Brewers Studs And Duds After A Losing Month Of August

For the first time during the 2022 season, the Brewers recorded a losing record in a month during August. They finished the month 12-15 and now are going to need to find some “Craigtember” magic during the final stretch of the season in order to make the playoffs.

Of the games played in August, 17 games were decided by two runs or less with nine of them being one run games. There were a lot of games that could have gone either way and unfortunately the Brewers were on the losing side more often than not.

Victories by large margins were also very hard to come by for the Brewers in August. Of their 12 wins, just four games were won by a margin of three or more runs. It’s going to take steady performances both offensively and defensively down the stretch in order for the team to get back to their winning ways.

Like all months, there were both good and bad performances from several players on the team.

Here we will take a look at a few of the Brewers studs and duds from the month of August.

Brewers August Dud: The Bullpen

It may not be entirely fair to group the entire bullpen into this category, but as a unit Brewers relievers blew nine save opportunities during the month of August. Matt Bush led the way with four blown saves. Devin Williams Brad Boxberger, Jake McGee (no longer with the team), Hoby Milner, and Peter Strzelecki all had one missed opportunity.

As mentioned above, the Brewers played a ton of close games in August so rest days were hard to come by for Craig Counsell’s high leverage arms. Over the past several seasons, the bullpen has been a major strength for the Crew, so hopefully this blemish was just a fluke due to the amount of close games played.

Brewers August Stud: Willy Adames

Perhaps sliding a bit under the radar in August was Willy Adames. Adames led the team in hits (30), RBI (21), doubles (6), and was tied for the second most home runs with six. Throughout the year he has been displaying a ton of power, but it was nice to see him collect more base knocks and take pitches to the opposite field in August. Overall, he finished August with a .261/.301/.470 slash line, his best month of the season.

As the team’s second hitter in the lineup, Adames is going to have to continue to hit and contribute runs if the Brewers want to make the post season for a fifth consecutive season. He’s a known clutch hitter and likely will be put in several big spots over the final month.

Brewers August Dud: Luis Urias

2022 as a whole has been a down year for Urias when compared to what he did in 2021.  Unfortunately he underwent a brutal month of August. He collected just 13 hits in 77 at bats, which equates to a .169 batting average. His season batting average is now down to .221 and he entered the month at .234.

With Jace Peterson returning from an elbow injury, we may see more of him at third base as opposed to Urias. Not to mention Kolten Wong has been getting the bat going and playing solid defense again, so shifting Urias over to second base seems unlikely. We have seen Urias elevate his play in the past when his playing time is on the line, so maybe we will see him finish the year strong.

Brewers August Stud: Freddy Peralta

After missing a large portion of the season due to a shoulder injury, Freddy Peralta has found his groove on the mound. In six August starts he recorded 29.2 innings pitched, a 2.43 ERA, 0.81 WHIP, and opposing batters hit just .137 against him.

What Peralta did in August is more so what we saw from him last season. When he is on, he is extremely difficult to hit. In fact, he did have a no hitter into the sixth inning against the Cubs in August, but was pulled due to fatigue despite having thrown just 82 pitches. Travel fatigue was cited as the reasoning for him exiting in that game, but he also left his most recent start at just 74 pitches.

With a month to go, it would be nice if he could work longer into games, but the Brewers obviously do not want to compromise that with his long term health.

Despite a losing record in August, the Brewers remain in the playoff hunt and it should be an exciting finish to the season. Hopefully they can start to click on all cylinders and earn a fifth consecutive post season berth.