2024 Milwaukee Brewers

2024 Milwaukee Brewers / Franchise: Milwaukee Brewers / BR Team Page

Record: 93-69, Finished 1st in NL Central Division (2024 NL)

Managed by Pat Murphy

Coaches: Quintin Berry, Nestor Corredor, Connor Dawson, Daniel de Mondesert, Charlie Greene, Jim Henderson, Chris Hook, Jason Lane, Walter McKinven, Ozzie Timmons and Rickie Weeks

Ballpark: American Family Park

History, Comments, Contributions

From June 22-30, the 2024 Milwaukee Brewers became only the second team in major league history, after the 2020 San Diego Padres, to hit five grand slams in a span of eight games. Brice Turang book-ended the series by hitting the first and last of these, with Rhys Hoskins, Jake Bauers and Jackson Chourio filling in in between. The Brewers went 7-1 during the streak to finish the month of June at 5-34, a full 6 1/2 games in front of the second-place St. Louis Cardinals.

Turang was an unlikely candidate to pace the offense, as he had hit only 6 long balls in his rookie season in 2023, when all of his value was defensive, but the two slams allowed him to match that total in only three months, while all of his offensive numbers were much improved over the previous season, making him a very productive hitter. Chourio had been the team's most vaunted prospect in spring training and made the team as a starting outfielder at only 20. He wasn't yet tearing up the league, but was holding his own at a very young age. Hoskins and Bauers, who shared first base and DH duties, were both veterans acquired on the cheap in the off-season who were doing a good job in what was a well-balanced offense. The big star was again Christian Yelich, who was hitting .321 at that point after seemingly overcoming some mid-career doldrums, and another contributor was rookie 3B Joey Ortiz, acquired from the Baltimore Orioles in a trade for ace Corbin Burnes, who was caught in the logjam of brilliant young infielders in Baltimore and never had a chance to show what he could do.

The Brewers became the first major league team to clinch a spot in the postseason, doing so on September 18th when their nearest pursuers, the Chicago Cubs, lost to the Oakland Athletics in an afternoon game. They then confirmed their third division title in the last four seasons with a 2-1 win over the Philadelphia Phillies that same evening. It was the first title for manager Pat Murphy, however, as he had been named to take over the team in the off-season after long-time manager Craig Counsell had left to take over the Cubs. On September 22nd, they pulled off the biggest comeback by any major league team that season (tied with the San Diego Padres) when they recovered from being down 8-0 in the middle of the 3rd against the Arizona Diamondbacks to win, 10-9. The comeback from eight runs down was the biggest in franchise history since 2004. A loss would have resulted in their first four-game losing streak of the season - they were the only team left in the majors not to have suffered such a skein.

Awards and Honors

• All-Stars: William Contreras and Christian Yelich
• NL Gold Glove: Sal Frelick (RF) and Brice Turang (2B)
• NL Silver Slugger Award: William Contreras (C)
• MLB All-Rookie Team: Jackson Chourio (OF) and Joey Ortiz (3B)
• NL Manager of the Year Award: Pat Murphy

Further Reading

• Adam McCalvy: "Turang brews up Crew's 5th grand slam in 8 games", mlb.com, June 30, 2024. [1]
• Adam McCalvy: "Brewers defy odds to win NL Central, then walk off Phillies; Murphy leads Milwaukee to 3rd division title in 4 years: 'This is a special group of guys'", mlb.com, September 19, 2024. [2]
• Adam McCalvy: "The comeback Crew! Brewers feed off fans' energy to pull off stunner", mlb.com, September 22, 2024. [3]
• Adam McCalvy: "'This is our identity': Brewers aim to run their way to glory", mlb.com, September 30, 2024. [4]

2024 MLB season by team