The Milwaukee Brewers are 14-5 heading into Friday’s series opener against the Boston Red Sox, and solid blue-collar baseball is the primary reason.
The new crew in Milwaukee is brewing up nicely, with above-average hitting and terrific pitching. The Brewers are simply playing great baseball across the board. They currently sit atop the NL Central, which few were predicting would happen.
Here is a deeper look into why our predictions on the Milwaukee Brewers were dead wrong
The performance of their pitching staff has been superb thus far. The Brewers have a team ERA of 2.94, the third-best in the league. Their WHIP of 1.00 and an average against of .220 ranks second in the National League. To top that, they lead the NL in shutouts with four.
Stepping up for the Milwaukee Brewers, Wade Miley
No outstanding ace is carrying the team. However, with just three starts in the 2023 season, Wade Miley has a WHIP of 0.94 with 14 strikeouts and just three walks in 18 innings. He is having a late-career resurgence, and that walk-to-strikeout rate is inspiring.
Baseball Savant is showing his hard hit rate of 25.9%, and an exit velocity of just 85.7 mph is a significant improvement over his past several years. Additionally, his ERA of 1.50 is in MLB’s top 10. The change of scenery within the division from Cincinnati and the Chicago Cubs seems to be doing Miley good.
Milwaukee Brewers bomber
On the offensive side of the ball, the Brewers are all doing their part. The team is batting .257 with 90 runs scored, top 10 in both categories. As a matter of fact, while they don’t lead in any statistical area, they are top 10 in runs, RBI, OPS, HR, SB, and hits.
One Brew Crew member is building on his breakout 2022 season. Rowdy Tellez is looking like an All-Star already this season. Watch this dinger on the road against the Padres.
Rowdy Tellez with his second bomb of the night! pic.twitter.com/maZdeNYQhV
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) April 15, 2023
Tellez is leading the team in slugging percentage and home runs. His five homers have him on pace for 45 this season, nine more than he hit in his breakout season last year. Tellez is hitting his prime at 28 years old and could be a Hank Aaron Award contender this year. His projected 45 home runs and 108 RBI should be enough but his .227 average and 17 strikeouts so far this season need to drastically improve.
Injuries are piling up
It’s not all sunshine and dingers in Milwaukee though. The injury bug showed up this weekend and has taken a concerning bite out of the roster.
Brandon Woodruff, who was leading the rotation with a 0.79 ERA in two starts, has been placed on the IL with a shoulder issue. MRIs came back Monday with a diagnosis of sub-scapular strain. His previous 15-day IL trip will be re-evaluated by team physicians.
Unfortunately, that’s not the worst of the injuries either.
The future leader of the Brew Crew and top-rated rookie Garrett Mitchell is heading to the IL as well. He was added to the 10-day injured list with a left shoulder subluxation. Mitchell is batting .259 on the season but hasn’t set the baseball world on fire like he was expected yet. With stolen bases doubling this season across MLB, Mitchell has used his speed to only swipe one base so far. His high strikeout rate of 41 percent is hurting his opportunities on base and the team’s momentum. Hopefully, it is just a rookie development issue and not an ongoing trend.
With home series starting against the Red Sox and Detroit Tigers, let’s raise a brew to the Brewers and the early season success in Milwaukee. They are an underrated team that we were wrong about … so far.