We are two weeks into the baseball season and that means it is time to give a quarterly review of the Brewers performance so far.
Normally at this point, we would be 40 games into the season, but the shortened schedule this year has altered everything for the Brewers.
So far the season is not great, but also not horrible. The Brewers are 7-9 and 5.5 games out of first. No need to hit the panic button just yet, but definitely know where the button is. Maybe dust it off and put it on the coffee table for ease of access.
The Brewers starting pitchers have looked great for the most part, with a couple of exceptions. Brandon Woodruff is absolutely dominating so far with a 2.53 ERA. Adrian Houser and Corbin Burnes have been dealing. The starting rotation has been keeping the Brewers in most of the games and even won a couple.
The back end of the bullpen has been really solid as well. It’s the middle of August and Josh Hader has yet to allow a hit. Devin Williams, meanwhile, is throwing absolute filth. Touching 98 on his heater, Williams has mowing down hitters and he has a changeup that is nearly impossible to hit.
Orlando Arcia found a way to carry his momentum over from spring training and he is playing well, hitting .286 on the year so far. Ryan Braun showed that he still has the clutch gene in case anyone was worried that he lost it for some reason.
When Manny Pina gets fired up, it’s nothing but good news for the Brewers. After hitting two home runs in the same game against the Twins on the 11th, it’s clear that Pina deserves some more at-bats. He’s been the hot hand at the plate right now with Omar Narvaez in a slump.
Eric Lauer has had two poor performances, giving up a combined 13 runs over his two starts. Not all the runs were his fault as there were a handful of egregious errors that brought in runs. It’s looking likely that he will be moved back to the bullpen soon. He was great out of the bullpen against the Cubs. Hopefully, he can come in as a reliever and start performing better.
Christian Yelich forgot how to hit for the first 12 games. He has started to turn it around these past couple of games, but it has been a very scary start to the season. It’s terrifying how much the Brewers offense had to rely on him in the early going.
The offense just isn’t clicking right now. There have been a couple of games where the bats are popping but for the most part, the Brewers can’t seem to hit for power and are leaving far too many runners on base.
Injuries and COVID
The Cardinals continue to find ways to ruin the Brewers season. After multiple players and staff tested positive for Coronavirus, the Brewers had to delay their series with the Redbirds. However, the worst part of the Cardinals contracting COVID for the Brewers was that it helped convince Lorenzo Cain to opt-out of the remainder of the season. His heroic fielding and recently his super hot bat will be missed, but he has to do what is best for his family.
Ryan Braun missed 10 days with a finger injury. He is back in the lineup now, hopefully, his break won’t send him into a cold spell as the Brewers could really use a big bat right now.
It’s not the best start for the Brewers but I am optimistic about the rest of the season. Yelich is starting to hit again, Urias is playing finally, and with him and Arcia in the lineup, the Brewers have a very strong middle infield.
The Brewers schedule over the next quarter isn’t going to be easy by any means but I think the Crew will get hot and close the gap between them and first place.
Next up is a long road trip against the Cubs in Wrigley, the Twins in Minnesota, and the Pirates in Pittsburgh.
Check back in two weeks to see my mid-season analysis.