Jack Stern

In this installment of the Brewer Fanatic Offseason Handbook, we'll walk through objectives the Brewers should prioritize this winter and how they might accomplish them. Image courtesy of © Jovanny Hernandez / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images Welcome to the 2025 Offseason Handbook! This year, we’re offering the format online only through our Caretakers program. The Offseason Handbook is a comprehensive look at what challenges the Brewers face in the coming winter to field a competitive team in 2025. To become a Caretaker, visit this page. On top of receiving exclusive access to the Offseason Handbook, Caretakers also receive in-depth analysis from national writers you cannot find anywhere else. You will also receive exclusive access to events and an ad-free browsing option. In celebration of the Offseason Handbook’s release, we’re offering 20% off all Caretaker programs for the next week. Use the code HANDBOOK at checkout to receive 20% off your purchase! By almost every measure, the Milwaukee Brewers exceeded external expectations in 2024. Even the more optimistic observers would not have predicted a 93-69 record and a division title. Despite a heartbreaking finish that saw the Brewers come within two outs of finally conquering their recent playoff demons, the club’s outlook for 2025 and beyond is bright. Last winter featured substantial shakeups to the roster and coaching staff, ushering in a wave of uncertainty as the Brewers insisted they would remain competitive. A year later, roster continuity is a theme. While next year’s club will look a bit different—Willy Adames is a free agent, a Devin Williams trade feels inevitable, and the starting rotation will undergo a slight makeover—most core contributors from 2024 figure to return. The Brewers have 16 players under control through at least 2027, based on service time or under existing contracts, nine of whom were worth at least 2 Wins Above Replacement this year, according to Baseball-Reference. The list of desperate needs is shorter than in years past, but it’s also important to look past it when executing and evaluating offseason moves. Shrewd organizations do their best to fill needs, but the greater objective is always to assemble a competitive roster with prudent and opportunistic moves. That means taking advantage of chances to add value and rejecting potential moves that don’t, regardless of position. These offseason storylines will be covered in greater depth in future installments of Brewer Fanatic’s Offseason Handbook series, but here is a quick snapshot of the most prominent issues as the Hot Stove gets underway. View full article

The longtime Rockies third baseman has the potential to be one of the best in baseball at the position, but his availability and likelihood of reaching that ceiling are both uncertain. Image courtesy of © Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images With Willy Adames all but guaranteed to depart in free agency, the Brewers need a replacement on the left side of the infield. They can fill that need by moving Joey Ortiz to shortstop and acquiring a third baseman, or they can keep Ortiz at the hot corner and bring in a shortstop. Having both options does not dramatically expand the number of paths available in free agency, though. The infield market is uninspiring, featuring just seven middle infielders or third basemen worth more than 0.8 fWAR in 2024. Two of them—Adames and Alex Bregman—are likely beyond Milwaukee’s price range. The trade market could feature alternatives. The Colorado Rockies are reportedly cutting payroll over the winter and intend to shop several veteran players. Third baseman Ryan McMahon, who is halfway through a six-year extension he signed before the 2022 season, could be among them. 'Could' is the key word. In recent years, Colorado’s front office has been unwilling to trade players it has deemed essential to the franchise’s identity, even if the prudent move is to flip them for younger talent. McMahon lands firmly within that echelon, and the Rockies already withheld him from the trade block at the July deadline when he was fresh off his first All-Star nod. Given how unconventionally the club operates, McMahon’s availability is anyone’s guess. If the Rockies put him on the market, though, there’s an obvious fit in Milwaukee, along with a level of upside absent in free agency. McMahon is an eight-year veteran who has emerged as one of baseball’s best defensive third basemen. Since inheriting the position from Nolan Arenado in 2021, he has more Defensive Runs Saved (DRS) at the hot corner than anyone but Pittsburgh's Ke'Bryan Hayes. His 37 Outs Above Average trail only Hayes and Arenado. That makes him a perfect fit for a Brewers team that places a premium on defense as part of its run-prevention strategy. Offensively, it’s more challenging to judge whether McMahon is a worthwhile target. His left-handed bat has carried untapped potential for years, but his natural tendencies as a hitter and his health complicate his path to unlocking another gear. McMahon hits the ball hard. Since the start of 2018, he ranks in the 91st percentile of big-league hitters in hard-hit rate and average exit velocity. The veteran also whiffs frequently, running a career 28.7% strikeout rate. That means he generates loud contact at a great rate per batted ball, but at a middling rate per swing. Furthermore, how McMahon produces and steers that contact separates him from most left-handed power hitters, and it’s partially why he’s approaching his 30th birthday with an underwhelming career .243/.324/.422 line and 92 DRC+. Many left-handed hitters, particularly those with stronger builds who hit the ball hard, are pull-heavy hitters. They like to turn on pitches over the middle and inner thirds of the plate. Since 2018, lefties have a pull rate 4.4 percentage points higher than righties. McMahon has a more balanced spray chart, working the opposite field more than the average lefty. His 27.9% opposite field rate ranks in the 88th percentile of left-handed hitters with at least 1,000 plate appearances since the start of 2018. His 39.3% pull rate ranks in the 11th percentile. Take a look at how McMahon’s directional batted-ball distribution in 2024 differed from that of the average left-handed batter. Unlike most of his peers, McMahon appears in his comfort zone when going the other way, and he’s done more damage to that area than most. His .643 slugging percentage on opposite-field batted balls ranks 15th in the aforementioned pool of lefties. The average is .491. That unique profile has a drawback, though: regularly taking the ball the other way instead of pulling it prevents McMahon from fully tapping into his raw power. One might assume that the solution is recommending he pull more pitches, but it’s more complicated than that. McMahon has not proven capable of consistently pulling the ball in the air. Instead, roughly two-thirds of his pull-side contact has been on the ground, including 71.2% in 2024. Rolling over so frequently has kept McMahon from maximizing his pull-side contact. Direction LA Exit Velo Hard Hit% GB% LD% FB% Pull 0.3 89.7 43.0% 66.3% 20.6% 12.2% Middle 11.0 93.5 55.4% 43.4% 27.0% 28.3% Oppo 23.2 90.1 42.7% 22.1% 30.7% 40.0% McMahon has ample power to right field. He’s pulled 53 of his 124 career home runs, and his career 1.439 slugging percentage on pulled non-grounders ranks in the 93rd percentile of left-handed hitters during that time. Tapping into that stroke consistently has been the issue. It appeared McMahon was starting to break out during the first half of the year. He earned an appearance in the Midsummer Classic by hitting .272/.350/.447 with 14 home runs in his first 95 games. However, his strikeout and pull rates remained