Despite Troublesome Spots, Brewers Having Strong Season, Sending 5 Players To All-Star Game

The Milwaukee Brewers had a rough end to the first half of the 2018 baseball season, dropping five straight games to the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Nonetheless, the team goes into the All-Star break with 55 wins, tied with the Chicago Cubs for the most in the National League.

And the Brewers are sending a record five players to the All-Star Game in Washington, D.C.

Two of those All-Stars — outfielders Christian Yelich and Lorenzo Cain — came to the team on the same day.

The team signed Cain as a free agent and acquired Yelich in a trade with the Miami Marlins.

Tom Haudricourt, who covers the Brewers and Major League Baseball for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, said having both make the All-Star Team means “there’s pretty good validation” for those roster moves.

The Brewers’ bullpen has also been strong this year.

Two of the All-Stars are relievers. Haudricourt said Josh Hader is “one of the best strikeout pitchers in baseball” in 2018 and “looks like a budding star.”

Jeremy Jeffress, meanwhile, “is more of a veteran who’s putting together his best season ever at age 30.”

But none of the Brewers headed to the All-Star Game this year have a story quite like that of Jesus Aguilar.

Haudricourt said the first baseman, who was claimed off of waivers from Cleveland in 2017, “supposedly didn’t have a place on the team this year with so many first basemen. But then Eric Thames got hurt, Ryan Braun got hurt, (Aguilar) started playing every day and has become the offensive leader of the team and one of the biggest sluggers in baseball.”

While the team has been strong in most areas in the first half of the season, there are places the Brewers hope to improve upon in the second half.

“Three spots have been troublesome for them to get offense out of for most of the season — shortstop, second base and catcher,” Haudricourt said. “Generally they’re in the bottom half of the order, too, so one of the things that’s hurt the Brewers in sustaining rallies is just not getting a lot of production from the bottom of their lineup.”

The deficit in the infield is one reason the Brewers have been at the center of trade rumors involving Baltimore Orioles star Manny Machado. The 26-year-old shortstop is set to enter free agency at the end of the year, and the floundering Orioles appear receptive to trading Machado for the last few months of 2018.

Haudricourt said the shortstop would be a perfect fit for the Brewers — if they can outbid other interested teams for his services.

“It’s going to take a good package of prospects,” he said. “There’s lots of teams in on (the negotiations). We’ll see if the Brewers are able to satisfy the Orioles. We’ll probably know a lot more in the last week.”

The Brewers surprised baseball fans last year with their strong first half. But the Chicago Cubs overtook the team by the end of the season.

“The Brewers missed by one game,” Haudricourt said. “It hurts to play 162 games and miss by one game. You play the woulda-coulda-shoulda game all winter, about how could we have gotten one more victory? They don’t want to fall short again, so they’ll be looking to improve their team.”

And, he said, the Brewers think they’re stronger this year — even despite a series of injuries that have hampered the roster.