We are less than a week of the late season baseball. Nobody, it seems, feels really great about their team. This is certainly value for fans of Brewers; The team Hindt, literally and figuratively, in the late season after the news that Brandon Woodruff will probably not pitch in the late season and Trevor Megill is trying to find his way back.
And although the photo of the National League has not yet been set, let’s look at each of the teams that the Milwaukee Brewers may encounter in the NL side of the bracket. Why should we fear them? Why should we feel confident? I have arranged these teams from top (Engst) to below (least scary). Of course everything can happen in every round – that baseball. But let’s see what you think.
Reason to fear: They are the Dodgers. Reason for trust: Pitching question marks.
The Line -Up still contains Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman. Betts has put it together lately after a predominantly non-smoking season. Freeman has lost a bit at the age of 34, but he is still firm above average. Shohei will probably win another MVP. Max Muncy still touches dingers.
Yes, there are some questions in the line -up: Will Smith recovers from a broken hand and may not come back. Tommy Edman, a hero of last year’s late season, has not been very good. The signing of Michael Conforto did not work. Teoscar Hernández has its worst season in years. Andy Pages has had a Breakout season, but has returned to earth a bit.
But the pitching is what frightens you in one way or another. After they have been held together with duct tape all season, they have been as healthy as the whole year. Yoshinobu Yamamoto has been the constant of this group and ends high in cy Young voices. Blake Snell has only thrown 61 innings, but he looked like the Blake Snell that two cy Youngs has in his trophy case. Shohei Ohtani has a 1.91 FIP in 47 innings and has recently looked awkward. Tyler GlasNow has not been as good as we have seen him in the past, but he is healthy. Emmet Sheehan sometimes looked good.
The Bullpen is a different story; Kirby Yates and Tanner Scott, new additions, have been bad, just like Blake Tinnen. Yates is injured, just like Evan Phillips, BruSdar Graterol and Michael Kopech, among many others. Alex Vesia is the only real reliever in this team that has had a solid, healthy season. They can become creative; Sheehan, Clayton Kershaw, even Roki Sasaki (who made first place since May on Wednesday on Wednesday) can be involved, but there are real questions here.
Reasons to fear: Star power, experience, the top of the rotation. Reasons for trust: No Zack Wheeler, Defense, De Bullpen (perhaps).
Unless the brewers go 0-3 and the Phillies go 0-4, the Phillies end with the number two seeds in the NL. They have big names in the Line -up, including two boys who could end in the top three in NL MVP voices, Kyle Schwarber and Trea Turner. Bryce Harper is still a stud. JT RealMuto remains a steady veteran presence.
But there are some holes in this line -up and the defense can be a real problem. The excellent game of Harrison Bader since he was taken over on the deadline has solved some of those problems, and Edmundo Sosa has been a handy Swiss pocket knife, but the Phillies do not get much production from one by Bryson Stott, Alec Bohm, Max Keper, Brandon Marsh or Nick Castellanos.
Cristopher Sánchez has been one of the best pitchers in the sport and Ranger Suárez has had a good season. But the loss of Zack Wheeler really influences the depth of this team; Without him they will have to rely on at least one of Jesús Luzardo (who has been very inconsistent) or Taijuan Walker (not -inspiring) to eat some innings. De Bullpen also has questions, although the acquisition of the fire sale of their other twins, Jhoan Duran, has gone a long way to save that group.
Reasons to fear: Losing the cubs would be the worst. Reasons for trust: The pitching and the attack was better in the first half.
This is a good attacking team, even if they are not as good as in the first two months of the season. Kyle Tucker is still a star, although he has had some bumps this year. Pete Crow-Armstrong is not the batter he was early in the year, but he can still do annoying things. Seiya Suzuki is a good batter, Carson Kelly has had a good year and Ian Happ, Nico Hoerner and Michael Busch have all produced lately.
