The Milwaukee Brewers started the National League Division Series against the Atlanta Braves on the right foot, winning Game 1 at home.
The Braves, however, have taken Game 2 and Game 3 with the same score: 3-0.
Milwaukee’s vaunted pitching staff, arguably the third-best in MLB during the regular season after the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants, has mostly done its job.
Limiting a very good offense like Atlanta’s, with proven sluggers such as Freddie Freeman, Austin Riley, Joc Pederson, Jorge Soler, Adam Duvall, Ozzie Albies, and others has its merits.
In fact, the Braves have scored only seven runs in three games during the NLCS, or 2.3 per contest.
However, the Brewers’ bats are still dormant.
Milwaukee’s offense has scored only two runs in the whole series, and all of them came in Game 1’s victory.
Dear #Brewers offense: pic.twitter.com/yeRLtU1yet
— Reviewing the Brew (@ReviewngTheBrew) October 11, 2021
It’s impossible to win that way.
The Braves’ Pitchers Have Been Excellent
And part of the credit goes to the Braves pitching staff, especially the starters.
In Game 1, Charlie Morton matched toe to toe with Cy Young candidate Corbin Burnes, but ultimately lost after throwing six innings with two runs, but with nine strikeouts.
Burnes twirled six scoreless frames to lift the Brewers to victory.
It was a good performance from Morton, though, a glimpse of what was going to come from the Braves’ pitchers.
In Game 2, Brandon Woodruff had a quality start for the Brewers, with six innings and three runs allowed, but the offense couldn’t touch Max Fried, who allowed just three hits in six scoreless episodes.
Game 3 was more of the same: Freddy Peralta was flawless for four innings for Milwaukee, but Adrian Houser allowed a three-run home run to Pederson, and the Brewers offense couldn’t inflict any damage on Ian Anderson and the Braves bullpen (a unit that is still yet to allow a run in the postseason).
What’s happening here is that perhaps we underestimated the pesky Braves and their pitching corps.
We penned the Brewers as favorites to advance by virtue of their superior regular season record: the Braves finished seven games behind them.
But Atlanta is peaking at the right time, and it has top-end pitchers capable of shutting down all kinds of lineups.
But there may be another problem for Milwaukee.
The Braves’ Pitchers Are Exposing the Brewers
The Braves have a very good rotation and have solidified their bullpen, but the Brewers offense isn’t that good and that is costing them.
I wanna ask the question of what happened to the Brewers offense, but is the answer just the Braves pitching? Is it that simple?
— Jared Carrabis (@Jared_Carrabis) October 11, 2021
As a group, Milwaukee was 10th in runs per game with 4.6, but they were mediocre in several other categories.
For example, they were 25th in hits per game, with 7.7, 27th in average with .233, 14th in OBP with .317, 23rd in slugging with .396, and 20th in OPS with .713.
The fact they couldn’t break the .400 barrier in slugging percentage is baffling.
17 teams hit more home runs than the Brewers, who finished with 194.
Willy Adames, one of their most electric offensive performers, has been dealing with a quad injury for a while and isn’t playing at 100 percent.
Christian Yelich, a former NL MVP winner, is a shell of his former self and slashed .248/.362/.373 during the regular season.
The Brewers offense will need to pick things up if they want to extend the series.
NEXT: Brewers Are Favorites On The Strength Of Their Spectacular Pitching