I think it’s safe to say the Milwaukee Brewers are one of the streakiest clubs in MLB.
From winning eight out of nine games at the beginning of the month to the five-game losing streak that included getting swept at home by the Reds and dropping the first two to the Rockies in the middle of June, it was quite the start to the month.
Then add on the eight game winning streak that they concluded the month with, and you’ve currently got a happy group of fans and a club with a nice cushion atop the NL Central.
Amidst all the craziness, there were some players that really rose to the occasion and contributed to a 19-8 record in June. But with every month, there were also some guys that could’ve done better.
So let’s highlight the Brewers ‘Studs & Duds’ from June.
Stud: Willy Adames
This one comes as no surprise to anyone that has been following the Brewers since the spark plug that is Willy Adames was acquired back on May 21. We’ve highlighted his success on the site plenty of times as of late, but he really deserves the praise.
He finished the month tied for the team lead in home runs (5) and led the club in runs batted in (19). His OPS of .884 was best on the team for players with at least 15 games played in June and the energy that he’s created throughout the team is infectious.
David Stearns has taken some heat for his deals so far this year. The trade of long-time fan favorite Orlando Arcia paired with the trade that sent Drew Rasmussen and Wisconsin native J.P. Feyereisen to Tampa Bay were dissected thoroughly.
But it’s hard to imagine much of a better development with Luis Urias establishing himself as a quality third base option, Willy Adames showing he can handle the bat and play the field well and even Trevor Richards had a solid month of June.
Dud: Brett Anderson
Brett Anderson ended his month of June only going 1.1 innings against the Arizona Diamondbacks thanks to a right knee contusion that now has him on the 10-day IL. Leading up to that game he wasn’t having an awful month by any means but when you look at the success of so many players in such a good month for the team, Anderson sort of stands out as one that can improve.
The start before that game against Arizona, he had a dominant outing against the big bats of Cincinnati as he limited them to only one hit over seven innings including nine punch outs, his highest single-game total so far on the season. Rewind a bit further back in the month and that’s where his other stretch of struggles occurred.
Interestingly enough he pitched against the Diamondbacks and the Reds earlier in June but couldn’t eclipse five innings of work in either game and he allowed three earned runs on eight hits and four runs on five hits respectively.
It appears Anderson will be ready for the series against the Mets and that’s important, as he has the ability to be a solid piece in Craig Counsell’s rotation like we saw on June 15 against Cincinnati. But overall in June, he could’ve done better and it’ll land him on the list of duds over the last month.
Stud: Josh Hader
In 39 batters faced during the month of June, Josh Hader didn’t surrender a single run. He was recently voted the June Reliever of the Month in the National League and he logged eight saves and 18 strikeouts in 11 appearances for the Crew. He’s currently on a streak of 17 consecutive appearances without allowing a run and his 0.55 ERA is the lowest among relievers.
It really was a solid month for a number of bullpen guys for Milwaukee including a bounce back from Devin Williams who posted a 1.64 earned run average in June and the aforementioned Trevor Richards only gave up three runs in 11 appearances which was tied for second-most on the team with Josh Hader and Brent Suter.
But the moral of this story is that Josh Hader looks like his untouchable self once again. He’s back to leaving opposing hitters puzzled and hopefully he’ll be representing the Brewers at the All Star Game in Denver.
Dud: Manny Pina
Manny Pina struggled mightily in June at the plate. In 30 at-bats, he only logged one hit, a double that came on June 13th in Pittsburgh. It was a month that saw Pina slash .033/.171/.067 with seven strikeouts. In general this season, Pina hasn’t looked comfortable at the plate. His average right now is .123 with four home runs and eight runs batted in.
There really isn’t one certain pitch that he is struggling with as he has a sub .130 average against fastballs, breaking balls and offspeed pitches. He’s at his lowest barrel percentage since 2018 at 7.8% of the time.
Luckily the guy he’s behind in the depth chart has been producing at an impressive rate, but it would be quite the relief for ‘Pineapple’ to get his offensive production up.