One Fatal Flaw...

[Turning2]

Interesting artical in USA today highlighting the Achille's Heel of the playoff contenders  MLB playoff contenders' flaws, issues that could derail title hopes

The intro included this bit about the Brewers, and it sounds a little too familiar again.

"The Brewers had the best record in baseball in 2025 then scored one run a game and hit .128 in a four-game National League Championship Series sweep by the Dodgers. It was the lowest batting average in a postseason series of at least three games in MLB history. Their power outage was not a fluke. Milwaukee finished the year in the bottom third of the majors in home runs, covering for it all season with contact and speed. The flaw was there, buried under 97 wins, and it was exploited once the bright lights came on.

The actual "flaw" discussed about MIL later in the article is about the starting pitching. Not telling us anything we don't already know as daily followers of the team. Just sounds a bit like a broken record from last year.... not enough power, built for the regular season with speed, defense and contact against pitching that runs from the aces to the bottom of the order, the same bottom of the order type of pitching you don't face in the playoffs. Hope the contact bats don't crap the bed again when it counts most, especially with the pitching drop off after Henderson.

 

[jay87shot]

I don't think the lack of power is a fatal flaw, last year we could have hit 5 more  HR in that Dodger series and still wouldn't have been close becuase they would have likely been solo shots. Anyone facing Skubal, Yamamoto, Snell, and Glasnow is going to struggle and it just was that we had 4 tough ones in a row. I would rather have a scrappy team that can get on base and play some small ball to steal a run here or there than really on a random solo HR or two when facing that rotation. We have enough guys who can hit HR, maybe no 40 HR guys but 6 guys who can hit 20+ is alright.

[Turning2]

48 minutes ago, jay87shot said:

I don't think the lack of power is a fatal flaw, last year we could have hit 5 more  HR in that Dodger series and still wouldn't have been close becuase they would have likely been solo shots. Anyone facing Skubal, Yamamoto, Snell, and Glasnow is going to struggle and it just was that we had 4 tough ones in a row. I would rather have a scrappy team that can get on base and play some small ball to steal a run here or there than really on a random solo HR or two when facing that rotation. We have enough guys who can hit HR, maybe no 40 HR guys but 6 guys who can hit 20+ is alright.

Ideally, you have better balance in the lineup between the contact bats and the power bats, so those 5 more HRs aren't solo shots. Obviously, acquiring that lineup is easier said than done. Small ball is fun, entertaining no doubt, Just would prefer a better balance. Yes, they have several guys with the capability to hit 20+HRs, but they don't. Currently, they have 2, one of which is reaching it for the first time in a career year. Turang might get them 3, and Contreras gives them a slim chance for 4. Can't wait until Burke and Fischer arrive and hopefully bring their hammers to the big league.

 

[sveumrules]

Thru May 31st
.118 Isolated Slugging (30th)

Since June 1st
.158 Isolated Slugging (19th)

Obviously the Brewers are not a power first team, but they have been much improved in that department since a slow start to the year. Last year's Blue Jays team that took the Dodgers to G7 had a .162 Isolated Slugging. 

Looking at the whole season numbers it probably isn't a coincidence that the three perpetually successful small market teams - MIL (.144 ISO | 25th), TBR (.143 ISO | 26th), and CLE (.139 ISO | 28th) - all land at the bottom of the Isolated Slugging leaderboard.

When power is expensive and revenues are imbalanced, (smart) teams with less spending power need to find other ways to win ballgames if they even want to make the playoffs (or set franchise win records while winning the most games in MLB two years in a row). Jake Bauers is 21st in MLB among qualified batters with a .225 ISO this year, of the 20 players ahead of him only six are still with their original organization.

[Brian]

1 hour ago, Turning2 said:

Hope the contact bats don't crap the bed again when it counts most.

Yes we had a severe offensive power outage and a historic lack of hitting last postseason. 

[BruisedCrew]

21 minutes ago, Brian said:

Yes we had a severe offensive power outage and a historic lack of hitting last postseason. 

That’s why it is unsettling to see the whopping strikeout totals from the offense over the last 8 games. 

Hopefully that is just a little loss of focus after clinching the division and having the bye a near certainty. 

Watching the Dodgers piling up runs as Betts, Muncy, and Tucker heat up and Smith and Pages return is also unsettling. If they get Ohtani back as DH and Freeman has his usual postseason success, their All Star SP rotation is only going to be half of the challenge. Their “Achilles Heel” bullpen might not be a factor. 

[Brian]

27 minutes ago, BruisedCrew said:

That’s why it is unsettling to see the whopping strikeout totals from the offense over the last 8 games. 

Hopefully that is just a little loss of focus after clinching the division and having the bye a near certainty. 

Watching the Dodgers piling up runs as Betts, Muncy, and Tucker heat up and Smith and Pages return is also unsettling. If they get Ohtani back as DH and Freeman has his usual postseason success, their All Star SP rotation is only going to be half of the challenge. Their “Achilles Heel” bullpen might not be a factor. 

I think the Brewers can handle the Dodgers at home,  it is the west coast I am not a fan of. 

[markedman5]

44 minutes ago, Brian said:

I think the Brewers can handle the Dodgers at home,  it is the west coast I am not a fan of. 

It’s just so hard to say…..we lost 2 of 3 at home…..no Miz in that series however……then went out to LA and beat them 3 out of 4…….didn't face Snell or Glasnow in that one but did have to go against Yamamoto and Skubal. 
 

Nobody should be kidding themselves……Dodgers have an All star team filled with future hall of famers…..anybody beating them is going to be difficult and require some good fortune……..need to win another tough series before we even have to worry about that however.

NL is just loaded………

[OldSchoolSnapper]

I don't know if the Brewers will win the World Series. I'd bet against them in a series with LA, but I think that sweep has really been taken out of proportion because it makes "Milwaukee can't beat a market like LA" an easy thing to say.

[Thurston Fluff]

Back in the 90's the two most prolific teams were Cleveland and Atlanta. One was built on power and a great overall offense and average pitching while the other on great pitching and an average offense. They won one World Series between the two of them. That one win was when they played against each other. The age old adage that good pitching bets a good offense has been proven both right and wrong depending on the year.

There is no single best way. There is no built for the regular season but not the post season team. There is no good pitching beats good hitting. Homeruns are not necessary nor is an ace pitcher.  There is just one good team managing to win all the series in a stretch when all the teams face a good opponent every series.

[Thurston Fluff]

7 minutes ago, OldSchoolSnapper said:

I don't know if the Brewers will win the World Series. I'd bet against them in a series with LA, but I think that sweep has really been taken out of proportion because it makes "Milwaukee can't beat a market like LA" an easy thing to say.

I think the relief of finally winning a series lead to a letdown they just didn't recover from well enough. Given the goal is set higher this time around plus the experience of what happens when you have an emotional let down makes me believe it's not likely to repeat.

[bm1090]

20 minutes ago, OldSchoolSnapper said:

I don't know if the Brewers will win the World Series. I'd bet against them in a series with LA, but I think that sweep has really been taken out of proportion because it makes "Milwaukee can't beat a market like LA" an easy thing to say.

Yeah, the sweep sucked, but the pitching mostly held up. And I have way more belief in our offense this year to claw some runs togther.

 

Bill