3 simple moves the Milwaukee Brewers need to make to run away with the NL Central

The Milwaukee Brewers have not been able to run away with the National League Central.

The Brew Crew have been going back and forth between first and second place for much of the season.

They had been jockeying for the top spot with the Pittsburgh Pirates before their recent fade. Now the Cincinnati Reds are the team the Brewers must deal with for the division lead.

The NL Central is arguably the second-worst division in baseball.

The St. Louis Cardinals are a mess this season. The Chicago Cubs do not have enough power or much of a bullpen to get over .500.

Milwaukee has the best pitching in the division, but a very weak offense has prevented the club from blowing past the young Reds.

The Milwaukee Brewers have a starting rotation and a bullpen capable of winning in October. The rotation will only get better once Brandon Woodruff returns from the IL. The bats are what is holding this team back from having a commanding lead in the NL Central.

The team currently has the second-worst batting average in the Majors along with the fourth-worst OPS in all of baseball.

General manager Matt Arnold needs to do something before the trade deadline to improve this offense. Arnold does not need to pull off a blockbuster trade to accomplish this.

He can make these three moves to bolster the lineup and possibly blow by the Reds.

Designate Jesse Winker for assignment.

The Milwaukee Brewers are getting little-to-no production from the designated hitter. A big reason for that is Jesse Winker has been struggling at the plate. Struggling is putting it nicely.

He has just one home run on the season, and it came on June 20th.

His slugging percentage is below .254 and his OPS is well below .600. His wRC+ is forty points below the league average. Those are awful numbers for a guy whose only job is to hit the baseball and to hit hard and far.

He had has best game last night, but one game does not make up for his lack of production.

At this point, the Brewers would be better served cutting ties with him and call up top-5 prospect Sal Frelick. Arnold could even recall Keston Hiura who has been crushing the ball in Triple-A Nashville.

Bench Luis Urias.

Urias was injured on Opening Day, and he has been unable to get it going at the plate since returning from the IL.

He has under 10 hits in over 50 at-bats.

Brian Anderson has been in a funk since his solid start to the season, but at least his bat has been more active than Urias’.

Luis Urias does not need to be cut, but he should not be playing every day. He can still be a valuable depth piece with all the infield positions he can play.

If Anderson continues to struggle at the plate, manager Craig Counsell can always reinsert him into the lineup. He can also try Abraham Toro who had four hits in eight at-bats during a brief call-up.

Acquire a bat that can hit left-handed pitching.

The Milwaukee Brewers are struggling against lefties.

It is not like the Crew is facing left-handed pitchers every day. When this team does, they make that pitcher look like Sandy Koufax.

The team needs help in the lineup and if Matt Arnold pulls off a trade before the deadline, he needs to make sure that player (or players) can hit well off of southpaws.