Going into Monday’s series opener with the rival Chicago Cubs, the Milwaukee Brewers found themselves tied with the Northsiders atop the Central Division, with only a game separating them both from the best record in all of Major League Baseball. That three game set has ended and the Brewers are now alone in first place in the division as well as perched atop the Majors with a 64-44 record. Can’t lie – that was an enjoyable sentence to write.
The two teams are separated by only 0.004 in team batting average, 0.001 in on-base percentage, and currently have the same exact number of stolen bases. Their fielding percentages are split by only a difference of 0.002. While the Cubs have pulled away in the power hitting department, the Brew Crew is similarly ahead when it comes to pitching. These are two well-performing teams that were primed to be buyers by yesterday’s trade deadline to take advantage of a potential championship window.
And then crickets.
Needing that help on the mound, Chicago landed a former all-star in Michael Soroka who while pitching better of late, hasn’t been the same player since missing two seasons to injury a couple years ago. His 4.87 ERA on the season isn’t going to be a huge needle-mover even if he has experience starting or coming out of the bullpen.
The Brewers didn’t do a whole lot better. Needing a big bat, they pulled from their pitching depth and traded Nestor Cortes to San Diego for outfielder Brandon Lockridge. I’m no scout (despite my attempts at playing one at the bar after a round of golf), but a guy who is 28 years old with one career homerun in 100 plate appearances in the Bigs doesn’t sound like the power hitter the team needs. His Baseball Savant page is as blue as the Crew’s City Connect uniforms, and for those who don’t know, blue = bad and red = good when looking at those numbers.
Milwaukee also landed a nice bullpen arm in veteran Shelby Miller who could immediately slot into high-leverage spots in October, but that’s only if he heals up. There’s still a world where he doesn’t see the field again until 2026.
Both teams obviously feel confident enough in their squads, at least to not give up any top prospects. But with the Padres, Phillies, and Mets all swinging big to get themselves to the World Series this year, the Dodgers still being the Dodgers (ugh), the lack of a 1980’s Cold War-level arms race between the Brewers and Cubs certainly feels underwhelming.
Anything can happen, and there’s a lot of season left. Odds are I look a bit foolish by the end of September and Milwaukee shows they knew what they were doing. In the meantime, I guess it’s back to another brat and beer for me while hoping Brandon Lockridge can take his career home run total to two.
[ESPN] [ESPN] [Baseball Savant] [Rotowire] [ESPN]
