Brewers: What Is The Crew’s Path To The Postseason?

As of September 17th, the Milwaukee Brewers have 11 games left of the 2020 season.

Currently the Brewers are only one game behind the Reds and Cardinals for the 2nd playoff spot in the NL Central during this year’s expanded playoffs for Major League Baseball. They are 6.5 games behind the Chicago Cubs for 1st in the division, and 1.5 games out of the last Wild Card spot.

How can the Brewers get to their third straight postseason? By mostly winning out, some luck, and hoping a few teams go on a losing streak.

I believe the Brewers will need to go 8-3 over their last 11 games to get into the playoffs. Eight of those games have to be played while they are (technically) on the road.

Let’s quickly breakdown by series how they can do.

Milwaukee Brewers vs. Kansas City Royals

Three games from September 17th-19th

The Brewers will need to start out by sweeping the Royals. The Royals are currently 21-29 and truly only two games worse than the Brewers by record. But, this is not an amazing Kansas City team, and Milwaukee should be able to sweep or at least take two out of three games.

The Brewers will need quality starts out of Adrian Houser on Friday, and then probably Brett Anderson, and Corbin Burnes to close out the weekend.  Anderson has been a solid inning-eater and Burnes has been electric. Houser is due to have a great start, and Friday would be the perfect time to do it.

The offense is hopefully going to keep their momentum and not randomly get quiet for games again. If they do, the season is over. They need to produce 3-5 runs a game to make a good run at the playoffs.

Milwaukee will need to go 3-0.

Milwaukee Brewers vs. Cincinnati Reds

Three games from September 21st-23rd

Milwaukee will need to win this series 2-1 while in Cincinnati.

The Reds’ offense is solid right now, and they have the best starting rotation in the NL Central in my opinion. This will be tough, but if the offense can come alive and get to the Reds’ bullpen, they definitely have a chance in all three games.

Cincinnati’s bullpen is their crutch, and we will see if the Brewers can make it happen. They also need to avoid late-inning mistakes. And if they do, their offense needs to start hitting in later inning situations.

The Reds have gotten hot lately, and they have leapfrogged the Brewers in the standings.

Milwaukee will need to go 2-1.

Milwaukee Brewers vs. St. Louis Cardinals

Five games from September 24th-27th.

I said technically earlier, because the Brewers have a double-header on Friday, September 25th. It is the final make up game from the COVID-19 cancellations thanks to the Cardinals.

The Brewers will need to take three out of five in this final series. It will not be easy. St. Louis will also be battling for a playoff spot, and I can see these games being close, ugly, and full of surprises and shocks. It doesn’t hurt that Ryan Braun is having one heck of a September already, and plays really well in St. Louis. Hopefully he stays healthy and can play at least four out of the five games there.

And after the five games at Miller Park in September, tensions between the teams are starting to boil over, so this series might get crazy. Strap in, folks.

Milwaukee will have to go 3-2 in St. Louis.

So there it is. If the Brewers go 8-3, I believe they make the playoffs. They might be able to squeak in going 7-4, but it will be tough. We also have to hope that the Reds, Cardinals, Miami Marlins, Philadelphia Phillies, San Francisco Giants, Colorado Rockies and the New York Mets lose a lot of games the next two weeks.

They’re a game back of both the Reds and the Cardinals for that second NL Central spot. They will need to win their series’ against both of them in order to gain ground on them. A series loss anywhere along the line could likely spell doom for the Crew’s playoff hopes.

But for Milwaukee and Craigtember, anything is possible. There is still a good chance the Milwaukee Brewers can make the playoffs for a third straight season.