Though painful to fall one game short of World Series, Brewers anticipate future success

One game away.

That was how both the 2017 and 2018 seasons ended for the Milwaukee Brewers, but consider how far they moved forward from the first disappointment to the latter.

Last season, the Brewers finished one victory shy of qualifying for the second wild-card berth in the National League. This year, they finished one victory shy of the World Series.

Yes, both endings were painful and disappointing. But the progress made from one season to the next was undeniable. Better yet, consider where the Brewers were at the end of the 2015 season, when they finished 68-94 and were in the process of stripping down the big-league roster and rebuilding nearly from scratch.

“We know how hard it is to do this,” principal owner Mark Attanasio said Saturday night after the Brewers bowed out in Game 7 of the National League Championship Series with a 5-1 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers, a team operating with twice the payroll of Milwaukee.

“If you were to chart this, that’s a pretty good trend line. It really was a true team effort this year. And I’m not talking about 25 guys. I’m talking about 40 to 45 guys.

“This is the start of the road for this group. They surprised everybody last year by getting within a game of the playoffs. And they surprised everybody this year by getting within one game of the World Series.

“We’ll regroup and get at it in a brand-new spring training facility in February.”

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When the Brewers do gather in the renovated and expanded Maryvale Baseball Park, many of the players that helped the club surge to the NL Central crown and beyond will be back. Outfielders Christian Yelich, the presumptive NL MVP, and Lorenzo Cain, again will be counted on to spark the offense. Outfielder Ryan Braun, who showed in the final weeks there is still some gas left in his tank, has two years remaining on his contract.

Infielders Jesús Aguilar, Orlando Arcia and Travis Shaw remain under contractual control and are expected to remain in the club’s plans with lower-end salaries. The catching situation will be interesting to watch after 38-year-old acquisition Erik Kratz saw considerable action down the stretch, moving ahead of Manny Piña. Catching prospect Jacob Nottingham waits in the wings for his opportunity.

The Brewers have decisions to make on two late-season acquisitions, third baseman Mike Moustakas and second baseman Jonathan Schoop. There is a mutual option for $15 million on Moustakas that the club likely will pass on, but that doesn’t mean there wouldn’t be interest. Schoop has another year of arbitration but was such a disappointment that his salary might be deemed too high, leading to a non-tender.

The pitching staff is where things could get interesting. Veteran left-handers Wade Miley and Gio Gonzalez are free agents and probably won’t be back. Chase Anderson and Zach Davies, removed from starting roles in the postseason, are still under contractual control, as is Jimmy Nelson, who missed the entire season while recovering from major shoulder surgery, making him a wild card for 2019. The rock of this year's staff, Jhoulys Chacín, has another year remaining on his deal.

Three young right-handers, Corbin Burnes, Brandon Woodruff and Freddy Peralta, figure to be given opportunities to make the starting rotation in the spring, which would give the Brewers young, exciting arms around which to build. Burnes, who turns 24 on Monday, and Woodruff, 25, were very impressive down the stretch and in the postseason, pitching out of the bullpen, and Peralta, 22, proved hard to hit when given consistent starts.

“I think we have staying power,” Shaw said. “We made a nice step forward this year, and we’ve got a lot of guys coming back. This team is going to be together for the next three or four years. So, we’ll have a nice little window to do it, barring injuries. People need to continue to produce, but I think we’re in a good spot.”

There are no guarantees of pushing as far into the postseason as the Brewers did this season, which makes the seven-game loss to the Dodgers tough to digest. In particular, the Brewers will rue letting Game 2 get away late and doing virtually nothing offensively in the 2-1, 13-inning loss in Game 4. Win either of those games and it’s them, not Los Angeles, playing Tuesday night at Fenway Park.

But the players figure to be the better for the experience, especially the intense games played from the beginning of September when the division crown appeared to be out of reach.

“You don’t ever take this opportunity for granted,” Braun said in the quiet home clubhouse after the Game 7 defeat. “So, right now, there’s disappointment. But our fans should be proud about what we accomplished and should be excited, more so than ever, about the future of this organization.

“It was a special experience, especially down the stretch. The last month was as much as I’ve ever enjoyed playing baseball. Every game was incredibly intense. I just loved the opportunity to get to where we were at, to play meaningful games down the stretch and play postseason baseball. There are so many positives to take from this season.

“There’s a lot of things that give us reason for optimism as we move forward. The future is bright for the Brewers, there’s no question about that. But, at the same time, it’s disappointing because no matter how good you are, we’ve seen great teams that don’t make it to this point. So, we all recognize this was a unique opportunity and no matter how good we are, there’s no guarantee we get this chance again.”

Beyond the obvious talent on the club, the players also formed a unique bond in the clubhouse, keeping in mind manager Craig Counsell’s mantra of “staying connected.” That went a long way toward working through the tough times and making the most of opportunities until finally getting derailed by the Dodgers.

“Just being on this ride was amazing,” said reliever Josh Hader, who became a bullpen sensation with his record-setting strikeout totals. “Everybody played their hearts out. That’s all you can ask for.

“There were ups and downs but we played good baseball. And, really, being a family. That was the biggest thing. This clubhouse had a different type of vibe. That’s something you appreciate.”

As odd as it might sound, the painful Game 7 loss to the Dodgers was both the end and beginning of something. The end of hopes that the franchise's World Series drought would end but the beginning of a period that might finally lead to that goal.

"Your goals are always to build sustainability," Counsell said. "It's the hardest thing to do. So, that's going to be what we spend a lot of time talking about next year, probably, is sustaining this. 

"We feel like that's at the forefront of all of our decisions. How do we build something that we can sustain?"