Jason Wang

With a roster full of young talent, the future looks bright for Milwaukee, especially with several players taking big steps forward. Image courtesy of Thiéres Rabelo Honorable Mentions SS Willy Adames 688 PA, .251/.331/.462, 153 H, 33 2B, 32 HR, 112 RBI, 21 SB, 118 OPS+, 3.1 rWAR The 2023 campaign was arguably the worst offensive season of Willy Adames's major-league career, as he posted a .717 OPS with a 94 OPS+ over 638 plate appearances. It may have been hampered by a concussion he sustained in May, but it may have also just been a slow year for him. He was immaculate defensively and still managed to be a great shortstop, but he simply didn’t have the same offensive value as he had since arriving from the Rays. In 2024, his final year of team control, he revived his swing and set new career highs in doubles and home runs. He led all MLB shortstops in RBIs and rediscovered his ability to hit for power. His defense took a massive step backward, posting a career-worst -16 Defensive Runs Saved and committing 20 errors. It would be great to have him as the Brewers’ shortstop in the long term, as he’s proven his ability to be a consistent piece of the lineup. With free-agent infielders a rare commodity this offseason, however, he’ll likely come with a high price tag. adames_homer.mp4 OF Sal Frelick 524 PA, .259/.320/.335, 123 H, 22 2B, 4 3B, 2 HR, 32 RBI, 18 SB, 83 OPS+, 2.1 rWAR After making a dazzling debut, Frelick’s rookie campaign slowed down, as he struggled to hit the ball with much power, homering just three times in 223 plate appearances. His defense and speed made him a viable defensive option, but it was unclear whether he’d ever be an impactful bat in the lineup. This year, he leaned into his strengths even more, focusing on putting the ball in play and squaring up the ball as well as he could. His average exit velocity is still among the lowest of anyone in the big leagues, but he manages a decent batting average and on-base percentage. Furthermore, his glove in the outfield has ascended from great to magnificent, accumulating 15 total DRS. frelick_catch.mp4 3B Joey Ortiz 511 PA, .239/.329/.398, 105 H, 25 2B, 6 3B, 11 HR, 60 RBI, 11 SB, 101 OPS+, 2.6 rWAR Ortiz had just 34 plate appearances with the Orioles in 2023, before coming to Milwaukee in the Corbin Burnes trade. Designated a top-tier prospect, he proved himself to be just what the Brewers needed at third base and put an end to the uncertainty at the position. He wasn’t a particularly powerful bat, but had a collected approach at the plate, exercising great plate discipline and putting up an 11.0% walk rate. He was able to barrel up the ball occasionally, but his average exit velocity was still in the bottom quartile of qualified hitters. His glove was solid, allowing him to collect 7 DRS at third base. ortiz_homer.mp4 Top 4 Most Improved Players of 2024 4. OF Blake Perkins 434 PA, .240/.316/.332, 92 H, 13 2B, 2 3B, 6 HR, 43 RBI, 23 SB, 81 OPS+, 1.8 rWAR Perkins was on the back end of a crowded outfield in 2023, allowing him fewer than 200 plate appearances to strut his stuff. With much of his outfield competition in Milwaukee injured or shipped off to new horizons, he finally got a significant amount of playing time. While it may not seem obvious from his surface-level numbers, Perkins took a significant step forward in his weakest area, adding ~3 mph to his average exit velocity over the course of the season. Additionally, he improved his batting average against four-seam fastballs from .163 to .244, while cutting his strikeout rate in half. On the basepaths, he finally got around to using his wicked speed to steal the second-most bags on the team. His glove was exceptional, as always, collecting 8 DRS while spending his entire year in center field. perkins_catch.mp4 3. SP Colin Rea 167 ⅔ IP, 4.29 ERA, 4.75 FIP, 1.26 WHIP, 7.2 SO/9, 2.3 BB/9, 98 ERA+, 1.3 rWAR Rea was never meant to be more than a back-of-the-rotation arm in Milwaukee, especially with the talents of Corbin Burnes and Brandon Woodruff leading the way. With Burnes in Baltimore and Woodruff still recovering from shoulder surgery, Rea suddenly found himself as the second name on the starting pitcher depth chart. He got off to a great start but many expected him to regress to the ~4.50 ERA pitcher he has been in his major-league career. However, by the first week of August, he was still sitting pretty at a 3.59 ERA after 115 ⅓ innings. His sweeper had become a thing of beauty, giving up just four hits in 311 pitches thrown up to that point. He finally crashed down to Earth in the final stretch of the season and regressed so badly that he was left off of the roster for the Wild Card series against the Mets, but for his first 20 starts or so, it was like we were watching a whole new hurler. rea_strikeout.mp4 2. OF Garrett Mitchell 224 PA, .255/.342/.469, 50 H, 12 2B, 3 3B, 8 HR, 21 RBI, 11 SB, 123 OPS+, 2.0 rWAR Brewers fans finally got a slightly more full taste of what Garrett Mitchell can do on the baseball field. For the first time in his career, he had more than 75 plate appearances in a season and teased us with what could have been if he had been around since Opening Day. While he played just one-third of the season, his OPS of .812 would have been the second-highest among qualified hitters in the lineup behind just William Contreras. His performance in center field was just as good, accumulating six DRS in fewer than 500 innings and he had the 11th-highest rWAR on the team, right behind Sal Frelick. Will Garrett Mitchell join the likes of Royce Lewis and Byron Buxton as elusive creatures whose full form is unstoppable but only shows up for a narrow window of time? Hopefully not, but it’s hard to predict. Should he find a way to stay healthy in 2025, he could be one of the most valuable members on the team. mitchell_homer.mp4 Brewer Fanatic Most Improved Player for 2024 2B Brice Turang 619 PA, .254/.316/.349, 142 H, 24 2B, 4 3B, 7 HR, 57 RBI, 50 SB, 85 OPS+ Last year, Brice Turang was a solid rookie with good fielding ability and disastrous results at the plate. His 61 OPS+ was one of the worst marks for any qualified hitter in baseball, somehow even worse than Javier Báez’s own 63 OPS+ in 2023. The primary difference between Turang and Báez is, however, that the former took a big step forward while the latter took a step all the way back to the bench. The biggest lift to his numbers came from a significant improvement in his approach against big-league heaters. He averaged just .198 against four-seam fastballs in 2023 but bumped it all the way up to a .308 average this year. He didn’t hit for much power but his strong plate discipline helped push his on-base percentage above .300 and showed the world how much of a basepath menace he really is. His 50 stolen bases was third in all of MLB behind just Elly De La Cruz and Shohei Ohtani. If he had hit just 43 more home runs, he would’ve made 50/50 history too. He even managed a 1.227 OPS in the 12 postseason plate appearances he had against the Mets, accumulating five hits and three doubles. His fielding at second base was somehow even better than his spectacular 2023. He had 21 DRS, more than any other second baseman and was second only to Daulton Varsho in defensive rWAR at 2.7. So what version of Turang will the Brewers see next year? All glove and no bat?All gas no brakes on the basepaths? Or can he finally put it all together and be one of the middle infielders in the game today? If the improvements he made are any indication of what’s to come, he just might be Milwaukee’s most valuable hidden gem. eFoxUlZfWGw0TUFRPT1fRHdBSFVBWUVVQVlBQ2xRSEJBQUFVMUpSQUZoVUJWTUFDbDFYVlZkVUJ3dFRBd3BW.mp4 View full article

