Milwaukee Brewers: The Offense Has Completely Disappeared

The Milwaukee Brewers suffered through the final two games in Los Angeles where their offense went completely dormant. And it’s put them in a hole heading into Game 6.

When Game 6 begins on Friday, the Milwaukee Brewers will be down in a 3-2 series deficit needing to win both of the final games of the series to move on to the Fall Classic. It’s still possible they can win, especially with both games at Miller Park, but they’ve put themselves in a tough spot.

The big reason behind why they’re in this spot is because the Brewers offense has gone completely dormant over the past two games.

Where Did The Offense Go?

This group was firing on all cylinders seemingly not too long ago. All of a sudden, they can’t do anything. Lorenzo Cain had an 0-for-6 in Game 4, Christian Yelich is 1-for-9 in the past two games, and this whole offense has come to a complete stop because of it.

These two players in Cain and Yelich have been the table setters for this offense all season long. Now they aren’t getting on base and the offense is suffering because of it. Both players hit over .300 this year and without them, this offense is very inconsistent.

The Brewers need Christian Yelich. He’s going to be the NL MVP. He carried the team to this point in the postseason and he needs to step up here in October. This offense can’t depend on the likes of Orlando Arcia, Erik Kratz, and Domingo Santana to win the NL pennant. They need their stars to show up and Yelich hasn’t done that yet.

Runners In Scoring Position

By far, the biggest issue for this offense is not taking advantage of opportunities when they’re in from of them. Early in Game 5, the Milwaukee Brewers had a prime opportunity to blow the game wide open. One run had already scored and the bases were loaded for Jesus Aguilar, the cleanup hitter. Normally, this is an ideal situation. But Aguilar struck out and the inning ended without the Brewers adding on.

If Aguilar gets a hit there and the Brewers take a bigger lead, it would not only demoralize the Dodgers, but it changes how Counsell manages the rest of the game with his bullpen. It might allow him to pull Woodruff earlier with a lead and go to the back end of his bullpen.

In Game 4, the Brewers were 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position. In Game 5, the Brewers were 2-for-5. They didn’t get many opportunities after Aguilar struck out with the bases loaded. They threatened a rally late, but it wasn’t enough.

They aren’t even really putting the ball in play and getting good swings with runners on base. It’s just been painful to watch.

Finding Some Offense

Sure you could look at the fact the Brewers offense was facing Clayton Kershaw as a reason why the offense stalled on Wednesday. But there were plenty of opportunities that the hitters just didn’t take advantage of. It was poor execution on the part of the hitters.

Brandon Woodruff pitched a tremendous game. He deserved a better fate but the offense failed him. It failed Junior Guerra, Freddy Peralta, and the rest of the bullpen in Game 4. The pitchers deserve better from their offense.

Getting back to Miller Park might prove fruitful for this offense. They had some good success there in Games 1 and 2 of this series. They’re going to need that offense to wake up quickly if they’re going to save their season.

Last year, the Astros were down 3-2 in the LCS to the Yankees and were able to come back in the final two games at home, so there’s hope for the Milwaukee Brewers.