Photo:Larry Radloff/Icon Sportswire

The last two days notwithstanding, the NL Central leading Brewers have come hard in a push for one of the league’s top two playoff seeds. Defense is an important part of their story.

Milwaukee is the No. 3 team in the major leagues with 65 Defensive Runs Saved, a total that easily leads the National League. Pat Murphy’s team has continued the emphasis on sound defense that Murphy’s predecessor, Craig Counsell, placed throughout his time as manager.

The Brewers are the only team to net at least 15 Runs Saved from three different positions—second base, center field, and right field.

Second base is manned by Brice Turang, who leads players at the position with 20 Runs Saved. Turang was one of our Defensive Player of the Month selections in June. He was pretty good defensively last season too but struggled offensively. He’s bumped his OPS up by 95 points points to its current .680 and taken his defensive game to an elite level. Despite a below-average bat, Turang leads his team with 4.2 WAR (Baseball-Reference version).

The outfield performance has been a group effort. In center field, Blake Perkins (7 Runs Saved), Garrett Mitchell (5), and Sal Frelick (3) have combined for 15 of the team’s 16 Runs Saved there. In right field, Frelick (11) and Jackson Chourio (9) are responsible for all of the Brewers’ 20 Runs Saved at that position.

With Christian Yelich out for the season and Perkins just back from the injured list, the Brewers can regularly play the best version of their outfield defense with him in center field, Chourio in left field (6 Runs Saved), and Frelick in right field.

The Brewers outfield is capable of taking away a lot of extra base hits. Milwaukee is MLB’s best team at robbing home runs this season, something that helps boost their Runs Saved total (since home run robberies literally save runs). 

Mitchell’s home run robbery against the Cardinals yesterday was his 2nd of the season and the team’s 7th. Perkins, who has 3, is tied for the individual lead in homer-robbing catches with Stuart Fairchild of the Reds.

The Brewers are respectable defensively at most other positions, with third base being the next-strongest of the other spots. The one player on the roster struggling this season is shortstop Willy Adames, who ranks last at the position with -12 Runs Saved. That’s in contrast to a track record consisting of five straight seasons with positive Defensive Runs Saved.

Milwaukee’s defensive success is particularly important considering that the pitching staff has the 8th-fewest strikeouts in MLB and is tied for 5th-most home runs allowed. The Brewers’ pitchers have the greatest differential between their FIP* and ERA of any MLB team. Pitchers like Colin Rea, Tobias Meyers and Jared Koenig all have ERAs well below their FIP. The Brewers have saved 14 runs on the batted balls behind Rea, the 4th-highest total by a team for a pitcher.

* Fielding Independent Pitching, an ERA estimate based on strikeouts, walks, and home runs allowed.

The Brewers are not going to be the favorite to get through the National League to the World Series even if they do have the league’s best record. The Dodgers have hitters you don’t want to pitch to. The Phillies have pitchers no one wants to face. But the Brewers have some guys you definitely don’t want to hit the ball to and if they go a long way this postseason, that could be a difference-maker.