3 Unsung heroes of the Milwaukee Brewers fantastic regular season

When Craig Counsell agreed to become MLB's highest-paid manager with the Chicago Cubs in November 2023, many expected a huge drop-off from the Milwaukee Brewers, who just won the NL Central. A few months later and star pitcher Corbin Burnes was traded to the Baltimore Orioles for DL Hall and Joey Ortiz, another move that those in the media and baseball world see the Brewers falling down the National League pecking order.

Fast forward to late September, the Brewers have won the division for the second season running, third title in four years and sixth time in seven seasons making the postseason. Pat Murphy looks set to win the NL Manager of the Year award and the Brewers are in position to take the third seed heading into the playoffs. The mid-season loss of Christian Yelich after 73 games was a setback, but led to more and more Brewers stepping up and hitting 90 wins for the third time in four seasons.

Along with Murphy, there have been many heroes throughout the clubhouse. Willy Adames in a contract year has hit 32 home runs and stolen 20 bases, the first time in his career getting to double figures on the base paths but to achieve a 30/20 is special. He's also notched over 100 RBIs which puts him among some great names at the shortstop position. Rookie sensation Jackson Chourio has been brilliant and had a 20/20 season of his own, making him and Adames the first pair of Brewers to put up 20/20 seasons. I haven't even mentioned William Contreras behind the plate and him having another stellar season on both sides of the plate.

Those players deserve their flowers and rightly so. History has been made by those but on the roster there have been a number of players going under the radar that need more of the light on them. Here are three unsung heroes of the Milwaukee Brewers fantastic regular season.

1. Tobias Myers

The loss of Burnes was well documented and Brandon Woodruff missing the season following shoulder surgery raised huge question marks around the Brewers rotation and who would slot in behind ace Freddy Peralta. Tobias Myers had an interesting start to his MLB career. He spent the 2023 season in Double-A and Triple-A baseball where he started 26 games, had a 10-5 record and 4.93 ERA.

In April of this year he was selected to the 40-man roster and promoted, but then optioned the following day without appearing for the Brewers and becoming a phantom ballplayer. Only a couple of days later he was recalled following an injury to Wade Miley and made his debut on April 23rd, where he gave up a home run to Andrew McCutchen on his first pitch. Myers fought back however and started the third most games of any Brewers starting pitcher this year. For that, he deserves huge amounts of credit.

He has a 3.09 ERA, giving up 18 home runs and striking out 122 batters. The 26-year old has bounced around the league since being drafted by the Orioles in the sixth round of the 2016 draft. Spells in Tampa, Cleveland, San Francisco, and Chicago saw him struggle to find a home but ultimately led him to Milwaukee and being relied upon to become a key cog of the rotation. His record of eight wins and six losses is solid and he has played a massive part of maintaining some consistency in the rotation.

Aaron Civale and Frankie Montas have added much needed reinforcements on the back end of the rotation but Myers has been there throughout, staring 25 games this season. Hall had his injury concerns and struggled when returning to the mound, Joe Ross is another with injuries and Wade Miley only featured twice this season. The Dallas Keuchel addition last four games and Carlos Rodriguez was called up and after his three games was demoted back to Nashville.

All of these conditions just add to how good it has been to have Myers and the consistency he has brought makes him the lead unsung hero of the Brewers. To go from someone unlikely to be called up to the Majors, to then be a key rotation piece is great not only for this season and the postseason but gives the Brewers some reliability moving forward.

2. Blake Perkins

Blake Perkins certainly isn't the biggest name in the lineup and he isn't the biggest hitter, but he has an improved season and has been a really key part in the Brewers success. Garrett Mitchell missed the start of the season and then the season-ending injury to Yelich left what was a stacked outfield looking light.

In 2023, Perkins played 67 games with 143 at-bats and hit just four home runs, 20 RBIs and five stolen bases on a slash line of .217/.325/.350. This season he has featured more but has also improved. He's played in 117 games for 373 at-bats with six homers, 42 RBIs and 22 steals.

The game has changed slightly on the basepaths but the Brewers had four players reach double digit steals and just two over 20 last year. In 2024 they have had seven in double figures with five of those over 20 and Perkins just adds another threat

His batting average has also had a solid increase to .241 which has helped Milwaukee have some consistency and reliability in the lineup and he has been part of a quick and athletic outfield alongside Chourio and Sal Frelick.

Defensively, Perkins has been the Brewers best outfielder. Pat Murphy has publicly stated that multiple times this season and Outs Above Average backs it up. Perkins has a 10 OAA, highest among the Brewers outfield. The next closest is Sal Frelick with a 6 OAA.

Perkins will be a key part of the Brewers postseason both at the plate and in the outfield. He isn't the flashiest or biggest hitter but he has had a good and improved season and in the lineup is potentially the most unsung hero of all the hitters.