The 7 Biggest Mistakes The Brewers Made That Doomed Them In 2022

Mistake that doomed the Brewers #2: Not figuring out how to use Keston Hiura

It’s an unusual, yet simple situation with Keston Hiura. He’s a right-handed hitter. He struggles facing left-handed pitching and thrives against right-handed pitching. You would think the Brewers would try to put him in more situations where he faces right-handers, right?

Wrong.

Instead Craig Counsell would insert Hiura into the lineup almost exclusively against left-handed pitchers. Sometimes he’d be in the starting lineup that way, sometimes Counsell would intentionally pinch hit Hiura against a lefty. In 52 games and 106 PAs against LHPs, Hiura hit just .183/.274/.333 with a .607 OPS and 48 strikeouts.

However against RHPs, Hiura hit .260/.353/.542 with 11 homers, a .895 OPS, and 60 strikeouts in 150 PAs. The strikeout percentage was high, but still lower than against lefties, he had more power, and reached base far more consistently in just a few more games against RHPs.

Why in the world would the Brewers not start him more often against right-handed pitchers? Yes, he’s a right handed hitter and yes his strikeout issues are obvious. But he’s still been productive against righties, not only this year but his whole career he’s been far more productive against righties.

Meanwhile, Andrew McCutchen, who was signed because of his ability to hit left-handed pitching saw the majority of the starts at DH against righties while Hiura saw the starts against lefties. It made no sense. It still makes no sense.

Craig Counsell and the Brewers have clearly yet to figure out how to A) fix Keston Hiura so he stops striking out 40+% of the time and B) properly utilize him in the lineup to get the most you can out of him.

While they work on cutting down his ridiculously high strikeout rate, Hiura needs to be put in positions to succeed to build confidence and find what works for him. Clearly that is playing more often against righties and less often against lefties. That may be unusual for a right-handed hitter, and it’s even tougher when he doesn’t have a clear defensive position, but he could help this team win more games if he’s put in the right spots.

Mistake that doomed the Brewers #3: Not following up the Josh Hader trade with impact move

When the news first broke shortly after noon on August 1st that the Brewers had traded Josh Hader to the Padres, everything changed. A first place team traded away its closer at the Trade Deadline, which is something that never happens. There’s a reason you never see that happen.

When it was completed, the Brewers acquired four players for Hader: Taylor Rogers, Dinelson Lamet, Esteury Ruiz, and Robert Gasser. Two were big league bullpen arms (more on that later) and two were prospects.

It was a shocking trade, one that stunned players, fans, executives, and pundits alike. No one could believe that Milwaukee actually traded away their four-time All Star closer while they were in first place.

But rumors continued to swirl, that the Brewers had something big planned. And they needed to. If this was the beginning of some master plan the front office had to completely reshape the team and put them in a markedly better position to contend for a World Series this year, they had about 24 hours to put the rest into action.

But then it was followed up with nothing. They acquired two more bullpen arms in Matt Bush and Trevor Rosenthal (again, more on that later) but nothing else. No position player to help the offense, which was the biggest need. The Brewers even admitted they tried to acquire hitters to boost the offense but didn’t like the prices. Did they plan on prices dropping closer to the deadline and they just didn’t?

Once the Brewers committed to this “master plan” if there was one, they needed to follow through on it. Once Hader was gone, they had to commit to seeing it through. There’s no going back after that. They reached the point of no return. But yet they tried to return. They didn’t follow through on some grand plan to reshape this roster.

Because they didn’t follow up the Hader trade with anything of significance and didn’t bring in any other player of significance, it made the roster worse and made the players feel even worse.

Mistake that doomed the Brewers #4: The Trevor Rosenthal Trade

The most recent picture we have of Trevor Rosenthal pitching in an actual big league game is from 2020 when he was with the Padres. That was three organizations ago for Rosenthal.

He signed with the Athletics for 2021, missed all of that season with various injuries. Then he missed the beginning of 2022 not signing with a team because he was coming back from injury, until he signed with the Giants. He suffered another injury there and never threw a pitch for them but was on the mend when the Brewers decided they would trade a valuable Top 20 prospect for Rosenthal on August 2nd.

That was their only move on Deadline Day, too, by the way.

The Brewers knew then they would be getting Rosenthal for at most one month of the year, as it would take until the beginning of September for him to be ready for game action at the earliest. But instead, as shocking as it was for a pitcher who missed two seasons due to injury after injury after injury after injury, Rosenthal suffered yet another injury and would go on to miss the entire 2022 season and never throw a pitch for the Brewers.

Oh, and he’s a free agent at the end of the year as well.

This is without a doubt one of the dumbest trades the Brewers have ever made. It didn’t make sense then, it makes even less sense now. They had already acquired three relievers prior to Rosenthal, needing help at other position groups, and decided against making those trades because the prices were “too high” but felt totally comfortable paying the price of a top 20 prospect in the organization for a fourth reliever, that hadn’t pitched in two years and was still injured.

He also was never put on the 60 Day IL after that. That means he’s occupied a 40 man roster spot this entire time. And for what? That spot could’ve gone to a healthy pitcher or a healthy position player that actually would’ve played for this team.

With all the new players acquired and not as many going out off the 40 man, that led to some shuffling, and it was a mighty poor shuffle at that, which was mistake #5.

Mistake that doomed the Brewers #5: The DFA of Dinelson Lamet

Not following up the Hader trade with anything of significance on August 2nd was the first red flag for that deal. The second red flag was the Brewers designating Dinelson Lamet for assignment on August 3rd, two days after he was acquired and before he ever could throw a pitch for the team.

