Brewers: 3 Slumping Players Who Need To Step Up Heading Into Crucial Pirates Series

The Milwaukee Brewers have lost six straight games heading into a crucial series against the Pittsburgh Pirates. The losing streak has allowed the Pirates to take control of first place in the NL Central.

What's strange about the losing streak is that right before it the Brewers were playing some of their best baseball, taking two of three from the Orioles and three of four from the Reds. The Brewers need to snap out of their funk to avoid falling further down the standings. They've been presented with an incredible opportunity to take the division with the Cardinals falling off the table and now their main competition is the upstart Pirates.

The Crew's next opponent is the Pittsburgh Pirates. Seizing momentum, and the division lead, will be crucial for the Brewers in this weekend's series.

How can the Brewers seize that momentum? They need these players to step up and perform at a higher level than they have been.

1. Luis Urias

The Brewers activated Luis Urias off the IL back in the Reds series, and he's been slow to get started. Urias is hitting just .080 (2 for 25) with a .521 OPS. Urias' two hits are a double and a homer. The home run he hit in the second game against the Twins, perhaps a sign that he's starting to feel more locked in at the plate.

Milwaukee needs Urias to get going offensively. He can supply some power and is a productive bat when at 100%. The Brewers have been dealing with some holes in their lineup and Urias, frankly, has been one of them since his return. While he was on the injured list, there was a hole in the lineup in his absence, but he hasn't plugged that hole yet. Instead, he's just been a continuation of one.

Perhaps he needed a little more time on his rehab assignment to get in a groove at the plate. But he's back in the lineup and Craig Counsell will continue to ride with him and give him regular at-bats to get him going. Hopefully he can do that in this Pirates series.

2. Willy Adames

Willy Adames is the heartbeat of this team. He brings energy, the infield defense revolves around him, and he's a focal point of the offense. Or at least he's supposed to be.

It hasn't been a great season for Willy Adames at the plate. He's hitting just .204/.283/.375 on the year. Sure he has 10 homers, but outside of the power, his numbers are down across the board.

When the Brewers first acquired Adames two years ago, he hit .285 with 20 homers, an .886 OPS, and a 137 OPS+ the rest of the way in a Milwaukee uniform. Last year, Adames slugged 31 homers, but dropped down to hitting just .238 with a .756 OPS and a 111 OPS+. He hit more homers, but overall regressed as a hitter.

Now this season his average, OPS, and OPS+ have continued to slide and while the power numbers are solid, on pace for 23 homers, they aren't good enough. His OPS is down to a sub-par .658 on the year.

The Brewers simply need more from Willy Adames.

He hits near the top of the order every day. He's in a run producing role, an impactful spot in the order. They're relying on him and he just hasn't been able to get it done. If Adames is going to get the contract extension that he wants or even the free agent contract that he wants, he needs to stop selling out for power and focus back on simply making contact and finding ways to get on base.

The downward trend was going on even before the injury from the foul ball. Over his last 30 games, Adames is hitting just .172 with a .218 OBP. For a key piece of the offense that's always hitting in one of the top few spots in the lineup, that's not good enough. Adames needs to step up.