After a solid year of work down on the farm, a few relievers stood out above the rest. Honorable Mentions Enoli Paredes (Nashville Sounds) 26.0 IP, 1.73 ERA, 1.41 FIP, 0.96 WHIP, 14.2 K/9, 3.8 BB/9 Paredes signed a free agent contract early in the 2023 offseason, coming off an unremarkable year with the Astros Triple-A affiliate, the Sugar Land Space Cowboys. After a stellar stretch of games with Triple-A Nashville, he was called up to the Brewers in may and stuck around for quite a while, amassing 20 ⅔ innings at the big league level. He ran into some right forearm tendinitis in early July and wasn’t activated until mid-September where he made three more appearances for Milwaukee. Unfortunately for Paredes fans, he was designated for assignment in the final days of September and was claimed off waivers by the Cubs who managed to trot him out for a single inning against the Phillies. Dikember Sanchez (Carolina Mudcats) 32.2 IP, 1.38 ERA, 3.39 FIP, 0.98 WHIP, 8.0 K/9, 3.0 BB/9 Signed as an international free agent in 2021, this year was his first in the minor league system, having spent the previous three years in the Dominican Summer League. He was impressive as a 20 year old, often pitching multiple innings of relief and amassing nearly 33 innings in just 19 total appearances. He was moved up to High-A Wisconsin at the end of August and he was less effective over a smaller sample size. He’ll likely start the year at the level and potentially see a jump to Double-A Biloxi if all things go well. Top Three Minor League Relief Pitchers Of 2024 3. Kevin Herget (Nashville Sounds) 47.2 IP, 2.27 ERA, 2.07 FIP, 0.94 WHIP, 11.1 K/9, 2.1 BB/9 After being designated for assignment by the Reds at the end of 2023 and electing free agency, Herget signed a minor league deal with the Brewers and spent the majority of his season with the Sounds. He had a few trips to the major-league level (three, to be exact) but never stayed for more than a few consecutive appearances. Nonetheless, he was a great bullpen piece for Triple-A Nashville and was also a strong performer in his 11 1/3 total innings pitched for Milwaukee, posting a 1.59 ERA. 2. Sam Gardner (Biloxi Shuckers) 34 2/3 IP, 2.34 ERA, 1.82 FIP, 0.87 WHIP, 12.5 K/9, 3.1 BB/9 Gardner was an undrafted free agent who had spent some time in the independent leagues and Australia after his college career at Murray State. 2024 was his first full year in an affiliated system and he seemed to have made big strides in the right direction, dominating Double-A Biloxi while racking up outstanding strikeout numbers. He dealt with recurring injury issues throughout the year, hitting the injured list several times and ending the season on the 60-day IL but there haven’t been any reports about him receiving surgery of any kind. Brewer Fanatic Minor League Starting Pitcher of the Year for 2024 Craig Yoho (Wisconsin Timber Rattlers, Biloxi Shuckers, Nashville Sounds) 57 2/3 IP, 0.94 ERA, 0.94 WHIP, 15.8 K/9, 3.6 BB/9 Yoho’s rise to the top has been a sight to see. An eighth-round draft pick out of Indiana University (go Hoosiers!) in 2023, he rocketed through the minor league ranks and graduated from High-A Wisconsin, Double-A Biloxi, and finished the year with dominant numbers in Triple-A Nashville. His walk rate of 9.7% is a little high but with a strikeout rate of 42.4% and an opposing slugging percentage of just .190, it seems that free passes are any hitter’s best shot of beating Yoho. His upside has far exceeded his initial expectations and it wouldn’t be surprising if he was called up at some point in 2025, maybe even making the Opening Day roster. At just 24 years old, he’s clearly immensely talented and could be the latest star reliever to come out of the Milwaukee system. Congratulations to Craig Yoho on a tremendous season across three Brewers affiliates on an absolutely remarkable season. It's almost surprising that he wasn't called up to the big league club. That should happen early in the 2025 season. View full article

The rookie will face a 13-year big-league veteran in a do-or-die game for the Brewers. Image courtesy of © Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images The second game of the Wild Card Series was a thriller, highlighted by Jackson Chourio’s two home runs (the first player in Brewers history to hit multiple in a postseason game), Garrett Mitchell’s go-ahead blast, and outstanding bullpen utilization. With a 5-3 victory, Milwaukee staved off elimination and put the “can’t win a postseason game to save their lives” accusations to bed, for now. One aspect of the game that was a cause for concern was the starting pitching situation. Through 3 ⅔ innings, Frankie Montas gave up six hits, three runs, made a key error, and looked generally unsteady. It was the second subpar outing from a Brewers starter in a row, after Freddy Peralta managed to go just four innings while giving up three earned runs. Now, the burden of moving the team to the Division Series will fall upon Tobias Myers. Myers exceeded all expectations this year, tossing 138 innings and posting a 3.00 ERA with a 1.17 WHIP. Utilizing four pitches in his arsenal, his primary weapon was the four-seam fastball, complemented by a cutter, slider, and changeup. His pair of fastballs was alright, but a closer look at the details spells potential trouble. His four-seamer had a relatively low whiff rate of 19.2%, while opposing hitters slugged .436 against it. To make matters worse, the Mets have several prolific hitters who have excelled against right-handed four-seamers, like Tyrone Taylor (.717 SLG), Mark Vientos (.661 SLG), and Pete Alonso (.606 SLG), all threats to do significant damage if Myers doesn't command and execute well with his heater. Myers’s cutter has a similar story, with a low whiff rate of 11.9%, a .330 opposing batting average, and a .495 slugging percentage. Righty cutters have been generally more effective against the Mets, but because Myers has struggled to make his cutter competitive, it still leaves him vulnerable against hitters like Francisco Alvarez (.818 SLG) and Harrison Bader (.583 SLG). Fortunately, Bader doesn't figure to be in the starting lineup. The keys to success lie in his slider and changeup. Myers threw his slider 21% of the time, and it was remarkably impactful, limiting batters to just a .474 OPS and a .269 BABIP. He isn’t particularly good at generating ground balls, getting them at just a 37.7% clip, but his slider had a