The Milwaukee Brewers are 2024 NL Central champs!
With the Oakland Athletics’ 5-3 victory over the Chicago Cubs this afternoon, the Milwaukee Brewers have officially won the National League Central.
It’s an exclamation point at the end of a season in which preseason expectations for the Brewers were, by most accounts, low. A team that was without its longtime manager (widely regarded to be the best, or at minimum among the best, in the game) and its dual aces from the past several seasons, a team that lost its All-Star closer in spring training for the first half of the season, a team that lost its former MVP (who was playing at an MVP level) for more than half the season, and a team that felt like it was searching local sandlots to find starting pitchers for a while just became the first team in baseball to clinch its division. Baseball is a funny game sometimes.
It’s a testament to the team’s young and improving talent, the coaching staff’s ability to keep whatever players were in front of them productive, and the front office’s knack for finding players others had given up on who they felt had more talent buried in there somewhere. Whether the team’s success carries into the postseason is a separate question, but the regular season was more than anyone could have possibly asked for.
Much more to come, but for now, let’s bask.