Brewers win big without lots of power
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MILWAUKEE -- The slogan that appears on posters all over American Family Field exemplifies the unique approach the three-time reigning NL Central champion Milwaukee Brewers have taken as they chase their first World Series title.
Win Our Way.
The Brewers produced the best record in the major leagues and won a franchise-record 103 games with a statistical profile that hadn’t been seen in over six decades. Milwaukee scored the second-most runs in Major League Baseball despite matching the second-lowest homer total of any team.
Sportradar says the Brewers are the first club since the 1960 Chicago White Sox to finish a season among the top three MLB teams in runs scored and among the bottom three in homers. The Brewers host the San Diego Padres in Game 1 of an NL Division Series on Saturday.
“Home runs come and they’ll help you win games,” Brewers second baseman Brice Turang said. “And so do stolen bases. So do walks, playing defense. All that matters as well.”
Milwaukee scored 832 runs while hitting 154 homers. Only the Chicago Cubs scored more runs. Only the Toronto Blue Jays had fewer homers.
That combination has generated plenty of conversation, much to the amusement of two-time reigning NL manager of the year Pat Murphy.
“I just love this narrative, like we’re purposely not hitting homers,” Murphy joked.
But there’s no question the Brewers are succeeding with a different style. In an era when most franchises emphasize hitting the ball in the air and into the seats, the Brewers posted the best record in baseball while having by far MLB’s lowest launch angle at 9.2 degrees.
“You notice their team, they’ve gone after a different kind of ballplayer -- high contact, low strikeout, works walks, different things like that,” said New York Yankees third baseman Ryan McMahon, whose team was swept in Milwaukee back in May. “And then they really pitch.”
Since 1989, the only other teams to win at least 100 games while hitting fewer than 155 homers were the 2011 Philadelphia Phillies (153) and the 2015 St. Louis Cardinals (137), according to Sportradar. The Brewers went 35-30 in games in which they didn’t homer, making them the first team since the 2022 Los Angeles Dodgers to post a winning record in such contests.
The Brewers aren’t alone in showing it’s possible to win without elite home-run power.
Similar strategy
Of the five teams that hit the fewest homers in the majors, three reached the playoffs. The Boston Red Sox hit 153 homers to rank 26th in MLB. The AL Central champion Cleveland Guardians were 27th with 162.
Sportradar says that never before in a non-pandemic year have the playoffs included three of the bottom five teams in homers during the regular season.
“You see the clock kind of turning, where teams don’t want nine guys who are going to try up and hit a homer with a 40% strikeout rate,” Brewers outfielder Sal Frelick said. “They don’t want that anymore. You want nine guys who, with a runner on third and less than two outs, you know a ball’s going to go in play. That’s valued more. We’ve been doing that for a while.”
While all three teams rank among the top eight clubs in ERA, Boston and Cleveland needed strong pitching to compensate for average lineups. Boston ranked 23rd in runs (689) and Cleveland was 24th (678), whereas Milwaukee has scored in bunches.
Milwaukee led MLB in batting average (.258) and on-base percentage (.341). The Brewers also swung at the lowest percentage of pitches outside the strike zone of any MLB team.
The Brewers’ Brice Turang hits an RBI single to score Jake Bauers in the first inning against the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday in Milwaukee. (AP photo)
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AP Baseball Writer Ron Blum contributed to this report.