Four reasons why Eric Thames breaking MLB HR record isn’t so crazy

Reason 3: The Brewers

When pursing a record like this, we can’t only look at the player himself. Thames has an abundance of power, but he needs to be given pitches to hit to show that off.

Ruth and Maris were aided by hitting in front of Lou Gehrig and Mickey Mantle, respectively. So, pitching around them them only meant facing a Hall of Famer with an extra man on base. Not exactly sound baseball strategy.

McGwire and especially Bonds had their pursuits somewhat hindered by playing in competitive games. The 1998 St. Louis Cardinals went 83-79. While they were never serious playoff contenders, they outscored their opponents by only 28 runs during the season. So, they were in a lot of competitive games. The 2001 San Francisco Giants were in contention until the final weekend of the year, but had a plus-51 run differential. Again, that points to a lot of close games.

Both men broke the existing records, but it was legitimate to wonder if they’d see enough pitches to do so.

That’s not such a concern with Milwaukee.

First of all, the Brewers can protect Thames in the lineup. They may not have someone like Gehrig or Mantle, but Ryan Braun’s bat needs to be taken seriously.

Additionally, thanks to a subpar pitching rotation, Milwaukee doesn’t figure to be an especially competitive team through the year. That doesn’t mean every Brewers game will be a blowout. But don’t expect them to be in the kind of games that the 1998 Cardinals or 2001 Giants were in throughout the season. If the games are lopsided, then there’s less reason to ever pitch around anyone.

Home runs in blowouts count just as much as the long balls hit in close games.

By Michael Dixon

Bay Area born and raised, I have extensive experience in both the print and online worlds. There are few ... More about Michael Dixon