Jake McKibbin

May was a tough month for the Brewers. They struggled on the mound, and they struggled at the plate. However, that doesn't mean everyone struggled. Here are the hitters who performed well in May. This will likely come as no surprise to those watching the sluggish offense provided by the Brewers in May, but there has been one standout amidst the team’s struggles to get on base and pressure opposing pitchers with regularity. They have had too many black holes in the line-up, but this player has hit day in, day out for them. Before we get to the May Hitter of the month, here are a few players who were under considerations after putting together a solid May. Honorable Mentions Christian Yelich Yelich hit .284 in the month of May with four home runs, four doubles, and 11 walks to just 15 strikeouts (a 15% strikeout rate), a vast improvement of the 34 he tallied in April. On top of a week-long power binge, after which he was sidelined with a back injury sliding into three consecutive bases, he has provided a consistent on base presence with a .376 OBP and .842 OPS overall, teasing many fans at the notion that he isn’t far away from rekindling his best form. The biggest sign is when he pulls the ball more in the air, but it should be noted that he currently has a .285 xBA and .488 xSlg, so he has hit into a reasonable amount of misfortune so far this season. Could June be the month Yelich awakens from his slumber? Rowdy Tellez Our April hitter of the month produced another solid effort at the plate, going .240/.329/.427 for a .756 OPS, including four home runs. He hasn’t had one of his hot streaks this month, but it’s only a matter of time before he runs into one and carries the Brewers for a week or so. Perhaps more concerning is that he’s only tallied six RBI in 81 plate appearances, the Brewers need to give him more of a platform with men on base, and he needs to do a better job at getting the ball in the air to avoid the double plays that can plague him. William Contreras His bat was slightly stagnant to begin the month, but it started to heat up late in the month, with six RBI across his last five games, including three home runs. Sporting a .194/.301/.444 line, he was hitting far too many grounders straight into the dirt, but has begun to come out of his funk, and his .756 OPS has gone a long way to helping the Brewers through this tough stretch of games. Interestingly, his return has coincided with an uptick in games at which Victor Caratini has started as catcher, perhaps a great balance behind the plate is needed for him given this is his first season as primary catcher. Hitter of the Month Owen Miller Owen Miller has been, quite simply, outstanding for the Brewers. He has shown an aggressiveness early in counts. He is regularly making solid, aerial contact on targeted pitches. The hometown kid also added the ability to turn on inside pitches for some big home runs this last month. All expectations of Miller were of him being a bit, role player with an average to subpar bat, but ever since spring training, he has raked. He’s hit .363 with seven doubles and four home runs in May with a 15.6% strikeout rate, and has greatly deserved the increased playing time and move up the batting order. Miller’s short, compact stroke is complimented by his understanding of the pitches he can do damage on. While he struggles more in the outer third of the zone, he waits patiently for pitches on the middle and inside that he can pull, with over 80% of his batted balls going to straightaway center or the pull side. He is in the 91st percentile for whiff rate, only missing four balls in the upper third of the zone all year long, while creating regular line drives from most areas of the strike zone, a big reason for his high level of productivity so far this season. Without his run of form, the Brewers would likely be sitting below .500 by now, now it’s up to the rest of the line-up to start bringing him in more often. Aside from his bat, he has also shown solid range in defense across almost every position on the infield, as well as causing some havoc in the bases when required, such as when he scored on a steal of second base, taking an aggressive send to reach home plate in a tight encounter. What are your thoughts of the month Owen Miller had in May? How would you rank these candidates? Leave a comment below. View full article

When's the last time the Brewers won the first game of a series? Lessss goooooooo

What happened to Ruf?

I think they thought his speed would play there as well as overall athleticism, kinda like the Marlins sticks Jazz Chisholm in CF But third seems a more natural fit, and with Encarnacion strand tearing up too, that's just an electric infield

His cannon arm would play there for sure, I think they've also talked about center field His bat has been breathtaking and really lowered the strikeouts in May, he may take a little adjusting but the exit velo's are crazy

I have to say given their rotation I think the cubs are far more likely, with the cardinals and injury in the rotation away from the almost unplayable Matz and Woodford starting again this year The Reds are looking good with definite reinforcements to come though Elly de la Cruz isn't really as sound at shortstop as the hype

