The Milwaukee Brewers have weathered that ugly string of
losses leading up to the All Star Break, and their shoddy play just after the
Mid Summer Classic. The Brewers are now 8-5 over their last 13 games. On top of that, they get a day off to
gather themselves before playing three against the Padres at Miller Park. Right
before the trade deadline, the Brewers made two big moves to shore up their
infield. The moves that they made should bode well for them for the rest of the
season.
The first move was acquiring third basemen Mike Moustakas
from the Kansas City Royals on July 28. To get
Moustakas, the Brewers had to give up quite a bit. Milwaukee traded away two of
their best prospects, right-handed
pitcher Jorge Lopez and prized young outfielder Brett Phillips. This trade
doesn’t really make sense to some fans. Travis Shaw was struggling lately, but
he was having a decent year. Did the Brewers see something more than your
average fan did? To more than a few of us, the trade seemed like overkill for a
slumping Shaw. The second move they made was acquiring second basemen Jonathan
Schoop from the Baltimore Orioles for Jonathan Villar, shortstop Jean Carmona,
and right-handed pitcher Luis Ortiz. From
the Brewers standpoint, they got the better end of this deal. Schoop has
struggled out of the gate for Milwaukee, but he is too good of a player to keep
struggling like that. These two moves essentially send Travis Shaw to the
bench. There is a possibility Shaw won’t be too
happy sitting on the bench and he could be moved before the waiver wire
deadline of August 31. The move they didn’t make that everyone expected them to
was to go after a starting pitcher. However, the starting pitcher market was
very bleak outside of the two Mets starters, Jacob deGrom and Noah Syndergaard.
On top of that, the Mets were asking for way too much for either one of those
two.
So now the Brewers have their
somewhat-revamped roster, and now have an off day before hosting the San Diego
Padres for three games. After that, the brutality of their second-half schedule
picks back up as they head out on the road for eight games against the Braves,
Cubs, and Cardinals. Those five games against the Cubs and Cardinals will
determine a lot in the divisional positioning in the National League Central
going down the stretch.
