The time is now for the Milwaukee Brewers. After having the toughest schedule in baseball, the next month is about as light as you can get in MLB terms. Brewers have a real opportunity to start creating some distance from them and the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals. They still have to win the games in order for this to happen though. Some might have trepidation that Milwaukee may play down to their opponent after losing two of three to Miami, but you have to consider how good the Marlins were playing at that time. Hopefully, Brewers do not run in any more buzzsaws through the next month.

Here are the teams that the Brewers play in the next month before the All-Star Break and right afterward – San Francisco Giants(x2), San Diego Padres, Cincinnati Reds (x2), Seattle Mariners, and Pittsburgh Pirates (x2). That’s a pretty cake schedule. None of those teams are close to being playoff contenders. San Diego is the only team in that group hovering around .500, but they’re trending in the wrong direction of late as they’ve lost three straight games. You don’t want put a number of wins for the next month, yet, if Milwaukee doesn’t at least win at least 66 percent of their games over the next month, it’s a failure. Barring a serious injury, there’s no reason why Milwaukee cannot accomplish that versus this group of teams.

One thing people have pointed out with the Brewers’ success not being sustainable is their run differential. It is only +12 or close to that number which is usually a sign of an average team. But I don’t think people took into consideration that they play a really tough schedule leading to close games and not many blowouts. Not to mention, they lost 16-0 last week, so, naturally, your run differential is going to take a hit there. I’d like to see it when Milwaukee gets down with this stretch of games.

While it would be good for all our hearts if the Brewers ran away with the NL Central and won back-to-back division titles for the first time in franchise history, it is not realistic. Chicago Cubs are too good, and even with their road struggles, they can string together wins and make things very difficult on the Brewers. Right now, St. Louis needs to do exactly that to be considered a contender. It should be a fun summer.

Charlie.