Sure, that 14-game winning streak was one for the digital history books — thanks for the George Webb burger, Milwaukee Brewers.
But in this constant prisoner-of-the-moment world, some baseball writers are starting to ask what the Brewers have done lately.
Though they’re the first team to reach 90 wins and the first to clinch a playoff spot, a 13-15 record since the streak has caused one prominent baseball website to remove them from the top spot in its power rankings.
Though the Brewers remain in his Tier 1 “best of the best” category, Jake Mailhot of Fangraphs has moved the Philadelphia Phillies to No. 1 in his weekly power rankings. (For the record, the Brewers have a two-game lead in the loss column on the Phillies for baseball’s best record and are 4-2 against them this season).
FanGraphs wasn’t the only site that dropped the Brewers from the top spot. Joel Reuter of Bleacher Report cites closer Trevor Megill’s flexor strain as a cause for concern.
Here’s this week’s power-rankings rundown:
Levi Weaver reminds us that, as good as this season has been, it’s pretty much World Series or bust after all of the team’s recent playoff disappointments:
“Here is the story in Milwaukee, 2018-present. Some other team (usually the Cubs) is picked to win the division. Then Milwaukee — fresh off losing one star or another — wins it. When the Brewers don’t, with the exception of 2022, they make the playoffs some other way.
“They do it with grit, speed and fundamentals, and never has that been more true than this season. But every year, they get into the postseason and come up short. … Is this the year the Brewers finally do it?”
Reuter notes Megill’s injury:
“After six straight weeks in the No. 1 spot, the Brewers have been unseated, but they punched their ticket to the postseason Saturday and have a 5-game lead over the Cubs in the NL Central. Injured closer Trevor Megill suffered a setback during a bullpen session on Friday as he tries to come back from a flexor strain before the end of the regular season.”
Why does everybody talk about Tampa Bay every time it makes a trade? Matt Snyder gives the Brewers’ front office deserved props:
“There seems to be an overarching lovefest for the Tampa Bay Rays and how they run a consistently good team despite a shoestring budget. After missing the playoffs again this season, the Rays will have made the postseason five of the last seven years. The Brewers, in the smallest market in baseball, mind you, are headed to the playoffs for the seventh time in the last eight years. That organization deserves more love than the Rays.”
Mailhot dropped the Brewers to No. 2, apparently due to getting swept by the Texas Rangers in Arlington:
“The Brewers became the first team to clinch a playoff berth last week, though the celebrations were a little delayed after they were swept by the red-hot Rangers to start the week. The Crew managed to turn things around and took two of three from the Cardinals over the weekend. Milwaukee’s sights are now set on securing its third straight NL Central title and its fifth division crown over the last eight years.”
Will Leitch says the Brewers’ consistent playoff appearances should be celebrated, not assumed:
“Seriously, congratulations to the Brewers for clinching their playoff spot this week. This team obviously has higher aspirations than just making the postseason, but it should be said that it’s something this fanbase is never going to take fully for granted. The Brewers have now made the playoffs seven of the last eight years, but before that stretch, they had made it four times in their entire history, going all the way back to their year as the Seattle Pilots in 1969.”
D.J. Short points out an injury to another Brewers pitcher:
“The Brewers were the first MLB team to clinch a playoff spot, but now they might be without veteran left-hander José Quintana due to a calf injury.”
After enjoying a few pocket pancakes, Brewers manager Pat Murphy noted that preseason prognostications are often way off, as Gabe Lacques recounts in his rankings:
“‘PECOTA had us at 80 wins,’ Murphy says after clinching playoff spot. (Hey Murph: We had you at 83).”