Milwaukee Brewers bats have a tough test against Nats pitchers

The Milwaukee Brewers are just about set to face the Washington Nationals in the NL wildcard game and it is going to be a tough test for their offense.

What was a bit lost in the Milwaukee Brewers’ September run was that their offense really missed having Christian Yelich in the lineup. Outside of a few games, their pitching staff was a big reason for their success. In fact, the team batting average and OPS in September was the lowest out of any month this season and that is saying something given some of the offensive slumps they went through.

Now with Ryan Braun nursing a calf injury and Lorenzo Cain’s status still uncertain, things certainly haven’t gotten any easier for the Milwaukee Brewers’ lineup. And oh yea, Max Scherzer is starting for the Nationals.

Scherzer – a three time Cy Young award winner and seven time All-Star – pitched in 172.1 innings this season with a 2.92 ERA and 1.027 WHIP. However, since returning in late August from a right shoulder strain, he hasn’t been the same dominant pitcher that we have seen for most of the season.

In his last seven starts, Scherzer has a 4.74 ERA and his opponents have a .751 OPS against him. So that does give the Brewers some hope that they might be able to get to him early. In Scherzer’s one start against Milwaukee this season, it was what you’d expect it to be. He went six innings, struck out 10 while allowing just one walk and one earned run.

But even if the Brewers are able to get to Scherzer or keep the game close in the first six innings or so, they unfortunately won’t be seeing any of that Nationals’ bullpen that is ranked last with a 5.66 ERA. Washington manager, Dave Martinez has already said that starters Stephen Strasburg and Patrick Corbin will be used in Tuesday night’s game if they are needed.

Strasburg is a Cy Young hopeful who recorded a 3.32 ERA with a 1.038 WHIP in his 209 innings pitched this season. In one start against Milwaukee, the Brewers were able to get to him as Strasburg would go 6.2 innings, giving up four earned on six hits with two walks, but still did strike out 11 batters.

Then there is Corbin who also pitched over 200 innings this season with a 3.25 ERA and a 1.183 WHIP. Against the Brewers, he would throw six innings while allowing seven hits and four walks but only gave up one earned run while still striking out eight.

To put it simply, this is a gauntlet that the Milwaukee Brewers are going to have to go through if they hope to make it to the divisional series in Los Angeles.

While the Brewers did take the season series 4-2, after sweeping Washington earlier in the season at home they did lose the most recent series in August on the road. Putting up runs on these three pitchers certainly won’t be an easy task, but we’ve seen plenty of September and October magic over the last two seasons to ever doubt this team.