Article: Ignore the Haters. The Brewers are in Great Shape

[Tim Muma]

In a world of instant gratification and trouble seeing the big picture, it's important to have perspective in a 162-game baseball season. The Milwaukee Brewers have done phenomenally well, despite two straight losses to the toothless Chicago Cubs and what looked like a third consecutive defeat on the horizon Thursday.

There's a rhythm and comfort to seeing baseball played every day. It's a unique security blanket where you can find a screen or speaker producing the familiar ambiance of the ballpark. The danger of its frequency lies in the unfair analysis of a player or team in a single game or week, where some overvalue a slump or a pair of losses.

So when the Brewers dropped a couple of one-run contests to the Cubs, some (many?) viewed it as a travesty or a sign of the apocalypse. Social media was abuzz with negativity. Sure, the Brewers have the third-best record in the NL while the Cubs are a below-.500 club, but these games and the series are specks on the MLB calendar. If you need more proof of that, the 22-27 Pittsburgh Pirates just swept the 34-17 Los Angeles Dodgers (second-best record in the NL) in a recent three-game set in Los Angeles.

In the words of Bill Veeck, "Baseball is not meant to be gulped. It's meant to be savored." Let's look at a larger portion of the cup and its contents instead of the last couple of swigs.

Before their thrilling 5-4 comeback over the San Diego Padres, Milwaukee had just finished 6-5 on a three-city road trip where they played 11 games in 10 days. The Brewers had to travel to the West Coast first as they took two of three games over the 30-21 Padres. Next, they came back to the Midwest to take on the rival St. Louis Cardinals in a four-game set, which they split. St. Louis is currently 29-22. Finally, up to Chicago with a series-opening doubleheader en route to a four-game split. 

Considering the travel, playing more games than there were days, and the high quality of the first two opponents, a 6-5 mark deserves kudos for a healthy team. Now take into account the banged-up roster the Brewers have been dealing with, and suddenly, their performance shines brighter, especially as they notched another win Thursday.

• Starting shortstop Willy Adames did not play during the road trip and has missed the last 18 team games.
• Typical right fielder Hunter Renfroe only played in the first four innings of the road trip.
• Due to injury, starting pitchers Freddy Peralta and Brandon Woodruff combined to pitch just four innings on the trip.
• Closer Josh Hader, while not hurt, missed the first three games of the trip because of a family emergency.

Talk about dealing with adversity during a rough stretch of games. It took big-time efforts from several other players, such as Devin Williams, who pitched in all three games in San Diego, picking up a pair of saves there and a hold in Chicago. Offensively, Jace Peterson has gone 8-for-16 with two doubles, two triples, one home run, eight RBI, and four runs in the last six contests. His game-tying triple in the ninth on Thursday is the most recent example of his heroics. Those two players aren't the only ones increasing their impact, but they have played vital roles.

How about some more perspective on the Brewers' recent play? Milwaukee has three games left as part of a challenging stretch of 18 games in 17 days. That creates a demanding physical and mental strain on the team. Simply staying above the .500 mark across the 18-game span - especially with their injuries - would be an accomplishment. The Brewers are 9-6 with one weekend to go.

That brings us to the whole picture, with the Brewers sitting at 33-20, tied for the best 53-game start in franchise history. They've done it while playing 32 of the contests on the road (60.4%), including two, three-city journeys between May 6 and June 1.

Those couple of defeats at Wrigley Field should do nothing to detract from the Brewers' fantastic start when factoring everything in. Ignore the haters who argue that Milwaukee has taken advantage of weak teams, too. The Dodgers are 27-16 against clubs with a .500 record or worse. The New York Mets are 26-12 against the same group, while the Brewers are 26-14. You can only play who is on your schedule, and you can't pick your division. Take the NL East, which has four teams with losing records. Milwaukee hasn't had any extra advantage in the scheduling department.

And while the opposition will undoubtedly get more difficult in the future, the Brewers will enjoy far more home games where they are 15-6 to open the season. Assuming better health and some trade deadline deals, no one will remember two random nights in Chicago, especially when Milwaukee is making a postseason run toward a World Series ring.

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[brewmann04]

Tim I was one of those you are talking about you seen my tweets.

But what a comeback last night  ps still think Suter  and Cain our weak links and hopefully David get us an upgrade

[brewmann04]

Tim I was one of those you are talking about you seen my tweets.

But what a comeback last night  ps still think Suter  and Cain our weak links and hopefully David get us an upgrade

[sveumrules]

Sometimes I wonder how some of these Brewers fans who get all hot & bothered on the internet over a couple close losses to the Cubbies in the early going of what looks like a 5th consecutive playoff season managed to make it through 1993-2004 (when only the Tigers & two expansion teams won fewer games than the Brewers) without their heads exploding.