stellar ground ball rate of 51.9% and an average exit velocity of just 86.7 mph. His changeup is somehow even better than his slider, allowing a .414 OPS, racking up a 44.4% whiff rate, an average exit velocity of 74.6 mph, and a hard-hit rate of 7.4%. Furthermore, outside of Francisco Lindor, the Mets’ offensive production against these two pitches from right-handed pitchers is dramatically lower than it is against fastballs. If Myers leans into his strengths, he can overcome what has proven to be a scrappy New York lineup. Taking the ball for the Mets will be José Quintana, a lefty bedrock of consistency since time immemorial. He had a 3.75 ERA over 170 ⅓ innings for the Mets, while throwing sinkers, four-seamers, curveballs, and changeups. Not much of a “stuff” pitcher, his low 90s-velocity, low strikeout (18.8%) and whiff (21.8%) rates leave him open to batted-ball luck and general chaotic baseball. Milwaukee was average against southpaws this year, with a .713 team OPS, but struggled immensely against four-seam fastballs and curveballs. Their offensive production against sinkers and changeups was among the top five teams in MLB, which creates an even matchup based on arsenal. Although Quintana’s 0.72 ERA in four September starts gives him a slight momentum advantage, the Brewers need to stay aggressive and attack the sinker. It worked well against Sean Manaea, another sinker-reliant starter, in the second game and was working well against Luis Severino in the first game before the lineup stalled completely. With everyone in the bullpen getting a taste of the action and a Brewers starter yet to go past four innings, Myers must come up big to give Milwaukee a fighting chance in this series, as well as the next one. Quintana’s status as a workhorse means he’ll probably go relatively deep into the game, and if not, Carlos Mendoza’s stable of relievers is fresher than Pat Murphy's. Notably, Edwin Díaz is yet to come out of the bullpen in this series. Myers has what it takes to get the job done. He has proved himself over the course of a full season, and has demonstrated the ability to step up when the team needs him most. Quintana has years of experience and three postseason series already under his belt, but he’s susceptible. Just as the lineup have been led by the youth in Jackson Chourio and Brice Turang, it’s time for a 26-year old rookie pitcher to take the team to the next level. View full article

With a disappointing loss now in the rearview mirror, what can Milwaukee do to avoid yet another early playoff exit? Image courtesy of © Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel/USA TODAY Network via Imagn Images Despite a final score of 8-4, don’t let the box score mislead you into thinking that the Brewers were clearly overmatched by the Mets. They performed well early against Luis Severino, accumulating eight hits and four total runs over six innings against him. Brice Turang had a great night at the plate, going 3-for-5 with two doubles, and Jackson Chourio made great defensive and offensive plays in his first October showing. It was a disastrous bullpen collapse in the fifth inning that ultimately tilted things New York's way, but the other innings were competitive to say the least. Now facing elimination and yet another October sweep, the Brewers will have to stay focused on what they can do better in what will hopefully be the next two games of the series. Sean Manaea will be taking the mound in the second game. This was a great year for him, especially after two rough ones split between the Padres and Giants. The lefty pitched to a 3.47 ERA, with a 1.08 WHIP and 184 strikeouts over 181 ⅔ innings. Utilizing a four-pitch arsenal, his bread-and-butter is the sinker, which has a whiff rate of 20.8% and a .201 opposing batting average. Since he changed his mechanics in August and committed to giving hitters a new set of angles, the sinker and his sweeper have paired brilliantly with one another. Manaea says he undertook a conscious imitation of Chris Sale, and the results have been good enough to stop you from chuckling at the parallel. The Brewers have been around league average against southpaws, posting a .713 OPS as a team, but they do have a walk rate of 10.3% against left-handed pitching, second in MLB behind just the Yankees. Most importantly, they’re exceptional against lefty sinkers, with an .895 team OPS, fourth in MLB. Thus, it makes sense that they played particularly well against Manaea in their only meeting this year, putting up seven hits and five earned runs in just 3 ⅔ innings on Sept. 27. He relies on that sinker about 60 percent of the time, so the Crew need to go up there looking for it. Bullpen-wise, Carlos Mendoza was conservative in the first game and used just two arms: José Butto and Ryne Stanek. This leaves most of their highest-performing pieces, like Edwin Díaz, Phil Maton, and Reed Garrett fresh and ready to be deployed. However, Díaz has already thrown 66 pitches over the past few days, a relatively heavy workload that might keep him out until Game 3. The Mets will probably trot out at least one of their less intimidating relievers, someone like Adam Ottavino or Danny Young, another opportunity for the Brewers’ lineup to put up some scoring. On Milwaukee’s side, Frankie Montas has been marked as the starter. The most worrying thing about Montas is that, after seeming to dial in during August, he’s been a lot more hittable in September. Most notably, his outing on Sept. 22 saw him give up seven earned runs against the Diamondbacks in just under three innings. A fastball-dominant pitcher, Montas lives and dies by the sword, striking out 11 batters per nine innings but giving up hard contact to do so. The Mets have struggled against right-handed splitters in 2024, managing just a .508 OPS against them. As his most frequently-thrown non-fastball pitch, the splitter could see more action in his start. He'll just need to be careful not to give away his pitch grips, as he did during that clunker against Arizona. If Pat Murphy needs to go to the bullpen earlier than expected, he can use Joe Ross or even DL Hall to eat innings. For higher leverage, he still has Devin Williams and Trevor Megill ready and waiting. Jared Koenig is the only other bullpen option, as it would make sense for Tobias Myers to be saved for a Game 3 start. The Mets are very beatable, and the Brewers have more than enough tools to get the job done. There’s no use languishing in the past. ;it’s time to lock in on the future. View full article

