Now a week removed from a crushing wild card game loss, it still pains me to write this article this early in October. I know anything can happen in baseball, especially October baseball, but the whole wild card game it just felt like it was the Brewers’ to win. It stinks to lose, especially in the way it all went down, but I don’t want to focus on that. I’m sure there are plenty of articles out there already that will reduce you to tears and bring you back to that 8th inning last Tuesday. I personally, would prefer to not relive that. As a hopeless romantic when it comes to baseball, I instead would like to focus on the story which is the 2019 Milwaukee Brewers, the one without Christian Yelich.
Last month following Yelich’s season-ending injury, I wrote an article about how even without the defending MVP, you can't count the Brewers out just yet. At the time they were 1 game back from the wild card and 5 back from the division. I ended the article with a spark of optimism. I wrote, “The Brewers have something the Cards and Cubs don’t have: a rallying cry. What better way to repay Yelich for yet another MVP-caliber season than taking the team to the playoffs for him? Call me crazy all you want, just know stranger things have happened, and everyone loves a good underdog story.” Though it ended sooner than we hoped for, what a good underdog story it was. In the month of September, the Brewers held the best record in the MLB going 20-7. Of those 27 games, Yelich played in just 9 of them, 7 out of those 9 being wins. After his season ended on September 10th, every single member of the team stepped up. The September Milwaukee Brewers played with more heart and passion in the wake of the loss of Yelich than they did the entire season.
It’s no secret the Brewers reach a different form in the month of September, after all they don’t call it “Craigtember” for nothing. Give Craig Counsell a 40-man roster and watch the magic happen. Offensively, every spot in the lineup stepped up. Yasmani Grandal gave a September performance that practically begged for the Brewers to re-sign him this offseason. Another free agent this season, Mike Moustakas made his return to lineup after sitting out on the IL for over a week on September 11th. He came back on his 31st birthday, just one game after Yelich went down. His first contribution back? A two-run homer to give the Brewers the lead against Miami, as well as driving in 5 runs to give them a 7-5 win. No one was on more of a roll though than veteran Ryan Braun who put on an impressive September performance, with a .302 batting average in his last 15 games of the regular season, with a .367 OBP, and an even more impressive .529 batting average with a .600 OBP in his last 7 games of the regular season, all while wearing Yelich's jersey under his own for many of those September games. Not too bad for a 35- year old. The lineup was able to shut the doubters up real quick, because after all, nothing gets a team going like a good ol' rallying cry.
Still, while the offense stepped up, it was the Brewers’ pitching that really made all the difference in their battle for a playoff spot. With a starting rotation that had been broken down and inconsistent since April, and a bullpen that had been shaky to say the least for a majority of the season, no one looked more ready for a postseason run than the pitching staff. With Woodruff back in the rotation, there was no longer a question of who the Brewers' ace this year was. Though he pitched just 4 innings in his return from the IL in the month of September, he allowed no hits, walked only 1 batter, and struck out 7 batters. Of course Counsell did not want to overwork him in his return, hence why his appearances in the month of September were so limited, but it made him an easy pick as the Brewers' starter once the wild card came around. Gio Gonzalez, Jordan Lyles, Chase Anderson, Zach Davies, and Adrian Houser completed Milwaukee's starting rotation for the month of September, giving them the consistency they were looking for all season long. Gonzalez posted a September ERA of 1.17 in 4 games started, Lyles a 2.39 in 5 games started, Anderson a 2.35 in 5 games started, Davies a 2.31 in 5 games started, and Houser a 4.44 in 6 games started, the only starter who seemed to really struggle. Regardless, while a finally consistent starting rotation helped, the story with the Brewers' pitching in September was not the starters, but rather the bullpen.
