Brewers eager to 'keep that edge' after historic first half

MILWAUKEE -- Just when you thought the Brewers’ season had been torpedoed before it really began, they were able to play their way back into position to make another half-season run.

After going 0-4 to start the year and finding themselves on the wrong end of the biggest early-season story in baseball after the Yankees’ torpedo bats torched their depleted pitching staff in a season-opening series to forget at Yankee Stadium, the Brewers rebounded to finish the first half strong. Not just strong, but as strong as they’ve ever been.

Their 56 victories are most in franchise history by the All-Star break, and their .583 winning percentage is second to the 1979 Brewers for a first “half.” Milwaukee got there by going 35-15 into the break, which ties for the second-best 50-game stretch of any season in franchise history. Only the “Beast Mode” Brewers of Prince Fielder, Ryan Braun and Zack Greinke, who had a handful of 36-14 stretches in 2011 on the way to the franchise’s first division title in 29 years, played better over any span of that length.

“We’re doing a lot of the little things right,” outfielder Jackson Chourio said. “Everyone is doing their part hitting. We’re playing defense, running the bases. I always knew we had a good team together."

Now comes the hard part: keeping it going on the road against the Dodgers and Mariners coming out of the break, then giving the talented Cubs a run for the National League Central.

“Nothing gets easier,” manager Pat Murphy said. “We’ve got to keep that edge. That’s why I don’t look back and why I can’t get happy, can’t put my feet up.”

One goal for the second half: compete

The Brewers have used analytics to their advantage while making the postseason in six of the past seven years, but the way old-school manager Murphy sees it, there’s more to their success than spreadsheets. When he was asked on Sunday what his team did best in the first half, Murphy pondered a moment and said one word: “compete.” That sounds simple, but it takes incredible effort when a team doesn’t have the sort of offense that can simply power its way to blowout wins.

“That’s the first thing that comes to mind,” Murphy said. “They kind of stay after you. Nobody wants to hear that -- you want to hear offense, defense, baserunning, hit and run, hitting the baseball the opposite way. But I think they like to compete, and that’s the best thing. A lot of guys aren’t well known in the Major Leagues, and it creates a little edge. We’ve got a long way to go.”

Likely Trade Deadline strategy: straddle the line between buy and sell

Rarely do the Brewers fit neatly onto lists of “buyers” or “sellers.” More likely, they’ll aim to add talent to help them extend a stretch of six postseason appearances in the past seven years without selling the farm, like they did last year in landing Frankie Montas, Aaron Civale and Nick Mears during the month of July.

The biggest question this year is whether Milwaukee deals from its relative surplus of starting pitching, including All-Star right-hander Freddy Peralta, who has another club option on his contract for 2026 before reaching free agency. His value is exceedingly high right now, and while trading their best pitcher would be incredibly unpopular while the team is in postseason position, it wouldn’t be the first time the Brewers have done so in the interest of keeping the system stocked with controllable talent. (See: Corbin Burnes and Josh Hader).

Key player: Sal Frelick

There are a handful of dates one can select to pinpoint where the Brewers turned their season in the right direction. One of them is June 12, when Frelick moved up to the leadoff spot permanently. Since then, Milwaukee is an MLB-best 20-7 while leading the Majors in runs per game (5.85) and on-base percentage (.351) and ranking second in average (.282).

But now there’s a big question mark going into the second half after Frelick departed Sunday’s finale with a left hamstring injury. Murphy said the development “made my heart hurt,” even before the team got the results of an MRI scan that showed a Grade 1 strain. The Brewers planned to monitor Frelick’s progress as long as possible before deciding whether he needs to go on the injured list.

Prospect to watch: Logan Henderson (Brewers No. 6, MLB No. 90)

Of course all eyes will be on big right-hander Jacob Misiorowski (Brewers No. 2, MLB No. 20), who was so sensational through five starts that he garnered the earliest invitation to the All-Star Game in MLB history.

But there’s another right-handed pitching prospect in the system who could help down the stretch in Henderson, who already went 3-0 with a 1.71 ERA in four big league starts earlier this season as Milwaukee navigated a serious lack of healthy starting pitching. Henderson, who at 23 is the same age as Misiorowski, has drawn raves for how professionally he’s handled the back-and-forth between the Majors and Minors. And he’s performing. He’s 9-3 with a 3.01 ERA in 14 games (13 starts) for Triple-A Nashville.

Games remaining: 66 (Home, 31; Away, 35)

Remaining strength of schedule: .515, fifth in MLB, third in NL, second in NL Central

Key series

• July 25-27: A late-July series against the Marlins might not usually generate serious buzz, but the Brewers will open that weekend by celebrating their 25 seasons at Miller Park-turned-American Family Field on July 25. Players representing all 25 Brewers rosters in that era will be on hand, and some of them -- Braun, Fielder and even former pitcher Yovani Gallardo among them -- will swing for the fences in an alumni Home Run Derby following the 3:10 p.m. CT game.

• Aug. 18-21: A five-game series at the Cubs. You read that right; because of a rainout on June 18, the rival Brewers and Cubs will play five games in four critical days at Wrigley Field. (They also meet July 28-30 in Milwaukee.)

• Sept. 19-24: The final road trip of the season to St. Louis and San Diego is a tough one: six games in six days against two teams heading into the second half with postseason hopes.