Are the Milwaukee Brewers contenders or pretenders?
By Todd Welter
The Milwaukee Brewers have cooled off since starting the season 14-5.
The Crew has gone 6-12 since they swept the Seattle Mariners in mid-April. Since then, they have won just one series and suffered a six-game losing streak.
The Brewers are currently looking up at the Pittsburgh Pirates in the standings.
The Brewers have lost five of their last six series after winning five of the first six. They were 14-5 three weeks ago. Now they are 20-17.
— Adam McCalvy (@AdamMcCalvy) May 10, 2023
It is worth wondering if the Brewers will stay in the race for the NL Central crown or end up missing the playoffs for the second-straight season.
The Milwaukee Brewers still have 77% of the season left to play. Thankfully, they get a three-game homestand against the Kansas City Royals coming up.
Plus, they get a three-game road series against the St. Louis Cardinals after the Royals. Right now, it is the best time to play those hated Cardinals as they are really struggling.
Then, the Brew Crew must go to Tampa and play the Rays and then host Houston. They also have to go to Toronto at the end of the month. They still have to face the San Francisco Giants again who were a thorn in Milwaukee’s side in their series in San Fran.
So, there are not a ton of gimmies this month.
A season is not lost in May, but the Brewers are certainly not playing their best baseball right now.
The team’s OPS in May is currently .686 which is down from .722 in April. They are not getting much from anyone who bats in the two-hole with a slash line of .175/.325/.246.
The pitching has had its issues too.
Opponents’ May OPS is currently .810 which is up from .675 in April. Also, the team’s ERA for the month is 4.43 which is an earned run higher than last month.
This has not come against a murder’s row of foes. This is the Colorado Rockies and the Giants we are talking about here. To be fair, those numbers do include the Los Angeles Dodgers who will always be contenders.
The Milwaukee Brewers had a chance to show they can play with the best of them, and they got outscored 17-12 in a three-game series with the Dodgers. They exploded on LA for nine runs to win the first game of the series, but then just managed three runs the rest of the series at American Family Field.
It feels like the wind was taken out of the team’s sails when Garrett Mitchell was lost for the season.
So was Garrett Mitchell the key to team chemistry or something? Earlier in the season the dugout was hoping and people having fun.
— Brewers Offseason Mode (@BrewersRaptor) May 3, 2023
It’s gone back to being lifeless glass-eyed players like last season.
Obviously winning and creating offense helps, but let’s go Crew.
It does not mean all hope is lost.
Fangraphs still gives them a 64.7% chance of making the playoffs. The Brewers still have one of the best starting rotations in baseball.
The team is still smacking home runs. If they can just improve their on-base and slugging percentage, the batting order could become more explosive.
The defense has been pretty good as they have a defensive fWAR of 14.4. The offensive is a -13.3 fWAR though and that is concerning. Thankfully, the Milwaukee Brewers play in a weak division. All they have to do is find a way to win the NL Central, get into the playoffs, and see what happens.
light. Related Story. 2023 Milwaukee Brewers Win Projections Recap