Brewers Off to Ugly Start, Look Nothing Like Projected Division Winner
I was able to sneak behind enemy lines yesterday to watch the Brewers’ season opener, and though I’m no Henry Thomas Harrison, I do have some news to report.
The Brewers have no pitching, but you don’t need my insight to verify this. Four games into the season, Milwaukee has surrendered 47 runs in 33 innings, buoyed by an unsightly 13.50 ERA entering yesterday’s game from starters Freddy Peralta, Nestor Cortes, and Aaron Civale. Elvin Rodriguez took the mound Monday, and gave up four earned runs on six hits in four innings of work. It was reported that the Royals received a delivery of the infamous torpedo bats before yesterday’s game, but you could hit Milwaukee’s pitchers with a broomstick right now.
The relievers aren’t much better. All have been hit hard except for Bryan Hudson and first baseman Jake Bauers, who remain unscathed through four combined innings. Elvis Peguero, Grant Anderson, Jared Koenig, Chad Patrick, Connor Thomas, and Joel Payamps have ERAs north of 10.00. I understand that four games represent a small sample size, but that doesn’t make things any less ugly. Closer Trevor Megill has faced just one batter. Yes, Bauers has faced more batters than Megill.
No team in the modern era of Major League Baseball, which dates to 1901, ever allowed more runs through its first four games than the Brewers have. Milwaukee is also the first team in MLB history to have an ERA that exceeds 12.00 through its first four games.
With home runs by Maikel Garcia and Salvador Perez in yesterday’s tilt, Milwaukee has allowed 17 in 34 innings.
The Brewers are hitting .225 as a team. Three starters – Vinny Capra, Brice Turang, and Sal Frelick – have an OPS of .600 or higher. They’re also the only Milwaukee hitters with a batting average above the Mendoza Line. Bauers and Turang lead the club with three RBIs, and Milwaukee has just three home runs.
Milwaukee’s batters have more strikeouts (43) than hits (32). Jackson Chourio leads the team with a pathetic 10 punchouts in 19 plate appearances. The Brewers have yet to hit into a double play this season, but that’s because they strike out so much.
The Brewers have lost four straight games for the first time since July 2023.
Yesterday’s loss was Milwaukee’s worst in a home opener since being shut out 10-0 by the Rockies in 2015. The Brewers are 0-4 for just the sixth time in franchise history. They’ve started 0-5 twice in team history and 0-6 just once (2006). That team finished 75-87.
The Cubs scored more runs in Monday night’s 18-3 win over the Athletics than the Brewers have all season.
The NL Central race is supposed to be tight this season, and any of its five teams have a chance of winning it. The Cubs are the consensus favorites, but 11 of 33 writers across the DiamondCentric websites picked the Brewers as the division’s top team. The folks at Just Baseball favored the Brewers, too.
The NL Central is there for the taking, and our @JPeterson12_17 takes a look where each team stands heading into Opening Day 2025:https://t.co/XgFekE7MXb
— Just Baseball (@JustBB_Media) March 20, 2025
“Even after winning 93 games in 2024, it feels as if this team has more room to grow,” Joey Peterson wrote. “It would have been encouraging to see them be more active this offseason. Then again, it’s hard to disagree with their way of operating. They thrive on a [proven] successful formula.”
Will Leitch of MLB.com is another writer who projected another division championship for the Brewers. He blamed the Cubs for not doing enough to unseat Milwaukee.
“The Cubs are the popular pick here, and for understandable reasons,” Leitch wrote. “They did trade for Kyle Tucker, after all. But their moves after that – and their non-moves, most notably their inability to sign Alex Bregman – didn’t exactly give them the look of a team that will do everything possible to take advantage of their one guaranteed season with an MVP-caliber player in their lineup.
“When in doubt, trust the Brewers. They’re essentially the Rays of this division, usually more than the sum of their parts, usually finding a way. And this division isn’t nearly as tough as the AL East often is. Plus, the Brewers have a young, emerging superstar in Chourio.”
I didn’t make any predictions this year, but I’d take the Cubs if pressed. The Reds, Pirates, Brewers, and Cardinals round out my selections. Chicago’s bullpen worries me, but the Reds’ poor defense gives the Cubs a slight edge. Pittsburgh, Milwaukee, and St. Louis are too mediocre to compete.
Four games hardly make a season, but I watched a 65-win team, at most, take the field in Milwaukee yesterday. From my viewpoint, the race should come down to the Reds and the Cubs. The Brewers will be trying to trade Peralta, Megill, Rhys Hoskins, and Christian Yelich by the end of the All-Star break. Mark my words.