All season long, the Brewers' bullpen had been put to the test. Even with a for the most part fully healthy rotation in September, they had to be ready to come in as early as the 4th inning in games. Throughout the season, this seemed to be where many of the team's losses came from. It got to the point some people felt even Josh Hader couldn't be trusted. Boy did the bullpen prove everyone wrong. In the month of September, the Brewers' bullpen under the guidance of Craig Counsell and his magic touch, tied for 5th in the NL in relievers' ERA with a 3.39, 1st in the NL in wins, 1st in both Ks and K/9 in the NL, and 2nd in K/BB, per STATs, Inc. In the last 13 games of the regular season, the bullpen posted up a 2.73 ERA, which included an 11-7 loss against the Rockies on September 27th. Without that game, the bullpen's ERA was a 1.36 with just 9 earned runs given up in 59 2/3rds innings pitched. The true September heroes emerged in Brent Suter, Josh Hader, and none other than Dwew Pomeranz. Yes you read that right Red Sox fans. Dwew Pomeranz. In the month of September, Dwew held onto a 2.03 ERA, holding batters to a .152 batting average, walking only 1 man in 13.1 innings pitched, and had the second most strikeouts out of the bullpen, with 25 SO in 13.1 innings pitched. 25 strikeouts!!! He also recorded his first game saved since 2015. To say Dwew was a "significant" acquisition at the trade deadline is an understatement, and I fully own up to being completely wrong about him. Everyone's favorite environmentalist Brent Suter had an equally exciting September. He made his return from the IL for the first time all season on September 2nd. In 18.1 innings pitched, he held onto an ERA of 0.49. Pretty impressive for a guy that hadn't played on a major league field all season! Suter earned the NL Reliever of the Month, and rightfully so. Then of course there was Josh Hader. Hader for sure had some ups and downs this season, perhaps in his most inconsistent season yet, and unfortunately for him, his 2019 season might be remembered by the Wild Card game. However it's important to remember Hader is one of the best relievers in the game, if not THE best. I've said time and time again, players are not robots and they're not always going to be perfect. In 13 appearances in the month of September and 14.1 innings pitched, Hader recorded 10 saves. He held batters to an average of .143 and led the team in strikeouts with 27 in those 14.1 innings. To say he had an incredible September is an understatement. I'm sure a lot of us, myself included, talked down on the guy after the wild card, but the stats don't lie: Josh Hader is an elite reliever, and the Brewers would not have made it as far as they did without him.
The bullpen played an essential role in the September Brewers' success on the field, but I think the most important aspect of their success came off the field. In a league in which so many teams struggle to find the perfect skipper to lead their ball club, there never seems to be a question when it comes to Craig Counsell. People love to have someone to blame struggles on and often it seems the manager is the easiest target. However Counsell managed his team perfectly in September, despite all the obstacles the club faced. That being said, he also managed his team perfectly in the Wild Card, but unfortunately sometimes it's out of your own hands. He did everything right - Hader was, and always has been this season, the guy for the job. It just didn't work out. Counsell trusts his guys, and knows what they are capable of. If he didn't, they wouldn't have made the comeback they did in September, climbing from 5 games back of the wild card, to eliminating the Cubs from the race with games to spare. You play with what you're given, and man does Craig know how to manage the hell out of his team. Many people said if the Brewers made the playoffs he should be in the discussion for manager of the year, and despite the shortcomings in the Wild Card, I very much believe Counsell is still a contender for the title. The Brewers would not be the team they are without their skipper.
Even if they didn't make it as far as we all hoped, the 2019 Brewers have a lot to be proud of. For the first time since 1981 and 1982, they made back-to-back postseason appearances. The odds were stacked against them September 1st, just like they were September 1st, 2018. This time they were able to beat the odds without NL MVP Christian Yelich, who for the record, still very much deserves to be the 2019 NL MVP. Though there are a lot of question marks concerning the 2020 season and what the roster will look like, David Stearns himself said he's "optimistic about the future," per Andrew Wagner of the Wisconsin State Journal. "I'm optimistic and proud of what we've accomplished. I'm optimistic about the future and where we are headed. Maybe more than anything else, we as an organization and as a front office are energized to get back to work and build the next contending Brewers team."With an optimistic GM, a (hopefully) completely healthy lineup including the MVP, and a hell of a manager in Craig Counsell, I believe things can only go up from here for the 2020 Milwaukee Brewers.