Another month of the season gone by. We are officially one-third of the way through the 2023 season. But, it's time to look at May in the rear-view mirror and try to find some highlights. Or, maybe the choice for Pitcher of the Year is indicative of the Brewers month? The Brewers have struggled in the month of May with injuries to their rotation, missing Brandon Woodruff, Wade Miley, Aaron Ashby and getting worry-inducing performances from Freddy Peralta. How tough has it been? They had to give Julio Teheran an MLB deal! That being said, there have been some standouts, and one man in particular. Before we name our Pitcher of the Month, here are the others who were considered. Honorable Mentions Corbin Burnes Burnes has a level of expectation on him that other pitchers just don’t, purely because of how dominant he’s been for the Brewers over the last few seasons. He hasn’t looked at all like the Cy Young version of himself, with his strikeout and whiff rates in particular dropping considerably. However, he has shown an ability to pitch through the trouble, being the only Brewers starter to regularly eat innings. He has recorded a 3.3 ERA in May, including an eight-strikeout, seven-inning performance against the San Francisco Giants, with only a blow up against the Houston Astros to really tarnish his numbers. He gave up six home runs, far more than he would expect, but his strikeout rates did trend upwards from the month of April in a glimmer of hope that he can find a higher level of performance once again. Devin Williams Williams gave up just three hits in the month of May, although one was an inconsequential home run, and is still perfect in save opportunities and in tied games. Due to his reduced workload (in part because of a lack of winning situations, and also extending leads late) he has been used for more multi-inning work, including three straight multi-inning saves. He does have the propensity to walk batters on occasion, but he’s as cold as ice when men are on base, holding opponents to a .107 batting average. As one of the few Brewers who have been as high quality as expected, he’s been invaluable in keeping the heads above water with the currently stacked injured list. Adrian Houser The blow-up start against the Toronto Blue Jays has really hurt his May numbers, with a lot of ground balls getting through the infield in both some fielding mishaps and some bad batted ball luck. However, prior to that, he showed a revised arsenal with increased usage of his four-seamer to left-handers that made a significant difference to his effectiveness. He had a 2.25 ERA in May prior to his start against the Blue Jays, while going 11 1/3 innings combined against the Tampa Bay Rays and Houston Astros stacked, in form line-ups without giving up a solitary run. Houser will have occasional games where balls get through the infield, and he does rely heavily on his defense, but he’ll be hoping to brush his last start off and take his form through June. Pitcher of the Month - Joel Payamps Joel Payamps has been outstanding in this last month, increasingly being used in big situations during games and coming up clutch, most notably in the series against the Houston Astros where he came in for clean-up duty twice against the heart of the order, striking out all four batters faced with runners in scoring position. He has a 1.38 ERA with 20 strikeouts in 14 innings of work, holding hitters to an OPS of .559. He is ninth in the league for relievers Win Probability Added during this stretch, initiating a lot of weak contact while also using his improved slider to strike out hitters at a far higher rate than expected, going from 6.6 K/9 in 2022 to 9.9 K/9 so far this season. This is less to do with absurd chase rates or swing and miss stuff, but he keeps hitters off balance in the strike zone, then uses slider down and away to get outs with two strikes. Most important is the exit velocity, and as you can see below, he doesn’t allow too much hard contact. When he keeps the four seamer up in the zone, it's nearly impossible to square up. The sinker has been hit hard, but the movement profile does allow his slider to play better. Payamps is currently in the 91st percentile for average exit velocity, 94th percentile for walk rate and 78th percentile for strikeout rate.’ He has been an excellent addition for the Brewers, and they’ll hope to see it continue through June. So what do you think of the choice for Brewers pitcher of the year? How would you rank their performances? What does it mean? Leave some comments below. View full article

I think Bieber looks like he may very likely be available, and could be the biggest available looking at recent form

Crap... Contreras and Ruf have to feast on this guy? At least he gives up a 14.3% walk rate, our hitters can walk fairly well

Williamson has: A hard hit rate of 50% An average exit velocity of 90.9mph, with average launch angle of 19.7 degrees An expected ERA of 7.55 Mostly due to a regularly hanging slider, and meatball four seamers at 91mph As well as being a rookie... the Brewers HAVE to feast on this guy

I absolutely agree, but overhauling this line-up just doesn't happen by trades this time of the season. It's more a spark plug needed, and throughout May Turang, Taylor and Wiemer were black holes, just sucking the life out of things. Wiemer has shown better contact in the last few games, and what a difference that could make, and Turang may head down once Urias is back (particularly as Monasterio has actually looked quite solid at the plate just judging by approach and contact alone), while Taylor will get hot at some point. I think it's more incremental improvements needed from big players than just all new players, but along with this, Adames needs to step up. He shines most with men on base, always has, so could do better as a cleanup hitter too

