MILWAUKEE — Everyone loves a blockbuster deal, but sometimes it’s under-the-radar trades in April or June that produce the biggest impact.
Take Quinn Priester, who won his ninth consecutive decision for the Brewers on Tuesday, and Andrew Vaughn, who electrified sold-out American Family Field by smashing a grand slam as part of a three-hit, six-RBI night in a 9-3 win over the Cubs, leaving Milwaukee fans to wonder what else GM Matt Arnold & Co. might have in store before Thursday’s 5 p.m. CT Trade Deadline.
“I’ve made it clear that we’re trying to get better everywhere,” Arnold said Tuesday afternoon.
The Brewers have made a habit of qualifying for the postseason by avoiding the urge to go all-in and instead adding around the edges like they did with deals earlier this season for Priester and Vaughn, who were both toiling in Triple-A when the Brewers offered a chance to revive their careers. Priester came from the Red Sox in April when Milwaukee was desperate for healthy starters, and Vaughn from the White Sox in June after veteran starter Aaron Civale requested a trade. Now they’re showing what made them prospects in the first place.
The Brewers haven’t lost a game in which Priester (10-2) pitched since May 24, and his ERA this season stands at 3.27 after 20 outings (15 starts) — including a 2.57 ERA in 15 outings (11 starts) since the Cubs roughed him up in this ballpark on May 2.
And Vaughn already has as many home runs (five) and two more RBIs (21) in 15 games with the Brewers than he did in 48 games for the White Sox before a demotion to Triple-A Charlotte on May 23.
“We both came into the team in a similar role in the sense that there were some injuries and we needed somebody to step up,” Priester said. “When you have a team like this and they believe in each other, it’s intoxicating. You can’t help but believe in yourself.”
They’re two reasons that the Brewers, owners of the best record in the Majors at 64-43, have surged into that position by winning 15 of their past 18 games. And they help highlight the ongoing challenge for reigning MLB Executive of the Year Arnold, who is open to trading from the club’s surplus of starting pitching and wants to fortify the hard-worked bullpen and potentially the lineup beyond Tuesday’s arrival of catcher Danny Jansen following a trade with the Rays.
Sellers’ demands at this stage are enormous, executives tell MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand, and Arnold and the Brewers have limits. They won’t gut the farm system, and they don’t want to disrupt the good thing the Brewers have going as they’re currently constructed. They are 39-15 since May 25, with contributions everywhere from veteran team leader Christian Yelich (who scored his 1,000th career run on Vaughn’s sixth-inning slam) to budding star Jackson Chourio (who had two hits before experiencing right hamstring cramps on a fifth-inning triple and leaving the game) to rookies Anthony Seigler and Caleb Durbin. They split duties at third base and drove in a run apiece.
Third base is one of the areas Brewers officials have pondered upgrading. So is first, with Rhys Hoskins out until September with a left thumb injury. But Vaughn is making it very difficult to imagine getting any more from the latter position, with his 1.210 OPS with the Brewers.
“The way he’s been able to help us out is spectacular,” Chourio said. “I think what he’s doing, the extent that he’s doing it, it’s something that catches you by surprise a little bit.”
Chourio isn’t alone. Vaughn had a .532 OPS in 185 at-bats this season with the White Sox. When the Brewers picked him up, it was partly a vehicle to unload Civale, partly to secure depth behind the veteran Hoskins and partly a dice role on a hitter who once was the third overall pick in the Draft.
“For me, the reason for his success is the way he’s commanding the strike zone,” said lead hitting coach Al LeBoeuf. “He’s taking edge pitching and looking for his pitch, and when he gets it, he’s not missing it.
“For me, that’s everything — coupled with being in a new environment. The energy in this place is second to none. We’re all about ‘win today’ and we’re a bunch of grinders. I think that’s infectious.”
One example: The Brewers started the season 2-20 when the opponent scores first. Since then, they are 15-9, including victories in each of the first two games of this series. Milwaukee has top starter Freddy Peralta scheduled to start Wednesday, eyeing a three-game sweep.
For both Priester and Vaughn, it’s been the sort of infection they don’t want to cure.
“It’s just being confident,” Vaughn said. “Winning is fun, especially when the crowd is electric like it was tonight.”
