I was always a bit hesitant to put too much stock into this weekend’s series in Milwaukee. The Brewers continue to defy logic that resides on paper, continuing to be a very good team despite not having an offense that can overpower teams. It does help having the Cy Young frontrunner at the beginning of the rotation and a solid #2 in Kyle Harrison, but the Phillies’ lethargy on Sunday didn’t really tell me anything.
Three up
Bryson Stott – Continuing an up and down season, Stott had a good week, hitting .364/.417/.545. In their continued search for anyone other than the Harper/Schwarber/Marsh trio for offense, having another bat do something that shows a pulse is a plus for the team.
Edmundo Sosa – Sosa seems to be in that phase of his year where he’s up a bit. We all know the story: Sosa hits well -> calls for more playing time increase -> Sosa gets more playing time -> he goes in the tanks -> plays less -> hits a few baseballs hard/plays decent defense -> wash, rinse repeat. This was one of the good weeks, coupled with his getting appearances in left field to help keep the bat in the lineup. He didn’t look out of place out there, even if some of the plays he made could best be described as “wobbly”. Let’s just not kid ourselves: having Sosa in the outfield is a band aid, not a solution.
Jesus Luzardo – The team continues to get good to strong outings from Cristopher Sanchez and Zack Wheeler, Sunday’s stinker from Sanchez the outlier. They continue to get struggles from Andrew Painter and Aaron Nola. That makes Luzardo crucial for them. He has to be good for them to have good weeks as a team. Luckily for them, this was one of those weeks in which he was good.
Three down
Trea Turner – Turner is bad this year. He had a stretch where he looked competent, but he has been bad. Offensively, defensively, he’s just bad. Without his even being somewhat effective, the offense just doesn’t stand a chance.
Brad Keller – That outing on Saturday was just a microcosm of Keller’s season. He hasn’t really been that good for them, but he’s more or less held the opposition down just enough to get them to Jhoan Duran. Saturday was something of a roller coaster as Keller looked generally alright with his stuff, but the Brewers hit him and he walked the entire stadium. If the team is to get into the playoffs and make any kind of noise, Keller is going to have to be closer to his 2025 self, something that is starting to look more and more unlikely as that might be the outlier season.
the outfield (except for Brandon Marsh) – Derek Hill and Gabriel Rincones are temporary fixes. This is an outfield group that needs someone else entered into the mix. There were reports yesterday of the team looking at Jo Adell and Seiya Suzuki, but I’d argue they need something better, more permanent in their outfield.
