Five Underrated Heroes of the 2021 Milwaukee Brewers

The Milwaukee Brewers have a comfortable lead in the NL Central as we head into September. Certain players like Corbin Burnes, Brandon Woodruff, Josh Hader and Willy Adames have become household names, but we should give credit to all players helping the Brewers as they head towards the playoffs.

Plenty of great players who make an impact make the headlines and get their jerseys sold in the team store, but for a team to sustain success over the course of a season, that will take some contributions from other members.

These players aren’t MVP or Cy Young candidates, but they’ve done an amazing job in their role and have had a huge impact on this Brewers roster.

Here are five underrated heroes of the 2021 Milwaukee Brewers.

Brewers Underrated Hero #5: Hunter Strickland

David Stearns has done some great things for the Milwaukee Brewers as far as roster construction is concerned but I don’t think he gets enough credit for how well he has rebuilt the bullpen after trading J.P. Feyereisen and Drew Rasmussen for Willy Adames and Trevor Richards, who was also traded away.

Hunter Strickland is part of that. Strickland was acquired from the Los Angeles Angels for cash considerations on June 12, The Angels had acquired him from the Tampa Bay Rays just four weeks earlier.

Since arriving in June, Strickland has been very productive for the Brewers, often being called upon by Craig Counsell with runners on base in tight spots, or being brought in to pitch an inning or two when a starter has been forced to exit early.

This season in 22 appearances with Milwaukee, Strickland has 25 strikeouts while allowing just 11 hits and 8 walks in 23.2 innings. Strickland owns a 1.52 ERA, .803 WHIP, 9.5 K/9 and 3.13 K/BB ratio. He’s a veteran presence with plenty of experience in big spots.

Strickland hasn’t been flawless for the Brewers, but has been tremendously reliable and not talked about as frequently as he should when the Milwaukee Brewers pitching staff is talked about.