Where and how can Brewers fanatics watch and stream their favorite team’s playoff games on television? Image courtesy of © Benny Sieu-Imagn Images Unlike the regular season, the streaming landscape for the postseason is much less centralized. Even with an MLB.TV subscription, fans will only have access to the radio broadcast without linking a separate paid television subscription. The channels that will be broadcasting postseason games through MLB.TV are ESPN, TBS, FOX, and FS1. Furthermore, not every channel has the broadcast rights for every round of the playoffs. Wild Card Round ABC ESPN ESPN2 NLDS/NLCS/World Series FOX FS1 ALDS/ALCS TBS If you have an MLB.TV subscription and wish to link your streaming service of choice, note that not all providers have this option available. Major networks like DIRECTV, DISH, FuboTV, Cox, and Spectrum are great nationwide candidates for this option. Similarly, other regional providers like Armstrong, Blue Ridge Communications, and Midco are also valid partners if you’re in their service area. The complete list of valid subscriptions that can be linked to MLB.tv can be found here. If you don’t have an MLB.TV subscription or simply don’t care about linking streaming platforms, any service that contains the channels listed above will work. None of the Brewers’ games will be broadcast on TBS since they only have the broadcast rights for the AL side of the bracket and only the opening series against the Mets will be on ABC/ESPN/ESPN2. Sling TV, Youtube TV, and Fubo have both Fox and FS1 while Hulu TV only carries Fox. Sling TV: $40/month ($20 w/ first month promotion) Youtube TV: $72.99/month Fubo TV: $59.99/month Hulu TV: $82.99/month View full article

Yup, think he's done for the season since he broke his wrist which is why Milwaukee will definitely be facing Jose Iglesias at second base in his stead.

Fresh off beating them twice in three games, the Brewers get to welcome the Mets back to Milwaukee with everything on the line. What are their opponents' strengths and weaknesses? Image courtesy of © Brett Davis-Imagn Images The Brewers played well against the Mets this year, going 5-1. In fact, they seem to do well against them nearly every year, having a 22-9 head-to-head record going back to 2019. This seems to be an encouraging sign that the Crew could win a playoff series for the first time in six years, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. What are the Mets’ strengths and weaknesses and how can they be overcome and exploited, respectively? Strengths The Mets’ team OPS of .736 is ninth-best in MLB, just slightly above the Brewers’ own mark of .729. That probably undersells New York, too, because Citi Field is a slightly less hitter-friendly ballpark than American Family Field. The bulk of the Mets' offensive production comes from their infield, where some unexpected names have found a way to rise to the top. NL MVP contender Francisco Lindor and third baseman Mark Vientos lead the pack of qualified hitters, both having OPS+ figures of 137. Perennial slugger Pete Alonso is third, with an OPS+ of 124 after accumulating 30 or more doubles and 30 or more home runs for the first time since his Rookie of the Year campaign in 2019. Lindor and Alonso were expected to be anchors of the lineup, but Vientos's consistent excellence has been a pleasant surprise. While Jeff McNeil has had his struggles at the plate, his replacement (defensive whiz-***-Latin pop sensation José Iglesias) has been outstanding, putting up a 141 OPS+ in about half a season's worth of playing time. Luisangel Acuña will probably stay on the bench with Lindor’s return from a lingering back injury, but his brief time in the big leagues has been impressive. Their rotation also feels underrated, since it lacks any marquee names. Gone are the days of Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer reuniting to be paid more than the entire Athletics roster combined. With Kodai Senga also sidelined with injury and doubtful to return in the playoffs, David Peterson and Sean Manaea have stepped up to the plate (mound?) to lead the rotation. They’ve got great depth, too: Everyone in the full-time rotation has managed to keep an ERA under 4.00 this season. This may be partially thanks to the park factors and the broader league context, but Tylor Megill’s 99 ERA+ is the lowest of any qualified starter on the team. Teams will rarely utilize a full five-man rotation in the postseason, given the more spread-out schedule, but they have viable hurlers to spare. Weaknesses Compared to the great numbers put up by the infield, the offensive numbers of the outfield are somewhat lackluster. Brandon Nimmo and Starling Marte have been slightly better than average, but Harrison Bader hasn’t done much at the plate all year, posting an OPS+ of just 89. Their backups tell a similar story. Ex-Brewer Tyrone Taylor has had a great defensive year in right field, but will only play out there because Marte is nursing an injury and somewhat limited in his ability to play defense. Another ex-Brewer, Jesse Winker, was having a strong showing in Washington before being shipped at the deadline. He has had his moments, but has regressed as a Met, posting a 97 OPS+ over 129 plate appearances. The biggest hole might lie in the bullpen. They have some solid names, including José Buttó (2.55 ERA, 1.07 WHIP), Phil Maton (1.91 ERA, 0.81 WHIP since joining the team), and of course, Edwin Díaz (3.29 ERA, 1.00 WHIP). Unfortunately, the other arms haven’t been as consistent. Ryne Stanek has been disastrous since being acquired from the Mariners, pitching to a 6.06 ERA and 1.29 WHIP. Adam Ottavino and Danny Young have both been about replacement-level, while Huascar Brazobán has failed to rediscover the success he had in Miami earlier this year. Key Takeaways The best hitters in this lineup are dangerous, but it’s not like the Brewers haven’t encountered them already. The pitching staff has done a good job at neutralizing their bats in the six games they’ve played in 2024, keeping all but Iglesias to OPS figures below .720. Vientos and Lindor had a few good swings in the most recent three-game series, but Iglesias was held to singles, while Alonso was largely ineffective. The Mets’ pitching depth may also fall victim to the way they had to run their staff to get this far. Luis Severino will be available to pitch Game 1 on full rest, but he wouldn't have been one of the team's first two choices to do so. Behind him will lie a very tired bullpen, including Díaz, who figures to be unavailable at least Tuesday evening. Drawing out long at-bats, running up high pitch counts for Mets starters, taking aggressive swings on vulnerable relievers, and avoiding ground balls are obviously easier said than done, but even without all that, Milwaukee may be able to steal the series away by just staying the course. It hasn’t failed them thus far, so if it ain’t broke, why fix it? View full article