This month and early July is going to be a real big melting pot of teams seeing how their season will turn out in this division The Brewers play the Reds seven times, Cubs four times, Pirates six times before the all star break, and six more games against the Reds before the end of July

The Milwaukee Brewers’ failure to capitalize on the few soft spots in their schedule, such as series against the Giants and the Rockies, have enabled other teams in the division to claw back to within four and a half games of the lead. So how are those rivals doing, as we leave May behind? Image courtesy of © Katie Stratman-USA TODAY Sports Pittsburgh Pirates The Pirates had a supremely strong start to the season, led by MVP-level months from ex-Brewer Andrew McCutchen, Jack Suwinski, Bryan Reynolds, Rodolfo Castro and Connor Joe. Ji Hwan Bae was stealing bases at will, and they were almost impossible to contain offensively. Since then, however, only Suwinski has maintained his form, with 11 home runs and an .859 OPS, with McCutchen and Reynolds cooling off a little, and overall, they have produced a 4.78 ERA with a .636 OPS in the last 30 days. While Suwinski’s breakout may be legitimate (with his 92nd percentile barrel rate, 97th percentile chase rate and raw speed), he does swing and miss a lot in the zone, with an xBA of just .212 and a strikeout rate of 32.5%. The Pirates need more over-performing players to mount a realistic challenge, especially given that their pitching staff has shown real potential. Mitch Keller is having a breakout season, and Vince Velasquez looks promising for a change, while Roansy Contreras is finding his feet at the major-league level. Threat level: 3/10 The Pirates look more like the team we expected in this past month, and barring a surging offense, appear more likely to have a significant drop off than to tread water and emerge with even a .500 record. Chicago Cubs The Cubs also struggled mightily in the month of May, going 10-18 after riding a revived Cody Bellinger (albeit with his underlying stats not quite so promising), exemplary performances from Justin Steele and Marcus Stroman, as well as some solid Drew Smyly starts to a strong April record. However, their rotation tails off considerably with Jameson Taillon recording an 8.04 ERA, and Hayden Wesneski still figuring things out. Their bullpen has been anything but solid, with only Mark Leiter and Adbert Alzolay showing up well. Ex-Brewer Brad Boxberger has a 5.52 ERA, and Michael Fulmer has pitched in 25 games to a 7.36 ERA. On offense, they’ve looked much more solid and consistent than in previous seasons, with Dansby Swanson’s 19 extra-base hits to go with a .366 on-base percentage; and Patrick Wisdom doing his best Keston Hiura impression, hitting .213 with 14 home runs and a 35.9% strikeout rate. Seiya Suzuki and Ian Happ are as solid as ever, with .385 and .394 on-base percentages and .800+ OPSes. They’ve also brought in another Keston lookalike in Christopher Morel, who has hit nine home runs in just 75 at-bats, with a 38.7% strikeout rate, taking his form from Triple A straight into the majors and igniting the Cubs offense. Threat Level: 7/10 The Cubs have the lineup to hurt teams, with big sluggers and men with high OBPs complementing each other well, but they need more pitching help behind the big two starters. If they pick up someone solid for the back end of their rotation, they could be a serious threat to the Brewers, and they look much more likely to string together a winning streak than Milwaukee do at this point in time. Cincinnati Reds The Reds came into this season hoping to show some signs of future promise with their talented farm system coming through, but not to be in the mix for a playoff spot. However, they are currently three games back, and have some real life about their team. The pitching staff hasn’t been what they hoped, with Hunter Greene (4.18 ERA) and Graham Ashcraft (5.55 ERA) expected to lead the rotation and be a formidable 1-2 punch. Greene has serious strikeout stuff, but a WHIP of 1.38 with an average of 1.28 home runs per nine, and an inability to go deep in games is hurting him. Ashcraft was exceptional last season, but has a 1.96 K/BB ratio and a 1.49 WHIP which has caused him serious trouble. On the brighter side for the Reds, their infield has been one of the best in the big leagues since Matt McLain arrived. He has a 1.056 OPS, albeit with a .531 BABIP which isn’t sustainable. TJ Fridel has also benefited from a little luck in posting an .891 OPS, but with Spencer Steer, Jonathan India and McLain posting .800+ OPS, and the versatile Nick Senzel and Kevin Newman posting solid hitting numbers, the Reds’ infield has been exceptional. They have struggled a little more from the corner outfield spots, but this lineup has been a big reason for their recent success, maintaining a .500 record through May. Threat Level: 6/10 If the top of the rotation can return to the levels they were producing in September last year, which gave the fan base a lot of hope coming into the season, then they are a legitimate force. Also, the main reason for a slight bump in their threat level, is the large, looming Elly de la Cruz, who is on a Tatis-esque tear in Triple A and could make this lineup truly fearsome. This may be a season too early for the Reds, but they have the potential to stay close and cause some havoc, especially if the pitchers can turn it around. St Louis Cardinals The Cardinals endured one of the worst starts to the season in their history, but have rebounded well with a couple of win streaks against the Brewers and the Dodgers. They have petered out a little in their last few games, going 5-5 over their last ten, and still struggling with a pitching staff comprised of an aging Adam Wainwright, an almost unplayable Steven Matz, and an up-and-down Jack Flaherty; Jordan Montgomery struggling recently; and only Miles Mikolas showing some consistent performances (after a rough start). Hitting-wise, Jordan Walker was projected as a phenom early doors, but his atrocious defense in right field (-6 DRS) as well as his over-hyped bat just wasn’t quite ready the first time around. The outfield, outside of currently injured Lars Nootbaar, has struggled both defensively and offensively, even playing Tommy Edman in right field, and Alec Burleson being both a liability in the field and underperforming with the bat (given his minor-league numbers last season, they may have expected a hitting machine). Paul Goldschmidt has been his usual self, with 2.1 WAR through May, and Nolan Arenado has had a hot streak that carried the Cardinals for a few weeks, but they are still struggling for consistency. This is a potent lineup, with Donovan, Goldschmidt, Arenado, an on-fire Paul DeJong, and Tommy Edman all going well this month. Threat Level: 6/10 Realistically, the Cardinals can’t expect to win every game by scoring double-digit runs, but it’s also clear they don’t need quite as good a staff as the Brewers to eke out wins. If several of the starters can perform on a consistent, sub-4.00 ERA basis, then they could ignite their challenge, but they are still eight games below a .500 record and can ill afford another bad run. They also haven’t dealt with key player injuries (Dylan Carlson and Tyler O’Neill weren’t exactly performing strongly when they went down), and if any of their pitchers, or senior hitters, go down for a while, that could snuff out their season for good. June will be a key month for them in terms of how they approach the trade deadline, as they have a lot of hitting talent in their farm system, and they will be wanting to reinforce their rotation, most of whom are free agents at the end of the year. View full article

