Even Brewers' Rivals Recognize Something Special with Milwaukee's Players

As their season wound to an unsatisfactory end, Chicago Cubs manager Craig Counsell and two of his players made strong comments about the state of the Cubs organization and where they need to be. As the Milwaukee Brewers were cruising to a second straight NL Central title and 93 wins, Counsell, Dansby Swanson and Jameson Taillon all specifically pointed to the Brewers as the model franchise. It was a bit shocking to hear, considering the advantages the Cubs have in history, money and overall resources.

But as the Brewers begin another postseason series, their rivals see the incredible consistency with which Milwaukee produces winners, despite losing key players to free agency and injury every season. The Brewers have won three of the last four NL Central titles and played postseason baseball in six of their last seven seasons, and the guys on the field opposite the Brewers don't believe it's all about talent.

“When we play the Brewers, it seems like they win the big moments,” said Taillon. "I gave up a grand slam there in a big spot. They seem to sometimes have the edge in those moments over us right now."

But if you think that's one man's opinion and he might be skewed in his thinking, Swanson has a little more behind-the-scenes insight. Swanson is a former teammate of Jace Peterson, and is married to Peterson's sister-in-law. Of course, Peterson played with the Brewers for three years and gave Swanson some thoughts on the organization.

“They’re clearly really good at identifying traits — on-field, off-field, personality, game style — that works for them,” Swanson said. “They’re really good at having a set identity. They’ve always done a really good job of finding players that fit what they want them to fit.”

Benches have cleared in the Mets-Brewers game after Jeff McNeil took exception to Rhys Hoskins' slide into second base

(via @SNYtv)pic.twitter.com/TXMrxelJk0

— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) March 29, 2024

The 2024 Brewers might be the peak example of this organizational skill to find the "right" baseball players. Despite losing Corbin Burnes (trade) and Brandon Woodruff (injury) before the season, missing Devin Williams for the first four months and losing Christian Yelich for the final two months, Milwaukee won more games than it did in 2023 with Counsell as manager. Many people, including Cubs' ownership, probably gave Counsell most of the credit for winning on the margins. Well, with "old school" manager Pat Murphy successfully leading the charge this year and Chicago again falling short, it looks like the manager wasn't the main factor. And the Brewers relying "more" on how players perform each day and not worrying about the stats as much harkens back to a time when numbers mattered, but not until after games or seasons.

So what is it about the Brewers' immeasurables that works so well? What are these "types of players" that fit? Without being inside the clubhouse, it's some conjecture on my part, but there are some noticeable traits.

• Guys who love the grind
• Hard-nosed effort
• Do what it takes to win
• Tireless workers
• Team-oriented attitude
• Love the game
• Mentally tough

Some might argue every team has players like this; maybe, but do they have nearly a whole team with said makeup? As you run through the Brewers' roster, you find more of these "love to play/win" characteristics versus the, now somewhat typical, "play for money and individual accolades" type of player. Former Rays, Cubs, and Angels manager Joe Maddon classified players according to levels of professional actualization:

1. I'm happy to be here.
2. Survival mode.
3. I belong here. I can do this.
4. I want to make as much money as I can.
5. All I want to do is win.

All of these can be healthy. All of them are normal. They need not be experienced or expressed by a player in order, although obviously, the order above is the most common, and many players who stick around a long time do pass through all five. The key is, while all of them can be healthy and normal, stages 2 and 4 are less conducive to contributing to a winning team than stages 1, 3, and 5. The goal, then, is to find organic, non-intrusive ways to help players spend more time in those stages than in the two more insecure ones. The Brewers seem to excel at this.

Some of that is patient development, positive coaching, and the cultivation of a clubhouse culture. Letting Brice Turang spend a long time in stage 2 last year has paid off this season, in spades. The collective support of Jackson Chourio by the veteran core of the team helped him move smoothly through stage 2 and spend a lot of this season in stage 3, even as a rookie--and of course, the pre-debut contract extension he signed takes care of stage 4, to a meaningful extent.

Some of it, too, is picking the right people to keep and to spin off. It's not morally wrong of Corbin Burnes to have passed very much into stage 4 as of last spring, but once he settled there, the team elected to trade him. That allowed them to keep Willy Adames, who is one of the league's best exemplars of a stage 5 guy. 

You might be surprised how many pro athletes don't approach their respective sports like most fans do - with supreme passion. The Brewers seem to look for that drive to collect those aforementioned traits.

• Adames and William Contreras begging to stay in the lineup every day because they are essential to team success and love to play.
• Turang dismissing the doubters as he came up to be an elite defender and pest on the bases.
• Pick your reliever who has something to prove after "failing" in other organizations - Trevor Megill, Joel Payamps, Jared Koenig, Bryan Hudson, etc.
• Rhys Hoskins's competitiveness and toughness.
• Sal Frelick will run through walls and Joey Ortiz will dive all over the place on defense, while both being tough outs at the plate.
• Colin Rea, journeyman, anchoring the rotation, always available and eating innings Sunday knowing it likely keeps him off the Wild Card roster.

Those are just a few examples, but the list goes on. A star like Yelich dropping down random bunt hits and grinding for years to get back. Blake Perkins and Garrett Mitchell quietly waiting their turns and taking full advantage. Chourio laughing and smiling through thick and thin. Veterans, young guys, stars, utility players, castoffs with chips on their shoulders, etc. They're the kind of players that are easy to root for, and they all seem to "fit" in Milwaukee.

Our bullpen started the year off strong, with scoreless frames in 10 out of 12 innings this weekend ?

Get to know our unsung bullpen heroes in our original docuseries, The Firemen

→ https://t.co/Oq4XcAI9to pic.twitter.com/PkL0sntJAx

— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) April 1, 2024

That's not to say the Brewers don't have talent, or that they'd only gotten by on guts and guile in the past. But in a season like this one, where few experts gave Milwaukee a shot at anything and a lot of the players' stats don't seem to add up, people are asking, 'How did the Brewers win 93 games?' Maybe that's a sign there are other things at play--things that matter more to this franchise.

“We (the Cubs) do have a lot of good players, though. There’s a lot of ways to win games at this level. You look at the Brewers, they have a lot of good players, but they don’t have an Aaron Judge hitting 60 homers or Ohtani. They just find a way to win baseball games.”

SAL FRELICK GAME-WINNING HOME RUN ROBBERY ?

(via @Brewers)pic.twitter.com/h3ZvXLsgGl

— B/R Walk-Off (@BRWalkoff) June 19, 2024

You could definitely see that in 2018 and 2019, despite very different postseason results. And since 2018 was the last time Milwaukee won a playoff series, some might argue that great character traits work in the regular season, but you need top talent to win in the postseason. Of course, you need elite skill to beat the best, but maybe the Brewers didn't have the right mix of talent and heart. Perhaps 2024 has swung the pendulum in the right direction, and this group is just scratching the surface of what they can become.

In front of media on Monday, ahead of the Wild Card series, Adames said it's a different feeling than in the past.

"It's just a feeling that you have in the clubhouse. The vibe is just like, a winning mentality."

Murphy also spoke on Monday, adding to the idea of how the Brewers play having as much of an impact as stats.

"They did it by pulling together and playing a certain way, and they know that's the secret," Murphy said. "They've kind of been doing that all year."

So whatever the secret sauce is, or how much heart and hunger fuel winning, the Brewers have "something." For current and former Brewers, as well as the opposition, to take notice of their means of success points to more than just the numbers. Is this 2024 Brewers club the epitome of the franchise's recent ways? It feels like the answer can only be "yes" if they win their Wild Card Series.