When your opponents have trouble scoring runs, victories tend to come in bunches.
In four of six games last week, Milwaukee Brewers pitchers allowed one run or less and blanked the St. Louis Cardinals and Houston Astros three times. The Brewers finished 5-1 last week and 17-9 in May.
Three of those games were pitched by Jacob Misiorowski or Kyle Harrison. Most Brewers fans know that Misiorowski allowed only one earned run in May, but Harrison also has a sparkling 1.57 ERA in 10 starts since the Brewers acquired him from the Boston Red Sox.
The dominance of that dynamic duo is one of a few reasons why national writers continued to move Milwaukee up the power rankings, closer to the Atlanta Braves and Los Angeles Dodgers.
Here’s a roundup of how close to the top the Brewers are, with last week’s ranking in parentheses:
4. The Athletic (5)
The National League is filled with dominant arms capable of winning the Cy Young Award. Johnny Flores makes his case for Misiorowski:
“No qualified starting pitcher in the American or National League has more strikeouts, a lower WHIP or a lower opponents’ batting average than The Miz. Among qualified NL starters, he’s second in ERA to Cristopher Sánchez. The control issues that bit him in the second half of last season have seemingly gone away, and those who are fortunate enough to make contact aren’t barreling the ball. Here’s the kicker: He’s doing it all while throwing 100 mph or faster, consistently.”
3. Bleacher Report (4)
Joel Reuter points out that no offseason trade has helped a team more than the Caleb Durbin-for-Kyle Harrison move has aided the Brewers. Harrison been more far more than a capable No. 2 starter:
“The Brewers rotation looked like a potential weakness heading into the season in the wake of the Freddy Peralta trade. Instead, Jacob Misiorowski (12 GS, 1.65 ERA, 108 K, 71.0 IP) and Kyle Harrison (10 GS, 1.57 ERA, 61 K, 51.2 IP) have been a dominant one-two punch, and the starting staff as a whole ranks fourth in the majors with a 3.11 ERA. They went an MLB-best 19-7 in May, and have built a 4.5-game lead in the NL Central standings.”
3. CBS Sports (2)
It’s not like this is something Brewers fans don’t already know, but Matt Snyder outlines the remarkable talent-evaluation run the Brewers’ front office has enjoyed:
“If we knock the Dodgers for a not-small portion of their run being possible due to their financial might and recognize the Brewers don’t have the ability to spend like the Dodgers, that’s the avenue in which to argue the Brewers are the model franchise in Major League Baseball. … They lose All-Star-caliber players like Corbin Burnes, Josh Hader, Devin Williams, Willy Adames and Freddy Peralta, and it doesn’t hurt them. They churn out high-end talent from the minors like Brice Turang, Jackson Chourio and Jacob Misiorowski. They grab players like Andrew Vaughn off the proverbial scrap heap and get the most out of their talent. They buy low on Kyle Harrison and immediately get him to his best place. The bullpen is always deep, and the manager seems to always pull the right strings.”
3. FanGraphs (4)
It’s obvious, but run prevention creates more wins as Jake Mailhot highlights the Brewers’ pitchers in the Cardinals series:
“The Brewers gained ground in the NL Central last week by sweeping the Cardinals and winning their weekend series against the Astros. Milwaukee allowed just two total runs in that series against St. Louis, an impressive show of dominance over a division rival. Jacob Misiorowski fired off two more gems last week, combining for 14 innings of one-run ball and allowing just five hits and one walk while striking out 20.”
3. MLB.com (4)
Will Leitch explains why picking the Brewers to win the division again is a good bet:
“Even with all those good teams in the NL Central, the Brewers have 58 percent odds to win the NL Central. Here is your reminder – and people do seem to legitimately forget this – that if they win the division, they will do so for the fourth consecutive season … and for the fifth time in the past six seasons.”
5. USA TODAY (5)
Gabe Lacques wants us to admire Misiorowski’s video game numbers in May again, even though his jaw-dropping statistics are very real:
“Just a Miz-tastic May: 5-0, 0.23 ERA, franchise-record 57 strikeouts in a month.”
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Pitching helps Brewers move into top tier in MLB power rankings
Reporting by Emmett Prosser, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
