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Milwaukee Brewers: Offense Struggling to Produce

By Harrison Carter

May 11, 2021; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Milwaukee Brewers right fielder Jackie Bradley Jr. (41) reacts after making the final out of the sixth inning against the St. Louis Cardinals at American Family Field. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports
May 11, 2021; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Milwaukee Brewers right fielder Jackie Bradley Jr. (41) reacts after making the final out of the sixth inning against the St. Louis Cardinals at American Family Field. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Milwaukee Brewers are treading water in the NL Central. After a 2-0 loss to the Cardinals on Thursday, the Brewers have now lost two of their last three series, including a four game sweep to the Phillies. Now with a record of 20-18, the Brewers sit three games behind the Cardinals for first place in the NL Central.

While there have certainly been injury problems for the Crew, there is no denying that the Brewers’ elite pitching and defense can only carry the offense for so long. To put it simply, the offense will need to produce if they’re going to make the playoffs.

A bad sign is when there are too many advanced statistics to mention in one article how poorly a player or team is performing. This is the case with the Brewers’ offense. There are few positives, however, when looking at the statistics for the Milwaukee Brewers’ offense. Hopefully, they can revert to their long-term mean.

Currently, the offense ranks 27th in the league in OPS with an OPS of .655. The Crew also has the 4th highest strikeout percentage in the league with a K% of 27.1 that goes along with a swing-and-miss percentage of 28.4, the 7th highest in the league.  It would be one thing if the Brewers were simply unlucky, but the projected outcomes still show the Brewers’ offense as a bottom dweller in the league.

The Milwaukee Brewers xBA (expected batting average) is 25th in the league, and their xSLG (expected slugging percentage) is 26th in the league. These advanced statistics make sense, especially when the Brewers have the third-highest weakly hit ball rate in the league.

Many of the offensive struggles have come with runners in scoring position. The Brewers already have difficulty getting runners into scoring position, but when they have, they have not been able to capitalize. With runners in scoring position, the Brewers are hitting a brutal .208, which is 27th in the league. The Brewers will have to improve this if they want to give their starting pitchers a chance.

As much as we may like to attribute the offensive struggles to injuries, the only current injured position player who starts regularly is Christian Yelich. Yelich is just one player in the batting order, and to hope that Yelich will save an underperforming lineup is wishful thinking.

The most frustrating part of the Brewers’ offense is that if they were even an average hitting team, they would be elite due to their pitching and defense. If the underperforming hitters can make a comeback, combined with some potential deadline moves to improve the offense, the Milwaukee Brewers can and should compete in the playoffs.

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