Brewers: 4 Predictions for Rest of Regular Season

As we near Craigtember, the Milwaukee Brewers are in first place in the NL Central and have a magic number that is dwindling by the day as they head into the rest of their three game series at home against the Cincinnati Reds.

Everything seems great right now, but there are no guarantees the Brewers will make the playoffs. Teams have had collapses before. The 2014 Brewers, for example. It still hurts to think about. Yes, this team is a lot better and has the pitching to back it up.

It’s completely fine to be excited and positive, but there is no reason to get too confident until that magic number turns to zero and the confetti goes flying again hopefully inside American Family Field.

Milwaukee still has plenty of milestones to hit, but a lot of them should be positive. After Covid-19 hit the clubhouse and injuries, a lot of players are now back and performing at a high level of play. There was no guarantee they would all return 100%.

Pitcher Adrian Houser was hit the hardest of the players who went on the Covid list, and was still able to have a serviceable start over the weekend for the Crew. Eduardo Escobar and Freddy Peralta’s injuries aren’t anything too serious, which is great sign for the team. Tyrone Taylor will be out for a little while still, but luckily the team has plenty of outfielders. The Brewers should be all hands on deck for the last month of the season, and be able to push for the postseason and another NL Central title.

So what lies ahead from now until the end of the regular season? Here are four major predictions for the remainder of the Brewers season.

1. Christian Yelich Keeps Improving

Before the Reds series started, Yelich is batting .356 with two home runs and 10 RBIs over the last 11 games. In his last nine starts, he has 15 hits. There is no guarantee he will keep getting better each series. But, if he keeps hitting the ball as hard as he is and more home runs are produced, teams should be even more afraid of the Brewers heading into the postseason.

The game on Saturday, August 21st should be remembered as a Brewers classic. Milwaukee didn’t just win the game 9-6 over the Washington Nationals, they had so many moments to remember that wasn’t just Christian Yelich. In the 5th inning, Omar Narvaez popped it up near the Brewers dugout in foul territory. They made the catch, but both the first baseman and catcher were near the play. Kolten Wong then tagged up and ran all the way open with no one covering the base. An amazing heads-up base-running play.

And sure, it wasn’t all about Yelich. It was mostly about him, though. In the bottom of the first and already down a run, Christian came to the plate and hit a 414 foot home run to center to tie up the score. It was his first since July 18th. He also singled in the 5th, which brought Lorenzo Cain home for another RBI on the day.

Then in the 8th, Yelich came to the plate with bases loaded. He proceeded to hit a 454 grand slam bomb into center once again. It gave the Brewers the lead, and basically sealed the victory. It was an amazing moment, and one I could watch on repeat over and over. Even Giannis was excited.

https://twitter.com/Giannis_An34/status/1429640844928339970

In the first game against the Reds on August 24th, Yelich went 1-3, but also had a crucial sac fly in the seventh to bring the game within one run. The Brewers would go onto win 7-4 after picking apart the Reds bullpen. Christian’s batting average now .248 and has 40 RBIs on the season.

2. Luis Urias Cements Role As Super Utility Infielder

It’s been a crazy year for Luis Urias. Coming into the season, the original plan was to split time at third base with Travis Shaw and be Orlando Arcia’s backup at shortstop. Then, just a week into the season, the Brewers traded Arcia to the Atlanta Braves for a pair of relievers.

Urias had some definite ups and downs as the everyday shortstop. After about a week games with multiple errors, the team traded another pair of relievers for Willy Adames and reliever Trevor Richards from the Tampa Bay Rays in late May. The reaction at first was puzzling, and fans thought they were already giving up on Urias. That didn’t appear to be the case at all. David Stearns revealed that he had his eye on Adames for years now, and was finally able to bring him to Milwaukee.

Urias was back as a utility infielder for a bit. Then a month later, Travis Shaw suffered a serious shoulder injury. He went on the 60-day IL and Urias was back to playing third base almost every day. Then, near the trade deadline, the Brewers brought in Eduardo Escobar to be the everyday third baseman and sometimes first base. Urias has bounced all over this season.

The Willy Adames trade meant less starts for Urias, but it didn’t impact his play. If anything, it improved it. Urias became quick friends with Willy and also started to improve on the field. Luis has some spectacular defensive plays this year, especially at third. When Adames came to the team, Urias was batting .208. with four home runs and 23 RBIs. He is now batting .248 with 16 home runs and 55 RBIs. In August alone, he is batting .340 and a .617 slugging percentage.

Urias is now a utility infielder along with Jace Peterson, an unlikely pair of players that are contributing on offense and defense for the Crew. It gives the Brewers an added depth heading into September and both will almost certainly make the roster if they make the playoffs. He’s only 24, and quickly becoming one of Milwaukee’s key depth pieces.

3.  One Of The Big 3 Win Cy Young

Going into the 2021 season, you knew the Brewers starting rotation was going to be solid. Not everyone expected their top three pitchers to be this amazing and elevate their game all at the same time. Brandon Woodruff, Corbin Burnes and Freddy Peralta are the pitchers at the top of the rotation fans have been waiting for. Even with Burnes going on the Covid IL earlier in the year and Peralta recently joining the 10 Day IL, it hasn’t stopped this team or rotation.

The Brewers are still winning, and the past month has had all three pitchers not even throwing their best games. All three pitchers were selected to this year’s All-Star game. Article after article is comparing them to the days of Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, and John Smoltz from their Braves years.

Currently, all three are in the top 10 of the MLB ERA leaders. Burnes is second in the NL with a 2.30 ERA. Peralta is fifth at 2.45, and Woodruff is right behind him with 2.48. The trio reached 500 strikeouts even before Woodruff made his last start on Thursday. They have 19 games between them where they have pitched six innings or more and only allowed two hits. Just incredible stuff.

Brandon Woodruff is sitting at a record of 7-7 over 24 starts and 167 strikeouts. His record should be a lot higher, but has not gotten the run support this year that he should be getting. Corbin Burnes has a 8-4 record with 175 Ks over 21 games. Freddy Peralta’s record is 9-3 and has 164 strikeouts. If they continue at this pace, one should win an NL Cy Young. The only problem is that all three are so great, that the league might have a hard time picking one and end up selecting someone else like Walker Buehler, Kevin Gausman, or Zach Wheeler. They shouldn’t, but it’s possible.