Before the season, if you asked the Milwaukee Brewers whether they would take a 96-64 record and first-round bye in the playoffs, they would say obviously take it in a heartbeat. Now that we’re here, though, the offensive struggles of late are cause for unease so soon before the postseason. Dating back to the road trip that began in San Diego, the Brewers have scored just 13 runs in their last seven games, stumbling to a 2-5 record. Yesterday against the Reds, a lifeless lineup mustered a single run as the Quinn Priester win streak came to an end.
Yes, the Brewers have clinched the division and a top two seed; the only drama remaining is whether they can hold onto the No. 1 spot for homefield throughout the playoffs (the Phillies are a game back but Milwaukee owns the tiebreaker). No, of course there is no reason to panic, even if Philadelphia jumps them. But it’s going to be more than a little uncomfortable if the offense doesn’t show signs of reviving in these last two games at home.
Brewers bats limping to the finish line
It’s not just the lack of run scoring, the Brewers just haven’t been able to muster many threat. Over the last seven days (five games), they rank 28th in MLB with a .512 OPS. Their nine runs in that time is good for dead last.
Several key bats have cooled in September. Jackson Chourio is hitting .188. Christian Yelich is at .235. Isaac Collins has not been playing as much, but in more limited at-bats is batting just .167.
Most striking is the disappearance of power. Andrew Vaughn is raking this month (.390 average) but his homerless streak goes back to August 15. William Contreras hasn’t cleared the fence in September and is slugging .313. Brice Turang has been solid, but he isn’t launching long balls like he was (two this month).
During the past 30 days, the Brewers are 28th in homeruns (20) and only 20th in runs. Though exaggerated by the lineup’s recent frigidity, the cool-down has been going on for a while.
Combined with pitcher injuries, it’s not a great way to head into the most important time of the year. If they don’t figure it out this weekend, the Brewers will at least have a chance to regroup, in health and in the batting cage, as they await the winner of Cubs-Padres in the Wild Card Round.
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