Key Points
Bullet point summary by AI
- The Milwaukee Brewers are successfully challenging the LA Dodgers' modern blueprint, proving that you don't need a roster of expensive sluggers to win.
- Despite missing star Christian Yelich, Milwaukee is scoring timely runs without relying on homers. They bat .289 with runners in scoring position.
- This approach proves contact baseball remains viable. As their roster gets healthier, Milwaukee's ability to consistently manufacture runs makes them dangerous.
The Los Angeles Dodgers have tried to set the standard for what modern MLB should look like. It includes spending without a care in the world, building a bulletproof roster and identifying the power hitters that explode the lineup. Sports are typically copycat leagues so when one team tries something and it succeeds, it becomes the new norm. The Milwaukee Brewers are proving while that way can work, it’s not the only winning recipe.
The Brewers have been without their biggest power hitters, including Christian Yelich, for much of the first couple of months of the season. Instead of wallowing in defeat, they’ve turned the clock back on the sport to be one of baseball’s top teams and leading the NL Central division. Their trick? Timely runs. That’s it.
It’s not often you can have the fewest home runs in MLB and are top 10 in runs scored. That’s how consistent the Brewers have been in terms of getting players on base, getting them in scoring position and simply scoring.
LA Dodgers’ power-hitting approach works, but isn’t the end all, be all
Five of the Dodgers' seven everyday players have six or more home runs this season. It’s no surprise the Dodgers invested in this roster with the plan of getting as many consistent power hitters as they can fit into a lineup. Freddie Freeman was a big offseason acquisition that helped this team dominate baseball over the last half-decade; Teoscar Hernandez was brought back this past offseason.
Shohei Ohtani was once baseball’s most expensive player when he inked a $700 million deal to be a two-way star in southern California. Ohtani has at least 40 home runs in all but one of the last five seasons—this is his third year in Los Angeles. Freeman has had at least 20 home runs every year since his arrival in Los Angeles in 2021.
What’s made the Dodgers such a tough battle is they have power littered throughout their lineup. It’s intentional and makes it hard to battle with for nine innings, let alone 162 games. This philosophy has helped them win two straight championships. They have Major League Baseball in a chokehold. Not because they’re impossible to beat, but because their approach is so hard to argue with.
Milwaukee’s unorthodox season proves Dodgers way isn’t the only way
As MLB.com pointed out, Milwaukee’s big season isn’t about power hitting. It’s a good ol’ fashioned way of baseball. Playing contact baseball is a lost art of the sport in a way. Ohtani, Juan Soto and Aaron Judge have slugged their way into MLB lore, making it look easy to hit home runs against baseball’s best arms. But you don’t have to be a slugger to be good at baseball.
With runners in scoring position, the Brewers are batting .289, which is fourth in MLB and they’ve scored the second most runs (209), as of May 21. You don’t have to have the most home runs when you know how to get on base and score your base runners efficiently. The Dodgers have 16 home runs with runners in scoring position and have just 188 runs scored. Power isn’t everything and for the Brewers, they’ve shown when you don’t have power, you have to capitalize elsewhere.
Can this contact ball philosophy last for Milwaukee?
There’s no reason why the Brewers shouldn’t be able to keep up their contact ball philosophy as their power hitters make their way into the lineup. Yelich, Andrew Vaughn and Jackson Chourio have all spent time on the injured list this year and the Brewers have weathered the injury storm. The good thing is whether their primary power hitters are in the lineup or not, the approach shouldn’t change.
In fact, the only thing that might change is they get an uptick in home runs. The rest of the lineup should focus on contact baseball. Getting runners on and scoring them should be their focus because it’s working. Getting healthy just means you get more chances to compound runs.
Milwaukee has an approach that works. Just because it’s not influenced by power doesn’t mean it can’t work. In fact, it’s working arguably better than it is for the Dodgers, who’ve become the crown jewel of MLB.
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