BrewersRaptor Brewers Recap: The Padres, Yelich's Back Is Back, & Don't Get Cocky

Welp, the Milwaukee Brewers have lost a series. It was bound to happen. This team came back down to Earth this week, but still showed they have the potential to be a top-tier contender in the league this year.

The Brewers, at the time of this writing, are first place in the NL Central. They are 11-6 and have the third-best winning percentage in the National League. Both the Pittsburgh Pirates and Chicago Cubs have 11 wins as well, and so the possible barnburner of the NL Central race has begun. The Pirates are showing their cracks already, Craig Counsell’s Cubs continue to blow big leads due to their lacking pitching depth, and the St. Louis Cardinals and Cincinnati Reds sit around .500.

This week was a good reminder that baseball's is a very long season. There are going to be ups and downs all season long. Brewers fans should be glad that the losing streak was only three games, and that they only suffered a lost series, instead of a sweep against San Diego. The Brewers' issues are starting to creep in. Hopefully, the bleeding can stop before the losses have time to pile up.

Positives From The Padres Series
Are there a lot of fun things to talk about? Not really. But there are some. It’s cliché to say, but I really liked the fight in this team during the series. Monday night, they played like garbage and looked unfocused, and yet, they almost came back. On Tuesday, the Padres couldn’t stop hitting lucky bloop singles, but the Crew (again) almost came back. Wednesday afternoon was a close but much-needed and deserved win. This Pat Murphy team has a different kind of fight in them.

Jackson Chourio has cooled a bit, but that was to be expected. Pitchers are starting to get film on him and figure him out. He still needs a lot of work on sliders and breaking pitches, and his defense needs polishing. But he’s also already playing at a major-league level, and was definitely ready for the spotlight.

And I’m sorry to fill your screen with Twitter posts, but here’s another great one for Chourio. Good things are coming.

The offense seems to have slowed a bit, but there are definitely little things here and there that are very encouraging. Chourio is one of them. Let’s also give a tip of the hat to the Brewers bullpen on Wednesday. It became a bullpen game due to injuries. That isn’t ideal for this team at all. But, they did their best, and it worked out great.

Bryse Wilson pitched a fantastic 3 2/3 frames to open the game. Bryan Hudson followed it up with 2 1/3 innings of no-hit baseball. Then Elvis Peguero, Abner Uribe and Joel Payamps shut it down to avoid the sweep. And in case you missed Uribe’s ridiculous play to end the 8^th inning, here it is:

Kudos to that group on Wednesday, on a stirring effort that led to an important win.

Christian Yelich Injury

Losing Yelich on Friday night and then having it turn into an injured list stint was a huge blow. Yes, the team’s offense was rolling until the Padres series. The team isn’t the same without him right now. Yelich’s leadership is very clear this year. He is the oldest position player on the team now, which sounds insane to say. But he was putting up MVP numbers, and now everyone is worried that this might be a thing all year.

It seems like every time he is closer to getting back to the 2018 and 2019 seasons, his back flares up. Yes, he is 32 and not a young dude in this league anymore. It is clear, though, the impact he has on this current roster. Something has been missing since he got hurt. The team obviously needs to pivot and keep going. You just hope it doesn’t turn into something that ruins this promising season. And you can say all the dumb stuff about Yelich, but he is the franchise player and a quiet leader on this team.

If you haven’t yet, check out the GQ article on him. It’s fantastic and a must-read. You forget how long he has been playing in the majors and what he brought and still brings to this Milwaukee franchise.

You just hope that he can come back and keep doing what he was doing, which maybe means more DHing. I am fine with that. If Gary Sánchez continues to hit like he is, we can expect a DFA and an Eric Haase call-up for backup catcher while Yelich is the DH a bunch. Before the injury, Yelich had a 1.166 OPS with 13 home runs, 11 RBIs, .333 average, two stolen bases and 13 hits over 39 at-bats. He hit 9 home runs TOTAL in 2021.

His numbers are trending up. The leadership and status he has with the team is up. And as fans, we should all appreciate it. I don’t care how many jokes you make about him hitting really hard groundouts all the time. For his current contract, he has technically been underpaid, compared to league averages at his position and stats.

A healthy Yelich will be vital to this team going forward, especially since no one else has really stepped up to be “the guy” to help get them to the next level.

Important Things Going Forward
First of all, the team needs to take a breath and get focused again. The series against the Padres was them being a little too cocky and sloppy. It led to the first lost series of the year. It’s fine because it’s going to happen over 162 games. But now it’s time to get back to it against a division rival this weekend.

The St. Louis Cardinals series will be a good test for the team. You’ve got your ace in Freddy Peralta on the mound on Friday. The Cardinals are ranked 10^th in team ERA right now, while the Brewers are 11^th. Kyle Gibson, Miles Mikolas and Sonny Gray await. It will be important to get the bats alive again and take the first game.

It’s a good thing it’s all right-handed pitchers. Hopefully, Willy Adames can get some luck back and stop getting robbed of home runs. Sal Frelick’s bat is getting better. I need more dingers from Rhys Hoskins and Sánchez. I also need our starting pitchers to throw a few games that go six or seven innings. We are two injuries away from serious trouble. I hope Brice Turang can keep it up. I have no idea if Jake Bauers is good yet.

I also wouldn’t be surprised to see a trade soon. Once again, everyone said we had too many outfielders and now look, we are already down two. Garrett Mitchell should be back in about a month and Yelich should be back by next weekend. It would not shock me to see someone like Blake Perkins or Joey Wiemer traded for some pitching depth. Could the team sign a free agent to add some depth like Johnny Cueto or Noah Syndergaard? Absolutely. The team will need some depth soon if they aren’t bringing up any young pitchers yet.

And can I just say: why not try and get Zack Greinke for a stint and see what happens? I just found my Greinke debut towel in my basement, and it is glorious. If none of that is happening, though, we need some pitching upgrades.

So that’s this week. Keep a lookout on social media on Tuesday, April 23^rd for a fun announcement involving me. If you aren’t a fan of me now, oh boy are you going to find me insufferable after this. Be a good person, and Go Brewers!