After a campaign stained by inconsistency, he’s rediscovering what made him great in years past at the perfect time. Image courtesy of © Michael McLoone-Imagn Images In 2023, Joel Payamps was an integral part of the Brewers bullpen. He was the main setup man for the team, pitching to a 2.55 ERA with a 1.05 WHIP and a 26.8% strikeout rate. His four-seam/slider combo was great, and allowed him to achieve both strikeouts and mostly soft contact, boasting a barrel rate in the lowest decile of qualified pitchers. He started to show some concerning signs toward the end of the year, conceding six earned runs in just 9 ⅓ innings pitched in the final month, but after 1 ⅔ innings of scoreless relief in his lone postseason appearance, Payamps entered this year as a projected linchpin of the Brewers pen. Unfortunately, it wasn't long before the lingering issues from the end of last year began to rear their ugly heads again. His first-half ERA of 4.41 pushed him lower and lower on the reliever depth chart, leaving many to wonder if he’d be relevant or even on the team down the line. After all, with a bountiful haul of arm talent in the farm system, it didn’t seem like he’d be very hard to replace. The main cause for his regression seemed to be his four-seam fastball. The high-level numbers said it was resulting in too much hard contact for it to be effective. 2023 2024 (Pre-ASB) BA .118 .176 SLG .221 .471 K% 45.2% 50.0% HR% 2.7% 8.3% While the opposing batting average increased by a considerable amount, it was still .176, still somewhat palatable for empathetic fans. The opposing slugging percentage, on the other hand, had nearly doubled, while the home run rate had more than tripled. Payamps doesn’t have wicked velocity on his fastball, averaging roughly 95 mph on the pitch, so he has to rely on great command to get through the day. In 2023, his command of the high fastball was excellent, creating a lot of swing-and-miss while limiting damage. Because of the excellent command at the top of the zone, Payamps had similar splits between RHB (1.40 ERA) and LHB (1.93 ERA) last year and it worked extremely well with his slider that covered the bottom edge of the zone. anFaV0FfWGw0TUFRPT1fVUZSVUFWSldWUUlBRGxwVFhnQUFBVlJlQUFNRVZBY0FDbFJRQVZBQUIxVlVVbGRV.mp4 In the first half of this year, Payamps tended to leave his fastballs slightly too low, landing many of his pitches in the heart of the zone, explaining the thunderous homers he was conceding. I believe these are what some fans like to call "meatballs." It also created a heinous platoon disadvantage. He gave up zero hits and just two walks while striking out 10 of the 15 batters whose plate appearances ended on the fastball. Against the 21 lefties he faced, he gave up six hits, three of which were homers, while striking out just eight. QnZ6MVFfWGw0TUFRPT1fVXdnQ1VWQU5Bd1lBQ0FOUVVBQUFCdzhBQUFCVVZBSUFCd0FEQkFOWEJBVUdVbGRT.mp4 It’s hard to say for sure whether these fastball issues were directly responsible for the regression in other pitches, since the command for his slider has been relatively consistent throughout the season. However, his sinker was seeing similarly disastrous results against lefties, a possible indicator that poor command was indeed a root of his broader issues. Jumping to the second half, it seems Payamps found his way back to his old self. He saw notable improvement against lefties, and while he’s still leaving a few pitches over the middle of the plate, it’s not as egregious as it was before the All-Star break. As a result, the second-half numbers on his fastball have looked significantly better, and his second-half ERA has plummeted to 1.16 over 23 ⅓ innings, capped off by 7 ⅓ scoreless innings so far in September. Batters Faced 15 BA .077 SLG .308 K% 46.7% OGdZbFhfWGw0TUFRPT1fQWdFREJsRUNCRkVBREZWV1ZnQUFDRkFDQUZoUlVsUUFCQWNGQ1FzRFV3VUFDUVpm.mp4 The best part of this in-season resurgence is that it’s just in time for the playoffs, and can help compensate for other bullpen arms who may be feeling the pain of a full, 162-game season. No Brewers reliever with more than three innings pitched in the second half has a better ERA than Payamps, and previously rock-solid pitchers have started to sputter--like Jared Koenig (3.91) and Trevor Megill (4.40 ERA). With his recent performances on the mound, Payamps has gone from irrelevant to a potentially key member of the October squad. Is there still a chance he’ll fall back into old habits, leave a few fastballs out over the plate, and fall short when it matters most? Of course, but the evidence instead suggests that he’s left his old self back in June. View full article

With the regular season conquered, Milwaukee must now look to October to find their next challenge. Image courtesy of © Michael McLoone-Imagn Images The Brewers managed to clinch the NL Central last week, to cap off what has been a dominant season. Their run differential of +124 is the third-highest in MLB, behind only the Yankees (+147) and Dodgers (+133). That's despite Milwaukee not having nearly the same star power, and their biggest name, Christian Yelich, being out of the lineup since late July. Instead, the team's powerhouse offense has been led by a group of youngsters, one of whom is 20 years old in Jackson Chourio. They've exceeded the expectations of many, but does this team of Gen-Z young'uns have what it takes to make a deeper playoff run? Potential Matchups In terms of seeding, it seems like the Brewers will probably come in third place once again. The Dodgers are four games up and have a remaining schedule of mild difficulty, finishing off with three games against the Rockies and three games against the Padres. The Phillies are three games up on the Crew, with an arguably easier schedule than the Dodgers', ending their regular season with a series against the Cubs and one against the Nationals. This means the Brewers will likely end up facing the sixth-seeded Wild Card team, a hard spot to predict at this time. The Diamondbacks and Mets have identical records at 87-69, and the Braves are just two games behind them. The Brewers have played well against both NL East teams this year, going 3-0 against the Mets and 4-2 against the Braves. The Mets might still be the better matchup for Milwaukee, given the uncertainty around the return of Francisco Lindor, but Atlanta’s own injury problems with Reynaldo López and Austin Riley may make them beatable, too. Either way, the Diamondbacks are the team to avoid--not that the Brewers have that power, per se. Their team OPS of .779 is the highest in MLB, and their second-half OPS of .850 is a step above the second-place Dodgers (.790 OPS). Their pitching is some of the worst in MLB, with a combined 4.63 ERA, but Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly could be a formidable 1-2 punch. Additionally, let's not forget Brandon Pfaadt’s incredible efforts in the 2023 postseason. In their most recent series this past weekend, the Brewers narrowly avoided a four-game Snakes sweep with some eighth-inning heroics in the final game from Rhys Hoskins and Jake Bauers. Roster Battles The greatest positional depth can be found in the outfield. In Yelich’s absence, Chourio and Garrett Mitchell have risen to the occasion, as both players have an OPS north of .840 since Ye;ich's last game on Jul. 23. Sal Frelick and Blake Perkins have struggled mightily at the plate, with OPSes below .600 in that same span, but they’ve been stellar defensively, providing 14 and 8 Defensive Runs Saved, respectively. Frelick, Perkins and Mitchell figure to be mixed and matched, with Chourio the constant in the lineup come the playoffs. The infield is more or less settled, with the slight exception of first base. Hoskins holds the top spot on the depth chart for the