2016 Milwaukee Brewers

2016 Milwaukee Brewers / Franchise: Milwaukee Brewers / BR Team Page[edit]

Record: 73-89, Finished 4th in NL Central Division (2016 NL)

Coaches: Darnell Coles, Joe Crawford, Derek Johnson, Jason Lane, Pat Murphy, Ed Sedar, Carlos Subero and Lee Tunnell

History, Comments, Contributions[edit]

The 2016 Milwaukee Brewers knew from before the start of the season that they had no realistic chance to compete in the tough NL Central division. The real question was whether some young players would be able to establish themselves as building blocks for the future, and which of the more pricey veterans on the team would be traded, with most speculation focusing on LF Ryan Braun and C Jonathan Lucroy. Braun stayed put at the trading deadline, but after refusing an initial deal to the Cleveland Indians, Lucroy was sent to the Texas Rangers for a package of prospects.

On August 29th, the Brewers set an unenviable franchise record by striking out 19 times in a nine-inning game. Carlos Martinez of the St. Louis Cardinals started things off by striking out a career-high 13 Brewers batters over 6 innings. Milwaukee managed to score 4 runs and take a lead against two relievers in the 7th, but Miguel Socolovich and Seung-Hwan Oh teamed up for 6 Ks over the last 2 2/3 innings and the Cards came back to win, 6-5 as relievers Corey Knebel and Tyler Thornburg were unable to hold the lead. At that point, they were on a pace to beat the major league mark for strikeouts in a season of 1,535, set by the 2013 Houston Astros; not surprisingly the two strikeout leaders in the National League were on the team - 1B Chris Carter and SS Jonathan Villar - and they had both played for the record-setting Astros team.