If the season ended today, the Brewers would be sitting on top of the National League Central for a fourth straight time and would enter October as the No. 2 overall seed in the National League. That’s a pretty strong place to be for a club that has had to keep absorbing injuries and still keeps finding answers.
Milwaukee’s biggest edge has been the rotation, which already looks like the best in baseball and is set to get stronger with Logan Henderson almost back. The offense has also done enough to keep the Brewers moving, and it was the best in baseball during June. For much of the year, the left side of the infield was viewed as the lineup’s soft spot, but Cooper Pratt has already been promoted to handle shortstop and has shown promise, even with a slow start at the plate.
Third base has been a tougher spot to solve. Joey Ortiz and David Hamilton have split time there, but neither has provided much offensively.
If Milwaukee wants to look inward, No. 5 prospect Jett Williams is the most obvious option waiting in Triple-A. If the front office prefers to shop, the trade market offers another route, and Isaac Paredes of the Houston Astros has already been floated as a possible fit.
The bigger picture is simple: this is a strong Brewers team that still has room to get better. With the Aug. 3 trade deadline approaching, Milwaukee has every reason to push for more help. The organization also has the kind of farm system that gives it real flexibility to do that.
That perception is already out there around the league. On Wednesday, The Athletic’s Tim Britton and Chad Jennings grouped teams into trade tiers, and the Brewers landed in the “typical buyers” group with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Seattle Mariners, Cleveland Guardians and Tampa Bay Rays.
"Tier 2: Typical buyers: Los Angeles Dodgers, SP, RP. Seattle Mariners, RHB.
Cleveland Guardians, RHB. Milwaukee Brewers, RP.
Tampa Bay Rays, SP," Britton and Jennings wrote.
Britton and Jennings pointed to the bullpen as Milwaukee’s biggest need, and that makes sense. The Brewers rank seventh in bullpen ERA at 3.64, which is strong, but not untouchable. DL Hall and Rob Zastryzny are expected back in July and should help, though a veteran arm such as Aroldis Chapman would be worth a hard look.
Still, there’s an argument that a power bat matters even more. Hall and Zastryzny are on the way, but outside of perhaps Williams, the Brewers do not have an obvious internal answer for adding real thump to the middle of the order.
Ideally, Milwaukee would chase both. A reliever and a slugger would make plenty of sense, and the Brewers have the farm depth to go after either one. With July here and a little more than a month until the deadline, they look like a team that should be buying in a big way.
In Other News...
Brewers May Need A Familiar Face To Fix A Lingering Problem
The Brewers have spent much of the season leaning on pitching depth and a bullpen that has generally done the job, but the roster still has a few soft spots that could shape how aggressive they get before the August 3 trade deadline. One of the bigger questions remains the left side of the infield, where Milwaukee could stand to add some stability, and the front office may not have to look far to find names that already feel familiar.
A few former Brewers are popping up as possible solutions, including Grant Wolfram, who is now with the Orioles, and Bryan Hudson, whose rebound with the White Sox has made him a more interesting bullpen option than he was a year ago. David Fry, meanwhile, offers the kind of versatile bat that can help a bench in a hurry. The most obvious reunion candidate would be Willy Adames, but the bigger issue for Milwaukee is whether it can line up the kind of move that actually answers the need without costing too much elsewhere. [Read more 🡒]
Brandon Sproat Is Forcing A Brewers Decision Much Sooner Than Expected
Brandon Sproats first season in the Brewers system has moved well past the shaky early stretch that came after he arrived in the Freddy Peralta trade. Milwaukee has been encouraged enough by the right-handers progress to keep tracking him as a possible part of the rotation picture down the line, and June gave that idea a real boost with sharper command and more effective pitching than he showed in May.
The timing is what makes this matter now. Sproats improvement is arriving just as Milwaukees staff is getting healthier, and the returning arms are about to force some hard decisions. Logan Henderson is close to coming back, and with Jacob Misiorowski, Kyle Harrison, Brandon Woodruff, Shane Drohan and Robert Gasser also in the mix, the Brewers may soon have more viable starters than rotation spots. [Read more 🡒]