unchanged from his career averages. His bat cratered in the second half, as he posted a .592 OPS, and the end result was a standard McMahon line: .242/.325/.397 with 20 home runs for a 94 DRC+. Health played a role in that ugly finish. McMahon claimed he lost 12-15 pounds while battling a virus out of the All-Star break and also played through left knee tendinitis. While the illness cannot be held against him, McMahon’s balky knees have hampered him throughout the last two years. The recent history of lower-body ailments, the continuing disconnect between his ceiling and batted-ball profile, and his heavy swing-and-miss tendencies are red flags as he exits his 20s. Therein lies the dilemma the Brewers would face in deciding whether to pursue McMahon. His potential is undeniable, but expecting him to realize that ceiling is a precarious and potentially costly bet. He’s owed $44 million over the next three years, including $16 million annually in 2026 and 2027, and his high valuation within the Colorado front office could mean a steep ask in return for his services. His name has been noticeably absent from the list of candidates the Rockies would shop to dump salary. McMahon’s elite defense gives him a high floor as a solid starter in his current form, and it’s possible that leaving Coors Field will positively nudge his offense on its own. It would eliminate the challenge of frequently adjusting to differences in pitch flight imparted by the vastly different home and road elevations. DJ LeMahieu and Arenado are recent examples of players who posted career years at age 30 or older after escaping the Coors effect. Still, McMahon requires more development to fully unlock the skill of pulling the ball in the air. It’s impossible to know, from the outside, whether his failure to make that jump in eight seasons is due to lackluster instruction or McMahon’s own inability to master the right adjustments. Furthermore, his strikeout rate already teeters along territory that can handicap a hitter’s opportunities to do consistent damage. Any loss of bat speed in the next three years could prove catastrophic if it worsens his contact rate and plate discipline. If he’s available, the Brewers must weigh McMahon’s promise against those concerns. Is acquiring him to man third base for the next three years a smart allocation of resources this winter? There are compelling arguments to be made in either direction. View full article

It can be easy to overlook the value of elite defense in keeping runs off the board, but two of the Brewers' best defenders received due credit for their contributions in that field. Image courtesy of © Benny Sieu-Imagn Images Two of the Brewers’ three Gold Glove Awards "finalists" ultimately took home hardware. On Sunday evening’s awards show on ESPN, Rawlings announced second baseman Brice Turang and right fielder Sal Frelick as the National League winners at their respective positions. “It’s awesome,” Turang said. “It’s super cool.” “It’s definitely cool,” Frelick said. “It’s an honor. A little surreal still.” Turang has established himself as arguably the best defensive second baseman in baseball. His 22 Defensive Runs Saved led all qualified fielders across all positions. He’s shown especially impressive range to his right, going up the middle, in his two big-league seasons. “Someone will hit it there, and somehow Brice gets to the ball,” Frelick said. “I used to charge from right field because I’m like, ‘I’m going to have to field this ground ball and throw a guy out,’ but now I know that I don’t have to charge any ball hit on the ground to the right side.” Frelick has spent time at all three outfield positions and is a solid defensive center fielder, but the presence of Blake Perkins and Garrett Mitchell has pushed him to right for much of his big-league career. He accumulated 16 Defensive Runs Saved as a right fielder in 2024. Those figures are impressive in any context, but even more so considering that Frelick played just 776 regular-season innings at the position. “He’s just fearless,” Turang said. “He just goes into walls and he catches them. It’s very impressive.” While both defenders make their share of highlight-reel plays, their excellent range and instincts allow them to make routine-looking plays on balls in the gaps and in the holes. Those aren’t jaw-dropping plays, but their impact added up quickly for a Brewers pitching staff that saw many pitchers overperform their quality of stuff and peripheral metrics. For the second consecutive season, no staff had a more favorable gap between its ERA and FIP than Milwaukee’s. The Brewers benefitted from the fifth-lowest BABIP in baseball, including the second-lowest on ground balls (.232). Elite defenders like Turang and Frelick are among the most impactful catalysts. Their ability to turn would-be hits into outs creates extra flexibility for the pitching staff and gives Brewers hurlers a built-in advantage not all teams possess. “You’re trying to get them off the field as quickly as possible,” Turang said. “Our pitchers do a really good job at trusting us, and that kind of leads to them being able to pitch how they want.” “The identity of our team the past few years and since I got drafted has always been pitching and defense,” Frelick said. “I think you take pride in that when you throw on the Brewer uniform and take the field knowing that is our identity.” It’s an aspect of run-prevention that can fly under the radar, but both players have deservedly taken home an award for their efforts this year. Defense is challenging to properly evaluate, and the Gold Glove Awards can return a questionable list of the best fielders. They’re voted on by managers and coaches across baseball, who may not have the most complete and objective view of a player’s defensive season. It’s led to some controversial winners over the years, with detractors pointing to more established players winning over the more deserving ones for the season in question. In this instance, though, the award has directed a spotlight toward two defenders who deserve more recognition outside Milwaukee. Turang and Frelick are the second Brewers duo to win Gold Gloves in the same season. The last pair to do it was first baseman Cecil Cooper and right fielder Sixto Lezcano in 1979. Turang and Frelick are also in the running for the NL Platinum Glove Award, which is bestowed on the best Gold Glove winner as voted on by fans. Perkins, whose 8 DRS in center field also ranked among the best in baseball, was also a Gold Glove "finalist" (meaning he finished within the top three at the position), but lost to Colorado Rockies center fielder Brenton Doyle. He’s also been essential to Milwaukee’s run-prevention success, as have several other defenders around the diamond. View full article

