Don't Look Now, But the Brewers Are Getting Hot and Healthy at the Same Time

It's been ugly. It's been difficult. Joey Ortiz's OPS is still under .500. After a third straight walkoff win and their eighth victory in 11 games, though, the Brewers are 29-28. They might be running their current batch of relievers straight into the dirt just to keep their head above water, but they're above water, which is the only place to be if you want the health or performance status of your relievers to matter at all. This team has every right to be slouching and sagging toward the bottom of the National League standings. Instead, they're three games out of a Wild Card spot, with lots of help on the way.

A second coming of Craig Yoho could reinforce the relief corps Pat Murphy has used so aggressively as to leave many fans in a state of perpetual agita, but the Crew doesn't need to bring Yoho back to deepen their pen. This weekend should see the return of Jose Quintana to the starting rotation. Brandon Woodruff continues his own rehab assignment. DL Hall and Aaron Ashby have already returned to the bullpen, and Logan Henderson was sent down just to make way for Quintana's return to the rotation. Jacob Misiorowski looks like a potential mega-weapon for the pitching staff in the second half, if not sooner.

More injuries will come, eventually. At the same time, the team can and will get healthier, again. Woodruff and Quintana aren't even quite back yet, and the team has gotten hot without them. Garrett Mitchell and Blake Perkins are missing from the positional corps, and will be back at some point. That's to say nothing of the improvements we should still expect in the production of the team's three most important hitters, William Contreras, Jackson Chourio and Christian Yelich. When you strip away all the frustration and anxiety and disappointment on the surface of this season, the basic facts come into focus—and they're just not bad. Caleb Durbin is figuring things out a bit. Sal Frelick has locked in again lately. The defense, which was somewhat less than its usual self for the first month or more and which still misses Perkins, has nonetheless tightened up significantly of late. Having the ability to find outs in unexpected places again, even without pitchers at full strength, has helped the team survive some games they would have lost even a few weeks ago.

This team is on the right side of .500, despite some key underperformances and a host of injuries. Yes, Murphy has had to push his roster to its redline, and sometimes beyond it. Yes, they're still going to have to play better to put themselves in the thick of the playoff chase later this summer. As maddening and seemingly unsustainable as Murphy's tactics might be, though, it's important not to overlook the most important criterion when evaluating them: They're working. Murphy has this team alive and kicking. If the offense can't crank things up more in a hurry, they'll blow out an arm or two, because they don't have as many ways to win (or as many wins to let slip, if needed) as they had last year. Still, there's a real chance that the team (and its second-year skipper) can pull this off. The last two weeks are proof of that—but also of the fact that it's going to be stressful and difficult, this time around.