position, but Bauers has been getting a decent number of reps. He’s played a total of 538 innings at first base, compared to Hoskins’s 739, and has been slightly better defensively, although neither will be winning Fielding Bible awards anytime soon. Picking between Bauers and Hoskins is sort of like picking between the snot and vomit-flavored jelly beans at the bottom of the bag your friends gave you: neither option is ideal. One factor leaning in the favor of Hoskins is his more favorable numbers against righties. His .710 OPS is a marked improvement over the .641 put up by Bauers this season, and Hoskins also has some postseason bona fides. On the mound, it seems like Colin Rea may already be earmarked for the bullpen. After being mauled by the Giants earlier in the month, he came out of the bullpen to pitch 2 ⅔ scoreless innings against the Phillies and picked up the first save of his career. He made an unimpressive four-inning start against Arizona that saw him concede three earned runs, foreshadowing issues if he were to take the ball in key playoff games. Tobias Myers and Freddy Peralta seem to be the frontrunners for the top two rotation spots. Myers has pitched to a 2.96 ERA over nine starts since the start of August, and Peralta has posted a 3.19 ERA over the same span. Aaron Civale has also been good since landing in Milwaukee, achieving a 3.84 ERA over 68 innings with the squad. Aside from the ever-impressive Devin Williams, expect Trevor Megill and Jared Koenig to play key roles at the back of the bullpen. With Bryan Hudson still in Triple-A even after someone was called up to replace Enoli Paredes, Koenig’s position as one of the few effective lefties on the team will be an imperative one. Will this finally be the year the Brewers make it out of the first round of postseason play? It’s always hard to predict the outcome of baseball games, especially series played in October, but after nearly 160 games of quality Brew Crew ball, there’s an exciting story heading into the playoffs. View full article

Over his last stretch of brutal outings, the career journeyman has regressed to his former self. What does that mean for his role as a starter come playoff time? Image courtesy of © Robert Edwards-Imagn Images For the majority of this year, Colin Rea has exceeded expectations. Despite being a back-of-the-rotation guy in 2023, he ascended to new heights in 2024. After his 19th start on Aug. 6, he had a 3.38 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP. Since then, he’s managed just one quality start, while conceding seven or more earned runs twice, dragging his overall statistics down to a 4.21 ERA and 1.22 WHIP. How did this happen? Rea’s array of fastballs sits in the low 90s (though his cutter more often registers in the high 80s), and isn’t anything spectacular. Opposing batters are slugging .506 against his sinker and .647 against his cutter this year--a big problem, since those are the two pitches he throws most frequently. He has had slightly more success with his four-seam fastball, but he’s still conceded 11 earned runs with it, around the same number as his other two fastballs. Instead, the secret sauce has been his sweeper. Prior to Aug. 7, Rea threw his sweeper 329 times. Over this span, he gave up just five hits and zero earned runs. At an average velocity of 82 mph, with 42 inches of vertical drop, it’s a pretty good pitch. It has some late break, and to his credit, Rea was commanding it well, attacking the bottom portion of the zone while hitting the upper portions with his four-seam fastball. Rea to Suzuki.mp4 Hitters had a cumulative .182 OPS against the sweeper to that point, while whiffing on 24.8% of swings. A whopping 32.4% of their takes ended up as called strikes. Rea to Gunnar.mp4 Aug. 13 is when things started to unravel. Rea had a six-inning start against the Dodgers that saw him give up 10 hits and seven earned runs. It took him 92 pitches to get through four innings against the Reds, and his most recent start against the Giants was an unmitigated disaster, ending in a final line of 10 earned runs over four innings. His greatest pitch suddenly became his worst enemy, as hitters started catching on. While he allowed five hits and zero earned runs on his first 329 sweepers, his last 96 have resulted in eight hits and eight earned runs. The biggest cause for concern seems to be his command, especially against lefties. In the first portion of the year, he did a great job of placing the pitch either on the low inside corner or on the outside edge, painful spots for any batter. Lately, too many of his pitches are in the heart of the zone. That makes sense, as command tends to deteriorate quickly under the duress and fatigue of leading a top-notch rotation for a lengthy baseball season. Rea has never pitched this many innings, his closest mark being the 124 ⅔ innings he tossed last year. He’s already at 154 innings this year, with a few more turns of the rotation left plus playoff games in October, it’s not looking great for his workload. Furthermore, analytical fans will note that his FIP has always seemingly foreshadowed a return to Earth. Even through early August, when his ERA was at the 3.38 mark, his FIP was 4.27, heavily affected by a relatively low strikeout rate (19.5%) and average walk (7.1%) and home-run rates (3.1%). While it's not a perfect metric and can seem somewhat arbitrary, it's been a better predictor of future ERA than pretty much anything else. Milwaukee has the privilege of having several playoff-viable starters. Tobias Myers, while inexperienced, has been excellent all year. Freddy Peralta and Frankie Montas have several postseason appearances, and both have been on an upward trajectory in this final stretch. Even Aaron Civale has been more productive than many expected, after a brutal stint with the Rays. All of this means that Rea isn’t a necessary part of the playoff pitching picture. However, he’s demonstrated his ability to be great when in his full form, so perhaps some rest and recovery could help him help the team. In a worst-case scenario, maybe he crawls over the finish line of the regular season and finds himself in a long reliever role out of the bullpen, eating medium-leverage innings or coming in to stabilize the situation in the event of an emergency. Managing the pitching staff in the postseason is a unique exercise. Because of the higher importance of each game and the compressed schedule, teams usually shift from a five-man rotation to a four-man corps. The four names mentioned above could fill these spots and take the pressure off of Rea, allowing him to find the peak version of himself once again. Otherwise, seeing a depleted version of him taking the mound against the Dodgers, Phillies, or Diamondbacks in an elimination game could end in new, disappointing postseason memories for Brewers fans all over the world. View full article

do u think its because they were besties with mark canha last year when he was a brewer and didn't wanna embarrass him and get uninvited from his birthday party at chuck e cheese?

