The Brewers are trying to keep the pedal down after a rough little stretch, and Monday night’s 5-3 win over the Reds was the kind of response they needed.
Milwaukee had dropped its previous two games to the Cubs and had lost five of its last 10, which had manager Pat Murphy sounding plenty frustrated before the first pitch. He said the club was "pretty pissed" even after reaching 50 wins, and he also said he had a "get-together" with the position players before the game to address the recent slump.
The message seemed to land. Joey Ortiz broke a 3-3 tie with an eighth-inning two-run homer, and the Brewers finished the job from there. The win pushed Milwaukee to 51-31 and kept it 5 1/2 games ahead of the second-place Cubs.
Even with the division cushion, the next move matters. The Brewers have a team that can do something special this season, but the trade deadline should be about finding more impact, especially a big bat. A high-leverage reliever would help, and a veteran starter would be useful too, but the lineup upgrade is the priority.
With that in mind, three names stand out as possible targets: Isaac Paredes, Aroldis Chapman and Tarik Skubal.
Paredes would be the kind of fit that jumps out immediately if the Astros were willing to discuss him. Houston does not look like a team headed for a major sell-off, but if it listens on Paredes the way it did this past offseason, he would be a dream target for Milwaukee. He can move around the infield and is under team control for one more season, which makes him especially appealing as a power option.
Chapman is a different kind of swing, but an enticing one. He has long been one of the best closers in baseball, and this year he has a 2.19 ERA in 26 appearances. If the Brewers could land an arm like that, the back end of the bullpen would be a problem for everyone else.
Skubal would be the biggest-name ask of the group. The Tigers have struggled all season, and even with his return they have not flipped their year around. He is set to hit free agency after the season, and he’s the kind of pitcher worth checking on if Milwaukee wants to raise the ceiling of an already strong rotation.
One name on the other side of the ledger is Frankie Peralta. He was excellent in Milwaukee, but his current season in New York has not gone well, with a 4.53 ERA in 17 starts. The Brewers already got strong value back from the Mets in Brandon Sproat and Jett Williams, and the idea of sending more talent to New York for a few months of Peralta before he reaches free agency in a down year simply does not make sense.
In Other News...
Tigers Fans Have Every Right To Ask About Ben Malgeri Now
The Tigers latest roster shuffle brought Ben Malgeri back into the picture after Trei Cruz was sent down following a brief major league stay, and the move fit what had been building in Toledo. Malgeri had forced the issue with his Triple-A production, and once he got the call, he wasted little time making a case that the bat can translate to the big league level.
AJ Hinch has already made clear that Malgeri has hit his way here, and the early usage says the Tigers are easing him into the mix while they sort through other roster issues. He has mostly been deployed in a limited role so far, but every new appearance seems to reinforce the same question for Detroit: if he keeps opening eyes, how long can they keep leaving him in that kind of lane? [Read more 🡒]
Another Ugly Yankees Twist Emerged During Tigers Win
As the Tigers were finishing off a win, another awkward Yankees moment spilled into the game when Jazz Chisholm Jr. and teammate Jasson Domnguez collided in the field. Chisholm was tended to and then left the game, with Oswaldo Cabrera taking his place as New York tried to sort out a sudden in-game mess.
The Yankees have not offered much beyond that, which leaves the focus on what happened in the aftermath and whether the club can steady itself after another concerning twist. For Detroit, it was just one more strange subplot in a game it controlled, but for New York it added a layer of unease to a day already marked by a costly collision. [Read more 🡒]
Tigers Get Another Reminder Of What's Still Holding This Team Back
AJ Hinch picked up career win No. 1,000 in Detroits 7-3 victory over the Yankees, a milestone that underscored how far the Tigers have come under his watch. Casey Mize did his part, too, turning in one of his best outings of the season as Detroit kept leaning on the kind of pitching that has carried it through much of June and kept the rotation among the better groups in the league.
Still, the larger issue remains hard to miss. Tigers starters have been remarkably steady for weeks, but the record in those games has not matched the quality of the work, and that disconnect is exactly why this team still feels unfinished. Detroit keeps getting enough from the mound to stay in games and win its share, but until the rest of the roster consistently catches up, nights like this may say more about what the Tigers are trying to become than what they already are. [Read more 🡒]