Was Brewers' terrific regular-season performance overshadowed by their playoff flop?

The 2023 Milwaukee Brewers finished 92-70, won their third National League Central Division title in the last six seasons and earned their fifth playoff appearance over that same span.

Then, they were promptly swept in two games in the wild-card round by the Arizona Diamondbacks – and at American Family Field, at that.

So, how to square all that?

Should the Brewers be commended for remaining consistently competitive and reaching the postseason, punching above their weight class (their 573 wins since 2017 are sixth-most in the major leagues) despite the inherent disadvantages that come along with being a small-market team?

Or should they be chided for having won just one of their last 10 postseason games since finishing a game shy of earning the franchise's second-ever World Series appearance, especially when the organization as a whole has been vocal about expectations being raised and overall excellence now being the standard?

More: Milwaukee Brewers face these 10 burning questions this offseason

GM Matt Arnold is pleased with the Brewers' season, disappointed with the finish

General manager Matt Arnold was asked on Tuesday to weigh in on the topic as he officially closed the book on his first season as chief architect of the team, a season Brewers principal owner Mark Attanasio referred to as "pretty terrific" in the leadup to Milwaukee's abrupt postseason exit.

“I think as a group we’re disappointed with the ending, but we’re not disappointed with our season," he said. "I think there’s a definite distinction between those two. I’m proud of the people we have here, proud of the good work that we’ve been able to do here. But we didn’t finish the way that we hoped. I think exiting after one series is always hard to swallow. We felt like we had a championship-caliber team here this year.

"But I think the more you get away from it, the more you get to appreciate all of the good that we have here. We have a lot of good things. We have a lot of things we can build upon. We won the division by nine games. We won 92 games this season.

"There’s a lot to be proud of here, for sure.”

Expectations were high heading into spring training.

Arnold procured a starting catcher in William Contreras, pitching depth in Wade Miley, Joel Payamps and Bryse Wilson and a designated hitter in Jesse Winker. The threesome of Corbin Burnes, Brandon Woodruff and Freddy Peralta returned at the front of the rotation. Shortstop Willy Adames and first baseman Rowdy Tellez were coming off career years as run producers.

And then there was the passel of prospects – Garrett Mitchell, Brice Turang, Joey Wiemer and Sal Frelick – who appeared poised to matriculate to the major leagues and provide an influx of youthful exuberance.

Brewers tested by injuries early in 2023

But the first headline to come out of Maryvale was Burnes blasting the Brewers after losing his case in arbitration. The furor eventually died down, but it certainly wasn't the way anyone expected 2023 to begin.

Then, the injuries started.

First, it was Aaron Ashby, whose left shoulder injury left him on the sideline for the entirety of camp (and later after surgery, the season). Next came outfielder Tyrone Taylor, who was felled by a recurrent right elbow issue.

Then on opening day, starting third baseman Luis Urías went down with a hamstring strain that sidelined him two months, opening the door to Wiemer's debut.

The big blow came about two weeks later when Woodruff suffered a subscapular strain in his second start. What was originally hoped to be an injury that would take him out of action for several weeks turned out to be a four-month stint on the injured list.

Mitchell, the starting centerfielder, was next to be lost – a torn labrum suffered on a head-first slide into third base resulted in surgery that left him out for all but the final week of the season.

Miley strained a lat, Eric Lauer injured his shoulder, Adames suffered a concussion when he was hit in the head by a foul ball while in the dugout and Winker injured his neck.

On and on it went, testing Milwaukee's depth and resolve as it tried to gain a foothold in the Central.

To the credit of Arnold and his staff, enough buffer was built in that the Brewers were able to withstand the absences without losing much momentum. Brian Anderson was a big contributor early. Same for Owen Miller. Colin Rea stepped into the breach in the rotation, as did Adrian Houser.

Julio Teheran proved to be a huge signing in late May. Turang and Wiemer took their lumps but also had their moments. Little-known youngsters Andruw Monasterio and Blake Perkins made their major-league debuts, with Monasterio going on to play a big role on the team the rest of the way.

