How Milwaukee’s Surge Turned Them Into MLB’s Hottest Team
The Milwaukee Brewers are taking the MLB by storm, winning eleven games in a row. They have mowed down team after team. Even before their recent streak, the Brewers won eight of their twelve games in the month of July. How did a team that seemed to be forgotten by baseball and was third in its own division rise to the top of the whole league? In a game that is driven more by numbers than almost any other, we sought to find out using statistics.
One of the most notable factors that has contributed to the sudden rise of Milwaukee is that, during this hot streak, they gained the ability to get hits. The Brewers’ batting average at the end of May was an embarrassing .228, well below the MLB team average that ranges from .243 to .250. Since then, however, the Brewers have experienced an incredible rise in their ability to get hits, raising their batting average to .257 on the season. That number is good enough to be the third-best in all of the MLB.
Even without hits, the Brewers have been able to get on base with ease during this stretch, lifting their on-base percentage to second in the league, a staggering .330 from .304 at the end of May. Additionally, through the first fifty games of the season, the Brewers were standing at an abysmal .349, 28th in the league. However, they have raised that number to .397 over the season. It’s nothing special in terms of power hitting, but it still signifies a strong improvement.
This hot streak has been led by the resurgence of the former National League MVP Christian Yelich, the 12-game hit streak of new trade acquisition Andrew Vaughn, and the consistent and powerful hitting of Isaac Collins. With the assistance of the rest of the team, these players are leading the Brewers on a somewhat inhuman 12-game winning streak.
Still, it is important to point out that the Brewers have only played one of the four series during this streak against a team with a win percentage above .500. In this one series, the team only won by an average of 2.5 runs. Because they are already a strong team, the Brewers were expected to win most, if not all, of these games.
As a result, it can be seen how the Brewers’ recent hot streak is due to a combination of renewed power behind their bats, a weaker schedule, and, maybe the most important factor, the general ups and downs that occur over a 162-game season.