For the first time in probably 10 years, we’re going to do a little something different on this blog for this particular Brewer season. Because for most baseball bloggers, you always see one of two scenarios when it comes to big wins in-season:
Scenario A: The team you blog about does something special/fun (win a Wild Card, win a division, make a run at a title), and you try to do a retrospective list of the biggest wins of the year that led to that special/fun thing. Because baseball is such a long season, it’s impossible to remember the games that in-the-moment felt pretty big.
Scenario B: The team you blog about does nothing, or implodes on itself like a dying star (see the 2022 Brewers) and you forget about all of the fun moments that happened during the season because they ultimately led to nothing.
Well what if there were a Scenario C? A scenario that involves an in-season list of games that felt big/important IF the team does go on to do something special? That way you can chronicle the biggest moments of the year in real-time, and if the team does do something special you look like a genius, and if they don’t do something special you never have to bring them up again? Bingo.
So without further adieu, I present to you the inaugural blog entry in a series we’re going to call, ‘Top 10 Wins If the Brewers Do Anything Special This Season.’ What I really like about the title is how concise it is. And I’m going to stick to 10 wins/blogs. Which means we’re going to have to be very careful about what games we select in the moment.
That said, last night felt like one of those wins. One of the wins we’ll look back on if the season does end up being special and say, ‘that was big.’ After getting POUNDED 18-1 on Monday, the Brewers and Cardinals were tied at 1 in the 2nd inning when Wade Miley exited with a lat injury. Uh oh. The Brewers have been dealing with a TON of injuries already, and Miley had been one of their most consistent rotation pieces heading into last night. With the way Monday went, and with the way the Cardinals and their Dark Magic were picking up steam, Miley leaving that game felt like the most ominous sign yet that the season might be taking a turn.
But then? The bullpen stepped UP. Elvis Peguero, Hoby Milner, Joel Payamps, Peter Strzelecki, and Devin Williams only allow one run as they covered the remainder of the game in a 3-2 win on the road. Payamps got out of a huge jam, and Devin Williams got out of two MASSIVE jams (neither his doing) in the 8th and 9th innings. A Joey Wiemer home run and a Brian Anderson home run were enough offense to get the win. When Miley exited, it definitely didn’t feel like the team was going to be headed to one of their biggest wins of the season.
That win puts the Cardinals back to 7.5 games back, and with another Pirates loss last night, the Brewers actually expand their lead to 2 games in the NL Central. Lose last night’s game, and the Cardinals are 5.5 back with all of the momentum in the world looking for a sweep today. Yes, it all adds up to a May win that could be important if the Brewers do indeed do something special this season.
PS: I’m guessing that the section of Brewer Twitter that was chirping at the Cardinals for being in last place with the worst record in the National League has to be 16 years old or younger. They haven’t been through the wars. They haven’t seen the Cardinal Dark Magic year after year after year. Yes, the Cardinals are off to a bad start, but we all know they’re going to be right there at the end of the season. They always are. That’s another reason why last night was so, so big.
Double PS: Got to do something rotation-wise if this Miley injury is significant, don’t we? Woodruff is out at LEAST another 6 weeks, Ashby’s season sounds done, now Miley. One problem the Brewers still have in 2023 that they did in 2022 is starting pitcher depth. I was hoping that Colin Rea would be better than Jason Alexander or Chi Chi Gonzalez last season, but that really hasn’t been the case. Houser is back, that’s good, my guess is Lauer is headed right back to the rotation with this Miley situation, but I hope that this team explores all options when it comes to filling those gaps.
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