The Brewers have changed the way baseball will be played after the lockout.

posted by u/DemonCipher13 · 2026-10-29 16:49 UTC

I have been saying to my circle, for a while now, that the team who masters small ball the best, and sticks to it, will win the World Series.

We just saw a team do exactly that. First in plate appearances, first in hits-per-game, second in runs-per-game, fifth in at-bats, 29th in runners left on, first in on-base percentage, first in stolen base attempts, second in successes, and my two personal favorites, second in walks, and first in walk percentage.

"He gets on-base a lot, Rocko; do I care if it's a walk or a hit? Pete?"

"You do not."

And they did this defensively, too. First in opponent slugging, second in opponent extra base hits, second in opponent batting average, 28th in opponent plate appearances, third in opponent runs-per-game, second in opponent hits-per-game, first in opponent errors per game, and top ten in fielding percentage and errors.

The pitching was absolutely shut-down. The fielding was effective when it needed to be, and made few mistakes.

The lineup was curated to the point where there were no weaknesses, every batter was just as much of a threat as the last. The staff were put to very good use, with some exceptions. And it was in everyone fulfilling their roles to perfection, rather than lone breakout stars, who propelled this team to possibly the most dominating season and postseason performance we've ever seen in our lifetimes. They made Tampa Bay, Los Angeles, and San Diego - perhaps the three definitive best teams they could have played - look like coughing baby, for those that know the meme. Every last one of those teams were highly skilled, and they folded like wet napkins, which is less an indictment of the teams themselves, and more an endorsement of just how good Milwaukee really was. At no point did they not have control.

If every team in the league is not re-evaluating their hitting approach in the off-season (looking at you, Atlanta), then they are missing the forest for the trees, here. This is the best fundamental baseball we've seen in a long time. It should be the rubric, going forward.

## Top comments

1. u/AutoModerator · 2026-10-29 16:49 UTC

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2. u/gonk_gonk · 2026-10-29 17:20 UTC

Why don't other teams bring up defensive shortstop that get a hit in every at bat, trade a meaningless piece for a designated hitter and turn him into the best catcher in the league, and develop starters that pitch 103 mph for 5+ innings? Are they stupid?

3. u/Unlikely_Ad1009 · 2026-10-29 18:00 UTC

I think it’s underestimated how good the these young brewers players are, Pratt, Turang, Churiou, Miz, Logan Henderson, Ashby, these guys are all-star level players, and the Vets Bauer, Yelich, Contreras, woodruff, Megill the list goes on. This is just an extremely well constructed team with elite talent, that has been building to this moment for 10 years. It’s not so easy to emulate.

4. u/HumaTheLegendary · 2026-10-29 19:12 UTC

Bauers shouldn't be lumped in with the other veterans. He is a perfect example of the luck that is needed as well. Teams should not rely on getting out-of-nowhere career years from 31 yr. olds to build championship rosters.

5. u/chunk-a-lunk · 2026-10-29 20:09 UTC

Baseball has a lot of luck and capriciousness in it, but we're famous for rehabilitating players other teams don't know how to coach, and then parting with players when they're either not quite the right fit, too expensive, or washed. See also: Andrew Vaughn who was DFA'd by the White Sox who we employed in a platoon all season and has an OPS of .964 against lefties. In Bauers we turned a journeyman into a rake.

6. u/Spaceballs_the_tag · 2026-10-29 18:05 UTC

And I've been looking at our farm system, and I genuinely see two guys, Jesus Made & Andrew Fischer getting called up this next year to fill the 2 gaps we'll have.

7. u/stap4335 · 2026-10-29 20:53 UTC

Fischer isnt ready. But luke adams is.

8. u/CulturedReaving692 · 2026-10-29 17:21 UTC

Don't teams know to just win every trade?

9. u/Dragon--Reborn · 2026-10-29 18:11 UTC

Yeah, I get what OP is saying, but there are a lot of teams that do very similar things and most of their moves turn out to be duds. Small ball works, but only when you're lucky enough to strike gold.

The farm system is the biggest thing with small ball, though. If you can draft and develop talent in the minors, you should have a decent pool of players to build from. Unfortunately, this is another case of it only working when you strike gold. Not just with your picks, but also who you have developing that young talent.

Truly, spending isn't everything. But when you don't spend and you don't strike gold, it just generally doesn't work.

10. u/Ofreo · 2026-10-29 18:01 UTC

There seems to be a lot of revisionists out there today. Someone even made a post about how this team was built for postseason success?????

There is no one way to build a championship. One injury can make the difference. People still talk about if Fingers wasn’t hurt in ‘82. The Brewers still had a great team the next year, and we had to wait 44 years for a WS, 26 years for the playoffs again after ‘82.

Sure, a lot of teams will try and copy the same formula now. But that’s no indication that others, or even the Brewers, will match this again. I’m just enjoying that I lived to see one.

11. u/NotAcutallyaPanda · 2026-10-29 17:36 UTC

The Brewers are good at finding diamonds in the rough (Bauers), but let’s not kid ourselves.

There’s no secret sauce in identifying the potential value of a pitcher who can throw 105mph.

12. u/Spaceballs_the_tag · 2026-10-29 18:06 UTC

But developing them, helping the guy find the strikezone is a Chris Hook masterclass, and don't get me started on the Vogey offense.

13. u/GutterRider · 2026-10-29 18:15 UTC

I thought I heard something on ESPN Radio broadcasts that Contreras was pretty bummed to go to Milwaukee and didn't speak to his agent for months. That's kind of funny.

14. u/buffaljoe · 2026-10-29 18:19 UTC

the classic "athlete thinks moving to Wisconsin will be horrible then realizes they actually love it after getting there", happens all the time

15. u/Atty_for_hire · 2026-10-29 19:05 UTC

Same for most smaller markets. Most athletes dig the place and the passion after getting there. Those that don’t, are looking for a big city party scene (which is great, especially if you have money). But I don’t blame athletes for not wanting to move to city X because they don’t think it’s a good fit. If I was from Venezuela Milwaukee wouldn’t be on my list of places to move to. No offense, I would say the same about my home, Buffalo, NY.

16. u/GutterRider · 2026-10-29 20:13 UTC

Yeah, very true. You get the feeling that someone like Jeter would not do well in a smaller market. (Just the first name that popped in my head.)

17. u/Far_Candle1986 · 2026-10-29 20:38 UTC

Yeah jeetz!!

18. u/Colors08 · 2026-10-29 20:44 UTC

No one loves Wisconsin

19. u/2ndl1fegaming · 2026-10-29 20:00 UTC

Because they didn’t spend $177m on an aging shortstop who’s dead weight halfway through

20. u/carltodw · 2026-10-29 19:03 UTC

Great comment. Brewers got some great players who happen to be good at small ball. It's not just the system.