{"id":765756,"date":"2026-07-16T06:43:39","date_gmt":"2026-07-16T06:43:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/765756\/"},"modified":"2026-07-16T06:43:39","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T06:43:39","slug":"brewers-sophia-minnaert-assesses-milwaukees-hot-start-to-season-sports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/765756\/","title":{"rendered":"Brewers’ Sophia Minnaert assesses Milwaukee’s hot start to season | Sports"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Cap Times is an independent newsroom serving Madison and Wisconsin. Sign up for the Morning Update<\/a> to receive news in your inbox each morning.<\/p>\n

Despite getting swept in Pittsburgh, an unexpected pothole on their path, the Milwaukee Brewers should still feel good about themselves at the All-Star break.<\/p>\n

Shouldn\u2019t they?<\/p>\n

The Brewers (59-37) are on pace for 100 victories, the most for a single season in franchise history, topping last year\u2019s mark of 97. The 59 wins in the first half is a record, too.<\/p>\n

Although Milwaukee\u2019s winning recipe in the National League Central has been well-documented\u00a0\u2014 playoff berths in seven of the last eight seasons\u00a0\u2014 there are still doubters.<\/p>\n

Going into spring training, there were questions, particularly after the trade of staff ace Freddy Peralta, who went 17-6 last year and had been a steady fixture in the rotation.<\/p>\n

Yet only the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers have more wins at the break. All things considered, did anyone believe the Brewers were capable of a 59-win first half?<\/p>\n

\u201cWere they capable? Yes,\u201d replied Sophia Minnaert, an award-winning television reporter in Milwaukee who is a steady fixture in her own right, on the Brewers telecasts since 2018.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut you know how hard it is. It takes a lot of things. It takes health and performance and a lot of different guys contributing.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ve also dealt with adversity. There was that stretch of the season where they were down (Christian) Yelich, (Andrew) Vaughn, (Jackson)\u00a0Chourio for more than a month.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey had to sort of tread water and hang in there and they did to their credit. I never set any limits on what this group is capable of because I feel like they always answer.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to her on-air duties, Minnaert has been the team\u2019s broadcast and digital features content director. There have been plenty of positive storylines to emerge daily.<\/p>\n

Sunday wasn\u2019t one of those days.<\/p>\n

More injuries to overcome<\/p>\n

Not only did the Brewers suffer through a 10-run inning in a 14-5 rout, but pitcher Brandon Woodruff was moved to the 60-day injured list and will be out until September.<\/p>\n

Woodruff has been battling right shoulder inflammation and has been limited to nine starts and a 2-2 record. There will be another update on his status later in the week.<\/p>\n

The 33-year-old Woodruff missed the entire 2024 season after shoulder surgery. Last year, he was 7-2 in 12 starts before a strained muscle sidelined him for the playoffs.<\/p>\n

\u201cPersonally, you feel for him so much just because this has been such a frustrating journey,\u201d Minnaert said Saturday before knowing of his expanded stint on the injury list.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody who spends any time around Woody just loves him and knows what he means to the team and this organization.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s done a great job of setting a real culture and closeness. He\u2019s just the best example of the daily work required for all these young guys to follow, \u2018This is how it\u2019s done.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

One of those young arms, Kyle Harrison, 24, went on the 15-day injured list with forearm tightness, retroactive to July 9. It was more of a precautionary move to rest his arm.<\/p>\n

With an 8-2 record, Harrison has the second most wins as a starter on the staff behind Jacob Misiorowski, 24, who skipped his turn Sunday and will be given more rest.<\/p>\n

The Miz will attend Tuesday\u2019s All-Star game in Philadelphia. He won\u2019t pitch, but he will experience the vibe. He\u2019s deserving of the spotlight with a 10-4 record and 1.62 ERA.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe got so much attention last year when he came up and it has been even more this year,\u201d Minnaert said. \u201cHe\u2019s handled it really well. He\u2019s shown real maturity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Miz isn\u2019t into show biz.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s just humble, a well-grounded guy. He doesn\u2019t take himself too seriously. He likes to have fun. He loves pitching against the best. He loves competing.\u201d<\/p>\n

So does Milwaukee second baseman Brice Turang, who was left off the All-Star roster. Atlanta\u2019s Ozzie Albies and San Francisco\u2019s Luis Arraez were in Philly instead of him.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no question when you watch him (Turang) every day that he\u2019s an All-Star,\u201d Minnaert opined. \u201c(Manager) Pat Murphy has said that. His teammates would tell you that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even if Turang is too humble to say that himself, he opened eyes to his skills and talent level with Team USA during the 2026 World Baseball Classic.<\/p>\n

‘Good things can happen’<\/p>\n

Minnaert is of the belief that the Brewers don\u2019t get enough credit for their talented players. Maybe it\u2019s due to their small market payroll and commitment to overachievers.<\/p>\n

On the team\u2019s successful run in the NL Central, she said, \u201cIt\u2019s a product of a lot of quality decisions and investment in the group and keeping the core together.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe players deserve all the credit because they\u2019re the ones competing and doing all of this. This isn\u2019t just a culture thing. These guys are all super talented.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re really coming into the prime of their careers, and now you\u2019ve got this even younger group with Jackson Chourio, Cooper Pratt and Luis Lara, all 22 or under.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou just look at it and go, \u2018Wow, this is a group that could be successful for a long time just with the talent they have. \u2026 You feel good things can happen.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Last season, the Brewers won the most regular season games in baseball at 97. After eliminating the Chicago Cubs in the playoffs, they were swept by the Dodgers.<\/p>\n

It left a bad taste.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey know what a long haul this is and how hard it is to do consistently,\u201d Minnaert said. “They also frankly want more. They haven\u2019t ultimately done what they wanted to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Postseason punchouts have haunted them.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ve won the division the last couple of years. They\u2019ve made these postseason runs. But they still want more. They\u2019re still hungry.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a Milwaukee personality trait.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re legitimately a very close group. There\u2019s great chemistry here,\u201d said Minnaert, a Edgewood High School and Marquette University grad.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey do the work together. They really do pull for each other. They\u2019re really an even-keel group. They never get too high. They never get too low.\u201d<\/p>\n

Through thick or thin.<\/p>\n

This is how it\u2019s done.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Cap Times is an independent newsroom serving Madison and Wisconsin. Sign up for the Morning Update to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":765757,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[363,99],"class_list":["post-765756","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/765756","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=765756"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/765756\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/765757"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=765756"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=765756"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=765756"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}