After their first-base coach helped establish a core of excellent young baserunners and outfield defenders, the Brewers will have to maintain it in his absence. Image courtesy of © Benny Sieu-Imagn Images The contracts of several Brewers coaches expired on Thursday after the conclusion of the World Series, and one of them has already taken a new job elsewhere. Quintin Berry is reportedly following Craig Counsell down I-94 to become the new third base and baserunning coach of the Chicago Cubs. Berry served six seasons on Milwaukee's staff, including the last four as first-base coach, and specialized in baserunning and outfield defense instruction. Since his promotion before the 2021 season, the Brewers ranked third in baseball in baserunning runs above average. In the outfield, they ranked first in Defensive Runs Saved and second in Outs Above Average. In 2024, Milwaukee led the sport in baserunning runs and was second in steals and outfield OAA. That success stems primarily from the club’s increasing presence of speedy young talent in recent seasons, but Berry helped them maximize those skills. Numerous players praised him for his positive influence on their baserunning, including Brice Turang, who stole 50 bases in 2024. Berry helped lay the groundwork for a position-player core that runs the bases and patrols the outfield better than nearly any in the game. That foundation doesn’t disappear at his exit. Turang and the Brewers’ plethora of young outfielders were the club’s best baserunners this year, and all are controlled long-term. The next objective is ensuring those players maintain the skills Berry sharpened. While he would have remained integral in that process had he stayed, the Brewers can do it without him. Runners might miss his keen observations and attention to detail when studying pitcher tendencies in a few singular moments, but Berry's departure won't diminish the club's emphasis on using speed and awareness on the bases to help win games. After his success in Milwaukee, he’ll assume a similar but likely expanded role under his former manager. It’s not a surprising move. The two worked together in his first five seasons, and his new role as third-base coach constitutes a deserved promotion. The question now is how many coaches Counsell or other managers will poach from the Brewers in the coming days. The Crew already retained Chris Hook on a new multi-year contract earlier this week, and Connor Dawson will return as part of a restructured hitting coach think tank. Assistant pitching coach Jim Henderson and run-prevention coordinator Walker McKinven are perhaps the most crucial staff for the club to re-sign, and the hottest names on the market. View full article

Fresh off a new deal to remain in Milwaukee, Chris Hook credited the Brewers' larger pitching development system for the club's success on the mound. He's integral to that system running smoothly, and keeping him in Milwaukee ensures that will remain the case. Image courtesy of © Michael McLoone-Imagn Images The Brewers already announced some changes to their coaching staff last week, but perhaps the most prominent development in that department occurred on Tuesday, when Chris Hook signed a new multi-year deal to remain the team’s pitching coach. The 56-year-old Hook will return for his 18th season with the organization and seventh as big-league pitching coach. Since his promotion to the role ahead of the 2019 season, the Brewers rank fourth in baseball in league-adjusted ERA and sixth in RA9-WAR. Hook, who said both parties articulated interest in prolonging their partnership toward the end of the regular season, is the public face of Milwaukee’s pitching development system, but he’s far from the only impactful figure fueling that well-oiled machine. He cited his comfort and productive working relationship with Brewers executives, analysts, trainers, and fellow coaches as the source of his desire to stay put in lieu of free agency. “The group that I have that I work with, from the training staff to the strength staff to the front office, the systems are in place,” he said. “The work between our groups is very, very fluid. That happens very easy. “Matt [Arnold] and his group are going to find the right guys to make it work for us. I think that is the driving force in my coming back.” Hook rightfully apportioned the credit to others throughout the organization, but his fingerprints are all over the Brewers’ sustained success at preventing runs. His keen eye for potential adjustments to a pitcher’s mechanics, pitch mix, and mentality stand out. Even when he isn’t the source of such observations, he’s the guiding figure communicating those tweaks to pitchers with concise, digestible, and impactful messaging. The road from player acquisition to success on the mound runs through him. The common theme across Milwaukee’s many pitching success stories is Hook repeatedly helping hurlers maximize deception. He’s preached the importance of mixing fastball variations to compensate for uninspiring velocity and shapes. He helped Colin Rea adopt mechanical and pitch mix tweaks that fueled one of the best stretches of his career. He pushed Aaron Civale to reintroduce his shorter slider to bridge the gap between his cutter and bigger breaking balls. Three outings into Tobias Myers’s big-league career, Hook identified cues to generate more consistent velocity on his riding fastball. Pat Murphy credited Hook throughout the season, specifically pointing out his work with the starting pitchers. That’s where his influence shined most in 2024, as the Brewers successfully assembled nearly an entire rotation on the fly after a litany of injuries early in the season. “I think we know that we’re always going to have challenges every year in some form or fashion,” Hook said. “It’s, ‘What are we going to do? What’s our next step? Who’s the next man up? How are we going to make this guy better? How is he going to fill the need that we have?’” Depending on how many of their additional pitching-focused coaches they can retain, the Brewers likely could have survived in the long run had Hook changed scenery. They employ plenty of bright minds throughout the organization and have already survived several key departures by diligently preparing internal replacements. It could be a rocky transition in the short-term, though, to a new face with less experience and familiarity with the big-league staff. By re-upping with Hook, the club avoided that potential speed bump for at least a few more years. The many moving parts throughout the organization on the pitching side would not come together so neatly without his leadership. So long as he’s in Milwaukee, one of baseball’s best pitching development systems remains highly likely to continue chugging along. View full article

Despite an encouraging finish to his season, DL Hall's signature pitch remained a far cry from the offering many projected it to be. That reality has significant implications for his future in Milwaukee. Image courtesy of © Allan Henry-Imagn Images After a difficult start to his Brewers career (consisting of a 7.71 ERA in four injury-marred starts and a three-month rehab filled with speed bumps), DL Hall ended his season on a positive note. In 26 2/3 innings after returning to the big leagues in August, Hall pitched to a 3.38 ERA, 3.28 FIP, and 27.4% strikeout rate. It was undeniably a step in the right direction. So, too, was Hall’s average fastball velocity jumping from 92.3 mph before his lengthy IL stint to 94.3 mph after his return. That was still a few ticks shy of the upper 90s he consistently flashed as a full-time reliever for the Baltimore Orioles, but it’s where one would expect to see him sit in a bulk role. However, despite the velocity nudge, Hall’s fastball remained uninspiring in most aspects. It’s concerning, because the heater was billed as his signature pitch when the Brewers acquired him as part of the trade package for Corbin Burnes. In parts of two big-league seasons before the trade, Hall’s fastball induced whiffs on 28% of opponents' swings. In 2023, FanGraphs tagged it with a 70 grade on the 20-80 scouting scale. At no point during his inaugural season in Milwaukee—before, during, or after injury—did Hall’s fastball resemble a 70-grade pitch. While it avoided barrels down the stretch, it hardly overpowered opponents. Despite the increased velocity, its whiff rate barely improved and remained well below the league average of 22% for four-seamers. The fastball’s appearance to hitters was still unremarkable. It gained 1.5 inches of induced vertical break but remained short of its average with Hall’s previous team. As such, his vertical approach angle (a measure of the steepness at which a pitch crosses the plate) remained higher and matched that of the league-average