Introduction to the Brewers’ Successful Season
The Milwaukee Brewers have grown accustomed to outperforming forecasts every year, but this season might represent their most remarkable accomplishment yet.
During a season in which they have built the best record in the majors, the Brewers reached their latest milestone by becoming the first team to clinch a playoff berth.
Clinching a Playoff Berth
According to MLB, the New York Mets’ 3-2 loss to the Texas Rangers on Saturday sealed at least a National League wild card for Milwaukee. The Brewers responded by displaying the tenacity that helped get them to this point, as they rallied from a five-run deficit to beat the St. Louis Cardinals 9-8 in 10 innings Saturday night.
The Brewers then celebrated with a champagne toast in the locker room.
“Hopefully, this is the first toast of many,” outfielder Christian Yelich said.
Consistency in Playoff Appearances
This marks the seventh time in the last eight seasons that the Brewers have qualified for the playoffs, though they haven’t won a postseason series since reaching Game 7 of the NL Championship Series in 2018. They had made a total of two postseason appearances from 1983-2017.
Milwaukee now will chase its third straight NL Central title as well as the top overall playoff seed.
Division and League Standings
The Brewers lead the division by 6 1/2 games over the Chicago Cubs, who lost 5-4 to the Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday. The Cubs own the tiebreaker.
Milwaukee has a two-game lead over NL East-leading Philadelphia in the race for baseball’s best record, and the Brewers hold that tiebreaker.
Overcoming Preseason Expectations
This was supposed to be the season in which the Brewers took a step back.
They traded two-time NL reliever of the year Devin Williams to the New York Yankees and lost one of their top position players when shortstop Willy Adames signed a seven-year, $182 million contract with the Giants.
“Who believed before the season that we were going to be over .500?” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “You can’t find a prognosticator that said we were going to be over .500 before the season, not one.”
Mid-Season Turnaround
The Brewers were 25-28 and 6 1/2 games behind the Cubs on May 24, but they’ve gone 66-30 since.
Milwaukee entered Saturday ranked second in the majors in runs and ERA. That combination has the team poised to challenge for the best record in franchise history. The Brewers already set a club mark with a 14-game win streak this summer.
Key Player Contributions
A couple of early-season trades paid huge dividends.
Quinn Priester was pitching for Boston’s Triple-A affiliate at the start of the season when the Brewers acquired him. Priester, who had a 6-9 career major league record before the trade, has gone 13-2 with a 3.25 ERA for Milwaukee.
In mid-June, the Brewers traded pitcher Aaron Civale to the White Sox for first baseman Andrew Vaughn, who had been sent to the minors after hitting .189 in 48 games with Chicago. Vaughn entered Saturday with an .860 OPS in 54 games with Milwaukee.
Team Dynamics and Strategy
Plenty of others also have contributed.
Brice Turang was the NL player of the month in August. Isaac Collins entered Saturday with a .372 on-base percentage as a 28-year-old rookie. William Contreras has surged since the All-Star Game and remains one of the game’s top-hitting catchers. Jackson Chourio has continued to emerge as one of baseball’s brightest young stars. And rookie Caleb Durbin, one of the players acquired in the Williams trade, has solidified Milwaukee’s third-base situation.
Freddy Peralta had a string of 30 straight scoreless innings. Yelich is on pace for a 30-homer, 100-RBI season. Brandon Woodruff made a successful return from the shoulder injury that sidelined the two-time All-Star pitcher for the entire 2024 season. Jacob Misiorowski, one of the game’s hardest throwers, made enough of an impression to earn an All-Star Game appearance after getting called up in mid-June. All-Star closer Trevor Megill and setup man Abner Uribe form one of the majors’ best bullpen duos.
They’ve all come together by living up to Murphy’s season-long message: Win tonight. The idea is that it makes no sense to worry about what happened in the past or to look too far ahead. Just worry about taking care of business right now.
Conclusion
The plan has worked better than just about anyone outside Milwaukee’s locker room could have expected.
“For these guys to pull it together and compete like that is special beyond belief,” Murphy said. “I can only tell you that’s just who they are, you know what I mean? They want to compete.”
FAQs
Q: What is the Brewers’ current standing in the NL Central division?
A: The Brewers lead the division by 6 1/2 games over the Chicago Cubs.
Q: Who did the Brewers trade to acquire Quinn Priester?
A: The Brewers acquired Quinn Priester from Boston’s Triple-A affiliate.
Q: What is the Brewers’ best record in franchise history?
A: The Brewers’ best record in franchise history is 96-66, achieved in 2011.
Q: How many postseason appearances have the Brewers made in the last eight seasons?
A: The Brewers have made seven postseason appearances in the last eight seasons.
Q: Who is the Brewers’ manager?
A: The Brewers’ manager is Pat Murphy.
