What's next for the Brewers after securing their fourth straight NL Central title?

The Milwaukee Brewers have officially won the NL Central once again. After entering Tuesday night with a Magic Number of two, the Brewers defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates 5-1 and then watched the Chicago Cubs lose to the Atlanta Braves, which officially handed Milwaukee their fourth consecutive division title and fifth in the last six years.

It's an incredible accomplishment, four consecutive division titles. So incredible that in the 32-year history of the NL Central Division, no member has ever won four consecutive division titles. Not the St. Louis Cardinals, whose sustained success during the 21st century has long been revered, nor the Chicago Cubs, who have the financial resources to attract top-tier free agents. Rather, it's the Brewers, who exist in the smallest market in baseball, who are consistently picked to miss the playoffs before the season begins, who are on the wrong end of MLB's broken financial landscape, who are forced to trade away their All-Stars just to consistently field a competitive roster, who are the first to accomplish the NL Central four-peat.

Brewers fans, especially those who lived through the years of uncompetitive teams and saw this organization at its worst, certainly don't take for granted any clinching celebration. Fans remember what it felt like to watch a team fail to make the postseason year after year, and seeing the Brewers qualify for the playoffs in eight out of nine years is certainly something the Milwaukee faithful never thought they would witness.

That said, while Brewers fans aren't taking these moments for granted, the standards in Milwaukee have undoubtedly been raised over the last decade. Yes, fans are still excited to watch their team pop champagne every September, but they also want this period of sustained success to lead to postseason success and, eventually, the team's first World Series championship. Therefore, while last night's clinching of the NL Central is absolutely a reason to celebrate, the Brewers and their fanbase are focused on what's next.

After clinching the NL Central, Brewers' focus turns to how best they can set themselves up for success in the postseason

With the division title secured, the Brewers have guaranteed at least the No. 3 seed in the National League, but as the holders of the best record in baseball, Pat Murphy's squad has its sights set on a first-round bye and the top overall seed. In that regard, the Braves win over the Cubs last night did not help the Brewers, but Milwaukee still holds a 5.5-game lead over Atlanta for a first-round bye. With 11 games remaining and six losses separating them in the rankings, that gives the Brewers a Magic Number of six to clinch a first-round bye, because Milwaukee doesn't yet hold the tiebreaker over the Braves as the two split their season series and haven't yet finalized their division records, which is the next tiebreaker after head-to-head matchups.

Therefore, as things currently stand, any combination of Brewers wins and Braves losses that adds up to six will officially send Milwaukee straight to the National League Divisional Series for the second consecutive year. Meanwhile, to secure the top overall seed, and, therefore, home-field advantage throughout the postseason, the Brewers will have to finish with a better record than the Los Angeles Dodgers, who currently have two more tallies in the loss column than the Brewers. Since Milwaukee holds the tiebreaker over the Dodgers, their Magic Number to clinch the No. 1 seed in the National League is nine with 11 games remaining, suggesting that race will come down to the wire.

In addition to setting themselves up for success in the postseason by securing a first-round bye and home-field advantage, the Brewers will use the final two weeks of the regular season to give rest to key players whenever possible. Milwaukee has already begun this process to some extent -- Jacob Misiorowski threw just 82 pitches on Tuesday night -- but it's likely they will do so more aggressively now that they have the division secured. Finding the balance between giving rest and keeping players sharp for the postseason is a difficult task for manager Pat Murphy, but one he now has experience with.

Milwaukee also still has some decisions to finalize over the last 11 games of the regular season, including what Kyle Harrison's role will be on the postseason roster and who will be the No. 3 starter behind Misiorowski and Logan Henderson. These decisions should become clearer as Harrison, Dustin May, and Robert Gasser turn in their final appearances of the regular season.

As such, there's plenty still at stake over the final two weeks of the regular season, but having the division title to their name undoubtedly lifts some weight off the Brewers' shoulders. Their attention, to some extent, can now turn to how best to set themselves up for a deep postseason run.

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