Sitting atop the baseball world, the Milwaukee Brewers have come out of nowhere to become the best team in Major League Baseball.
Currently holding a 74-44 record, the crew have won 10 straight games and catapulted to the top of the NL Central. They lead the division by 6.5 games over the Chicago Cubs and a 13 game lead over the third place Cincinnati Reds.
The Brewers are one of the smaller market franchises in baseball that often have success. The team has thrived in season’s past due to excellent roster management. This includes strong drafting, quality trade returns, and hitting on a few diamonds in the rough.
Players like Christian Yelich and Rhys Hoskins are certainly known by baseball casuals but the rest of the crew’s roster are players that only die hard fans would know. Talents such as Caleb Durbin, Joey Ortiz, and Quinn Priester certainly are not selling copies of MLB: The Show 25.
A Winning Formula
In Milwaukee, home runs are not the key to winning baseball games. While the modern game has shifted to whoever hits the most home runs, the Brewers thrive in other aspects.
Small ball baseball, consisting of stealing bases, bunting runners over, and putting the ball in play make up this team’s DNA. They are capable of the long ball, but they don’t rely on it.
The Brewers play an athletic brand of baseball and that translates to their defense. Defensively, the team is one of the sharper units in all of Major League Baseball, consistently finishing in the top half of relevant statistics.
Lately, Milwaukee has proven that the next man up mantra suits them. There is a new hero every night and the team rallies around one another. Andrew Vaughn, the club’s first baseman, was struggling to stay in professional baseball during his time with the Chicago White Sox.
As a mid-season flier, the Brewers traded for Vaughn after starter Aaron Civale wanted off the team. Vaughn was called up after an injury to Hoskins, and has since played like his hair is on fire.
In 26 games with Milwaukee, he is hitting .352 with an OPS of 1.045. He has seven home runs in that span and has 29 runs batted in. He is averaging more than one RBI a game as a Brewer.
A Look Ahead
With the season entering the final stretch, it is almost certain that the Milwaukee Brewers will make the post season for the seventh time in the last eight seasons.
A model of consistency, the club should repeat as NL Central champions, and likely will earn a first-round bye. Regardless of their seeding, the Brewers will be a force to reckon with come October.
Last season the team saw a rising New York Mets club stun them in a first round exit. The Brewers vow to bounce back from a season ago and have put themselves in great position to do so.
It is time to familiarize yourself with this team. Come October, you might not have much of a choice otherwise.
Photograph by Tim Gouw
Matt Watson Media 
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