Seven Brewers facts and figures you may have missed thus far in 2018

The Milwaukee Brewers are playing as well as they have — ever — to this point in the season, and after a win on Memorial Day over the St. Louis Cardinals, it's starting to feel very real.

Milwaukee's 35-20 mark was the best in the National League heading into Tuesday, a full three games ahead of the second best Atlanta Braves. Boston (37-17) has the best mark across baseball.

Some of these facts and figures may be on your radar, but in case you've missed some of these details (both good and bad), check this out:

The Brewers are 28-0 in games in which they establish a two-run lead at any point

Think about this. That's staggering. Obviously, teams should have a good record in games they've led by 2 or more runs, but a perfect ledger coming out of Memorial Day? There may be no finer illustration of the team's strengths in the bullpen (holding close leads) and manager Craig Counsell's ability to manage the roster and hit the right buttons.

On Twitter, I first noticed Paul Noonan keeping tabs on the stat over the past couple weeks.

Milwaukee had a couple close calls recently. Against the Mets on May 25, a 3-1 lead dissolved with one out to secure, but Milwaukee won in the 10th inning, 4-3. The Brewers also held off the tying run in the ninth for an 8-7 win Sunday after a run had already scored against Corey Knebel in the final frame.

League-wide, starting pitchers are working less than ever before

This ties into how valuable Milwaukee's bullpen has been. Across baseball, starters are averaging 5.5 innings per start, a number that matches 2017. In 2016, it was 5.6. In 2015, it was 5.8. It was 6.0 in 2014 and 5.9 in 2013. In other words, we are witnessing a significant drop in recent years of how much workload starting pitchers are taking. 

That's probably a sign that teams are recognizing how dangerous it is to leave a starter in for a third time through the batting order. It's also a sign that bullpens have never been more valuable, chewing up a larger portion of the game. Good thing the Brewers built their bullpen as the strength of the team.

Milwaukee is definitely below the 5.5 average, presently at 5.2 innings per start. Perhaps it's a sign that the Brewers will still be emphasizing a starting pitcher at the trade deadline, even as relievers have become their bread and butter.

HAUDRICOURT:It's the number of outs that matters most for Brewers starters

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The Brewers are still one of the worst five teams in baseball at striking out

The Milwaukee Brewers set the Major League record for team strikeouts last year (1,571), surpassing their own 2016 mark (1,543) in one of the more dubious distinctions in recent club history — although, somewhat strangely, it hasn't been as emphasized as the free-swinging team of, say, 2002 (a mere 1,125 punch outs).

At the moment, the Brewers have logged 487 strikeouts, the fifth-highest mark in baseball. The Padres (530) lead the way after back-to-back years of finishing second to Milwaukee. San Francisco, Arizona and Philadelphia sit in the top five, and Colorado is just two behind Milwaukee. Given that Arizona, Philly and Colorado all have winning records, too, it hopefully illustrates how high strikeout rates don't necessarily correlate with poor offense. If that doesn't make you feel at ease, you should just trust me. You can strike out a ton and still be good to great.

After 55 games last year, Milwaukee had 534 strikeouts, so the Brewers are behind their 2017 pace by a pretty significant margin.

The Brewers have the two best players in the National League according to WAR

Whether you love or hate WAR as a stat, the Brewers have the two best in the league: Lorenzo Cain (2.8) and Travis Shaw (2.5 — tied for second) are the two best according to Baseball Reference.

A brief primer on WAR: "Wins above replacement" basically translates to how many wins a player brings you over a league-average player in his shoes all season. It's a cumulative stat; unless Lorenzo Cain falls below the standard of a "league average" player for the rest of the year, his number will only go up. When you think about it, the idea that a player is singularly responsible for close to 3 wins that you wouldn't have otherwise to this point of the season is pretty good. 

The stat is controversial. It attempts to encompass everything a player brings to the table — offense, defense, base running — and since defense remains a challenge to quantify, its implementation of defense is questioned. But safe to say, if a player is a quality fielder (especially at a premium defensive position like center field or shortstop) and a great batter, he's going to have a high WAR.

Scooter Gennett leads the National League in batting average

Speaking of WAR, the Cincinnati Reds second baseman — and of course, Brewers castoff — is sixth in the National League.

Sure, if you desperately need to identify a mistake the Brewers have made in the past few years (with many savvy moves to point to, as well), this would be the place. Gennett, who was waived by the Brewers before the start of the 2017 season, has an OPS of .941 — very good for a second baseman — with 10 home runs and a league-leading .347 batting average.

He still strikes out plenty (45 times in 202 at-bats), though that's not top-10 in the league or anything. It seems the Brewers may have erred in essentially choosing Jonathan Villar over Gennett (with the idea of making Orlando Arcia the fulltime shortstop and pushing Villar to second). Take heart in knowing that the Reds are 19-36, or that Villar has a solid .800 OPS in May.

The Brewers have stopped committing errors

This gem comes from Brewers media relations director Mike Vassallo.

That was before Monday's game, and it's now eight straight games without an error and 11 miscues in 36, tied for the fewest in the National League.

Fangraphs considers the Brewers the second-best defensive team in baseball with 17.2 runs saved (above replacement), although a modest portion of that can be attributed to the Brewers playing more innings than several teams (that roof in early April sure does help).

Josh Hader is on a historic pace, and here's the guy he's chasing

You already knew Josh Hader was doing things we haven't seen before. Here's exactly what he's chasing:

The single-season record for strikeouts a reliever belongs to Dick Radatz, who struck out 181 batters in 1964 for Boston (he threw a ton of innings, with 157). At the end of May, Radatz had 61 strikeouts, while Hader emerged from Memorial Day with 68, on pace for 204. 

Radatz was nicknamed "The Monster," and The Ringer posted a lengthy breakdown of Hader's chase.

The National League record is 157 by Brad Lidge of the Houston Astros in 2004. That record is in such jeopardy, people.