The Brewers' Most Entertaining Bunts of the Season

Anyone who’s watched the Brewers even a little bit this season won’t be surprised to learn that they lead all of baseball with 24 bunt hits. They’ve got an outside shot at tying the 2022 Giants at 28 for the most in this decade. Milwaukee has bunted 57 times in total, third-most in the league, and they’re not exactly running from that identity. Before Wednesday’s game against the Cardinals, the team held bunting practice, going so far as to haul garbage cans onto the fields to serve as targets. If you’re wondering why, in the year 2024, one of the league’s top 10 offenses is so committed to small ball that they’re dumpster-diving during BP, the answer is simple: It’s working.

So far this season, the Brewers have a weighted on-base average of .450 when they’re bunting. To put that in perspective, Aaron Judge leads all of baseball with a .474 wOBA. If you could combine all the Brewers into one player whenever they bunt, that player would be the second-best hitter in baseball. To be clear, the Brewers are not unique in this. They only rank 12th in wOBA when bunting, and that shouldn’t be too surprising, either. As bunts have grown rarer in today’s power-oriented game, they’ve also become more successful, both because defenses aren’t defending against them and because players only bunt when they’re very confident of success. The difference is that the Brewers have bunted more often than 10 of the 11 teams ahead of them on that list. They’re combining high volume with a high success rate. That’s harder to do, and it results in a ton of value.

The team is not being propped up by one player who’s way out in front of the rest of the league. Brice Turang, Blake Perkins, and Sal Frelick all rank within the top 15 in baseball in bunt hits, and 10 different Brewers have bunted at least once. Still, the team isn’t just bunting willy-nilly. They’re picking their spots. First, they’re bunting when offense is hard to come by. It’s not a coincidence that the Brewers have attempted bunts against some of the best pitchers in baseball, like Jorge López, Corbin Burnes, Tarik Skubal, Joe Ryan, Justin Steele, and Dylan Cease. Second, they’re bunting when it gives them the best chance to score a run. They lead baseball with 10 bunts with a runner on third base.

This targeted small-ball approach is working, but just as important, it’s a lot of fun. A well-executed bunt can be a thing of beauty and elegance, but it can also be a harbinger of chaos. To celebrate the dribbling success of the bunt-drunk Brewers, let’s take a look at some of the most entertaining bunts of the season.

Our first came all the way back in May, when Christian Yelich knocked in a run on a safety squeeze that carried all the drama of a tightrope walk.

Third baseman Nolan Arenado had no choice but to watch the ball and try to force it into foul territory through telekinesis. Instead, the ball rolled straight down the line and into the bag, popping right up into his hand as if it simply couldn’t wait any longer for someone to field it. Look at the joy that this bunt brought to the fans in the stands. I’ve numbered them in the still below so that you can get a sense of how this bunt made them feel.

1. Unclear on what just happened, but gathered that it was time to clap.
2. Wearing blue, but crying secret Cardinals tears on the inside.
3. Loved the bunt so much that she temporarily turned into an anime character.
4. Didn’t see the play at all because he refused to stand up when the guy in front of him stood up, and is now so angry that he’s about to set the Guinness world record in the category of Reddest Face (Human).
5. Has no idea the Brewers just scored because for the last two innings he’s been telling a story about that time some teenagers tipped over his campervan in the middle of the night.
6. This is literally the happiest he’s even been. He’s Julie Andrews at the beginning of The Sound of Music. He’s a lady in a shampoo commercial. He is lighter than air.
7. Is strongly considering burning this whole damn stadium to the ground.
8. Just hit a crazy parlay that involved a baseball bouncing off a base. He’s about to buy the Brewers.
9. This is the first time he’s smiled in three years. This bunt is the one thing that can, for just a moment, take his mind off that terrible, terrible thing he did four winters ago in the woods outside Oostburg.

Ok, it’s time to move on. We’ve got more bunts to get to.

That is, quite simply, what a perfect drag bunt looks like. The ball never strays more than 18 inches away from the baseline. Frelick is at first base before the pitcher even has a chance to decide what to do with the ball, which is convenient because there’s absolutely nothing he can do with it anyway. Look at poor Tim Mayza.

This is the saddest man in North America.