The Importance of Momentum, and Sweeps

The importance of this momentum is encapsulated by the St Louis Cardinals, who won 17 out of 20 games after the All-Star break, including two seven-win streaks, taking them into first place in a division they wouldn’t relinquish. The team developed an aura, a belief that no matter what happened on the field in August, they would come out on the winning side.

We’ve seen this same feeling of invincibility fuel the Brewers through September runs from 2018-2020, where the Brewers had a 52-29 record this month. Craig Counsell made good use of the rules regarding roster sizes and the use of his bullpen, but there was also a belief, an expectation that they would win when crunch time came around.

The mental side of baseball is massive, from dealing with the fluctuations in output at the plate to the sheer number of variables requiring extreme mental strength to go up there time and again in the face of adversity, either as a pitcher or a hitter. One thing that almost every sport emphasizes is that tension in your body and mind slows down the thought process and body movements; you’ll see sprinters running with their jaws as slack as possible, face jiggling; the fluidity and power demonstrated in gymnastics enabled by a lack of tension; weightlifters attempting to be as relaxed as possible pre-lift. An action such as throwing, fielding, running, or swinging a bat can only be repeated precisely when tension is eliminated from the body, enhancing the fluidity, and thus power, of the transfer of energy through the movement.

A reason momentum is so vaunted is due to the enhanced feeling of calmness and relaxation it affords the players, as well as the self-belief in the game's big moments. It allows players to perform at their best without overthinking their performance and just letting their years of hard work ingrain a technique flow through them. It also has shown benefits in the ability to notice and seize opportunities because of the increased freedom of thought, as well as maintaining a more positive mindset in terms of “how can we win this game” vs. “how can we stop ourselves from losing this game” as can happen on a negative run.

From a psychological standpoint, the brain doesn’t process negatives effectively in thought, so if someone is thinking “ don’t strike out” repeatedly, the brain will struggle to feel optimistic about this action, as per this study from the BRM institute. The article says, “Put frankly, their study proved that negative words release stress and anxiety-inducing hormones in subjects, " not conducive to performing at one’s free-flowing best in an intense environment.

I bring this up because the Brewers failed to build momentum in key moments last season. Mainly down the stretch, they struggled to create a positive rolling effect, constantly feeling slightly behind the mark because they won the series by a small margin, then consequently lost them by a small margin, always staying in touch but never gaining ground towards the playoffs.

Here’s a review of the Brewers' results last season during the run-in:

They had opportunities to build their momentum and the whole “Craigtember” feeling, with sweep opportunities against the Yankees (where a poor start from Jason Alexander crippled them despite mauling Gerrit Cole), the Reds (raising just five hits against one of the worst run prevention teams in the league) and the Diamondbacks. This meant the positive Yankees series was canceled out by losing to the Mets. A poor showing vs. the Marlins canceled out the Reds' wins. In short, the Brewers never got far away from a .500 record, which is not good enough when you’re trying to justify a place in the postseason, and sweeping a series was at the heart of this issue.

Let’s compare the records of the two teams regarding sweeps:

Discounting two-game series as they barely even constitute a series, the Brewers went 4-7 in opportunities to sweep a series last season, compared to the Cardinals' 7-7 record. This may not seem like a whole lot, but the Phillies were 8-8, the Padres 6-6. In short, the Brewers, against their main rivals last season, struggled to build any positive roll from which they could feed off, especially as three of these opportunities came in the final half of September/October.

Tonight’s game is a huge one to set a stamp on their season and differentiate themselves as not just happy to win the series and let a game slide but to mash the Mets and send a statement to the league. A win tonight would equal their longest win streak last season (five), and they have the perfect opportunity with Corbin Burnes facing off against David Peterson. Can they keep their momentum going?