The Milwaukee Brewers are the best team in baseball right now, but what about the bigger picture?
The Milwaukee Brewers are having a disastrous series against the San Diego Padres following an 11-2 loss on Tuesday, but they still possess the best record in Major League Baseball.
However, their top standing is slipping.
Heading into Wednesday’s slate of games, the Brewers (74-46) are just a half-game above the Tampa Bay Rays (73-46) for the No. 1 spot in the sport. But for the time being, it is Milwaukee’s position to lose, as is its placement in The Athletic's recent power rankings.
Before the Brewers were routed on Tuesday, Grant Brisbee, Chad Jennings and Levi Weaver published their latest power rankings, and the Brewers lead all 30 clubs. So, what should be the outlook moving forward?
What matters and what doesn’t
From this trio of writers’ point of view, the Brewers should not be bothered with a feel-good story about the trajectory of their season so far, and they are right to feel this way.
As Brisbee, Jennings and Weaver point out, Milwaukee has demonstrated successful regular seasons for the better part of a decade. In seven of the last eight seasons, the Brewers have been postseason participants. Moreover, they have won the National League Central Division three straight times and look poised to capture it for the fourth year in a row.
Milwaukee’s organization is not synonymous with some flash-in-the-pan feel-good story about an otherwise stumbling franchise that got hot. It is well run, and it has proven it knows how to succeed.
But that success has its limitations, especially in the playoffs, and that is what matters.
Brisbee, Jennings and Weaver chronicled the Brewers’ playoff failures since 2018. In that span, they have had four Wild Card series losses, one of which was to the Los Angeles Dodgers, a National League Division Series loss to the Atlanta Braves and two National League Championship Series losses to the Dodgers.
Given this sample size of history, two things are clear: The Brewers have not yet made it to the World Series, and the Dodgers are their kryptonite.
The latter point is one I have written about at length this season, because what does a great regular season matter if the inevitable wall shows up again and again? It is demoralizing for the team and for the fans.
As the reasoning in the Brewers’ ranking points out, expectations are heightened. There is no runway for this group to keep falling short. Maybe Milwaukee will not win it all, but it is time to show it can at least make it to the mountaintop.
