The first month of the season is officially in the books for the Milwaukee Brewers and the rest of the MLB teams. And though the last couple weeks brought some mixed results for the Crew, they still came out of the first month of the season with one of the best records in the league.
Two weeks ago, the Brewers ended a successful west coast road trip with a sweep of the Mariners. They then returned home to suffer back-to-back series losses for the first time all season at the hands of the Red Sox and Tigers before rebounding to end the month with a series win at home against the Angels.
That all left Milwaukee with an 18-10 record as they left the month of April, which was the third best record in the National League and sixth best in all of baseball. We've graded their performance thus far, but how are others evaluating the Brewers.
Here is your week 5 MLB power rankings roundup for the Milwaukee Brewers.
MLB.com - 4
The Brewers lost their division on the 23rd when they were surpassed by, of all teams, the Pittsburgh Pirates, though Milwaukee remains just a game and a half back in the NL Central. We're expecting the Crew to take that lead right back very soon and, apparently, so does MLB.com.
"A 3-3 week didn’t drop the Brewers at all, though it did drop them down in the NL Central, thanks to those scorching Pirates. Our voters clearly still see the Brewers as the class of this division -- especially considering what’s happening in St. Louis right now -- and they head west this week for six games against the Rockies and Giants, both sub-.500 teams."Will Leitch
Fox Sports - 5
Fox Sports had the Brewers one notch lower but still in their top five, though they did have the Pirates ranked ahead of them. Apparently, you get extra points for holding your own against winning teams, which makes complete sense as far as we're concerned.
"They’ve reached the same record as the Jays in opposite fashion. If not for Tampa Bay’s ridiculously scorching start, the Brewers would’ve gotten more attention for sweeping the Mets while beginning the year 6-1. They’ve been more good than great since — dropping a series to the Tigers is not what you want — but they’ve taken care of business against quality teams (12-7 record against clubs over .500)."Rowan Kavner
CBS Sports - 8
CBS Sports isn't quite as impressed with the Brewers' start to the season, dropping them four spots and placing them behind two teams with worse winning percentages. Much of their concern seems to center around a former MVP who still hasn't heated up this season.
"OK, it's May. Christian Yelich has had 117 plate appearances. He's hit .223 with a .340 slugging percentage and has struck out nearly 30 percent of the time. If he was coming off his MVP-caliber seasons, it would be a slow start. We're firmly in "trend" territory, though."Matt Snyder
USA Today - 5
Gabe Lacques of USA Today gives the Brewers one more top five power rankings finish for the week. He notes that stud starter Brandon Woodruff's shoulder injury will keep him out until at least the end of June, which will be a big hurdle to overcome if Milwaukee wants to keep their record among the best in MLB.
As was noted above, it's time to head back west for the Brewers, this time for two series against the Rockies and Giants. That's about as easy as a west coast road trip gets, so let's see if they can capitalize.