four-seamer. Pitch modeling metrics continued to view it as a suboptimal fastball. Split Stuff+ Velo Perceived Velo IVB VAA Exit Velo Hard Hit% wOBA xwOBA Whiff% 2022-2023 117 95.8 97.0 15.8 -4.23 81.7 13.9% .294 .280 28.0% 2024 (pre-IL) 55 92.3 93.2 13.2 -4.92 87.0 43.6% .485 .434 10.5% 2024 (post-IL) 86 94.3 95.3 14.8 -4.67 82.4 33.3% .408 .340 14.1% At its best, a combination of factors—velocity, spin-induced carry, a deceptive delivery, and keeping the ball at the top of the zone—made Hall’s fastball challenging for hitters to reach, producing whiffs and pop-ups. In 2024, he never captured the right mix of variables to recreate anything close to the fastball that enticed the Brewers nine months ago. Instead, it was a flat fastball against which hitters could easily make productive contact. If those numbers and jargon sound like a mouthful, here’s the concise version: Hall’s fastball was terrible in his first four starts and mediocre down the stretch. It was never close to a 70-grade pitch. Instead, it exhibited many traits of a very hittable fastball. An entire offseason to work with Milwaukee’s pitching development staff could prove transformational for Hall, who joined the organization just two weeks before pitchers and catchers reported for spring training in February. Perhaps some mechanical tweaks to his lower half and release, along with continued recovery from the MCL damage in his left knee, will restore more of the life and deception his heater once boasted. If not, the Brewers may have to concede that Hall is not the pitcher they thought they were getting. If his fastball remains below average in a bulk role, it lowers his ceiling and impacts what role he’ll fill moving forward. If Hall’s fastball only assumes its effective form in short spurts, the Brewers may convert him to a full-time relief role. He's been effective in that capacity before and still presents high-leverage upside. There remains a path for him to be a useful starting pitcher, though. It’s just different and less exciting than the original road map. In its current incarnation, Hall’s fastball is the weak link in his arsenal as a starter. Instead of building his game around it as initially expected, he must do the opposite, fashioning his approach to mitigate its limitations. That means relying heavily on his secondary pitches. Hall’s curveball, slider, and changeup all graded well in 2024 and combined to hold opponents to a .260 wOBA and 33.7% whiff rate, while accounting for 33 of his 44 strikeouts. Under this framework, Hall would mix and match with a full arsenal to protect his four-seamer, a strategy the Brewers have successfully enacted for innings-eaters like Colin Rea, Aaron Civale, and Bryse Wilson. Hall used such an approach in several of his games down the stretch. In four bulk appearances after his return (three traditional starts and a four-inning relief outing), 60% of his pitches were non-fastballs. He was largely effective in those games, posting a 2.89 ERA, 3.07 FIP, and 30.4% strikeout rate. It was a stark contrast from his first four starts, in which he used his fastball about 50% of the time. The soft- and spin-heavy approach would carry limitations. Hall’s slider and changeup profile best as chase pitches off the plate, and he threw both pitches in the zone less than 40% of the time in 2024. That leaves his curveball as his remaining “land for a strike” pitch to get ahead in counts, and too many curveballs left over the plate can spell disaster. Protecting the four-seamer may require Hall to develop another fastball variant (a cutter or a two-seamer) he can use within the strike zone to set up breaking balls in two-strike counts. Either way, Hall lacks top-of-the-rotation upside if he does not have a good enough fastball to use aggressively against most opponents. Instead, he’d be an unexciting back-end bulk arm, like Rea, Civale, and Wilson. Recent Milwaukee staffs have showcased how valuable such pitchers can be, but the Brewers were likely hoping for much more when they scouted and acquired Hall. Matt Arnold said two weeks ago that the club has not decided on Hall’s role for 2025. The best choice is probably to have him prepare as a starter over the offseason and through spring training. If his fastball does not make strides during that time, the organization will find itself at a crossroads with a once-promising left-hander whom they originally slotted behind Freddy Peralta in last year’s rotation. View full article

The Brewers' second baseman made strides at the plate in 2024—enough to establish himself as one of the best at the position. Yet, a challenging second half was a reminder to keep expectations around his bat tempered. Image courtesy of © Mark Hoffman/USA Today Network via Imagn Images When Pat Murphy declared in spring training that he expected Brice Turang to take a “quantum leap” in his sophomore season, the prediction was followed by instructions for the assembled media in his office. “If he doesn’t, I want you to say, ‘Murph, you said he’s going to make a quantum leap. What the hell?’ I’ll say I was wrong because I don’t mind saying that. But I believe in this kid in a huge way.” Murphy’s words looked prophetic, on the surface, for most of the season’s first half. Through Jul. 4, Turang hit .291/.352/.415 in his 341 plate appearances, good for a 115 wRC+. His bat then cratered the rest of the way, with a .209/.272/.269 line and 53 wRC+ that resembled his anemic rookie campaign. Turang finished his second big-league season as a well-below-average hitter, slashing .254/.316/.349 for an 87 wRC+. Despite the disappointing finish, that was still a massive improvement over the previous year’s 61 wRC+. It afforded Turang’s true strengths as a player the runway to shine. His bat was capable enough to keep him in the field for more than 1,200 innings at second base, where he led baseball with 22 Defensive Runs Saved. With an improved on-base percentage, he stole 50 bases and finished sixth in baserunning runs above average (7.2), according to FanGraphs. According to Baseball-Reference’s version of the metric, which uses DRS for its defensive valuation, Turang accrued 4.6 wins above replacement. That trailed only William Contreras among Brewers position players, and only Ketel Marte among qualified second basemen. It also ranked 26th among all players, regardless of position. To revisit Murphy’s prediction, gaining 80 points of OPS and becoming one of the best second basemen in the sport could reasonably be defined as a quantum leap. Still, the Jekyll-and-Hyde nature of Turang’s two half-seasons calls into question how much he truly grew as a hitter and whether he has more room to develop. The starting point is reviewing the discernible changes to Turang’s stance, swing, and approach from 2023 to 2024. He switched bats, simplified his pre-pitch load, and made his swing one of the shortest in baseball. Everything was geared toward reducing strikeouts and harmless flyouts, with Turang hitting more line drives and ground balls to reach base more frequently. That’s the best approach for Turang, who still has a wiry build after adding 20 pounds of muscle last winter and is unlikely to succeed in attempts to hit for power. However, it also comes with limitations. Turang was pushing those limits with his early-season output, and regression outside his control wears significant responsibility for his second-half downturn. Date wOBA xwOBA BABIP Exit Velo LA Hard Hit Chase% Contact% Thru 7/4 .335 .298 .339 86.2 4.3 32.7% 24.7% 87.2% From 7/5 .243 .278 .254 83.6 3.6 26.1% 31.2% 85.2% Expected wOBA is derived from expected outcomes, based on a player’s quality and quantity of contact, among other variables. It’s neither predictive nor a perfect metric for evaluating a player’s deserved results, but