It’s troublesome to wrap the human thoughts round the truth that, within the grand previous yr of 2026, the Milwaukee Brewers are actually, actually good. Or possibly that may be a private drawback, as somebody usually disconnected from the ongoings of the NL Central. What occurs over there? None of my enterprise! The working assumption is that the Brewers will rip-off the division with 90-or-so wins yearly, reaping the advantages of the 4 different flailing, barely making an attempt groups who share the ignominy of taking part in in that blighted division, after which will instantly flip round and lose within the NL Wild Card spherical or Divisional Sequence.
Maybe final yr ought to have served as a authentic indicator. The Brewers, in any case, gained 97 video games, essentially the most of both league. However the best way the Brewers achieved these 97 wins was undeniably bizarre. There have been (mentioned to the tune of “Pictures” by LMFAO) hits, hits, hits, hits, hits, hits and double-digit win streaks in some way chained to different win streaks and the swingiest of video games, all of which gave the Brewers’ document a faint tinge of eau de frauduleux. The Brewers squeaked out of the NLDS towards their divisional rivals, the Chicago Cubs, earlier than getting completely curb-stomped by none aside from the Los Angeles Dodgers—at their closest move to their purported juggernaut type—within the NLCS.
However this yr! This yr, it feels extra actual. Possibly it is as a result of Pete Crow-Armstrong is popping off for the Cubs, so it seems like there’s some actual competitors inside the division, or a minimum of like anybody else is taking it critically.
Brice Turang is as soon as once more one of the best dang batter on the Brewers, which indicts both the Brewers’ paltry offensive star energy or the general public’s consideration to Brice Turang. Both approach, it is usually OK: The place the Brewers have been biggest this yr has been of their pitching.
Jacob Misiorowski has made a leap. The place earlier than he was a novelty rookie with velocity that makes your eyes bug out like a cartoon wolf, now he’s quickly unseating Paul Skenes because the hardest-throwing, coolest younger starter in baseball with velocity that makes your eyes bug out like a cartoon wolf. Misiorowski is now on track to win the NL Cy Younger this yr. If the Brewers simply wanted a dude—a real, actual, bona fide dude—with the intention to cross the invisible boundary from “obscure noise” to “value taking critically,” Misiorowski is the good and most convincing of their candidates.
Additionally, I went to PNC Park (beautiful!) for the primary time lately, which made the idea of the NL Central, if not essentially the Pittsburgh Pirates, really feel extra actual. To me, anyway.
The Brewers are charting to carry one of the best document in baseball for the second yr in a row. Even higher than final season, they’re at the moment on tempo to hit the coveted 100-win mark. To assist their quest and case, the Brewers spent the previous weekend and alter beating the Los Angeles Dodgers, about whom no one can shut up and who thus are Milwaukee’s de facto major rivals, despite the fact that they do not have Brice Turang.
Over the course of the four-game sequence, the Brewers beat the Dodgers 5-4, then misplaced 3-1, gained 4-1, and gained 6-2. The pitching rotation made the Dodgers’ offensive lineup, for all its ample identify recognition, seem like a grimy bunch of slap hitters. Freddie Freeman? Famously residing as much as his craft. Shohei Ohtani? Possibly if he performed for the cubs within the NL East, he’d have a clear shot on the NL MVP and never resemble a slap hitter. Andy Pages is batting third? The Brewers spit on a lineup like that. Misiorowski casually hit 104.2 mph on his fastball throughout his begin on Saturday. Clearly Ohtani cannot catch as much as big-league warmth.
With the sequence victory and no additional video games between the 2 groups, Milwaukee cinched a slender however profitable 4-3 document towards the Dodgers this season, which might be useful for punditry ought to they meet one another within the playoffs. As a result of it’s baseball, the Brewers might as effectively have charted to exit within the NLDS by doing so. However within the curiosity of respecting likelihood and having fun with no matter empirical proof there’s, it is not a foul time to check out the idea of Milwaukee as a World Sequence favourite. Not less than this yr, the Brewers have made it straightforward to imagine.
