Should Brewers make trades?
That won’t solve all their problems, Tom Haudricourt says.
With less than three weeks remaining before the July 31 trade deadline – and this year, there is only one deadline – it’s natural to ponder what help the Milwaukee Brewers might procure to help make a second-half playoff push.
The question is: In what area could the Brewers most use help, starting pitching, bullpen or offense?
Depending on what night you watch them, you might have a different answer.
“Right now, it’s hard to know,” Brewers president of baseball operations David Stearns admitted.
Having said that, Stearns quickly noted that improvement must come primarily from within the team’s roster, rather than expecting a panacea (or two) from outside.
“First and foremost, and I’ve said this throughout, we need to play more consistently with the group we have,” Stearns said. “That’s regardless of who we add, or if we add. The core of our group needs to play more consistently. I anticipate we will, but I also recognize to this point we haven’t. We haven’t really gotten on a run.
“We know this division is going to continue to be tightly packed. We know there are some really good teams in this division, and we don’t expect them to stay around the .500 level. So, if we’re going to have a chance to win the division, we know we’re going to have to play more consistently than we have thus far.”
In other words, it’s time for the Brewers to get going, if they’re going to get going. They stumbled into the all-star break, losing 15 of 23 games. That left them with a 47-44 record, a half-game behind the first-place Chicago Cubs in the NL Central. In the only totally upfor-grabs division in the majors, the St. Louis Cardinals were two games back, with the Pittsburgh Pirates 21⁄2 back and fifth-place Cincinnati a mere 41⁄2 games back.
That logjam allowed every team to dream of a division crown, so it will be interesting to see what moves are made between now and July 31 among that group. With the elimination of the Aug. 31 non-waiver trade deadline, it’s likely going to be now or never for any significant deals.
Despite being over .500, the Brewers were minus-17 in run differential (by comparison, the Cubs were plus-55), which tells you something about the pitching woes they experienced during the first half. That’s likely to be the primary focus of Stearns as he searches for deals to improve his team, be it a starting pitcher or bullpen help.
“We’ve had some periods on both sides of the ball where we’ve played very well, and we’ve had some periods where we’ve really struggled,” Stearns said. “There are areas for improvement in various areas of the roster.
“The run-prevention side of the game is something we’ve talked about a lot. That encapsulates starting pitching, relief pitching and defense. That’s an area, whether external or internal, we are going to have to perform better on a regular basis in order to win the division.”
The Brewers certainly did not get off to a good start in the second half in that department, bowing to San Francisco, 10-7, in 10 innings Friday night at Miller Park. Even more alarming was the fact the Giants have one of the lowest-scoring offenses in the NL.
So, Stearns has to ask himself: How much better would the team be with the addition of one established starting pitcher, which would cost the most in terms of trading prospects? Considering the liberal manner in which the Brewers use their relief corps, would it make more sense to concentrate on adding to the bullpen?
The Brewers do hope to get veteran lefty Gio Gonzalez back from an arm injury in the near future, and Jhoulys Chacín showed signs in his final two starts before the break that he was shaking free of a first-half slump. With Brandon Woodruff and Zach Davies pitching well, Stearns might roll the dice on the starters he has on hand and focus more on relief help.
“We continue to blur the lines between starting and relieving, and how we allocate innings,” Stearns said. “So, it’s probably a little bit different for each club. On the entirety, we need to be better on that side of the ball. Our run prevention needs to improve and perform with a greater degree of consistency.
“The most important thing for us is to get more consistency of production from the group we have in-house. We think we’re capable of that. While we’ll be active in discussions over the next few weeks leading up to the end of the month, our primary focus is, and will remain, getting our guys into positions where they can perform more consistently.”
It hasn’t helped that the Brewers received little effective pitching from within their system.
With the exception of Adrian Houser, now being used as a starter after several successful appearances out of the bullpen, most pitchers summoned from Class AAA San Antonio during the first half quickly found themselves on a return flight.
Stearns noted that the relief corps started behind the 8-ball when Corey Knebel (elbow) and Bobby Wahl (knee) were lost for the season before spring camp was done. Jeremy Jeffress began the year on the injured list and has not been the lights-out late-inning reliever of 2018.
“In certain cases, we had guys step up, like an Adrian Houser,” Stearns said. “In other cases, we haven’t. We’ve given some guys some rope to be big contributors, and at times it hasn’t worked out.
“I still think depth is really important, and I think we have it. And we still have a large portion of the season to develop it. It’s going to be important for us to do what we want to do that guys take advantage of opportunities.”
As an indication that the caliber of pitching depth wasn’t what Stearns originally thought, the Brewers have signed veteran castoffs Drew Smyly and Shelby Miller in recent weeks. Both were dumped by the Rangers in the middle of horrid seasons, so we shall see if they can be of any help at some point.
The outfield remains an area of concern because two 30-something veterans, Ryan Braun (knee) and Lorenzo Cain (thumb) have battled injuries. Production from the infield corners waned when third baseman Travis Shaw, now in the minors, and first baseman Jesús Aguilar, fell into dreadful, season-long slumps.
Aguilar showed signs over the final days of the first half of finding his stroke, and Stearns said he still believes Shaw will be a contributor before the season is done.
“We want Travis back up,” Stearns said. “If he produces at the level he is accustomed to producing, he is a really valuable major-league player. He’ll be back up and he’ll contribute for us.”
The next few weeks figure to be defining for the Brewers on two fronts. They play 12 of their first 16 second-half games at home, providing an opportunity to get headed in the right direction after skidding badly into the break. Stearns also figures to make some deals he hopes will provide a boost for a team that has spun its wheels for the most part.
“I think it’s an important stretch,” he said. “Every stretch from here on out is going to be important. I don’t think there will be any stretch of 10 or 12 games where we feel we can take the foot off the accelerator.
“We’re in a really tight division with a lot of good teams around us. So, this is an important stretch. It will help inform us as to where our team is headed as we get nearer to the trade deadline at the end of the month.”
As for the impact of having a single trade deadline, Stearns said, “It forces teams to make decisions earlier than we had to in years past. Making trades in August was always possible but also challenging. Sometimes it works and sometimes it didn’t.
“Last year, we were able to make a number of trades in August that we felt helped our team down the stretch. Those types of opportunities won’t be there this year. So, there will probably be a little more incentive throughout the industry to try to address whatever needs may exist.”
What needs do the Brewers have? Depends on which night you watch them.