The Milwaukee Brewers are having a memorable 2021 season.
At 89-55, the team is going to win the National League Central easily.
Milwaukee has the biggest division lead (14 games) in all of baseball.
Given how awful the Reds have been playing lately, the Brewers could possibly lock up the division by the end of the week.
14 games up with 18 games to go. Magic number 5
— Chase Roark (@chaseroark90) September 13, 2021
But that might not be the only category where the Brewers end up at the top.
The club has an outside chance at finishing the 2021 regular season with the best record in the National League.
The San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers have been the two best teams in the NL all year, but with three weeks remaining, the door is still ajar for the Brewers to steal the league’s best record.
Can they do it?
It Might Be A Tall Task
Currently, the Brewers trail the Giants by 4.5 games for the NL’s top record.
While that sort of deficit isn’t insurmountable, it’s definitely daunting.
Plus, San Francisco is playing some of its best baseball of the season right now.
The Giants have won seven straight, nine of their last 10, and 29 of their last 40.
Giants W! 7 game winning streak 😁
— ⚡️ (@pgalaviz_5) September 12, 2021
They’re showing no signs of slowing down, and they remain one of the most surprising teams in recent memory.
In order for Milwaukee to make up 4.5 games on San Francisco, the Brewers would need to continue their current five-game win streak and also hope that the Giants start dropping some ballgames.
Plus, Milwaukee would need to pass L.A. along the way.
We’re going to talk more about that right now.
A More Realistic Goal: The No. 2 Seed
As mentioned, the Giants aren’t the only team in front of the Brewers—the Dodgers are, too.
Right now, two games separate L.A. and Milwaukee.
It might be tough for the Brewers to leapfrog both the Giants and Dodgers, but what about just the Dodgers?
If Milwaukee were to finish with a better record than L.A., then the Brewers would receive home-field advantage in the NLDS.
Of course, the preference would be to have home-field advantage through the entire postseason, but having it in the NLDS would be a nice consolation.
The best part?
It’s a very realistic goal.
The Brewers just need to stay within striking distance of the Dodgers, then in the final weekend of the regular season, the two teams will meet for a three-game set.
That series could very well determine which team comes away with the No. 2 seed and which team gets stuck with the No. 3 seed.
The Brewers Could Make Up Ground In The Race Over The Next Week
Milwaukee is going to have a chance to make up some ground this week.
We just talked about how passing L.A. is the most realistic goal for the Brewers, but if the team wants any shot at passing San Francisco as well, then this week is going to have to be pivotal.
Here are the upcoming opponents for each club:
- Giants: San Diego Padres, Atlanta Braves
- Dodgers: Arizona Diamondbacks, Cincinnati Reds
- Brewers: Detroit Tigers, Chicago Cubs
Clearly, Milwaukee has an easier upcoming slate than the Giants and Dodgers do.
Will the Brewers capitalize on it?
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