Brewers Amazing April Leads to Higher Expectations

When Opening Day began with Milwaukee Brewers playing Atlanta Braves, there was a bit optimism. No one saw this team winning the National League Central Division title, but if things were to break in the right direction, Milwaukee could be a Wild Card contender. Flash forward to May 1st.  Milwaukee is 21-7 having their best April ever and national media members are writing columns daily about the Brewers being for real with aspirations of World Series. Is this real life?

Apparently, it is very real. Milwaukee is one of the best teams in baseball.  Sure, there are some fluky things about what's going on right now, but they are doing it with everyone on the roster. The fact Milwaukee won two games in St. Louis without Ryan Braun and Jean Segura plus missed Aramis Ramirez and Jonathan Lucroy for one of the games is incredible. Like it or not, expectations have changed for the remainder of the season. This means those expectations need to be managed, but at the same time, there is nothing wrong with being excited with the start of the season.

Milwaukee played out of their mind in all facets of the game. They are hitting the baseball with the likes of Carlos Gomez, Ryan Braun sans injury and Aramis Ramirez all off to fast starts. Other than Matt Garza, four of the starters have been completely golden including Wily Peralta starting to turn the corner, maybe (Look, he lost against Chicago on Sunday but he settled down after a bad second inning which is something Peralta wouldn't have done last season.) And the best part about this team, the bullpen. Francisco Rodriguez was the most valuable player for the month of April - a squad notoriously known for having shitty Aprils with their closers. Tyler Thornburg, Will Smith and ZACH DUKE of all people have been great out of the bullpen. The fact of the matter is not many players are struggling so regression is bound to happen at some point soon.

But let's ignore that for a second, one of the other cool things about the Brewers so far is the team chemistry is there like it was in 2011. They had the 'Happy' video, selfies after a win, Wei-Chung Wang Wednesdays, etc. Sure, the reason they do these things is to get more of a social media presence around the league, but it doesn't seem like bullshit. Some of this stuff seems forced, but this all appears to be fun and in good nature. These guys look like they are having legitimate fun on and off the field which is a great sight to see and it does seem like things are a bit looser in the clubhouse. I know nothing, but it seemed like Milwaukee tightened up after 'Beast Mode' and all the things 2011 brought although they let Gomez bat flip whenever he damn pleased last season so who the hell knows. My point is there is a unity there that was missing the last two season.

Let's talk about the gorilla in the room. Regression will happen at some point. When exactly? I don't know. That's the scary thing. If everyone regresses at the same time, a losing streak is probably going to happen. This is not going to be an easy season because the bar is at an unreal high level right now, and doubters will jump on the phone lines when Milwaukee gets swept for the first time in a series. The fact of the matter is Milwaukee needs to have a completely inverse month for things to get really ugly. If that were to happen, let it be May or June so things don't come crashing down late. But this team has the poise to keep a level head and stay grounded to battle through all the trouble that will eventually come to them.

When you hear people talk about this team's 'eventual demise', remind them, Milwaukee only needs to be six games over .500 for the rest of the season to win 91 games. That will likely be a playoff spot whether it is another division title or a Wild Card spot. But this team has bigger and brighter dreams. They want a World Series ring. No one but the players on the rosters believed it could happen in March and now everyone believes.

 Summer is so much better when the Brewers are playing competitive baseball. It's an added element to Milwaukee's summers. I have a feeling it will be a damn good one.

Charlie.