In the bottom of the ninth inning Tuesday night, the Brewers’ closer had to face an imposing rookie threat to preserve the team’s one-run lead. Image courtesy of © Stan Szeto-Imagn Images Milwaukee got to work quickly against the Giants, scoring two runs in the first inning and adding a third by way of a Garrett Mitchell home run in the sixth inning. Unfortunately, the Giants went tit-for-tat, keeping things within one run throughout the entire game. The Brewers were up 3-2 in the bottom of the ninth inning, and with the heart of the order coming to the plate, Pat Murphy called on the services of Devin Williams. After giving up a single to Heliot Ramos, Williams struck out Michael Conforto, got Matt Chapman to pop out, and walked Mark Canha. With the winning runner now on first, this called for a mound visit. Williams was 17 pitches into this appearance and the fatigue was starting to show. In his at-bat against Canha, he threw just one strike while his four-seam fastball struggled to find the plate. He needed just one more out, but with no margin for error, it wouldn’t be an easy one to get. Tyler Fitzgerald has been a welcome surprise for Giants fans this year. He has posted a .870 OPS over 288 plate appearances, and has consequently become one of the most valuable members of the team. He has performed slightly worse against right-handed pitching (.827 OPS) than he has against left-handed pitching (.947 OPS), but his numbers are still competitive. To make matters worse, he has a .854 OPS against four-seam fastballs and a 1.000 OPS against changeups from the right side, a seemingly uphill battle for Williams who throws these pitches exclusively. Williams led off with a changeup, perhaps wanting to recreate the success that DL Hall had against Fitzgerald with his change in the seventh inning, albeit from the left side. It was actually a pretty good pitch, boasting 44 inches of drop and 22 inches of arm-side run. Fitzgerald, likely expecting a changeup after witnessing Williams’s lack of command with the fastball, decided to take it, putting him in a 1-0 count. QnZxNDVfWGw0TUFRPT1fQXdVSFV3WU5VVlFBQ1ZJSFVRQUFWVk5VQUZrQkFGVUFVMVJSQVZBTlZ3TlJCVlFE.mp4 So it was time to turn up the gas, or at least as much as possible. Because of the workload, Williams was sitting around 93 mph on his fastball, a dip from his usual velocity around the 95 mph mark. Still, if it was tunneled and commanded well enough, he’d get a whiff or at least some soft contact. Fitzgerald was probably still expecting another changeup, since the last one had been a ball, so he decided to take again, watching his first strike on the outside edge. Williams was back to an even count at 1-1. QnZxNDVfWGw0TUFRPT1fVXdnRlhWSUFYZ29BREZWV1V3QUFCd1ZmQUFNRlYxRUFBMVlGQmxkWENRWlJCMVlI.mp4 In even counts with fewer than two strikes, Williams has a slight preference for throwing his fastball. While he’s famous for his “Airbender”, his fastball is still immensely effective, not necessarily because of its scorching velocity or wicked spin, but instead, because of how well he sequences it with his changeup. Batters are constantly expecting the change, which allows him to get away with free heaters in the low 90s. That's exactly what he did on the third pitch of the at-bat. It clocked in at just 93 mph, one of the slowest fastballs he has thrown all season, but Fitzgerald just watched it go by him to put him into a do-or-die 1-2 count. QnZxNDVfWGw0TUFRPT1fQXdZRlYxSU1CMUVBQUFBS1ZBQUFDQVFIQUZsVEFWTUFWRklIQWdwUlVsQUhVbFlF.mp4 At this point, Williams had the clear psychological advantage. He was ahead in the count, and even with runners on base and the game on the line, it was a position he had been in before, as a six-year veteran. Tyler Fitzgerald, on the other hand, had just stared at two strikes and was one mistake away from costing his team the game. He couldn’t possibly afford to stare at a third strike in the zone; Giants Twitter would have his head for it. He was going to, at the very least, try to fight off the next few pitches if they looked even close to the plate. So what did Williams do? Go back to the bread-and-butter bender of air. Perhaps sensing a green light for Fitzgerald, William Contreras set up on the outside edge, wanting to avoid any chance of contact. Williams delivered, getting a foul tip that looked more like a pure whiff to end the game. QnZxNDVfWGw0TUFRPT1fQkZRQ0FGQUhBbGNBV2xZS1h3QUFVZ2RlQUFBQ0IxZ0FDd1lDQlZWUlZRWlNBQUJY.mp4 After some adversity, Williams came away with a two-strikeout save in 21 pitches. His final strikeout added 17% of win probability, the biggest change of any single plate appearance in the game. His performance under duress helped start the series on the right foot and bring the Brewers into single-digit magic number territory, in terms of clinching the NL Central for the fourth time in five years. View full article

He’s already made more plate appearances in 2024 than in his last two years combined. What has this larger sample size shown us? Image courtesy of © Benny Sieu-Imagn Images Last month, Matthew Trueblood put out a great article looking into the early numbers being put up by Garrett Mitchell, and brought a couple of key things to light. First, he had an oddly high whiff rate, despite having an excellent chase rate. Second, he was striking out at a reasonable rate while walking >10% of the time. Third, his BABIP was incredible, perhaps unsustainably so. All of these statements were made when he had 78 plate appearances under his belt. Now that we’ve got 167 plate appearances worth of data, I wanted to revisit how he’s progressed (or regressed) in each of the areas of concern. To start, let’s unpack his whiff and chase rates. He’s still chasing at an elite percentage of 15.8%, the best mark on the team. Unfortunately, his issues with swinging and missing seem to be chronic. His cumulative whiff rate is a whopping 32.8%, and he has an in-zone whiff rate of 26.8%, the highest mark of any Brewer with at least 110 plate appearances. Here’s how that in-zone whiff rate breaks down by pitch type. Hard (four-seam, sinker, cutter) 28.5% Off-speed (changeup, splitter) 28.1% Breaking (curveball, slider, sweeper) 22.2% Given this breakdown, I wondered if this was due to Mitchell not