In case you have missed it, the Milwaukee Brewers are the hottest team in baseball. Their winning streak has reached double digits and seemingly everyone on the team is playing their best baseball. While all of this is great, how does this impact our views on assessing the teams corner infield needs with the trade deadline approaching?
Great record and winning streak side, the Brewers have had to overcome a lot of adversity this season. The amount of injuries this team has had to overcome is mind boggling. However, with adversity or injury comes opportunity.
Most recently, Luis Urias has made the most out of increased playing time following the Travis Shaw injury. Keston Hiura looks better after returning quicker then expected when Dan Vogelbach sustained a hamstring injury. Heck even Jace Peterson can’t stop not reaching base.
Urias and Hiura are certainly interesting cases for throughout the majority of the season the corner infield spots had been the biggest areas to improve upon. Have these needs changed during the winning streak?
From Willy Adames Day, May 22nd, until June 30th Luis Urias posted a .283/.355/.496/.851 slash line. In that timeframe he hit six home runs and drove in 20 batters. The narrative that Urias has played better since Adames has arrived is very true. The big question is if this play is sustainable or not.
In nine games back with the Brewers, Keston Hiura has collected exactly nine hits. Four have gone for extra bases and he has driven in 12 batters. The strikeout numbers are relatively unchanged but he is barreling the ball up a lot more and coming through with timely hits!
The question David Stearns has to answer is would he feel comfortable with Urias and Hiura in a postseason lineup? Would either of these two be able to produce against a Jacob deGrom or Clayton Kershaw level of player in October?
Let’s just say I’m glad I don’t have to answer that question. Baseball is very unpredictable but there are trade deadline options out there whom have had longer track records of success. Trevor Story seems to be one of the biggest names, if he would be willing to play third base.
Josh Donaldson, Kyle Seager, and Eduardo Escobar seem to be other commonly discussed names, although rumors around Escobar seem to be heating up the most as of late. Which position or direction the Brewers elect to trade for this July will certainly be interesting and the current winning streak and excellent performances out of players makes things even more difficult to predict.
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