[sveumrules]

Sometimes I wonder how some of these Brewers fans who get all hot & bothered on the internet over a couple close losses to the Cubbies in the early going of what looks like a 5th consecutive playoff season managed to make it through 1993-2004 (when only the Tigers & two expansion teams won fewer games than the Brewers) without their heads exploding.

[Dragonbait]

How dare you provide context and facts!

[Dragonbait]

How dare you provide context and facts!

[Joseph Zarr]

This is the Way. Tim has spoken.

[Joseph Zarr]

This is the Way. Tim has spoken.

[Brewcrew82]

Tremendous article. There are definitely a few to whom I would recommend it. Keep up the good work!

[Brewcrew82]

Tremendous article. There are definitely a few to whom I would recommend it. Keep up the good work!

[BruisedCrew]

4 hours ago, sveumrules said:

Sometimes I wonder how some of these Brewers fans who get all hot & bothered on the internet over a couple close losses to the Cubbies in the early going of what looks like a 5th consecutive playoff season managed to make it through 1993-2004 (when only the Tigers & two expansion teams won fewer games than the Brewers) without their heads exploding.

As someone who lived through those years, and all of the rest of Brewers history, the answer is pretty simple. A terrible team leads to no expectations and no aggravation. 
 

When expectations are higher, every game becomes more important in the broader context of reaching the playoffs and having a reasonable chance to advance in them. So, the team is subjected to closer scrutiny and a higher standard of performance. 
 

This year just winning the division isn’t the only thing to focus on. There is the additional goal is having one of the top two division winning records to avoid the “wild card” round of playoffs. 
 

Internet message boards for teams like the Brewers had from 1993-2004 would have been pretty quiet because not many people cared enough about the Brewers to complain about them. 

[BruisedCrew]

4 hours ago, sveumrules said:

Sometimes I wonder how some of these Brewers fans who get all hot & bothered on the internet over a couple close losses to the Cubbies in the early going of what looks like a 5th consecutive playoff season managed to make it through 1993-2004 (when only the Tigers & two expansion teams won fewer games than the Brewers) without their heads exploding.

As someone who lived through those years, and all of the rest of Brewers history, the answer is pretty simple. A terrible team leads to no expectations and no aggravation. 
 

When expectations are higher, every game becomes more important in the broader context of reaching the playoffs and having a reasonable chance to advance in them. So, the team is subjected to closer scrutiny and a higher standard of performance. 
 

This year just winning the division isn’t the only thing to focus on. There is the additional goal is having one of the top two division winning records to avoid the “wild card” round of playoffs. 
 

Internet message boards for teams like the Brewers had from 1993-2004 would have been pretty quiet because not many people cared enough about the Brewers to complain about them. 

[BruisedCrew]

This is an excellent summary, though I would  question the use of the word “haters”. Maybe something like “critics” would be more appropriate. I think most of the critics on this board are much better described as “fanatics” than “haters”.

On the subject of the Brewers beating up on bad teams, that first came up after they started 18-8 with a high percentage of their games against the Pirates, Cubs, Orioles, and Reds, who left Milwaukee on May 5 with a record of 3-22. The consensus at the time seemed to be that the Pirates, Cubs, and Reds might be the 3 worst teams in the NL, not just the division.

I remember pointing out after that Reds series that the schedule was going to get much tougher through the end of June as the Brewers played many more playoff contending teams, and had three, 3 city road trips. I think pointing that out wasn’t being a “hater”, but just taking an objective look at the schedule. 

The Brewers performance since May 5 reflects that tougher schedule. On May 5 the Brewers had a record of 18-8 with 128 runs scored and 87 allowed. Since then they have gone 15-12 with 115 runs scored and 117 allowed. Their almost uncanny ability to win close, low scoring games has allowed them to maintain a winning pace. 

I recognize the rush of injuries the Brewers have had the last couple of weeks, but I don’t think they have had a significant effect on the won-loss record YET. I note that on their first road trip after May 5 they dropped 5 of 8 against the Braves, Reds, and Marlins before Adames was injured. The Braves and Marlins illustrate that using “teams under .500” to identify weak teams can be misleading. Those teams are all under .500 but I consider the Braves and Marlins (largely because of some strong pitchers) to be more competitive than some other teams. Even the Reds, after their horrific start, have gone 15-10 since May 5, a slightly better record than the Brewers. Sometimes it isn’t what teams you have played, but when you played them. The  Braves with Acuna seem to be more formidable than without him. 
 

Anyway, to me the best news for the Brewers now is that the absolutely worst part of their schedule for the season is behind them, and they survived it in pretty good fashion. They have completed 2 of the 3 3 city road trips, including the worst of the bunch, the latest trip which featured 11 games in 10 days. The other  2 trips are/were 9 games in 10 days, which puts a lot less stress on the team and the pitching staff, even a staff without injuries and other personal absences. 
 

