Carrying a .500 record in their last 10 games, the Milwaukee Brewers' confidence seems to be a bit rattled. That idea was punctuated by their three-game series sweep at the hands of the San Diego Padres to start their seven-game West Coast trip, which led the closeknit group to hold a team meeting to discuss their recent struggles.
According to Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the message from Brewers Manager Pat Murphy was simple and clear — there's not as much to worry about as it seems right now.
"All I know is on August 12 we've got the best record in baseball. And if you got the best record in baseball, you're still going to go through times like this," Murphy told reporters after the 15-minute private meeting.
Well, that sentiment doesn't belong to the Brewers' wise clubhouse leader alone, as 13-year MLB veteran Kevin Pillar shared during a recent segment for Foul Territory:
"You ran into a good team in the Padres. You know, baseball is a very difficult sport to be great [at] every single day," Pillar said. "The margins between wins and losses are so small in the major leagues... I don't think it's a big concern."
So while the logical brain might be able to extrapolate a three-game skid as part of the ups-and-downs of the season, the emotional side would hone in on the heated race for the NL Central and what this could all mean for Milwaukee in the postseason. It's reasonable for a team to start getting nervous with the playoffs just around the corner and a division rival hot on its tail, but that doesn't mean it's time to hit the panic button in Milwaukee.
The Milwaukee Brewers need to get back to the basics and trust in all the progress they've made.
There's been a lot of talk about building the right way, and that's exactly how the Milwaukee Brewers have gotten to this point in the season. Even with their recent woes, they're on track for the most wins in a single season in franchise history for the second year in a row. They're one of the best defensive units in the league with elite pitching and plenty of talented batters ripe for the challenge.
So sure, this might be the rough patch in what's otherwise been a spectacular all-around season for a franchise that's in one of the most dominant eras of its nearly 60-year history. But if this is what a rough patch looks like now, it's nothing compared to the toughest of times the franchise has faced over the years.
I think standout first baseman Jake Bauers said it best after the team meeting, in a way that only he could be afforded the latitude to: "I just think we need to chill the f*** out a little bit."
And as for the upcoming series against the big bad wolf in white and navy blue, there's no reason to get all worked up about it. These are just another handful of games in a very long stretch of games. The stench of a sweep should be enough for the Brewers to wake up a little bit and relax, because there's no reason to build up a matchup with the Dodgers in their heads before even getting to L.A.
Once again, Bauers put the situation into perspective with the following mic-drop:
"What's the worst that can happen, huh? We get swept on the road? We just did. We're all going to live. Just go in there, focus on what we can control, and try and win some baseball games."
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