Brewers Week In Review: June 20 — June 26

June 26, 2022
|In Brewers
|By Ben Kenney

Somehow, some way, the Milwaukee Brewers finished up another winning week with Chi Chi Gonzalez and Jason Alexander starting three of their seven contests. If I had to guess how many of Alexander and Gonzalez’s three starts the team would win against two playoff-contending teams, I would’ve guessed none. Instead, the team won two of three — the latest being Sunday’s 10-3 triumph over the Blue Jays.

It seemed like the Brewers turned the corner away from their extended struggles with last weekend’s sweep of the Cincinnati Reds. That proved to be true as this week progressed, as a split against a very good Cardinals team and taking 2 of 3 this weekend against the powerful Blue Jays gave the club a 4-3 week and has stabilized them back atop the NL Central (alongside St. Louis).

The context of the 4-3 seven-day stretch makes the result a bit more impressive. The team is still playing without star pitchers Brandon Woodruff (good news coming on that front) and Freddy Peralta, second baseman Kolten Wong and others. Manufacturing wins with spot starters on the mound is a sign of a good baseball team. The Brewers have done just that, and now get set to welcome back some reinforcements with the division race heating up.

Here is your Week In Review for the Milwaukee Brewers:

 

Record: 4-3

Current Standing: 42-33 (1st in NL Central)

 

The Good: Leadoff Yelich (again).

It isn’t often I get proven exactly right as a year progresses. Last year I called for Craig Counsell to move Christian Yelich to leadoff as the playoffs approached, as Yelich was doing next to nothing hitting third, yet was getting on base just enough to be able to help the team from the leadoff spot.

The move ended up coming nearly eight months later, but it has paid off in massive ways. Yelich looks like a different hitter now 18 days after becoming the team’s regular leadoff man. This week he hit .320/.469/.869, led the team in hits with 8, scored 5 runs and reached base via walk seven times. His full line since moving to leadoff on June 8: 22/72 (.305), 2 HR, 6 RBI, 13 runs, 11 walks, .397 OBP.

In that time the Brewers have averaged 4.61 runs per game, helping a season total that has hung around the middle of the pack in the MLB.

There were many other good things to note from the week, including Alexander and Gonzalez continuing to hold their own, Corbin Burnes’ mastery and a power-packed week from Willy Adames and Tyrone Taylor. My focus here is still on Yelich, as his work from the leadoff spot could be the thing this team needed to start rising up MLB’s offensive rankings.

Oh, and some ‘good’ to note entering this upcoming week: Brandon Woodruff is back and starting on Tuesday.

Also, the City Connect jerseys are sweet. And they led to two wins over the weekend.

 

The Bad: Adrian Houser

It has been a rough month of June for Adrian Houser. He’s now allowed 18 runs in 27 2/3 innings (5.86 ERA) and is 1-3 in those appearances. His start on Friday against Toronto got bad fast, as a 5-run second inning handed him the loss in the team’s 9-4 defeat.

Houser’s ERA now sits at 4.50 on the season after a string of really solid starts in April and May. His struggles make Woodruff’s return even more important, as the rotation has some big-time holes behind the always-dominant Corbin Burnes.

We’ll see how much a changing of the month will help Houser return to his early-season form.

 

MVP: 

-Corbin Burnes (2 starts, 2-0, 14.2 innings, 3 ER, 1.84 ERA, 19 Ks)

 

Stat Of The Week:

 

Video(s) Of The Week:

 

Tweets Of The Week:

 

Next Week: @ TB (2 games), @ PIT

The Brewers are going to Pittsburgh next weekend. Get ready for the full Oneil Cruz experience…who if you haven’t heard of yet, just wait until Thursday.

Brandon Woodruff Christian Yelich Kolten Wong Milwaukee Brewers news schedule stats