The Brewers’ offense has gone from steady to stuck, and Jake Bauers didn’t waste any time naming the problem.
Milwaukee has hit a rough patch since Aug. 1, when the calendar flipped and the bats seemed to lose their rhythm. Over that stretch, the Brewers are batting .212 as a team and scoring 3.33 runs per game, a sharp drop from the .255 average and 5.06 runs per game they were producing before August began. That slide has left them at 6-6 in August, and a frustrating sweep by the Padres only made the numbers look worse.
The series in San Diego came with a few different ways to lose. Logan Henderson and Dustin May both turned in strong pitching outings, but Milwaukee still managed only seven total runs across the three games and couldn’t find enough offense to avoid the sweep.
Defensive mistakes showed up too, including a groundball to first base in the eighth inning of yesterday afternoon’s loss that wasn’t turned into an out. Still, the bigger issue was hard to miss: when a team is scraping together two or three runs a night, the margin for error disappears fast.
After the game, Bauers - one of the club’s steadiest hitters this season - said the struggles are as much about the mind as anything else. Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported the exchange, and Bauers’ answer landed with the kind of blunt force Brewers fans probably appreciated.
Jake Bauers said the Brewers offense’s struggles right now are all mental.
“I think we need to chill the f*** out a little bit.”
That message fits with how Milwaukee has built its identity at the plate. The Brewers have long leaned on patience, and this year they’ve carried the lowest swing and chase rates in baseball.
But that discipline has slipped during the slump. Since the start of August, both the overall swing rate and chase rate have ticked up, and Wednesday’s loss against San Diego was the clearest example yet of that drift.
The final three innings brought Milwaukee face-to-face with Mason Miller and Adrian Morejon, two of the better relievers in the game. Neither had his sharpest stuff, though Miller still escaped the ninth cleanly despite throwing just nine of his 23 pitches for strikes. Jackson Chourio helped him out by chasing a pitch well above the zone and lifting a harmless fly ball to right after Miller had already walked two batters.
The 10th inning didn’t help matters either, with Brice Turang getting caught stealing at third to start a scoreless frame that Milwaukee also matched in the bottom half. Then came the 11th, when the Brewers finally seemed to have Morejon under real pressure.
Gary Sánchez opened the inning with a double, Garrett Mitchell followed with a walk, and a wild pitch moved Sánchez to third with nobody out. Morejon was missing arm-side, Mitchell had worked a six-pitch walk, and the inning was there for the taking.
Instead, Milwaukee chased its way out of the moment. David Hamilton swung at two pitches up and in that were nowhere near the zone before taking a slider for strike three.
Then Joey Ortiz stepped in with a chance to cash in the run on third, but he struck out swinging too, even though Morejon didn’t throw him a single pitch in the zone. Sánchez stayed put, the Brewers came up empty, and the game ended with Milwaukee still searching for answers.
That’s the part Bauers was getting at. The Brewers usually don’t live outside the strike zone; in many ways, avoiding that trap has been their strength.
But lately, especially against the Padres, they’ve been too eager to make something happen instead of waiting for the pitch they want. Bauers’ fix was simple, and it matched the evidence on the field: settle down, stop pressing, and quit helping pitchers escape trouble.
In Other News...
Brewers Suddenly Face A Brice Turang Problem They Couldn't Afford
Brice Turang has become one of the Brewers most important offensive pieces, which is why a thumb injury at this stage lands with immediate concern. He sprained it against the Padres, and for a club already navigating life without infielder Cooper Pratt on the Injured List, any absence from Turang would put extra strain on a group that has tried to keep the infield steady while the lineup holds together.
If Turang needs time, Milwaukee would have to find answers quickly from elsewhere on the roster, with Jihwan Bae, David Hamilton and Joey Ortiz among the names likely to matter more. None of those options can fully replace what Turang has brought, but this is the kind of shuffle the Brewers may have to manage if they want to avoid one injury turning into a deeper infield problem. [Read more 🡒]
Jackson Chourio's Early Exit Sent Brewers Fans A Clear Message
Jackson Chourios night ended early in a move that fit the Brewers bigger picture more than the box score. With a comfortable lead and the club already managing some bumps and bruises, Milwaukee chose to play it safe and get one of its most important young players out of the game before anything could turn into a larger problem.
Pat Murphy framed the decision as part of a broader effort to keep the roster in one piece entering the postseason, especially with Brice Turang dealing with a sore thumb and William Contreras having taken a swing off the wrist. For a team that has spent much of the season valuing depth and availability, the message was clear: the Brewers would rather absorb a little awkwardness in the moment than risk something worse later. [Read more 🡒]
Brewers Suddenly Face A Depth Test They Cant Escape
The Brewers have spent much of this demanding stretch patching together their infield and outfield at the same time, with injuries forcing manager Pat Murphy to keep adjusting the lineup card. Rookie shortstop Cooper Pratt is on the injured list with a hamstring strain, Brice Turang is dealing with a sprained thumb, and Milwaukee has brought in Ji Hwan Bae while also leaning on Andrew Vaughn and Turang to cover different spots around the diamond.
Sal Frelicks absence has added to the squeeze in the outfield, where the Brewers have had to manage without one of their more reliable regulars because of a right shoulder strain. The encouraging part for Milwaukee is that help should be coming, but for now the club is still operating in survival mode as it tries to keep its season on track through a roster that keeps getting thinner before it gets whole again. [Read more 🡒]