9-24-24 – By Michael Castrignano – @412DoublePlay on X
After clinching the NL Central for a second straight year, the Brewers are hyper-focused on post-season but will need to finish up the season against the Pirates, who have nothing to lose at this stage in the year.
That doesn’t mean the Brewers will necessarily let up against the Bucs in the final home series of the year for Pittsburgh as the season series is split 5-5 entering this matchup.
9/24
Brewers – Tobias Myers (R) – 8-6, 130 IP, 3.05 ERA, 120 Ks/36 walks, 1.19 WHIP
Pirates – Bailey Falter (L) – 8-8, 134.1 IP, 4.15 ERA, 92 Ks/41 walks, 1.27 WHIP
9/25
Brewers – Freddy Peralta (R) – 11-8, 168.1 IP, 3.69 ERA, 193 Ks/66 walks, 1.23 WHIP
Pirates – Luis Ortiz (R) – 6-6, 128.2 IP, 3.43 ERA, 102 Ks/41 walks, 1.13 WHIP
9/26
Brewers – Aaron Civale (R) – 7-9, 155 IP, 4.53 ERA, 144 Ks/51 walks, 1.33 WHIP
Pirates – Mitch Keller (R) – 11-11, 173 IP, 4.21 ERA, 160 Ks/48 walks, 1.29 WHIP
Brewers: William Contreras – Arguably the best catcher in MLB on both sides of the ball, Contreras is having a career year with a 5.0 bWAR ranking 6th highest in the National League and 23 home runs coming from the backstop position, his offense has carried the team all year. And that production has only amplified this month as he is 10 for his last 23 with four of those hits going for extra bases.
Pirates: Dennis Santana – I never put relievers in this category but the offense has been so bad that I want to give Santana his flowers here. With a recent update charging Isiah Kiner-Falefa with an error in the 8th inning of last Tuesday’s game against the Cardinals, Santana is now riding a streak of 19 games and 22.1 innings without allowing an earned run, striking out 22 while walking just 4 in that span.
Brewers: Willy Adames – While Adames is having an excellent season overall, looking to parlay that success into a lofty contract in free agency this offseason, he has hit a bit of a bumpy road in September. Dating back to September 3rd, Adames is batting just .206 while striking out nearly a third of the time – a steep drop from his season marks of .250 and 25.8%.
Pirates: Joey Bart – The entire offense has stagnated lately but Bart has fallen off the hardest. Dating back over the last month, Bart has a .196/.288/.283 slash line over that stretch with a wRC+ of 63.
Team Notes
The Brewers have been a bit sluggish in September, posting a 9-11 record this month, but the offense has been one of the best in baseball all year led by Contreras, Adames and rookie sensation Jackson Chourio.
Additionally, Milwaukee has one of the best bullpens in MLB with a 3.20 combined reliever ERA leading the National League, making this team extra difficult to defeat – particularly in the late innings facing Jared Koenig (2.55 ERA in 60 innings), Trevor Megill (2.84 ERA over 44.1 innings) and Devin Williams (1.37 ERA through 19.2 innings).
Let’s Go Bucs!
Steel City Pirates 