To be fair I think it's less purse strings and more prospect capital that's worth giving up

I whisper quietly but... Is Joey Wiemer heating up?

That and he isn't going to be singles only, he's hit his fair share of doubles and triples and showed a unique ability to make solid, repeated contact last season (albeit that hadn't quite translated to start this year)

Yeah a few first basemen have struggled, I don't think Josh Bell is having a great time of it either

when people are making contact with Gausman, they're hitting him HARD. The issue is the sheer number of chases he forces down in the zone with his splitter, if the Brewers can wait that out and get on the fastball, they can rack up some runs. If not, it's strikeout season

Can we get undercover ace Freddy back please? Needs to keep his fastball up higher to make use of its movement, as well as keep that slider in zone a little more. It's either too far out and being spat on, or being hit when he hangs, it. his best season (2021) he was dotting it on the outside corner

Just saw Matthews line for the season... looks like he'd very much fit the Brewers mould of Bats (similar K:BB) while also some big power and can leg it out a bit What's his defense like?

Also intriguing to note is Gerrit Cole's savant page Currently he's dropped his strikeout rate from 32.4% to 26.2% Walk rate increase from 6% to 8% xERA of 3.98 The only thing that's happening is he's getting less swing and miss, other than that a lot of his profile looks similar

Absolutely key to the damage caused was his reaction and step back. This will have massively minimised the force with which it connected (like using soft hands vs hard hands to catch a ball bare hand)

Can you imagine at the start of this season saying we drafted in Teheran with a 5.5 ERA in AAA for the Padres to face Alek Manoah, Cy Young candidate in Toronto, and yet that the Brewers won and Teheran outduelled him comfortably?