3 Things To Watch Battling The Royals: Overcoming Disaster & The Home Opener

The Brewers and Royals kick off the second series of the year with one win between them. It was an ugly series of blowouts in the Bronx, but the Crew has what it takes to rebound in their home opener. Let's look at where these teams are, and what Milwaukee needs to do to turn the tide and snag a series win.

Image courtesy of © Brad Penner-Imagn Images

Brewers Video

Time To Inhale?
I began the last article I wrote with one word: “exhale”. With a fairly disastrous opening series behind us, it might feel like an obsolete sentiment, but logic (and recent baseball history) tells us that is not necessarily the case. Flash back to the beginning of last season, when the Brewers stomped through the Mets in a decisive three-game sweep, leaving the Queensmen looking inept. The season ended with the Mets owning a respectable 89-win record, earning a playoff berth in which they knocked the Brewers out of the postseason in heartbreaking fashion. As bitter a memory as that might be, it’s important to have context to weigh against the doom-and-gloom of an unfavorable opening series.

Interleague Baseball At American Family Field
The Brewers return home, but interleague baseball stays with them as they welcome the Kansas City Royals. After years of middling play, the Royals emerged as a dark horse last season, riding into October and reaching the ALDS before falling to the Yankees, three games to one. Still, there is a fire in the Royals' belly, fueled by some overheated expectations. The undebatable face of the franchise is young shortstop Bobby Witt Jr., who has quickly vaulted himself to a unanimous top-10 player in the league after debuting in 2022. Witt amassed a jaw-dropping 9.4 WAR in his 2024 campaign, but the Royals had other sneaky talent to fuel their playoff run. Seth Lugo was quietly the runner-up in Cy Young voting, while crafty veteran Michael Wacha maintained his steady mid-rotation form. Cole Ragans, infamously acquired for a few months of Aroldis Chapman, is a statistician’s darling, and looks to build on his occasional ability to find utter dominance.

The Royals and Brewers have a bit of a sentimental symbiosis in their history, as many players have shared the uniform in the last decade or so. Zack Greinke’s tenure with the Crew began when Milwaukee swapped out a litany of young talent for his skills—including Lorenzo Cain, whose career was bookended by second, wonderful tenure in a Brewers uniform. Mike Moustakas came to Milwaukee in exchange for Brett Phillips and Jorge López. In perhaps a less-remembered exchange, Norichika Aoki was traded for World Series magnet Will Smith (reliever, not catcher or rapper/actor). Fuzzy feelings aside, these two teams enter the ring as oft-forgotten, small-market franchises, both of whom are looking to silence doubters and return to October ball. This chippy energy could serve to invigorate the freshly swept Brewers, or (similarly) put a charge in the 1-2 Royals.

The Three Keys For Brewers Success Against The Royals

Amnesia: This goes without saying. Being swept to start the season can feel defining—but it isn’t. The Brewers need short memories and a confident mindset heading into this series. Marathon, not a race, etc. The Brewers should treat it thusly and enter this series with the confidence that they can sweep.
Getting length out of the starters: If there’s one significant drawback to getting blown out three times in a row, it’s the toll it takes on the bullpen. Brewers starters pitched just 10 combined innings, leaving the pen overextended. The back end of the rotation will need to fend off a pesky Royals offense to prevent a destabilizing game of 40-man roster roulette.
Attack fast: The Royals made a clear effort to bolster their already decent bullpen at last year’s deadline, and through the offseason. Flamethrower Hunter Harvey, sidearmer John Schreiber and All-Star closer Carlos Estévez don’t figure to be a breeze for Milwaukee’s bats. If the offense is going to do damage, which it can, its best odds might be against the well-scouted familiar faces it will face on the mound.

Prediction: Experiencing hope after a deflating series like the one the Brewers just experienced feels almost defiant, but I still think the Brewers take this series. Home-field advantage is one thing, but beyond that, the Brewers' bats didn’t quit even when things looked utterly hopeless. That (combined with the fact that the Royals didn’t exactly set the world on fire in their opening series) makes this feel like viable ground for a rebound.