BrewersRaptor Brewers Recap: Winning Series, Rotation Cohesion, & Internet Jerks

I’m just going to say it: The Brewers would be 9-3 right now if other cities would learn to put a roof on their stadiums. I totally get why they don’t. But we’ve already had three games canceled or delayed this year, and we are in week two.

To say that the Brewers are playing well right now would be an understatement. If it wasn’t for the Pittsburgh Pirates' ridiculous start, the Crew would be first in the NL Central. Craig Counsell’s tenure with the Chicago Cubs has lots of offense but doesn’t have the same pitching talent or lab as the Brewers. The Reds are a fun young team but sit at .500. The St. Louis Cardinals are below .500 again. HA!

There are still concerns, but this Milwaukee team is fun to watch and hopefully can stay half as hot throughout the season. Did Cincinnati cancel their game because Christian Yelich would dominate them again? Probably. He was four for 12 in the series with two runs, two home runs, and nine RBIs. I know he always plays well in Cincy, but his numbers so far this year have looked great. The Brewers also lead the league in batting average.

The Brewers Haven’t Lost A Series Yet
It won’t last forever, but the team's biggest success right now is that they haven’t lost a series. They swept the Mets, split with the Twins, won against the Mariners, and took two out of three from the Reds. Technically, you can call it another win because the fourth game is now being played in August.

This weekend will be a good challenge for Milwaukee. They head out to Baltimore to face the Orioles. They are coming off a sweep of the Boston Red Sox at Fenway, including an extra-inning finale game in which they scored six runs in the 10^th inning. They also sit second in their division behind the 10-3 New York Yankees.

If the Crew can pull out a series win this weekend, it should finally get some heads to turn. To be honest, most baseball fans should already be watching if they can. You have the two top prospects in the league playing in Jackson Chourio and Jackson Holliday. Holliday still hasn’t collected his first career hit, so that will be something to watch for, too. Two 20-year-old top prospects facing off during their first full season is prime baseball viewing.

It will also be a good test for the rotation. Freddy Peralta takes the mound on Friday after the rainout. DL Hall returns to his former team on Saturday afternoon, and then Colin Rea has the Sunday game against former teammate Corbin Burnes. What a fun weekend of baseball.

Would I be shocked if the Brewers were swept? No. But the Brewers' offense is hot right now, and Baltimore’s rotation is still taking shape, just like the Brewers'. If they can attack and be aggressive early like they have been, Milwaukee should be in good shape this weekend against another electric group of hitters.

Rotation Still Coming Together
It was nice to see Wade Miley and Aaron Ashby return this week, especially after Jakob Junis's injury. Ashby’s start wasn’t ideal, but the defense did not help him out at all. There is still some potential there for Aaron. This year will probably show us if he will be able to take a rotation spot eventually or mostly be used for middle relief. It helps to have him on a team-friendly deal.

Miley looked solid. Even though he only went four innings, the offense was lights out on Tuesday night. I’m sure it was nice just to be able to relax and have an outing without the pressure of not blowing the game for the team. If Hall keeps progressing and Miley and Rea can be solid rotation guys, Milwaukee should be in solid shape. They can always grab an arm around the trade deadline. Robert Gasser should also be ready to make his debut sometime this season as well. MLB and Brewers writer Adam McCalvy had a great article about Miley this week. If you click the link, remember to return here!

Be Better People
I don’t know if it was the stress of so much going on, the recent elections, the upcoming election, or something completely random. I have seen a lot of hate and vitriol on social apps. More than usual, I mean to say, especially in the sports feeds. I understand a good chunk of people do it to get a rise out of people, to troll, which gives them their kicks.

But some of the stuff I have been seeing is depressing. I’ve had several people spam my posts with hate speech, slurs, and other things when I have done nothing to them. I commented on the fact that 1500 private planes at the Masters seem a bit much. That turned into me being called “woke,” “libtard”, slurs, swear words, and other things over an observation.

The best thing to do is ignore it. I muted the post. But it’s also human nature and curiosity to see what is being said when you see tons of comments on a post. I know we can’t control what everyone else does. But take a second just to try to be a better person. Talk before judgment. Do a nice thing for someone that you see. Buy a coffee for the person behind you. Go to therapy.

While cheering for our favorite sports teams, we should be going through the highs and lows together and not going after people personally or complaining about Willy Adames’ batting average after 11 games. Stop obsessing over batting average still. It’s over. Do I want to see more players hit .300? Absolutely. I also know some of the pitching right now is out of this world and harder to expect from folks. Let’s revisit Adames in a few months and go from there. Willy slander will not be tolerated. 

Enjoy your weekend, folks. Have some fun, and hopefully, the Brewers will win another series. Next week, the Crew has the San Diego Padres at home and then heads to St. Louis next weekend. Be a good person, and I’ll see you next week.

And if you have a few minutes, check me out on the "Baseball Isn't Boring" podcast that came out last week here.