it often provides a more useful snapshot than box score outcomes. Turang outperformed his xwOBA by 37 points through Jul. 4 and underperformed it by 35 points the rest of the way. His wOBA fell by 92 points, but his xwOBA only declined by 20 points. That’s still a noticeable drop, but it would not be nearly as magnified by the average viewer throughout a 162-game season. Based mainly on the kind of batted balls he was hitting, Turang was experiencing plenty of favorable luck throughout the season’s first three months. His performance worsened as the year went along, but much of the shift was due to his luck flipping—to the point that it evened out by season’s end. He ended the year with a .294 wOBA that nearly matched his .289 xwOBA. Compounding the reversed luck were worse swings. Turang has never been one to hit the ball hard often, and his quality of contact fell even further down the stretch. His swing decisions flipped from strong to poor. Date wOBA xwOBA Exit Velo Contact% Chase% Thru 7/4 .306 .264 87.2 83.9% 19.3% From 7/5 .216 .231 83.4 79.3% 32.9% A complete collapse against breaking pitches was the main culprit. Turang made remarkable strides against fastballs this year, slashing his whiff rate nearly in half from 2023 to 2024 while improving from a .283 to a .330 xwOBA. It seemed, on the surface, that he had acclimated to breaking pitches in the early months of the year, but a .264 xwOBA pointed to it being a mirage. It also helped that he saw plenty of breakers over the middle of the plate, which yielded much of his early damage. Neither the mistake pitches nor the damage lasted. From Jul. 5 onward, right-handed pitchers attacked Turang with more spin to better locations, and with more elevated fastballs on the inner third of the plate. The results were ugly. Over the season’s final three months, Turang often flailed at spin regardless of location, and while his compact bat path usually meant he still made contact, it was rarely productive. He became particularly vulnerable to inside breakers from right-handers and outside ones from left-handers. Perhaps trying to protect against more velocity at the top of the zone made it more difficult for Turang to cover the breaking ball. Perhaps he was worn down a bit by the grind. Whatever the cause, it became one of the catalysts behind his dropoff. Turang made some mechanical adjustments in the season’s final weeks. Starting on Sept. 12, he lowered his hands to hold his bat more upright and stood a little less crouched in the box. Those tweaks did not produce noticeable results in a small sample, but they make Turang’s setup something to watch when he reports to spring training in 2025. Turang nearly tripled his WAR from 2023 to 2024. By that measure, he took a quantum leap. His development at the plate, mainly consisting of an altered approach that helped him hold his own against fastballs, was closer to a lunge, albeit in the right direction. Turang still struggles mightily with anything soft and does not drive the ball often, leaving him well shy of being a reliably league-average bat. His final slash line is a solid indicator of his standing as a hitter and where he’s most likely to settle offensively as his career progresses. The good news remains that an OPS within the .660 to .680 range is all Turang needs to be a key cog in Milwaukee’s young core. As someone who brings elite contributions in the field and on the bases, the floor of his overall value is high. The total package is a player who can be a quality second baseman for years to come. It’s just best to keep expectations tempered toward the bat. View full article

His dramatic postseason blast was a reminder that while the slap-hitting outfielder will never be a power hitter, there's a more explosive version of his swing that he would benefit from channeling more frequently. Image courtesy of © Benny Sieu-Imagn Images Sal Frelick’s improbable home run in Game 3 of the Wild Card Series didn’t just inspire brief hope for the Milwaukee faithful. It was also a monumental moment for Frelick himself because it was the first time he showed an extra gear of strength that had been absent from his big-league portfolio until that swing. Heading into the postseason, Frelick’s highest exit velocity on a batted ball was 106.6 mph. The home run left the bat at 107.6 mph. It was also the farthest ball he ever hit, traveling 408 feet for his first no-doubt home run. It was the result of Frelick unleashing one of the most violent swings of his career. His bat speed was 76.3 mph, his 10th-fastest tracked swing ever. It was also his 10th-longest hack, with his bat head traveling 8.5 feet from his first movement to his point of contact. It was uncharacteristic of Frelick, whose swing is typically among the most compact in baseball. His average swing speed of 66.3 mph during the 2024 regular season was the seventh-lowest among 214 qualified hitters, and his swing length of 6.9 feet was the 27th-shortest. Here’s what an average Frelick swing looks like. dzcwdkJfWGw0TUFRPT1fQTFBQ0JnY01BbEFBQ2xZR1VRQUFVRlFEQUFBRFUxUUFCbElDVWdwVVZGY0JWZ2RR.mp4 Here’s his cut on the home run ball. The eye test alone says that it’s a vastly different swing. a0RZT0JfV0ZRVkV3dEdEUT09X0F3UlRWZ1VFQUZZQUFWUURWUUFBVkE5VkFBTUNBQWNBQ2dRSFZRcFhVQVJVVWdFRA==.mp4 Frelick had shown fleeting glimpses of it before, but his home run was the most prolific illustration that he can swing harder and connect more authoritatively with the ball than he typically has. That particular swing is on the higher end of his ability and not consistently replicable. It should, however, help encourage Frelick and the Brewers to concede some of his compactness through the zone for a couple of extra ticks of bat speed. While not strongly correlated across hitters, bat speed and swing length are tied together mechanically. Hitters do not swing slowly by design; it’s a byproduct of getting to the ball as directly as possible. Conversely, the more bat speed a hitter wishes to produce, the longer his bat path must be to generate the necessary whip through the zone. In the first clip, Frelick takes a truncated slash at the ball. In the second, he unloads on a first-pitch fastball with a longer and more explosive swing. The bat head has plenty of momentum behind it at the point of contact. It’s no coincidence that many hitters with baseball’s fastest swings – including Giancarlo Stanton, Aaron Judge, and Oneil Cruz – stand six-and-a-half feet or taller. They’re strong athletes with long levers; swinging hard with a longer whipping motion through the zone is their best path toward production. Meanwhile, three-time batting champion Luis Arraez stands under six feet tall and has baseball’s slowest and shortest swing. As a smaller hitter with shorter levers, excellent bat control was always Frelick’s calling card as a prospect. Being so short to the ball has allowed him to get the barrel to it regularly in the big leagues. Statcast considered 31.7% of his contact in the regular season to be “squared-up,” which placed him in the 92nd percentile of hitters. To keep the explanation brief, that means that on roughly one-third of his batted balls, Frelick generated at least 80% of the possible exit velocity based on the speeds of the pitch and his swing. In layperson’s terms, because his short swing is so precise, he meets the ball at a good spot with his barrel at an elite rate. Unfortunately, that’s not as beneficial when the barrel is not meeting the ball with much authority. Despite an elite squared-up rate, Frelick finished the year with the worst hard hit (19.7%) and barrel (0.7%) rates among qualified hitters. He slugged .500 with a .141 ISO on squared-up contact. Those respective figures ranked 366th and 388th among 419 hitters who squared up at least 50 batted