mostly good as well, sitting 2-1 with a 2.65 ERA and 1.12 WHIP.
Overall, Brewers starters have a 1.99 ERA this season with 111 strikeouts in 99 2/3 overs.
We know how great the Brewers’ bullpen can be behind Josh Hader and 2020 Rookie of the Year Devin Williams (he has struggled a few times this year due to control, but the stuff is still there) with manager Craig Counsell taking the strings pull. However, the group has been a bit of a weak link so far and caused the eighth stroke on Wednesday. They put a 4.10 collective ERA at stake.
Let’s also look at the other side here. One can point out that the Brewers offensively did not rip off the cover of the ball, and on Wednesday they finished 14th in the NL action in the average, 12th in the base percentage and 13th in the stroke. It is true. What is also true is that Christian Yelich was injured (only nine games out of 18 played). We can not be sure how much offense they would commit, but we also know that Kolten Wong and Lorenzo Cain have records indicating that they can help the offense. Each appeared in just seven games, also injured.
Speaking of Wong and Cain, both will also strengthen the defense strongly with their return. Along with new addition Jackie Bradley as an excellent outfielder and Omar Narvaez being a highly respected fullback, the Brewers figure is doing very well this season. In fact, before Wednesday’s game, they scored first in their baseball in defensive efficiency – that’s the percentage of balls converted in the game as converted – and that’s mostly without the extraordinary series Cain and Wong!
We are going through the necessary reservations, but it is on April 21 and the Brewers have only played 18 games with 144 left. There is so much more that can happen. However, given all we have seen with the context and circumstances behind it, the Brewers currently look like the best team in the NL Central.
Their dominant rotation – especially Corbin, Woodruff and even Peralta – took the lead.