The Milwaukee Brewers blazed into the All-Star break having won seven in a row, then rattled off four more out of the gate and took their first two series over the Dodgers and Mariners on the road. After Seattle snapped the 11-game win streak on Tuesday, Milwaukee came back with a 10-2 stomping in the series finale. All that has finally earned baseball’s best team a bump – a big one – in ESPN’s 17th weekly power rankings.
Milwaukee Brewers leapfrog power rankings favorites
Not only did the Brewers clean up on their west coast trip, they did so in typical team fashion, scoring 34 runs in the five wins on just three homeruns. Taking advantage of a costly Mariners miscue, they launched zero bombs in yesterday’s 10-run eruption and the same number over their last three victories (covering 22 total runs scored).
Even more impressively, four of the 17 hits Wednesday came from names who had totaled six knocks on the season coming in (Blake Perkins, Anthony Siegler, and Tyler Black). Losing to the Brewers often involves death by a thousand paper cuts.
Despite their impressive second-half start, the Brewers have actually gone down on the longball leaderboard, dropping to 25th. So they must be a gap-to-gap team relying on lesser forms of extra base power. One would think, but no. Milwaukee batters have hit the 27th-most doubles (and are 21st with 10 triples).
Overall, the Brewers are fourth-last in isolated power, which separates slugging percentage from batting average, ahead of only the Padres, White Sox, and the pitiful Pirates.
And yet the offense is seventh in runs scored, two behind the plummeting Tigers in sixth. The Brewers get on base, they take the next one, they don’t make errors on defense, and the starting rotation is unflappable.
All that is good for the no. 1 spot on ESPN’s list, leaping from ninth in the previous edition. Gasp. Where did the Dodgers and Cubbies go?
Brew Crew embrace a scrap-over-sequins approach to piling up w’s
Chicago is right on the Brewers’ heels, both in the rankings and in the standings. Yep, as Milwaukee fans well know, the Cubs now trail by a game for the NL Central Division lead. The Brewers haven’t just stolen the division lead, they have the best record in baseball thanks to a 73.5% winning percentage across the past two months.
Tough times for Los Angeles (no. 4) and Detroit (no. 3). Both are having outstanding seasons but tanking of late. After being swept a second time by the Brewers, the Dodgers had dropped 10 of 12. The Tigers are 1-9 in their last 10. Their struggles have paved the way for a new successor to the throne, as much as it pains national outlets to drop the boys in blue.
How do the Brewers do it?
Writes ESPN’s Alden Gonzalez, “The Brewers’ biggest strength is self-awareness. They know what they do best and never stray from it.” For most of their hitters, although the lineup could use some additional pop, that means swinging for singles instead of fences.
In addition to Milwaukee’s mysteriously invincible stash of starters, Gonzalez also notes that the Brewers have recorded 23 extra defensive outs and earned plus-12 outs on the bases.
In terms of easily observable traditional stats, they do rank third in steals at 117 on the season, led by second baseman Brice Turang and outfielder Jackson Chourio at 18 apiece. Turang also leads the team’s position players with 3.0 Wins Above Replacement.
Injuries do pose a threat to their head of steam, as the roster awaits the return of right fielder Sal Frelick and first baseman Rhys Hoskins.
After a well deserved day off, the Brewers will continue their scrappy brand of baseball by hosting the Marlins on Friday afternoon.
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