balls during the regular season. The average hitter slugged .681 with a .303 ISO on squared-up contact. Frelick’s current combination of swing speed, path, and length has not proven productive in the big leagues. Through 747 regular-season plate appearances, he has posted an underwhelming 88 wRC+. He could achieve above-average offense by taking his current approach to an even greater extreme and becoming the next Arraez. That’s not a tenable route, though. Arraez is an outlier with irreplicable bat control. Frelick’s best course of action is to swing harder. That doesn’t mean maxing out his bat speed on every swing to recreate his postseason home run. For a hitter of Frelick’s build, chasing the long ball will only lead to frequent pop-ups and routine flyouts. He needs a better balance of bat control and bat speed to shoot hard line drives into gaps for doubles and triples. There was no public bat-tracking data during his minor-league career, but Frelick’s results during that time pointed to a hitter whose swing had that proper balance. He hit 11 home runs and 28 doubles in 562 minor-league plate appearances in 2022. Frelick shouldn’t overhaul his identity as a hitter. Misguided attempts to become a power threat would likely tank his floor and could cause his offense to crater. Instead, he and the Brewers should be willing to experiment with some give-and-take within the framework of his strengths. That means swinging a little harder more often, even if it means adding a bit of length to his swing and conceding his ability to fight off certain pitches late in their trajectory. Frelick can still be a solid bat-to-ball hitter while adding a couple of ticks to his average swing speed. If he meets the barrel a little less but hits the ball harder, it would be a worthwhile tradeoff. View full article

The Brewers shouldn't let another year of postseason heartbreak diminish confidence in their process. Early indicators are that the club's decision-makers have the proper response. Image courtesy of © Mike De Sisti / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images Postseason baseball has not been kind to the Brewers in recent years. The long faces and tears throughout American Family Field and comments from players, coaches, and executives in the aftermath of a blindsiding elimination illustrated how hard it hit the team and the fanbase. It’s almost impossible to deeply engage with baseball without experiencing some level of the emotions the sport invokes. Part of the job for professionals, from the front office to the playing field, is separating those emotions from the decision-making process that requires the most rational thought to best position a club for success. The Brewers have remained grounded in their approach to evaluating players and building rosters amid a series of emotional postseason exits. If their manager’s comments last week were any indication, the organization is not letting the latest gut punch change that. David Stearns drew ire for his “bites of the apple” explanation after trading Josh Hader at the 2022 trade deadline, but the process he described is the correct road map to winning a championship in baseball’s smallest market. The playoffs feature plenty of randomness. Every World Series winner needs its share of breaks in October to push it over the top. The more years the Brewers can make the tournament, the more chances they have of the stars aligning in their favor. In a way, the approach has been validated several times. The cruel twist is that the Brewers have been repeatedly sent home by the team that got hot at the right time and surprised much of the baseball world. The New York Mets, who defeated them in this year’s Wild Card Series, look like the latest entry in a nauseating trend. “The Mets are the hottest team in baseball, and we ran into them,” Pat Murphy said in his end-of-season media availability last Thursday. “And it’s just happened that the last four or five years, we’ve run into the hottest team in the National League in the first round of the playoffs. That’s been documented.” Entering 2024, all nine teams to bounce the Brewers from the postseason in franchise history have reached the World Series that same year. Excluding 1982 and 2018, when the Brewers were eliminated in the World Series and Championship Series, respectively, still leaves opponents seven-for-seven in winning the pennant after downing Milwaukee earlier in October. The Mets are four wins away from continuing the phenomenon. Research has repeatedly proven that the playoffs are a crapshoot. The talent gaps on paper between two good teams can easily be closed--or even reversed--for a few games. Murphy reiterated it. “It’s not a matter of being good enough, making the right call, and all that kind of stuff. A lot of it just happens at this time of year in baseball," he said. "Getting through these games, a lot has to go [your] way, and a lot has to happen. That’s our game.” Despite the frequent talk about how playoff baseball is different than its regular-season counterpart, the reality is that it’s exactly the same game. The winner has to score more runs than the loser, and driving the ball for extra-base hits is the most efficient way to do so. Teams keep runs off the board by executing pitches, mixing looks, and making plays in the field. The context is what changes. The stakes are higher, the atmosphere is more charged, and the sample size is smaller. Little moments – some within a player or manager’s control, some not – and individual performances for a few games that would go unnoted during the regular season can swing a team’s October fate and erupt into narratives. No outcomes are guaranteed in baseball, whether it’s the regular season or the postseason. The difference is that everything is under the microscope during the latter. Bad luck is not unusual in baseball. Nor are three-game skids for Willy Adames, William Contreras, and Rhys Hoskins. Failures by veteran pitchers to cover first base and off nights for Devin Williams are rare, but they are not unprecedented. Treating specific instances differently because they occurred in a playoff series is a dangerous error, one the Brewers are correct to avoid. Losing in the playoffs is not necessarily a symptom of an inherent flaw in a team’s makeup, nor is it evidence that the winning opponent is somehow better built to succeed in October. “It’s not like we’re at this level, and then whoever wins that playoff game is at the next level,” Murphy said. “We beat the Mets five out of six [games] during the [regular season].” It may be tempting to think otherwise after first-round exits in five straight postseason appearances. However, it’s hard to label the Brewers a demonstrably bad postseason team based on that sample, when the roster has looked drastically different each year. For a perennial contender, the Brewers have undergone significant annual turnover. The final outcome was the same, but the events and players behind each year’s playoff shortcomings differed. Murphy noted that every march to the postseason has been a unique experience with its own challenges, not the same group attempting to pick up where it left off a year ago. “Someone says, ‘The Brewers got the regular season figured out. Now they’ve got to figure out the playoffs.’ That’s absurd that you’d say that, if you really know baseball. We don’t have the regular season figured out. It’s a grind every freaking year to get to be where they have been. I’ve watched it. I’ve felt it. “It isn’t a matter of, ‘Well, the Brewers are just always good.’ That is a fact, but it’s a different type of rebuild almost every year.” None of this means the Brewers will not seek to improve. No competitive organization is complacent. However, don’t expect the club to make many – if any – decisions based on a three-game series loss. The reality is that while there can be smaller takeaways from a team’s postseason performance, the small samples of October baseball are not the proper backdrop for the comprehensive and precise evaluation that keeps a well-oiled organization running. “Playing one game or a three-game series in the playoffs doesn’t indicate where your program’s at,” Murphy said. Better indicators are the Brewers’ 93 regular-season wins in 2024 and 666 since the start of the 2017 season--the sixth-most in baseball during that span. It would take substantial evidence for the Brewers to lose faith in the philosophy that has produced such success. The repeated playoff losses, as frustrating as they are, do not provide it. Every postseason that does not end in a Brewers championship will sting. However, there should be solace in the fact that the club consistently reaches the dance almost every year. Each season presents an opportunity just as realistic as the last. This era of Milwaukee baseball has another built-in layer of optimism. Unlike past offseasons, the front office will not be tasked with retooling significant portions of the roster. The Brewers boast a young position player core, most of which is set to remain intact for the long haul. That continuity means lessons learned in 2024 can carry over to next year and beyond. “We could have played in the World Series this year,” Murphy said. “Just look at what’s going on. We’ve beaten all the teams that are going to be there. Look how consistent we were this year. We were capable of winning it. “I think players will take away that, ‘Wow, I can do this.’” View full article

The public faces of Milwaukee's front office and dugout touched on several topics in their final remarks of the 2024 season. Image courtesy of © Mike De Sisti / The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images Matt Arnold and Pat Murphy each held their end-of-season press conferences with local media on Thursday. Here are a few nuggets of note to take into the offseason. William Contreras played through a sprained knee in the postseason Milwaukee’s All-Star backstop went 2-for-12 in the Wild Card Series and was not moving well out of the batter’s box all week. The club revised its lineup multiple times ahead of Game 3, with Contreras shifting to the DH slot after he was originally going to start at catcher. Arnold revealed the shuffling was due to a knee sprain. “He wanted to be in the lineup and was able to get in the lineup,” he said. “There was no talking him out of that, not that we tried to. He was adamant about playing, but he was hurt.” The Brewers believe it to be a mild injury and are not concerned about it long-term, but it still re-raises the question of whether the club allowed him to assume too heavy a workload. Contreras insists upon catching as often as possible. He talked his way out of a planned day off at the start of June and started each of the team’s first 64 games, catching in 52 of them. That run ended with a prolonged slump that saw him hit .222/.256/.301 in 36 games from mid-May through June, after a red-hot start. The Brewers worked in a few more days off for Contreras the rest of the way, but he still appeared in 158 of the team’s 165 games in 2024 and finished 62 innings behind Cal Raleigh for most regular-season innings caught. Could he get more regular rest next year? “We’re certainly aware of it, and it’s something we want to monitor going forward,” said Arnold, adding that the club feels Murphy and the training staff do a “fantastic job” at keeping players fresh. “But he’s a leader on this team, and we always want him in the lineup every day.” The Brewers are “open-minded” about Devin Williams’s future With one season of control remaining before he hits free agency, Williams could join Josh Hader and Corbin Burnes as elite pitchers whom the Brewers cashed in for long-term capital, as part of their goal to avoid competitive cycles and to remain perennial contenders. Dating back to David Stearns’s days as president of baseball operations, the Brewers have repeatedly expressed that they never rule out the creative and challenging moves necessitated by their market. Unsurprisingly, Arnold struck the same note when asked about Williams’s future. “We never want to close the door on anything,” he said. “On anything, we have to stay open-minded. We’re the smallest market in the league, so that’s something that’s required in the place that we are.” Arnold and the rest of the front office could retain Williams if they receive no offers to their liking, but history indicates that the two-time National League Reliever of the Year will likely have a new home by Opening Day. Multiple positions are still on the table for Tyler Black–and Sal Frelick Black’s profile as a prospect has been a plate discipline savant, without a clear defensive home. The latter limited his time in the big leagues this year, as he received just 57 MLB plate appearances and played just six games in the field, all at first base. The 24-year-old has natural athleticism, but has failed to settle in at any infield position. His long-term home may be in the outfield, where he started 12 games in the minor leagues last season and 15 in 2022. Moving him there full-time would not create a spot for him, though, as the Brewers feature a crowded outfield section of the 40-man roster already. Arnold indicated the Brewers could continue to give Black work at multiple positions in 2025 as both parties continue their efforts to land on a fit with the big-league club. “He’s just a really good athlete,” he said. “I wouldn’t pigeonhole him necessarily into one position.” Black could still carve out a role on next year’s team, but his current unclear fit and uninspiring results in a minuscule big-league sample make him an offseason trade candidate. Meanwhile, Murphy revealed that the Brewers still believe Frelick can provide additional positional flexibility beyond the outfield. His trial run at third base in spring training all but ended when Garrett Mitchell’s injury at the end of March forced him back to full-time outfield duty, but the Brewers could revisit it next year. “He was making great progress [at third base],” Murphy said. “That’s on the table for sure, depending on if we acquire anyone, if we don’t, if we lose somebody else, injuries. But to have that in our pocket, that versatility is crucial.” While flexibility is valuable, it’s uncertain whether Frelick is most helpful to the Brewers if he plays third base even semi-regularly. He’s been a below-average hitter in the big leagues, but his elite defense in the outfield has made him a solid everyday player. He’s unlikely to have the same level of impact with the glove at the hot corner. Roles remain undecided for Aaron Ashby, DL Hall, Jacob Misiorowski Initially viewed by the organization as starting pitchers in the long run, Ashby and Hall repaired their stock with encouraging showings as relievers late in the season. Misiorowski, meanwhile, also shifted to a relief role after an August promotion to Triple-A. Arnold said the organization has not decided what roles the trio will fill next year and beyond. Murphy struck a similar tone on Ashby, but indicated that he believes the left-hander can be more than a short-range reliever at the back end of the bullpen. “I’d say he’s more of a candidate to throw more innings, because the stuff is pretty special,” Murphy said. “But that’s going to be discussed.” Injury updates on Abner Uribe, Robert Gasser Uribe and Gasser were supposed to be major contributors this year, but their big-league time was limited for varying reasons. Uribe pitched to a 6.91 ERA and 4.63 FIP in 14 appearances before a high walk rate and composure issues prompted a demotion to Triple-A. He then sustained a right knee injury in the minor leagues that required surgery. Gasser was carving out a role in the starting rotation, authoring a 2.57 ERA and 3.38 FIP in his first five big-league starts, but his balky left elbow ultimately required Tommy John surgery. Arnold said Uribe will have a standard offseason and should be ready for spring training. “I saw him when we were playing in Arizona a couple weeks ago, and he was moving around really well.” Gasser’s timeline is less certain after receiving a full UCL replacement. The optimistic projection is a late-season return, but Arnold cautioned that a precise timeline is not set in stone. “It’s hard to tell with any kind of surgery like that,” he said, “but I think that’s sort of the timeline we’re thinking.” View full article