being able to time up velocity very well. This would make sense given his long layoff and how darn tough it is to hit a baseball when it’s thrown really hard. However, his in-zone whiff rate against fastballs thrown 95 mph or harder is just 24.4%, better than his cumulative rate. Against pitches slower than 95 mph, it jumps up to 35.4%, but even more interesting is how bad he has been against 94 mph fastballs, specifically. He has 17 total misses against four-seam fastballs thrown between 94 and 95 miles an hour, and an in-zone whiff rate of 57.7%. This holds little to no statistical significance, but I thought it was peculiar enough to mention. Because of his swing decisions, it makes a ton of sense that a player who both chases at an elite rate and whiffs worse than the majority of MLB would have correspondingly high walk and strikeout rates. If he had a penchant for hitting home runs, he'd be another great example of a three-true-outcome player, but with just four homers to speak of so far, he's missing the final piece of the puzzle. Furthermore, this has been his M.O. since he was called up. His career whiff rate is 34.0%, so fans can be glad that at least he's mostly missing on pitches inside the zone. When Mitchell does manage to make contact, things tend to swing his way. His cumulative BABIP of .371 is the best on the team of anyone with >60 plate appearances. This isn’t necessarily due to a wicked-high launch-angle sweet-spot rate or tremendous exit velocity that blasts baseballs off of outfield walls for doubles and triples. Instead, it’s likely due to his speed. His 97th percentile sprint speed allows him to leg out hits that would otherwise be routine groundouts. Take this hit against the Reds that was only made possible by Mitchell’s wild wheels, or this play against the Marlins. With his extended stay with the Brewers in 2024, Mitchell has shown himself to be a capable outfielder. Despite the lopsided nature of his intrinsic hitting profile, his .252/.341/.422 slash line and 111 OPS+ mean he’s capable at the plate, and if nothing else, he’s got good on-base skills. Defensively, he’s primarily been playing center field, with some time in right field as well and has already accumulated 8 Defensive Runs Saved. So what does this all mean for his future with the team? There is a ton of talent in Milwaukee’s outfield, and Mitchell doesn’t have the same star power of Christian Yelich or Jackson Chourio that almost demands a starting spot. He’s proven himself to be valuable and perhaps an offensive upgrade over the likes of Blake Perkins and Sal Frelick, but it would be hard to definitively say that he’s a clear step up. Perhaps the future for Mitchell lies outside of the Brewers, and his greatest use is as a trade piece. Before Joey Wiemer was ultimately packaged and sent off to Cincinnati in exchange for Frankie Montas, Mitchell was seen as the most likely outfielder to be shipped off. His numbers have cooled off since the trade deadline, but they haven’t drifted far enough for his value to significantly change. With his abilities, years of team control, and existing competition in the outfield, he’d fetch a hefty haul in the offseason, and could help set the Brewers up for deep playoff runs in the future. Until then, he’s a critical piece of the outfield sans Christian Yelich. View full article

After more than a year of financial uncertainty, Bally Sports could finally be nearing a deal with the tech giant. Image courtesy of © Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images Diamond Sports Group, the owner of Bally Sports, started running into bankruptcy in February 2023 after missing an interest payment of $140 million. In the months following, they further missed payments to various sports teams, and confusion regarding the future of their portfolio of streaming rights left fans in a daze. Luckily for them (and perhaps unluckily for the average consumer), Amazon started talks to fold Bally’s assets into Amazon Prime Video. When it was announced, there was still a chance that the bankruptcy court would reject the deal, but as per recent reports, it seems that negotiations are in the final stages. So, what does this mean for fans hoping to stream Brew Crew baseball? The Brewers are one of the five MLB teams (along with the Tigers, Royals, Marlins, and Rays) whose existing contracts with Diamond Sports Group will carry over into the future. The current plan seems that Amazon will charge $20/month for a streaming package through Prime that provides fans access to teams in their local area. Most importantly, this means that in-market viewers with Prime subscriptions will no longer need cable access to watch the Brewers. Regional sports networks have struggled as cord-cutting has continued, and more people have moved towards consolidated television packages. This partnership with Amazon is a temporary fix, but a few hurdles still need to be cleared. First, DSG must prove that it can be a sustainable business to satisfy the bankruptcy court. Second, Amazon must stay true to its word as its earlier withdrawal of a discussed $115 million investment doesn’t necessarily convey the most faith. Sure, they’re interested in the broadcasting rights now, but what about in five to ten years? Will consumers have to go through this charade again? Finally, what about customers without Amazon Prime? Will they have to succumb to an Amazon Prime subscription in addition to the added fee to stream games? Potentially, but as things are yet to be set in stone, it’s hard to make a definitive claim. An interesting tidbit about this deal is that it may not be exclusive, meaning DSG could enter similar partnerships with competing platforms, providing customers with alternative viewing options. To further complicate matters, MLB has expressed interest in tossing their hat in the streaming ring and could release their package as soon as 2025. Rob Manfred said this is one of his main focuses moving forward and could simplify things in an in-market package similar to the existing out-of-market MLB.tv product. In the interim, you can look forward to funneling your hard funds into the pockets of Amazon investors worldwide so you can enjoy some good ol’ Milwaukee baseball. View full article