Obviously. A lot of organizations are great at developing pitching. Only Milwaukee wins 90+ games every single year with their shoestring payroll. One of these decades you’d think they’d have a down year.
Nothing is permanent. One day the Brewers will have losing season or two and the Cubs will finish ahead of Milwaukee. They’ll finish behind the market Cardinals instead who’ll turn back the clock to the early-mid 2000’s.
The big payroll/big market advantage doesn’t exist in a division with St. Louis and the piss ant Brewers. Year after year. They’re a lifelong headache caused by a pituitary tumor that can’t be removed because it’s too close to a major artery.
I still can’t wrap my head around the fact that they’ve managed to win 90+ games in 8/9 years not counting 2020 with constant roster turnover and mediocre talent. They can’t have a down year?
They really need Shaw back. Putting aside Swanson’s glove he was also great at hitting lefties. Their ticket to a deep playoff run is scoring runs while the pitching is asked not to horsefeathers things up. Like Sam Darnold or Jalen Hurts. The 2023 Rangers or last year Bluejays is their inspiration.
Swanson too. Never-mind the defense that may or may not have been the difference in any of these 1 run losses by turning an extra double play or applying a tag correctly) but his bat was valuable against left handed pitching too.
Had a chance to get within striking distance of Milwaukee with a relatively easy schedule and they go 5-7.
Nice. He threw his last pitch of the season in June and will finish the season with the most war on the pitching staff. Way to end the road trip on a high note.
Best case scenario is it’s nothing, worse case scenario is it’s the beginning of a collapse sparked by the curse of the pope that was unleashed by giving Sox fan pope Leo a cubs jersey with tormenting, fluky losses and tons of late inning blown leads.
That’s what’s so aggregating. There’s a lot to be happy about with how they’ve played. Back to back 7 inning shutouts from Gausman and Holmes, Happ is heating up, the offense is phenomenal, and yet I’m not sure whether to be encouraged or if this is a bad omen.