The way the Brewers explained it, as the “subsequent transactions” at the Trade Deadline played out, there simply wasn’t enough room in the bullpen for all the relievers they had acquired. They brought in four, well really three because Rosenthal was injured, but he was still on the 40 man, and they only sent out one in Hader.

So with Matt Bush, Taylor Rogers, Trevor Rosenthal, and Dinelson Lamet all in the picture now, how would they all fit? Should they DFA Jake McGee, who had only made a few appearances as the last man in the pen and hadn’t pitched particularly well? No, he’s important, he must be kept around.

Instead, the Brewers decided to cut Dinelson Lamet, one of the key pieces they acquired in the franchise-altering, clubhouse-stunning Josh Hader trade. Lamet has one of the best sliders in the game, had great traits that the Brewers excel at getting the most out of, and they never even let him unpack his bags.

They opted to keep Jake McGee instead of Lamet, putting him on waivers and watching him get claimed by the Colorado Rockies. He could’ve help start when the rotation was going through injuries, could’ve helped out of the bullpen, but no, the Brewers cut one of the four players they received for a franchise cornerstone 48 hours later. From a package they billed as a “mix of big league and minor league talent”. That quickly went from an even split to a majority prospect package.

And then, four days later, the Brewers decide to DFA Jake McGee. They completely changed their entire return for a franchise cornerstone for the worse because they decided to keep Jake McGee, a 36 year old over the hill reliever, and then released him four days later after another poor outing. Had no room in the bullpen for Lamet on August 3rd, but finally cleared room for him on August 7th when they dumped McGee. Too late.

That changed this whole trade from a first place team making a baseball trade to help their postseason hopes this year, to a first place team selling their closer at the Deadline and waving the white flag.

Mistake that doomed the Brewers #6: Not calling up a hitting prospect sooner

David Stearns admitted to trying to acquire a bat at the deadline to help out a Brewers offense that was in desperate need of a boost. He did not acquire one, due to “high prices”.

While that may be true, teams do set absurdly high asking prices hoping a desperate team will pay it at the Deadline. Stearns is absolutely in the right to not overpay for a player (even though he overpaid for Mistake #4). But with all that said…

Once the Brewers didn’t acquire a veteran bat to help out they offense, they immediately should’ve promoted one of their hitting prospects.

They knew their offense needed help, but hugged their prospects and didn’t want to give them up to get some. They had several high level hitting prospects in the upper levels of the minors. Milwaukee should’ve called one of them up immediately.

Esteury Ruiz was the only position player acquired by the Brewers at the deadline, he would’ve been a nice addition to the club, especially since he came in the Hader deal. It would’ve gone over a lot better in that locker room if two players joined the big league club from the Hader deal rather than just one. Well it could’ve been three players, but again, look to mistake #5.

Brice Turang had been in Triple-A all year and had played well, why not call him up? He could’ve helped out the offense and played at a number of different positions. He’s versatile and is a former first round pick. He could’ve supplied some boost to the offense. Sal Frelick and Garrett Mitchell were lighting up Double-A, they could’ve called either of them straight up from Biloxi. They wouldn’t even be the only outfielders this year called up straight from Double-A if it happened.

Instead, the Brewers let that struggling offense that they knew needed help simmer for three weeks before they finally called up Garrett Mitchell from Triple-A.

Mitchell instantly provided a spark and still brings electricity on the basepaths and to the team. But it’s too little too late at this point, because those three weeks went by without him.

Calling up a prospect would’ve sent a message to the clubhouse that even though they didn’t trade for a bat, they still want to get them help and believe in this team’s ability to compete this year. It could’ve halted the resentment Brewers in that clubhouse. Speaking of…

Mistake that doomed the Brewers #7: Neglecting Clubhouse Chemistry

In spite of all the other mistakes the front office, ownership, and players made this year, this is the one that can and will destroy any team, no matter how talented.

The Brewers front office neglected the clubhouse chemistry and did not properly address and prepare for how the players would react to the stunning Josh Hader trade. They traded a core veteran leader in the clubhouse while being a first place team, did not adequately replace him, and the rest of the team was upset.

When you get to the Trade Deadline as a first place team, you expect your front office to add to your roster and supplement the team to make it better for the stretch run. When the front office doesn’t bring in reinforcements, players are understandably upset. Not only did they not bring in reinforcements, they took away one of the strengths of the team. From there, players only go from upset to angry.

Following this trade, Josh Hader called out Brewers management for not trying to win a World Series but simply to compete for a playoff spot. Eric Lauer then called out management for the message that they did send at the Deadline, which wasn’t one of belief in this club.

Perhaps the most damning came from Lorenzo Cain, who was DFAed back in June. Cain called out the club’s neglect of clubhouse chemistry and leadership going back a few years, not just with the Hader trade but even before that. There are issues that run deep within this organization. For years, fans and everyone outside the org believed this was a franchise that cared about clubhouse chemistry, but issues were bubbling underneath.

Only after the Hader trade did all these problems rise to the surface. Brewers upper management clearly has some work to do to repair their relationships with their players. The players don’t seem to trust the front office, and there seems to be some resentment as well. That could lead to a lot of change in a couple of different directions.

The Brewers thrived in 2017, 2018, and 2019 because of a vibrant, fun, excellent clubhouse culture and chemistry. That has clearly rotted away by 2022. If they are going to have any hope of making a return to the postseason in 2023 or beyond, they need to remedy this mistake immediately.

All those other mistakes won’t carry over to 2023, but the damage to the clubhouse will if the Brewers don’t do something about it fast. There was very little happiness in the middle of the season. There wasn’t a happy ending, either. The Brewers are eliminated and have all these mistakes to blame.