After displaying their resourceful supremacy over the Cubs for the last 6 1/2 seasons, the defending National League Central champion Brewers actually did their rivals a favor by not picking up the $5.5 million option on pitcher Colin Rea.
That enabled the Cubs to sign Rea for the same amount to help stabilize a rotation after ace left-hander Justin Steele suffered a season-ending injury
And not re-signing Rea, as well as not protecting Shane Smith – who has a 2.30 ERA in five starts for the White Sox as a Rule 5 selection – has tested a Brewers team that has lost four of its last five games as they enter a stretch of six consecutive games against the Sox and Cubs.
This marks one of the biggest challenges for a Brewers franchise that has taken control of the NL Central since overcoming a five-game deficit to the Cubs with 25 games to play in 2018.
The Brewers took four of six from the Cubs, caught them on the second-to-last-day of the regular season and beat them in a tiebreaker at Wrigley Field for the division title.
That was the start of the dominance for the Brewers, who have won four division titles and earned six playoff appearances since 2018 – compared to the Cubs’ two playoff appearances and one division title (in the 2020 COVID-shorten season) during that same span.
The Brewers will try to snap out of their current malaise, in which manager Pat Murphy conducted a 30-minute meeting following a series loss at San Francisco, starting Tuesday night with a three-game series at Rate Field against the White Sox before returning home to play the Cubs.
The Brewers will try to extend their dominance over the Cubs this weekend that includes a 54-41 record against them since 2018 Labor Day, when third baseman Kris Bryant attempted an ill-fated double play instead of throwing home to prevent the winning run from scoring.
“I think it kind of created the culture here, like it was the beginning of that,” designated hitter Christian Yelich, the longest tenured Brewer, said earlier this month.
The Brewers have either traded some of their top players (Josh Hader, Corbin Burnes, Devin Williams) or let some go to free agency (Willy Adames). But they’ve compensated by maximizing their thrifty free-agent signings (Rea, Rhys Hoskins) and developing homegrown talent (Jackson Chourio, Sal Frelick, Brice Turang).
They’ve also absorbed departures by front office fixtures like general manager David Sterns and manager Craig Counsell with in-house replacements Matt Arnold and Murphy, respectively.
“It takes the right guys and the right people on the coaching staff and in the front office and ownership,” Yelich said. ‘It doesn’t happen right away, but I think 2018 was kind of the start of that, and then it’s kind of developed and just becomes the team’s identity after a while.”
While Cubs fans aimed high for Sandy Alcantara after the loss of Steele, the Brewers have resorted to the likes of late-signing free agent Jose Quintana, journeyman Chad Patrick and former first-round pick Quinn Priester.
Quintana, 36, a former White Sox/Cubs pitcher who didn’t sign until March 5, is 4-0 with an 1.14 ERA in four starts. Patrick hasn’t allowed more than two runs in any of his first five starts. And Priester, a Cary-Grove High School standout, posted a 1.93 ERA in his first three starts since joining the Brewers – his third team – in an April 7 trade from the Red Sox.
“It’s a credit to our front office that they come up with these guys,” Murphy said a day after Quintana threw seven scoreless innings at Arizona in his 2025 debut on April 11.
“The fact that Quintana was even available startles me, but he’s not one of these guys that lights up the boards when it comes to the metrics that they like to look at. He lights up the board for me when it comes to pitching and being a winning pitcher.”
The Brewers didn’t panic after allowing 47 runs in their first four games at Yankee Stadium as they gave Quintana ample time to prepare despite his late arrival.
“It helped because William (Contreras) and I got on the same page right away,” Quintana said.
The 2018 division title was supposed to be short-lived after highly respected pitching coach (and former Cubs minor league pitching coordinator) Derek Johnson left to join the Reds.
But unheralded Chris Hook was promoted from the minors and has found ways to maximize the talents of an array of pitchers and unearth tools for others to implement for six-plus seasons.
“Hooky is the best,” said Rea, who set career highs in wins (12), starts (27) and innings (167 2/3) for the Brewers last season. “From day one, he treated me like I had been working with him forever. His work ethic is incredible, and he cares for everyone.
“He had his guys come through the system, but he gives everyone the same amount of attention.”
The Brewers scouted Rea at a workout at Driveline in Scottsdale, Arizona, after he pitched in Japan in 2022 and sold him on how they could apply the data to his repertoire.
“It does help to have we’ve had just enough success where people come over and say, ‘hey, what can you do for me?’ “ Hook said. “And I think that sometimes you don’t have that everywhere. And fortunately enough, we’ve built that reputation that we think we can get you better. And fortunate enough, most have gotten better.
“It never ends. Who is the next guy? How can we help the next guy?”
After Counsell’s departure to the Cubs, Murphy was the ideal replacement – especially because his ability to handle youth in 22 years at Arizona State and Notre Dame and the Brewers’ influx of young talent – led by phenom Jackson Chourio.
“I’d be very careful on throwing labels on a 21-year-old kid,” Murphy said. “The attraction to do it is obvious, because he is so likable, and he has incredible ability.
“But like any other good player in this game, and we can mention them right off the bat, all these players that have struggled mightily. He’s got a lot to go through. He’s got a lot to learn.”
Murphy hasn’t played favorites, as he pulled third baseman Caleb Durbin and Frelick in the middle of Saturday’s loss at St. Louis for fundamental blunders.
Despite finishing 10 games behind the Brewers, the Cubs were anointing by a consensus to win their first division title since 2020. That hasn’t served as a rallying cry for the Brewers, who simply harp on fundamentals from the minors to big league spring training
“And a lot of that comes from Murph,” Yelich said. “This is the standard, and if you don’t want to do it, he’s not going to put up with it, no matter who you are. And we practice it, we drill it, we see it visually, and then go work on it.
“That starts in spring training, and once the season starts, it’s like we’re going to try to make the plays we need to make to win.
“And I think it’s a lost art in baseball a little bit now, Do you know how to win the game? It sounds weird, but when the game’s tied in the sixth, do you know how to win? Who’s going to make the plays and the pitches and execute to win?”