Milwaukee Brewers: Striking out, but still winning games

Over the last few years the Milwaukee Brewers’ hitters are striking out at a record breaking rate, but are still winning games.

Strikeouts in 2016 and 2017

In 2016 and 2017 Brewer hitters led all of Major League Baseball in strikeouts. In 2016 they struck out 1,543 times. They were forty-three strikeouts ahead of the Padres, who were in second place. Chris Carter and Jonathan Villar were the team leaders in strikeouts. Carter had more than 200 that year. The Milwaukee Brewers had a losing record that year while they were in the beginning to middle stages of a rebuild.

In 2017, Milwaukee Brewer hitters struck out even more than in 2016. They totaled 1,571 strikeouts and were thirty-three strikeouts ahead of the Rays, who were in second place.  Domingo Santana and Keon Broxton were the team leaders in strikeouts. Both Santana and Broxton struck out more than 170 times each. Even though the strikeouts increased, the Brewers were ten games over .500 and were in playoff contention until the final week of the season.

Strikeouts this year

This year, through Wednesday’s game, the Milwaukee Brewers have just under 500 strikeouts. They are currently in 5th place in this category in the National League. Even with a high number of strikeouts the Brewers have the best record in the NL. Santana is currently leading the team in strikeouts.

Home Runs in addition to strikeouts

The ongoing trend in Major League Baseball of increased strikeouts and home runs couldn’t be more true than it is with the Milwaukee Brewers. In 2016 they ranked sixth in home runs in all of baseball. They were tied for first 2017 and ranked second so far this year.

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The Milwaukee Brewers are hitting a ton of home runs. However, they are striking out at a record breaking rate and still winning games. The Brewers are the poster boys for the new age of Major League baseball.