Hey, it's Zack.
Before I get into it this week, happy back to school to everyone with kids heading back. If you do not have kids in school, carry on.
Now let’s talk baseball.
The Milwaukee Brewers are the best team in baseball right now. That sentence should not surprise anyone at this point in the season. But for a lot of fans it still does. Milwaukee never gets the attention it earns.
THE ENTRANCE
The Brewers have the most wins in baseball. They have made the playoffs in eight of the last nine seasons. They just set a franchise record with 97 wins last year and came back this season and got even better.
They do not spend like the big market clubs and it does not matter. Matt Arnold has built one of the most consistent winning organizations in baseball. Year after year they find a way. No flashy signings. No blockbuster trades. Just a front office that knows how to evaluate talent and develop it better than most.
This past week they took three of four from the Dodgers. The Dodgers came to Milwaukee with Skubal in their rotation, the best run differential in baseball and a payroll that dwarfs just about everyone. They left with a series loss. Nobody should be surprised anymore.
THE DELIVERY
You cannot talk about the Brewers without starting with Jacob Misiorowski.
He is 24 years old. 12 and 5. 1.75 ERA. 210 strikeouts in 139 innings. He leads baseball in ERA, strikeouts and WHIP. He set the MLB record for the fastest fastball by a starting pitcher at 105.5 miles per hour. He was a second round pick out of a junior college in Missouri and debuted last June.
I played with and against a lot of good pitchers. What Misiorowski is doing this year is different. The velocity and the command at his age is rare. Most guys at 24 are still figuring out one or the other. He has both. Every time he takes the mound you get the sense that the other team is just trying to survive the outing. He is the NL Cy Young frontrunner by a wide margin.
The rotation behind him has a 3.46 ERA as a staff. Second best in baseball. Misiorowski is the headliner but this is not a one pitcher staff. Kyle Harrison is 9 and 3 with a 2.99 ERA. Logan Henderson is 7 and 2 with a 2.70 ERA. This is one of the deepest rotations in the National League.
Aaron Ashby leads the Brewers in wins with 13 out of the bullpen and is among the most productive relievers in baseball this season. No pitcher who has made at least 80 percent of his appearances in relief has ever led baseball in wins over a full season and Ashby is on pace to challenge that record. He was expected to be a starter but a shoulder surgery in 2023 altered his path and with so much rotation depth in Milwaukee he settled into a relief role and made it his own. Trevor Megill has been equally important closing games out with 22 saves and a 2.44 ERA. Ashby was also drafted out of Crowder Junior College in 2018. The Brewers have been finding players at that program for nearly a decade.
Jackson Chourio signed a long term deal before the 2024 season when he was still a teenager. He is 22 now and already one of the most exciting young players in baseball. There is a looseness to the way he plays. Like the game comes naturally to him in a way it does not for most players his age. Brice Turang leads the team in RBI. Andrew Vaughn is hitting .300. This offense does not need one guy to carry it.
The Brewers are last in baseball in home runs. Dead last. And they are still fifth in baseball in runs scored. They manufacture runs. They take pitches. They put the ball in play. It is a throwback style of offense in a league that has been obsessed with the three run homer for years. Christian Yelich is 34 and has moved to designated hitter full time. His numbers are not what they were during his MVP years but anyone who has been around a winning clubhouse knows that veteran presence matters in September and October. You do not make the playoffs eight of nine seasons without knowing how to use the players you have.
THE SAVE
The Brewers never make the big flashy move. They do not sign the $300 million free agent. They draft well, develop players and find value where other organizations do not look.
Corbin Burnes left. Josh Hader left. Freddy Peralta just left at the deadline. Any one of those departures could have derailed a lesser organization. The Brewers just kept going. Next man up mentality. Most front offices use losing a star player as an excuse for a down year. Matt Arnold uses it as a problem to solve.
The question everyone is asking right now is whether this is finally the year they break through and make a deep postseason run. They have the best ace in the NL. They have a bullpen pitcher on pace to challenge an all time record. They have a 22-year-old outfielder who plays like he is a seasoned veteran. What they have not had is a World Series appearance since 1982 when they lost to the Cardinals in seven games.
That is a long time to wait. Milwaukee deserves that conversation. They have earned it.
Talk soon, Z
The Save is a personal newsletter based on my own experiences, opinions, and recollections. The opinions expressed here are mine alone and do not represent any team, organization, union or employer past or present. When discussing players, contracts or organizational decisions I am sharing my perspective as a former player — not making legal or financial claims. When I share stories involving others I am telling them from my point of view. When I share tips or lessons I am sharing what worked for me. Always do your own research and consult professionals when making important decisions.