BrewersRaptor Brewers Recap: Mashing Without the Big Guns

Another solid start from Robert Gasser. Chris Roller makes his debut. Milwaukee wins another series against a division team. William Contreras is an MVP candidate. It’s hard not to be a happy Brewers fans this week.

Image courtesy of © Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports

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The Brewers start a grueling road trip this weekend. I mean grueling, as in locations. The team will head to Houston to face the Astros for three, then travel to Miami against the Marlins for three, and then wrap up the road trip in Boston against the Red Sox.

The upside is that these teams aren’t having the best seasons so far. The Red Sox are the only team with a winning record, at 22-21. The Marlins are 13-32 and the Astros are 18-25. But don’t worry, after this long road trip, Milwaukee gets to come home and face off against the Chicago Cubs for four games. Hopefully, the team can take care of business and come back with a record of at least 6-3.

It appears that the NL Central will be a two-team race between the Brewers and the Cubs. Both teams are pretty even record-wise. The Crew sit at 26-17, while the baby bears are 25-20. There is still lots of baseball left, but those four games will be pretty important. Chicago already took the first series against the Brewers. Anything can still happen, but the rest of the division does not appear to be as competitive or to have a deep enough roster right now. My only concern is that Chicago probably has a few better prospects to trade before the deadline. In Matt Arnold we trust.

Hit With The Injury Bug Again
We just couldn’t go a week without an injury for this team. The fact that this roster is doing so well and looking like a top-10 team in the league right now, without their complete team, is a huge testament to this group of guys. They are young, talented and possessed of a winner’s mindset; they have confidence. This quote from Christian Yelich says it all:

The Brewers will now be without Rhys Hoskins for roughly two to four weeks. He was placed on the 10-day injured list after suffering a strain to his right hamstring. Coming off a torn ACL that cost him all of last year, it was cause for greater alarm at first, seeing him slightly hobbled. It was a relief that the injury was essentially unrelated to the previous one. The team is fine so far, but Hoskins’s 131 WRC+ will still be missed. He leads the team in home runs with nine so far, and owns a solid .814 OPS.

I would expect Jake Bauers, Gary Sánchez and Owen Miller to fill in at first for a while. Tyler Black will probably be returning soon, as well, after some additional everyday at-bats and more defensive work in Nashville. A future platoon of Black and Bauers is probably on the horizon, though obviously, it wouldn't be a direct one, since they both bat left-handed. It's more like, we could see Bauers in the outfield some, with both he and Black playing some first and taking some time at DH opposite Sánchez.

Bauers has been a nice surprise this year. I know a lot of people give him a hard time amid some bad stretches, but he has been great lately. He’s at four home runs already, when he only averages 12 a year. His career average is around .200, but he's currently hitting .235. Is this anything to have a parade over? No. But the results are there right now, and his May batting average is .320. Jake McKibbin did a great job breaking down his adjustments. These other stats don't hurt either:

Cubs Fans Have Lost Their Minds
One of my toxic traits is following fans of rival teams on social media. A lot of times, they will get the assignment. Trash talk, be decent about it and always remember to laugh at yourself. I’ve had some good times with folks from the Cubs, Cardinals, Pirates and Reds.

But in the past week or two, this new crop of Cubs fans have popped up. And it’s either they’ve never done it before, haven't left their parent’s basement, or just don’t have it all together up there. Zero self-awareness, harassing Brewers fans and their accounts, and not having any fun.

Do I sound like an old man yelling at clouds? Maybe. It’s just very easy to have fun with something instead of cruel. Like the way they are suddenly attacking Jackson Chourio. It doesn't matter if the tweet/post was bait or for engagement. It's an unfunny, lazy attempt at anything.

"But John, that just means that they are jealous and know he will be good." Of course that is a huge part of it. It’s also going after a 20-year-old who is two months into his career. And since this tweet, Chourio’s numbers have markedly improved. So thanks, Cubs fans!

Trash talk in sports is good. The rivalry between the Cubs and Brewers fans is at an all-time high right now. And for some reason, they still can't figure out why Brewers fans talk about Craig Counsell. It's a pretty big mystery why we do. It's maybe because he was also our manager, but I guess we will never know.

But just like a good comedy roast, you have to do it the right way. The wrong way is probably an unedited three-hour event that is live on a streaming service where certain jokes weren’t allowed. Don’t get me wrong, the Roast of Tom Brady was hilarious. But after the same Aaron Hernandez joke landed for the fourth or fifth time, I was ready to see what this “Bridgerton” hype was all about. You record a good roast, you edit out the bad stuff and the jokes told a million times, and you maybe don't have to include Bill Belichick's entire 30-minute speech.

If your social media account’s sole purpose is to talk trash anonymously, go for it. Just learn how to actually do it well. Let’s take this fun to the next level.

Oh, and by the way, its not like Pete Crow-Armstrong is killing it or anything. We all know both players are going to be super fun to watch for years to come. Why not enjoy the ride with everyone else?

Fan Interaction With William Contreras
And if you aren’t on Brewers social media and didn’t see the story, head on over to @yelichfans on Instagram or Twitter and check out this fun story that went viral.

She was blocked by William Contreras a while back, and thinks it was probably because she made fun of his brother Willson too much. Well, she brought the screenshot to a signing event and it’s absolute gold. Give it a watch!