Current Record- 72-58, First Place- NL Central
Single- For those of you who enjoy attending baseball games as much as I do, you’re going to want to get your tickets now if you’re hoping to see the Brewers play at Miller Park before the end of the year. The Brewers rank fourth in attendance in the National League, had will be pushing sellouts during nearly all of their remaining 14 home games. Not convinced? They sold out Tuesday night’s game against a team that’s not even from this country (sorry Toronto), and topped 37k in every game this past week. Also, as someone who monitors the secondary market pretty consistently, there are very few games remaining with tickets less than $20 / piece, and you can forget about it if you want to sit lower than the terrace level. If you get the chance, get out to a ballgame in September and support this team- there’s nothing better a fan base can do to motivate a team than filling every seat on every night. You’re going to wish you bought tickets when they’re chasing a division title in front of 42,200 slightly intoxicated fans.
Double- After this week’s disappointing 2-3 home stand, the Brewers are fortunate to still be 1.5 games up on the Cardinals in the NL Central. While many hoped that the Crew would be able to cruise to a divisional crown when they were six games up before the All Star break, Saint Louis has made it very clear that they aren’t going down without a fight. Winners of eight of their last eleven, the Cardinals have a good enough rotation to be in every single game, and have been clicking as of late. The two teams will have every opportunity to show who deserves to be on top come October over the next five weeks, as they will meet on seven occasions before the regular season comes to a close. The Brewers will need to find a way to get it done against a team that they’ve posted just a .348 winning percentage over the last three seasons.
Triple- The Brewers average a home run per game this year (130 in 130), but had only three long balls in five games this past week. We’ve watched this team live and die by the long ball all year, a trend that will probably continue as they finish out the year. Because the Brewers have such a difference in OBP between the top of the lineup and the bottom, the home run has proven especially important for hitters like Khris Davis and Mark Reynolds, both of whom have not gone long in their past ten games. Ryan Braun is also in the midst of his worst season in almost all hitting categories, and may struggle to hit 20 home runs even though he’s been good for 30+ his entire career. At 53-28 in games where they’ve hit a home run (.654), the Brewers are almost twice as likely to win games when they home run vs when they don’t (19-30, .388).
Home Run- Kyle Lohse will start tomorrow against the Padres after missing his last turn due to an ankle injury. His return to the rotation mean the Brewers have some decision making to do, as both Jimmy Nelson and Mike Fiers have been outstanding during the month of August. Although it will be a tough decision, one of the two is going to have to go to the bullpen, and while Nelson is may be a star for the Brewers one day, there is just no way they could elect to remove Fiers from the rotation at the rate he is playing. In his last four starts, Mike Fiers is 4-0 with a 1.29 ERA, a .50 WHIP, 32 strikeouts and a .109 opponent BA. Those numbers are just absurd. At this rate, Yovanni Gallardo may even need to start fearing for his spot in the rotation once Matt Garza makes his return in early September, because there is no way the Crew can pull Fiers with those kind of numbers. Regardless of what decision is made, having to decide which pitcher to cut from a group of solid arms is a much better problem to have than deciding which mediocre reliever to throw in the mix when nobody seems to be pitching well. The suddenly 7-deep rotation the Brewers have had during August can only help them in the form of internal competition during the month of September, depth in the postseason, and trading chips during the offseason.