The Brewers remain the cream of the NL Central crop, with a healthy five-game lead over a second-place Cubs team ravaged by pitching injuries. With Milwaukee looking the clear favorite to claim its fifth division title in the last six seasons, the trade deadline will be all about adding the finishing touches to finally clinch the team’s first World Series trip since 1982.
Record: 52-31 (97.8% playoff probability, per FanGraphs)
Buy Mode
Potential needs: Third base, shortstop, home run power, a right-handed bat, rotation depth, bullpen depth
There are couple of glaring deficiencies within the Brewers’ overall solid offense. Only three teams have fewer home runs than Milwaukee’s 78 big flies, and the Brew Crew’s 91 wRC+ against left-handed pitching ranks 20th of 30 teams in that category. The Brewers’ lack of quick-strike offense was exposed by the Dodgers in last year’s NLCS sweep, and the NL’s other top contenders have plenty of star southpaws (Cristopher Sanchez, Jesus Luzardo, Chris Sale, Blake Snell, Justin Wrobleski, etc.) who can feast on an unbalanced lineup.
Jackson Chourio, William Contreras, and Andrew Vaughn are all dangerous right-handed bats, plus backup catcher Gary Sanchez has gotten some time as a DH against lefty starters. But, acquiring another righty swinger with some pop seems like a natural way to address two of the Brewers’ problems….or three problems, if that new hitter happens to play on the left side of the infield.
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