Brewers: Offense Finally Showing Signs of Life After Struggles

The Brewers have been on a hot streak as of late. They have won 9 of their last 10 and are tied for first place with the Chicago Cubs in the N.L Central. With a favorable schedule coming up, and three pitchers off to historic seasons, now is the optimal time for the offense to wake up. It has shown signs of life, but has it finally turned a corner?

From April 1 to June 1 the Brewers offense was abysmal. They only barreled 8.4% of all batted ball events, and the team slashed .211/.296/.363. The team wRC+ of 83 was the 4th worst in MLB. They also were striking out 27% of all plate appearances, ranking 27th in MLB, while making contact on 74.2% of swings, 22nd in MLB.

The Brewers offense has struggled mightily at the start of the season. There have been recent signs that indicate the offense is finally showing signs of life.

Injuries to star players, and cold starts from key contributors pushed the Brewers down. But Avisail Garcia and Omar Narvaez have led the offense while players like Christian Yelich and Kolten Wong have recovered from injuries.

However, since June 1st the Brewers have seen their bats begin to wake up. The team as a whole is slashing .218/.307/.551, which is much better than what it was the first two months of the team. Perhaps the most interesting stat of the Brewers is the low BABIP of .186. BABIP does not factor in home runs, which the Brewers have hit 16 of (most in baseball since June 1), but it is an interesting tidbit. The Brewers are tied for the 4th highest wRC+ since June 1 of 131.

The Brewers also are striking out less than they were in the first two months of the season, down to 22.5%. The Brewers also have been barreling up the balls better, with a team Barrel% of 17.0%.

The team is making contact on more swings as well. The team Contact% is 76.9%, which is 11th highest in the month of June.

This is not to say the offense is fully back. The Brewers still have glaring holes in their offensive production. First base is still a black hole devoid of any offensive production, and Travis Shaw is scuffling at third. David Stearns still has work to do, but this may be the beginning of a turn around in Milwaukee.

Another reason for caution when looking at these stats: the Brewers played the Diamondbacks and the Tigers, two teams who are struggling. However, the upcoming stretch against the Reds, the Pirates, the Reds again, the Rockies, the Diamondbacks, the Rockies again may be exactly what the team needs to fully break out.

One cannot take a week’s worth of data and use it to override two months of previous data, but there are signs of encouragement, and if the trends the Brewers are establishing early in June hold, the Crew may finally have all three facets of the game clicking at the same time.