Milwaukee was, from top to bottom, inconsistent and unbalanced. Yelich was the frontrunner to win the NL MVP award for the second straight year until his injury. Mike Moustakas had an excellent year and was selected to his third All-Star Game and Keston Hiura was one of the best rookie hitters in the NL.
Cincinnati Reds and Milwaukee Brewers haven't been the most consistently competitive teams in recent memory. They have combined for just two NL Central titles in the last decade and had to go through unkind periods of rebuilding in order to reach their current places of contenders.
The San Diego Padres wasted no time getting an addition to an underwhelming pitching staff. But neither did the Brewers reinforcing their infield personnel. On Tuesday the 2019 NL Wild Card Game participant traded starting pitcher Zach Davies and outfielder Trent Grisham to San Diego for Padres prospect Luis Urias and righty Eric Lauer.
The Braves won their second straight NL East title, and offseason acquisition Josh Donaldson had his fair share of contributions on his way to hitting 37 home runs and leading the Braves into the postseason.
Sadly, the time has come to face the ending moments of a very competitive 2019 season in Major League Baseball. But while much of the playoff picture has already been determined, a few crucial battles are yet to conclude.
Christian Yelich is out for the remainder of the 2019 season after fracturing his knee. The injury occured when Yelich fouled the ball into his knee whilst playing against his former team, the Miami Marlins. This freak incident has cut short one of the best individual offensive seasons in baseball history and has deprived us of an exciting National League MVP race.
Cody Bellinger vs Christian Yelich for the National League MVP is going to be one of the most interesting storylines during the last six weeks of the season.
The trade deadline in MLB, for the first time a sole one, is just nine days away and needless to say a lot of star pitchers from underachieving teams are on the market. With Madison Bumgarner off market for now, attention turns to Texas Rangers ace Mike Minor – second in Earned Run Average in the American League with 2.86.
The San Diego Padres, Milwaukee Brewers and Houston Astros are all interested in trading for New York Mets starting pitcher Noah Syndergaard this month, as reported by MLB.com's Jon Morosi.