There were signs that this year could be different. Instead, the outcome was familiar, with a cruel new twist. Image courtesy of © Benny Sieu-Imagn Images It was so close. The seeds were sewn throughout the regular season. They seemingly sprouted on Wednesday, night and were minutes from blossoming 24 hours later. This Brewers team felt different. With new front-facing personnel, a different style of play than past iterations, and an ability to fight back after adversity smacked it in the face, hope grew throughout the year that this group could achieve what those before it could not. It nearly happened. The Brewers were two outs away from slaying the proverbial postseason dragon that tormented the club for half a decade. On the mound was the man who ranks second in ERA among qualified relievers since the start of the 2020 season. His task was to save a two-run lead in the ninth inning, something he had failed to do on just three occasions in his career. A potential double-play situation meant the crowd of over 41,000 at American Family Field was one pitch away from erupting in jubilation. Instead, Pete Alonso vaporized the hope of nearly an entire stadium – if not an entire state – by driving a Devin Williams changeup to right field for a go-ahead three-run home run. Fifteen minutes later, the 2024 Milwaukee Brewers season was over. Willy Adames best summarized the experience from an emotional home clubhouse. “It’s kind of like when you were a kid and they let you try a candy, but they don’t give you the candy, you just taste it,” he said. Every postseason since the 2018 run was hardly a taste. If anything, it was the equivalent of walking into the candy store and looking around, only to be forcefully removed while approaching the counter. Each visit followed the same pattern. The Brewers did not play their best baseball, but the baseball gods also dealt them critical injuries going into October, and the randomness of small-sample postseason baseball often gave the opponent the boost they needed to dispose of the Crew swiftly. It felt, at times, as if there was nothing the Brewers could do to control their fate. This year’s Wild Card Series was a taste. It felt different. The Brewers snapped a six-game postseason losing streak with a thrilling comeback win in Game 2 that kept their season alive. When Jake Bauers and Sal Frelick hit improbable back-to-back home runs to claim a 2-0 lead with six outs to go, it felt like the unpredictability with which the Brewers were all too familiar, but viewed gloriously from the other side. That’s not to discredit either player. They put great swings on the ball and did not luck into their home runs. There was, however, an element of randomness behind the moment. Bauers slugged .361 in the regular season, including .262 over his final 115 plate appearances. Frelick had never hit a ball harder than 106.6 mph off the bat in the big leagues. Nor had he hit a home run of more than 391 feet. Both home runs were improbable. For 40 minutes that feel all too fleeting in hindsight, it appeared the Brewers were finally on the favorable end of enough playoff chaos to punch a ticket to a second round for the first time in years. Then, as quickly as the optimism arose, it crumbled in equally chaotic and unpredictable fashion. The Brewers battled back as they had all year long. They grabbed a late lead with the unexplainable storybook moment, then handed the ball to the best closer in the National League. Somehow, it still was not enough. There will be plenty of analysis on this site and others of last night, this week, and this season. The Brewers have plenty to unpack as they reflect on the year that was and determine the best path forward for 2025 and beyond. The dust from Thursday night must settle first. The devastating reality in the immediate aftermath: just when it seemed the Brewers had slayed their dragon, it reemerged with another snarl and burning burst, as brutal as any. View full article

A youth movement has kept the Brewers' season alive by offsetting underwhelming performances from more experienced players. Will the veteran bats help punch a ticket to the Division Series? Image courtesy of © Mark Hoffman/USA Today Network via Imagn Images The Brewers saved their season with a dramatic win on Wednesday night. Trailing 3-2 in the eighth with the back of the Mets’ bullpen taking over, Milwaukee stormed back with a three-run inning against Phil Maton. Jackson Chourio slugged his second homer of the game to tie it, and Garrett Mitchell’s two-run shot minutes later was the dagger. It’s the young hitters who have kept the Brewers from a second consecutive sweep in the Wild Card Series. Five players with fewer than two qualified seasons of playing time – Chourio, Mitchell, Brice Turang, Sal Frelick, and Blake Perkins – have combined to slash .467/.469/.900 with seven extra-base hits in the first two games of the series. “It’s pretty cool,” Pat Murphy said after the game. “When you think of Turang and Ortiz and Sal and Perkins and ‘Jack-Jack,’ these guys are freshmen. Mitchell is the older guy of the group, but he really doesn’t have a full year of service in terms of games played. It’s pretty special watching these guys excel on the big stage.” Their performance has picked up the rest of the team, which has hit .139/.184/.139. That includes a group of more experienced veterans whom many would have seen as the most likely sparks in the lineup. Willy Adames is 1-for-7, and popped out in all three of his at-bats on Tuesday. Rhys Hoskins is hitless and bounced into a rally-killing double play in the third inning that same night. William Contreras has just two singles in eight at-bats. In the field, a pair of veteran pitchers have committed the most egregious misplays. Joel Payamps did not break immediately to cover first base when Jose Iglesias grounded to Hoskins in Game 1. Just over 24 hours later, Frankie Montas reached the base but dropped the feed from Hoskins. Both plays should have been routine outs; they instead opened the door to rallies that gave New York the lead. Murphy has frequently issued reminders of the youth of his roster, after games in which the Brewers did not execute well enough to win. That reminder was noticeably absent after their uncharacteristic performance on Tuesday, because it was not applicable. The veterans made most of the mistakes. Two games is a microscopic sample. It’s not predictive of a hitter’s performance the following night. Baseball is also a unique sport, because it’s configured in a way that welcomes contributions from varying and often unlikely sources. A successful team finds ways to win games without production from its most prominent players. The Brewers did it on Wednesday night, although Adames’s first hit of the series proved impactful by prolonging the inning for Mitchell. Milwaukee will be in an even better position to advance to the Division Series if he, Contreras, and Hoskins bring more to the table in Game 3. View full article