Column: Milwaukee's ‘average Joes' happy to put pressure on the Chicago Cubs in an end of July showdown

Chicago Tribune

3 days ago

MILWAUKEE — The Chicago Cubs came into the stadium formerly known as Miller Park on Monday to face a Milwaukee Brewers team that has found a new identity.
They're calling themselves the 'average Joes' of baseball, a bunch of nobodies who don't know how to do anything but win. It's a nickname reminiscent of 'the Idiots,' the 2004 Boston Red Sox team that broke the curse and won a World Series for the first time in 86 years.
Whatever works. On Monday, before the home team's 8-4 win, I asked Brewers left fielder Christian Yelich, a former Most Valuable Player and three-time All-Star, if he also qualifies as an average Joe.
'Are we part of it, yeah?' Yelich said. 'That's what we've got going on here, I think. We've been saying that for a little while, just as a joke. But I don't know. It's kind of true, also.'
It's smart for the Brewers to cultivate an image of being 'average' when they know in their hearts they're a prime cut team. The difference is that the Cubs are like filet mignon sold at an expensive steakhouse, while the Brewers operate out of a steakhouse chain located somewhere off the interstate.
The Cubs will always outspend the Brewers in the offseason and at the trade deadline, but it never seems to make much of a difference once the games are played.
Yelich said the Brewers are playing with 'house money' since no one considers them in the same stratosphere as the Cubs.
'They're supposed to win the division, they're supposed to have high expectations, they have half our coaching staff,' he said. 'They made a bunch of trades, so if they don't win the division I'm sure it will be very disappointing. For us, we're just trying to make life tough on them and the rest of the league and seeing what we can do. That's always been our motto around here.'
When you've played the role of underdog forever, it's second nature to pretend you actually are one.
But the Brewers ran away with the National League Central last year, finishing 10 games ahead of the Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals. And they were once again ignored by most of the experts in their preseason prognostications after shedding stars Devin Williams and Willy Adames.
But they entered Monday's showdown with the Cubs tied for first at 62-43, and had a 37-15 record since May 25, when they began the day three games under .500 at 25-28.
'Everybody probably tried to figure out how we win games every year,' Yelich said. 'Every year we're kind of picked to not do very well, or they say we're not going to be any good. It's all right by us, we just try to figure it out as we go.'
A large contingent of Cubs fans made the drive up I-94 to see the matchup between Cubs left-hander Matthew Boyd and Brewers phenom Jacob Misiorowski, who has already become a household name as 'the Miz.'
Misiorowski is anything but average, throwing as hard as 103 mph and compiling a 4-1 record and 2.25 ERA over his first six starts. Opponents were batting .150 off him, and he's already thrown 101 pitches of 100 mph or more, second in the majors to Cincinnati's Hunter Greene, who has 124 triple-digit pitches.
Misiorowski was chosen by MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred to be on the National League All-Star staff, despite having only five games under his belt at the time. Baseball wanted a chance to showcase a potential star, who was the first pitcher since at least 1900 to have more wins (2) than hits allowed (1) in his first two career starts.
He joined the likes of Paul Skenes, Mark Fidrych, Hideo Nomo and Fernando Valenzuela, all of whom made a big splash to start their major-league careers.
At the All-Star Game, Misiorowski was told that his nickname in Japan was 'Monster.'
'Awesome,' he said. 'That's a new one for me.'
Misiorowski said it was 'crazy' for him to be in an All-Star Game, but he wasn't making any apologies for accepting an invitation, even as some players criticized the selection.
'Guys are going to talk,' he said. 'Oh well.'
A year ago he was in Biloxi, Mississippi, toiling in obscurity in the minors. Now he's 'the Miz,' a legend in Milwaukee.
The Brewers are riding the wave of every start, knowing it's one of those things that only happens in baseball once or twice a generation.
'He has a chance to do big things every time out there,' Yelich said. 'He's done well with all the new stuff that's come at him lately. It's all happened really fast and obviously points to his tremendous maturity.
'We all kind of knew about his stuff. He's one of those guys that I feel like he's snuck up on the scene somehow, as good as stuff as he has. We all kind of knew that. It's more (a question of command), whether he can get that under control or not. But oftentimes when a guy has that kind of stuff, he's super hyped, a top ten prospect, and 'can't miss.'
'I feel like he didn't really have that, probably because he's on the Brewers. He's one of us, one of the average Joes. If he was a prospect in a bigger market, he's probably a top-five prospect in baseball and there's a movie series being made about his journey through the minor leagues. We're glad to have him on our side. He fits our group well.'
Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson said the Miz is a unicorn who has caught the attention of every team.
'I guess (Atlanta Braves pitcher Spencer) Strider was like that early on,' Swanson said of his former teammate. 'He needed to get called up to a different league in a way, he was so good and confident. It'll be a fun one (in Milwaukee), as it always is.'
Misiorowski didn't have a great outing Monday, giving up three runs in four innings and making a costly fielding error. But he struck out seven while throwing 11 pitches of 100 mph or more.
For a Monday night game in July, Monday's matchup had a serious playoff-like feel. But to the Joes, it was just another game.
'Our team doesn't feel any pressure,' Yelich said. 'We feel like no one even expects us to be in this spot anyway, so we're just trying to make life hard on them and the rest of the league.'