So, while the June schedule is still more difficult than the first 26 games of the season, it has many more home games and includes 3 off days and (as of now) no doubleheaders. I mentioned that I don’t think the injuries have hurt the W-L record much, if at all, YET, because the fill-ins have generally done the job (like Williams as closer, Peterson delivering some big hits, and Taylor getting hot when given regular playing time). I am skeptical that this is sustainable for too long, so hopefully Adames, Renfroe, Woodruff, and Narvaez can all be back soon. 

On the subject of the two losses to the Cubs, I see both overreactions and overreactions to the overreactions. It is only natural for many baseball fans to get emotionally wrapped up in the game every day and react in the moment. As the daily results (good and bad) sink in the games quickly get blended in with the bigger picture. 

When people have an overreaction to the latest game or string of games, it might be better to let them wail than to try to convince them that they shouldn’t react the way they do.
 

So, maybe at the end of the day the advice in the title would be good to remember. Whether you choose to call them (or me) “haters”, “critics”, “cynics”, “skeptics”, or whatever, try ignoring them. Just my two cents. 
 

[BruisedCrew]

This is an excellent summary, though I would  question the use of the word “haters”. Maybe something like “critics” would be more appropriate. I think most of the critics on this board are much better described as “fanatics” than “haters”.

On the subject of the Brewers beating up on bad teams, that first came up after they started 18-8 with a high percentage of their games against the Pirates, Cubs, Orioles, and Reds, who left Milwaukee on May 5 with a record of 3-22. The consensus at the time seemed to be that the Pirates, Cubs, and Reds might be the 3 worst teams in the NL, not just the division.

I remember pointing out after that Reds series that the schedule was going to get much tougher through the end of June as the Brewers played many more playoff contending teams, and had three, 3 city road trips. I think pointing that out wasn’t being a “hater”, but just taking an objective look at the schedule. 

The Brewers performance since May 5 reflects that tougher schedule. On May 5 the Brewers had a record of 18-8 with 128 runs scored and 87 allowed. Since then they have gone 15-12 with 115 runs scored and 117 allowed. Their almost uncanny ability to win close, low scoring games has allowed them to maintain a winning pace. 

I recognize the rush of injuries the Brewers have had the last couple of weeks, but I don’t think they have had a significant effect on the won-loss record YET. I note that on their first road trip after May 5 they dropped 5 of 8 against the Braves, Reds, and Marlins before Adames was injured. The Braves and Marlins illustrate that using “teams under .500” to identify weak teams can be misleading. Those teams are all under .500 but I consider the Braves and Marlins (largely because of some strong pitchers) to be more competitive than some other teams. Even the Reds, after their horrific start, have gone 15-10 since May 5, a slightly better record than the Brewers. Sometimes it isn’t what teams you have played, but when you played them. The  Braves with Acuna seem to be more formidable than without him. 
 

Anyway, to me the best news for the Brewers now is that the absolutely worst part of their schedule for the season is behind them, and they survived it in pretty good fashion. They have completed 2 of the 3 3 city road trips, including the worst of the bunch, the latest trip which featured 11 games in 10 days. The other  2 trips are/were 9 games in 10 days, which puts a lot less stress on the team and the pitching staff, even a staff without injuries and other personal absences. 
 

So, while the June schedule is still more difficult than the first 26 games of the season, it has many more home games and includes 3 off days and (as of now) no doubleheaders. I mentioned that I don’t think the injuries have hurt the W-L record much, if at all, YET, because the fill-ins have generally done the job (like Williams as closer, Peterson delivering some big hits, and Taylor getting hot when given regular playing time). I am skeptical that this is sustainable for too long, so hopefully Adames, Renfroe, Woodruff, and Narvaez can all be back soon. 

On the subject of the two losses to the Cubs, I see both overreactions and overreactions to the overreactions. It is only natural for many baseball fans to get emotionally wrapped up in the game every day and react in the moment. As the daily results (good and bad) sink in the games quickly get blended in with the bigger picture. 

When people have an overreaction to the latest game or string of games, it might be better to let them wail than to try to convince them that they shouldn’t react the way they do.
 

So, maybe at the end of the day the advice in the title would be good to remember. Whether you choose to call them (or me) “haters”, “critics”, “cynics”, “skeptics”, or whatever, try ignoring them. Just my two cents. 
 

[Tim Muma]

7 hours ago, brewmann04 said:

Tim I was one of those you are talking about you seen my tweets.

But what a comeback last night  ps still think Suter  and Cain our weak links and hopefully David get us an upgrade

They certainly are concerns, and the Brewers have areas to address.  Thankfully other guys have stepped up recently, but they are not fully loaded right now.

[Tim Muma]

7 hours ago, brewmann04 said:

Tim I was one of those you are talking about you seen my tweets.

But what a comeback last night  ps still think Suter  and Cain our weak links and hopefully David get us an upgrade

They certainly are concerns, and the Brewers have areas to address.  Thankfully other guys have stepped up recently, but they are not fully loaded right now.