The Milwaukee Brewers aren’t particularly good. Their starting pitching has been undercut by injuries to Brandon Woodruff and Wade Miley, and Corbin Burnes and Freddy Peralta are having off years, though Burnes has shown some positive signs of late. Their offense is, by any metric, putrid.
But they’re currently in first place, or close to it, because their division is just a dumpster fire. The one great legacy team, the Cardinals, are experiencing a rare downturn, and the division’s one big market team, the Cubs, refuse to act like a big market team. And so, the Brewers are able to “compete.