But the pitching just doesn’t worry. Matthew Boyd? He’s fine. Cad Horton? Yes, certainly – but he is a rookie. Shota Imanaga has a FIP of 4.78. A few relievers had decent seasons in the bullpen, but nobody really scares you.
No, the thing that scares me to play the cubs does not really have anything to do with baseball; I am convinced that the Brewers are a better baseball team than the Cubs. The fear is that This is baseball, And weird things happen in the late season, and I just don’t know how I would deal with the Cubs. That is The scariest thing about playing the Cubs.
Reasons to fear: The bullpen. Reasons for trust: They are quite good at many things, but not good at anything?
The obvious force is the Bullpen, but Jeremiah Estrada (who finished Danny Jansen on Wednesday) has cooled and the Jason Adam injury hurts them. Robert Suarez is good and leads the NL in Rescue, and Adrián Morejón has had an excellent year, and several other boys have big scary fastballs, but it doesn’t seem as impenetrable as ever.
Nick Pivetta has had a good season. Michael King has been solid, but he missed a few time and has only made four starts since May (and one of them was bad). Randy Vásquez’s decent statistics at surface-level masking scary underlying numbers. Dylan ceases the opposite, but it has been a disappointing year for him. At the age of 39, time seems to have risen on the excellent career of Yu Darvishh.
The line -up has big names, but it has not been strange. They are 19th in runs per game and 21st in Ops+. Fernando Tatís Jr. Has been good, not great. Manny Machado and Gavin sheets started well, but fell back. Jackson Merrill has been fine, but not as good as he was like a Rookie. Their two Deadline Oriole Pick -ups, Ryan O’Hearn and Ramón Laureano, have had mixed results (O’Hearn Bad, Laureano Good). Luis Arraez hits .288 but has a OPS+ of only 96. The catcher position is a black hole.
They are not a terrible offensive team nor a bad pitching team nor a bad defensive team, but they are not either Great With one of those things. In the way they balance, they look like the brewers … except not so good, really, everything.
I will quickly continue this last three, because only one of them will make the play -offs and we do not yet know who.
Reasons to fear: Deep wounds. Reasons for trust: They have been terrible lately.
Last season lives like a spirit in our mind, and that will certainly do that for a while. But the 2025 with at least two in-or-to-prime hall of families at the top of the line-up were not very good. Yes, some advanced statistics think they have suffered bad luck, perhaps spectacular.
But they have collapsed beautifully lately. The pitching has not worked than Edwin Díaz. They will probably rely on two Rookie starters in the wildcart round, if they get that far. They were 62-44 on July 27; Since then they have been 19-33.
Reasons to fear: Already seen. Reasons for trust: Pitching
As they have in the past, this team has good position players. Three of the best position players in the NL would say: Geraldo Perdomo leads NL position players in Bwar, Corbin Carroll has an excellent season and Ketel Marte is one of the most underrated players of his generation. But they also left a few gaps after the sale at the Trade Deadline.
And that pitching staff … I just don’t see how that brings you through the late season. ZAC Galen has been a little better in the second half, but he is not close to the Cy Young Competent we have seen in recent years. They exchanged Merill Kelly. Shelby Miller is of course gone. Ryne Nelson has been a bright spot since the surrender to the start rotation, but there are one lot Questions about this staff, and I don’t think the answers exist.
Reasons to fear: Start with pitching, youthful naivety. Reasons for trust: Attack, bullpen.
Elly de la Cruz has a 110 Ops+; That is the best in this team for a player with 100 or more record performances, and only two other players (Austin Hays and Noelvi Marte) even have a 100 OPS+. The attack is just not very good.
However, the starting pitching is. Andrew Abbott and Hunter Greene are studs. Nick Lodolo is probably too. Brady Singer is solid. In the Bullpen they have two good pieces – Emilio Pagán and Tony Santillan – and no one else about whom I would feel good.
Almost none of these guys once played in the late season. Does that mean that the moment will be too big, or will they be that classic young team that does not realize that they have to lose? Could go in all directions.
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