Brewers series preview: The young Brew Crew

This is the youngest lineup in baseball

The Brewers play in the smallest market in baseball, and yet have avoided the valleys of losing the Royals have experienced. The franchise has lost 100+ games in a season just once - in 2002 - and hasn’t had a losing record in a 162-game season since 2016. On the other hand, they have only won one pennant in over 50 years and are still looking for their first title.

Milwaukee Brewers (20-13) vs. Kansas City Royals (20-15) at Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City, MO

Brewers: 5.00 runs scored/game (6th in MLB), 4.36 runs allowed/game (18th)

Royals: 4.60 runs scored/game (14th), 3.34 runs allowed/game (2nd)

The Brewers have the youngest lineup in baseball - Rhys Hoskins and Gary Sanchez are the only hitters older than 28. Twenty-year old rookie outfielder Jackson Chourio was expected to be a Rookie of the Year candidate but has struggled so far. Tyler Black, ranked the #4 prospect in the system by MLB Pipeline has great plate discipline, and a rare blend of power and speed for a first baseman. Sal Frelick was once a top prospect, but has struggled over his first 88 MLB games. Former Royals minor league outfielder Blake Perkins has flourished in his second MLB season, filling in for injured outfielder Christian Yelich.

The Brewers have the seventh-highest walk rate and have tied for the seventh-most home runs. They are 45-of-52 in stolen base attempts, the fourth-most swipes in baseball, and they are third in Baserunning Runs. The Brewers have been good fielders, they are seventh as a team in Outs Above Average and are particularly strong up the middle with Brice Turang and Willy Adames in the infield, and Perkins in center.

The Brewers traded away ace Corbin Burnes and let Brandon Woodruff depart in free agency, but they have done a great job developing pitching the last few years. Their pitching numbers are a bit skewed by giving up 30 runs over two games against the Yankees recently.

Bryse Wilson has converted to starting recently after being an effective reliever last year. He lasted six innings for the first time in his last start, giving up just four hits and one run against the Rays. Wilson throws a sinker and cutter, yielding a 40 percent groundball rate.

Colin Rea is another reclamation project, posting a 4.55 ERA in his return from Japan. He’s off to a much better start this year, tossing six shutout innings in his last outing. His profile is similar to Wilson - sinkers, cutters, and a 40 percent groundball rate. The sinker and cutter have been very hittable this year, it’s his four-seamer that has opponents hitting just .071 aginst him.

Joe Ross spent the last two years in Triple-A, but the journeyman may have a home in the Brewers rotation. He gave up just one run in six innings against the Cubs in his last start. His slider has a 42.5 percent whiff rate and he has a 45 percent groundball rate.

The Milwaukee bullpen has a 3.66 ERA, 12th-lowest in baseball. Former Royals reliever Joel Payamps leads the team with four saves, but has already blown two leads and it was Trevor Megill who closed out the game on Friday. Twenty-seven-year-old left-handed rookie Bryan Hudson is allowing lefties to hit just 2-for-22 against him. Elvis Peguero throws a slider half the time, and has a 50 percent groundball rate in his career.

The Brew Crew have been a great road team winning 13 of 19 away from Milwaukee. They won 10 of their first 13 games to begin the year, but have been a .500 team since then. They have a young team and a pitching development apparatus that seems to get the most out of their limited resources. It seems to be a recipe the Royals are trying to emulate.