Brewers putting on a show on defense

Milwaukee, W.I. ~ After a rough start to the season on defense, the Milwaukee Brewers have been getting the job done as of late. The Brewers just finished taking two out of three against their division rival, the Chicago Cubs. In the final two games of the series the Brew Crew didn’t allow Chicago to score one run, shutting them out twice. The Brewers are now 41-27 and lead the Cubs by 1.5 games. Run prevention was the key to the series, as it was in the first two series also. The Brewers didn’t score all that much either, but their pitching and defense allowed them to win the series.

The Crew’s pitching staff has been widely regarded responsible for the Brewers early success so far, as their team ERA, 3.42, is the fourth best in the Major League. Milwaukee can count on any one of their out-getters to come and get the job done, which really helps the whole team. And despite a little bit of recent struggles the Brewers bullpen is ranked second in all of baseball.

A key part of the team that have limited runs is the defense. While typical defensive stats show that the Brew Crew are not a the best at defense. Their 41 errors are tenth most in the MLB, and they have a fielding percentage of .983. However, many other statistics show that the Brewers are actually quite advanced.

The Brewers, according to Fangraphs, rank first with 52 defensive runs saved. Milwaukee has four of the best thirty defensive players in the defensive runs saved category. Lorenzo Cain leads the team with 10 runs saved, while Orlando Arcia comes up at second with 9 defensive runs saved. At the shortstop position he only ranks behind Francisco Lindor and Addison Russell, both All-Stars. Travis Shaw,an underrated defensive player is third on the team with 7 runs saved. And very surprisingly, Domingo Santana, who ranks only behind Aaron Judge, has saved 7 runs.

So while the Brewers pitchng has been great this season, the defense has too. All the little things add up, and that is why the Brewers have the best record in the National League.

By Jacob Szczap