Milwaukee Brewers: Significance of the series against the Cubs

The Milwaukee Brewers are finally heading home to Miller Park after a long road trip out East. They aren’t coming back all smiles, however.

After going 2-8 on the road trip, and blowing a lead in the division, the Milwaukee Brewers are in a tough spot with the July 31st trade deadline looming.

The team had a 5.5 game lead at the break. But the Brewers are now down by 1.5 games to the Chicago Cubs. A team who the Brewers welcome into Miller Park for a 3 game series this weekend. This series will be a key part of the Brewers season. Whether for good or bad, this is a big turning point.

Even though the Brewers bought a rental reliever in Anthony Swarzak, that doesn’t necessarily preview more buying from this team. For a team that wasn’t expected to be here, and doesn’t want to blow the future, it is tough to determine what they can do to improve. Or if they even want to go for it this season.

The problem is that with the Milwaukee Brewers struggles since the All Star break, the Cubs have broken out and played great. It will not be an easy series against the red hot Chicago team. They could theoretically bury the Crew with a sweep in this series. However, they could also let the Brewers come right back up to the top.

That’s why this series is so important. If the Brewers win the series, possibly even sweep, they’re much more likely to try and improve before Monday’s deadline, and try and make the playoffs this season. But if the Cubs win the series, the Brewers will be at least 3.5 games back. It would mean they are still not playing well since the Break, making a move difficult.

One thing people also need to remember is that the Brewers will be getting two very key players back from injury soon. Pitcher Chase Anderson and catcher Stephen Vogt.

Anderson has been the Brewers best starting pitcher this year, andVogt was really hitting well after getting picked up off of waivers from Oakland. These two will be really important to the Brewers success down the road. They will hopefully push the team to another level.

What Anderson will do is add to a rotation that has done well recently. But the starters need a dominant presence to win a low scoring game. Vogt will bring a powerful left handed bat to a lineup that has struggled for the most part. But don’t be surprised if things click and the offense scores eight runs.

However, these players return could possibly be too late if the Brewers continue to struggle. They will need to pick it up if the two players can be a boost to get them over the edge.

Next: Granderson on the Brewers radar

This series will be a big turning point for the Milwaukee Brewers 2017 season. It could either propel them to make a run, or effectively bury them into a struggle for second place. It will not be easy to slow down these Cubs. But the Brewers have the potential to score runs as well as anybody. The lineup could cause problems for the Cubs pitchers, who have not all had the same success as they did last season.