The Milwaukee Brewers are on the outside looking in for a playoff spot in the 2022 MLB postseason. What is their elimination magic number?
This story will be updated regularly as the Brewers’ magic number changes throughout the remainder of the regular season.
The Brewers have been on a downward trend ever since the August 2nd Trade Deadline. They were 3 games ahead of the St Louis Cardinals for first place in the NL Central and have since fallen several games back.
The Brewers elimination magic number for the NL Central is currently: 0
*as of 9/28/22 with 7 games remaining
The Brewers are eliminated
Milwaukee’s elimination number is the same as the magic number to clinch for the St. Louis Cardinals. The Brewers have been eliminated from the NL Central and the Cardinals have clinched. Even with a magic number of 1, the Cardinals win the division because the number being 1 means the best possible outcome is a tie, and the Cardinals hold the tiebreaker. There is no Game 163 so even if the Brewers tie, the Cardinals win the division. It is over.
It was practically an unthinkable scenario waking up on August 1st that this could be the case, especially with so much time left in the season, but here we are.
The Brewers elimination magic number for the NL Wild Card race is currently: 0
*as of 10/3/22 with 2 games remaining
The Brewers have been eliminated
The Brewers trail the Philadelphia Phillies for the third and final wild card spot this year. They sit 2 games back at the moment. If the Brewers lose or the Phillies win a combination of 1 games over the remainder of the year, then the Brewers are eliminated. Milwaukee needs to win out and Philadelphia needs to lose out in their respective final series.
This race is still in play as the Phillies have not played well over the past week or so. Two games back with 3 to play is a nearly insurmountable task. Every game is crucial at this point. Any loss is a killer at this point in the season.
Because of where they sit in the standings, the Brewers do not control their own destiny. They need to rely on other teams, most importantly Philadelphia, to lose in order to gain a playoff spot. The Brewers still need to win as many games as they can, but even if they win all their remaining games, as long as the teams ahead of them such as the Cardinals and the Phillies also win, it won’t be enough to get the Crew into the postseason for the 5th straight year.
Even if the Crew goes 3-0 the rest of the way, the Phillies have to go 0-3 to finish out the year for Milwaukee to sneak into Wild Card position.
This article will continue to be updated with the correct magic number throughout the remainder of the regular season.