Week in Review: Another Step Back

[Kyle Ginsbach]

The Brewers dropped their series this week to division-rival St. Louis and MLB-best Tampa Bay, but didn't lose much ground in the NL Central. If you missed any of the action, here's my recap of another lousy week in Brewers baseball.

Image courtesy of © Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports

The Brewers dropped their series this week to division-rival St. Louis and MLB-best Tampa Bay, but didn't lose much ground in the NL Central. If you missed any of the action, here's my recap of another lousy week in Brewers baseball.

Weekly Snapshot

Record Last Week: 2-4 (25-21 Overall)

Runs Scored: 14

Runs Surrendered: 36

Standing: 1st in NL Central (0.5 GA)

***

Game 41 | STL 18, MIL 1

Game 42 | MIL 3, STL 2

Game 43 | STL 3, MIL 0

Game 44 | TB 1, MIL 0

Game 45 | TB 8, MIL 4

Game 46 | MIL 6, TB 4

NEWS AND NOTES

There was a laundry list of transactions that took place this week; here they are.

• Recalled RHP Trevor Megill (5/15)

• Optioned RHP Colin Rea (5/15)

• Placed 1B/DH Luke Voit on 10-day Injured List (5/15)

• Signed free-agent 1B/DH Darin Ruf (5/15)

• Transferred RHP Brandon Woodruff to 60-day Injured List (5/15)

• Recalled RHP J.B. Bukauskas (5/16)

• Designated RHP Gus Varland for assignment (5/16)

• Traded RHP Lucas Erceg to Oakland for Cash (5/17)

• Recalled RHP Jake Cousins (5/17)

• Placed LHP Wade Miley on 15-day Injured List (5/17)

• Recalled Rea (5/20)

• Placed Bukauskas on 15-day Injured List (5/20)

Christian Yelich also missed two games this week with lower back pain, but returned for the Tampa Bay series.

Brice Turang, Garrett Mitchell, and Joey Wiemer all graduated from prospect status this week. It figures that the top two prospects in the organization will now be Jackson Chourio and Sal Frelick by a wide margin.

With Miley slated to miss the upcoming couple months, both Eric Lauer and Adrian Houser will comfortably slot into the rotation. Rea will also continue to make starts until the rotation is fully healthy.

HIGHLIGHTS

Where did Owen Miller come from? Miller earned his healthiest dose of playing time this week, and rewarded the Brewers for it. Miller hit .435, raised his on-base streak over 20, and extended his hitting streak to 13 games. Miller now leads the team in OPS and AVG. His season slash line is .344/.367/.505.

 

Brice Turang has returned to hitting ways over the past month. During May, Turang is slashing .294/.333/.392 while continuing to be a plus defender at second base. He did lose some starts to the red-hot Miller, but it had little to do with Turang’s play.

Joel Payamps and Devin Williams were key in both of the Brewers wins last week. Payamps has ascended and then settled into the seventh-inning role, while Williams has been asked to get multi-inning saves.

Adrian Houser had his best start of the year in the series opener against the Rays, tossing six scoreless innings in the Brewers eventual 1-0 loss. With Miley down with a injury, the Brewers will lean on Houser to get this type of production going forward.

Brian Anderson celebrated his 30th birthday last week, and may have made the Brewers' best defensive play of the year to get the first out of the 9th inning on Sunday. Here’s a look at the gem if you missed it.

 

LOWLIGHTS

Whatever went wrong on Monday, the Brewers need to avoid doing it again. The 18-1 loss to the Cardinals was historically bad, matching the franchise mark for largest margin of defeat. Ouch.

Lauer pitched well in a relief appearance out of the bullpen last week, but did not pitch well in his return to the rotation. In his three innings of work against the Rays, Lauer surrendered six runs before being removed from the game.

The Brewers offense was anemic for the majority of the week, but were downright awful hitting with runners in scoring position. On their six-game road trip, the Brewers managed just four hits in 42 tries with a runner on second or third base.

Tyrone Taylor has yet to find his offensive footing this season. He’s hitting just .196 since returning from the IL, including grounding into four double plays in just 56 plate appearances.

Joey Wiemer has been great defensively, with the exception of this odd blooper. Luckily, the error was not ultimately costly, as the Crew held on for the win.

 

TRENDING STORYLINE

The Brewers have lost seven of their last nine series, but still find themselves atop the NL Central. The Cardinals are continuing to play better baseball, but the Cubs and Pirates are struggling in similar fashion to Milwaukee. Pitcher health is the major concern for the Brewers, and they’re at the point where they cannot afford for another starter to go down any time soon.

The offense needs to be better, too, but with Willy Adames and Yelich beginning to find their grooves, run production can be expected to tick back up again.

LOOKING AHEAD

For the first time in the month of May, the Brewers will have a week with no off-day. Luckily for them, that comes in the form of a seven-game homestand against the Astros and Giants. Should be a good week to start trending back in the right direction.

MONDAY, 5/22: ASTROS @ BREWERS: RHP Christian Javier vs. RHP Corbin Burnes

TUESDAY, 5/23: ASTROS @ BREWERS: RHP J.P. France vs. TBD

WEDNESDAY, 5/24: ASTROS @ BREWERS: RHP Brandon Bielak vs. RHP Adrian Houser

THURSDAY, 5/25: GIANTS @ BREWERS: TBD vs. TBD

FRIDAY, 5/26: GIANTS @ BREWERS: TBD vs. TBD

SATURDAY, 5/27: GIANTS @ BREWERS: TBD vs. TBD

SUNDAY, 5/28: GIANTS @ BREWERS: TBD vs. TBD

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