Small market, big power: How the Brewers are slugging their way to the top
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Jesse Rogers, ESPN Staff Writer
MILWAUKEE — The Brewers lost their manager and best pitcher during the offseason. A step back would have felt understandable. Instead, two months into the season, Milwaukee is in a familiar place: atop the National League Central.
Replacing stars and reloading is nothing new for small-market teams such as the Brewers, but what is surprising is that Milwaukee returned to the top of the standings. Its offense ranked third in the National League in home runs entering Wednesday’s games, behind only the star-studded Los Angeles Dodgers.
Milwaukee’s explosive lineup has the attention of opponents used to prepping for the Brewers’ vaunted pitching staff.
“Their offense has been really, really good this year. They’re scoring a ton of runs and have a lot of guys performing at really high levels. Last year, they had great pitching and defense and they struggled to score runs,” Chicago Cubs president Jed Hoyer said. “This year, they’ve flipped the script and they’re really scoring runs. I give them credit for being resourceful.”
Craig Counsell leaving for the Cubs and ace Corbin Burnes‘ trade to the Baltimore Orioles dominated the headlines this winter, but the Brewers quietly upgraded their offense. Now, the moves are paying off.
First baseman Rhys Hoskins, who signed a two-year deal in late January, leads the team with nine home runs. Veteran catcher Gary Sanchez has six (and, so far, his best batting average since 2019) on a one-year deal. Joey Ortiz, acquired from the Orioles in the Burnes deal, and infielder Jake Bauers, another trade acquisition, have also contributed.
“We [acquired] guys for a reason,” GM Matt Arnold told ESPN this week. “Those guys have that kind of pedigree. We weren’t where we hoped to be in power last year.”
Arnold’s additions helped, but they alone didn’t take the Brewers from 25th in slugging last season to sixth in the majors this year.
In all, Milwaukee has eight players with five or more home runs, tied with Baltimore for most in MLB. That list includes holdovers Willy Adames (eight), William Contreras (eight) and Christian Yelich (five), as well as second-year players Blake Perkins (four) and Brice Turang (three), both with power increases since their rookie seasons.
The Brewers have been getting performance throughout their lineup rather than relying on one or two superstar sluggers for power.
“It’s a collective unit understanding you can pass the baton,” manager Pat Murphy said.
That collective unit has come in handy since Hoskins and Yelich have missed time. The Brewers have leaned on Contreras, who is developing into the type of player who can carry a lineup through tough stretches, making the leap from solid contributor to potential National League MVP candidate.
“I’m super impressed with William and what he’s doing,” Hoskins said. “You look at him and see power in him but he’s not a power hitter. He’s a really, really good hitter that accidentally hits home runs, which is always impressive.”
Contreras and his teammates’ focus on hitting for power without selling out for home runs is no coincidence: It’s the product of a philosophy instilled from the start of spring training.
“A lot of our data-driven talks were about what we do well, individually and as a team,” Hoskins said. “And how we can forge a plan or approach to what we do well and then power usually follows.”
It has led to a lineup that ranks in the top 10 in home run percentage, hard-hit rate and ISO power, helping turn a rebuilding year into a possible sixth postseason appearance in seven seasons.
“We’re trying to do both. It’s really tricky,” Arnold said. “We know our challenges being one of the smallest markets. “We’ve had a lot of success to this point but no one wants to sit here and put our feet up.”
If they keep hitting like they have, it’s hard to see the Brewers falling out of first place. Always expected to play good defense and pitch well, Milwaukee’s newfound power has one scout calling them “the little engine that could.” Hoskins, a longtime member of one of the sport’s big-market powers in Philadelphia, believes this version of the Brewers is built to go toe-to-toe with the NL’s heavyweights in October.
“The only surprise is we’re not the same type of market,” Hoskins said. “It’s a testament to pregame work, both physical and numbers driven. It’s putting us in a confident position.”
OTTAWA, Ontario — Max Pacioretty scored the tiebreaking goal with less than six minutes remaining, leading the Toronto Maple Leafs to a series-clinching 4-2 victory over the Ottawa Senators on Thursday night in Game 6 of their first-round matchup.
William Nylander had two goals, including an empty-netter in the final seconds, and an assist, and Auston Matthews added a power-play goal in the first period for Toronto. Anthony Stolarz made 20 saves.
Brady Tkachuk and David Perron scored for Ottawa. Thomas Chabot had two assists and Linus Ullmark made 19 saves.
The Maple Leafs advanced to take on the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers in the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. The Panthers beat the Tampa Bay Lightning in five games in their first-round series.
Toronto grabbed a 3-0 series lead, but Ottawa stayed alive with a 4-3 overtime victory in Game 4 and a 4-0 shutout in Game 5.
The Maple Leafs finally put away the Senators in Game 6.
With the game tied at 2, Pacioretty — a heathy scratch to start the series — scored the winner with 5:39 remaining off a pass from Max Domi that beat Ullmark to the glove side. It was Pacioretty’s first goal of the playoffs.
Scott Laughton hit the post before Nylander iced it into the empty net with 18.3 seconds left.
Matthews put Toronto up 1-0 on a power play with 70 seconds left in the first period when he fired a low shot through traffic.
Nylander, on his 29th birthday, made it 2-0 just 43 seconds into the second when he ripped a shot past Ullmark after Pacioretty forced a turnover from Senators defenseman Nick Jensen.
Ottawa got on the board at 7:28 when Tkachuk tipped a shot past Stolarz.
Toronto, which beat Ottawa four times in five playoffs series in the early 2000s, came close to restoring its two-goal lead when John Tavares poked a loose puck off the post before Ullmark denied Matthew Knies and Brandon Carlo off the rush.
Perron scored with 7:20 left in regulation to tie it on a shot from below the goal line that went in off Stolarz’s back to make it 2-2.
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