There were more injuries the rest of the way, most notably with Tellez missing 37 games.

All told, nearly 800 games were lost to the IL by key players, and that's not counting the various absences suffered by those who weren't contributing as expected and those on the fringes of the roster.

Brewers were at or near the top of the NL Central all season

But through it all, the Brewers were either in first place in the Central or within striking distance of the top. The flagging St. Louis Cardinals fell out of the chase early and the plucky Cincinnati Reds surprised everyone until Milwaukee won seven of nine matchups between the teams in July to assert its dominance.

There were low points along the way as well, including losing two of three to the lowly Detroit Tigers in Milwaukee and, unbelievably, being swept at home by baseball's worst team, the Oakland A's, in early June.

The turning point, manager Craig Counsell would say late in the season, came when the Brewers were swept by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the middle of a nine-game road trip in mid-August.

It was preceded by a sweep of the Chicago White Sox and followed by a sweep of the Texas Rangers, and included a pair of veterans acquired at the trading deadline – Carlos Santana and Mark Canha – who would go on to bolster an offense that had been far too inconsistent reaching base and scoring runs.

From there, Milwaukee slowly built upon its lead in the Central and despite a hard charge late by the Chicago Cubs put the division title out of reach.

The Brewers clinched a playoff spot in Miami on Sept. 22. Next came the Central on Sept. 26 at American Family Field when, around the same time they were falling to the Cardinals, they benefited from a crazy turn of events in Atlanta when the Braves staged a big comeback to beat the Cubs.

In all, Milwaukee spent 133 days in first place in the Central, 51 in second and two in third. The Brewers went 17-9 in August and 18-11 in September and October. They won a season-best nine straight games from Aug. 18-28 and lost a season-high six straight games twice, with the last such run coming June 8-14.

There were also 41 come-from-behind victories.

At 92-70 the Brewers finished with the third-best record in the NL, earning the right to host a wild-card series against the Diamondbacks.

Pitching and offense both let the Brewers down against the Diamondbacks

But the announcement of another shoulder injury suffered by Woodruff that would keep him out of his scheduled Game 2 start and then dual letdowns by Game 1 starter Corbin Burnes, and Woodruff's replacement Freddy Peralta and a return of their spotty offense spelled the end of the season.

"It is certainly difficult when you have a season that is defined by one series," Arnold said. "I think that's a real thing. We've certainly had success in the playoffs. At the same time, we have exited early. But the fact that we're there gives us that opportunity to go deep.

"And honestly we did feel like we had a championship-caliber team this year, and that's why it makes it more difficult. But we have pretty good resolve in this group and we already are getting after it for what we can do better in the future."

The regular season was full of highlights

A bird's-eye view of the 2023 Brewers reveals some major positives.

At the top of the list was the performance of the bullpen, which quickly transformed from a major question mark into the best unit on the team.

Led by all-star closer Devin Williams, terrific performances by unheralded veterans Joel Payamps, Hoby Milner and Bryse Wilson and breakouts by Elvis Peguero, Abner Uribe and Trevor Megill, Milwaukee was virtually infallible at 74-7 with a lead after seven innings and 80-4 with a lead after eight.

The defense was also top-notch, with Adames setting the tone for a unit that was best or second-best in the majors depending on metric. The play of Turang at second base and Wiemer, Frelick and Mitchell in the outfield was a major reason for the overall excellence, and adding Santana at first base helped solidify that spot as well.

And speaking of the rookies, although all three experienced the typical difficulties at the plate over the course of the season, the energy and exuberance they provided throughout was palpable.

And who can forget moments like Turang's grand slam against the New York Mets, the early walk-offs by Mitchell and Wiemer or Frelick's dazzling debut and wall-crashing catches?

"Those guys are special young guys," Arnold said. "I've talked to some of our veteran players and they say really positive things about these guys, which is unique sometimes for veteran guys because their standards are so high. But when you hear them talk about them, not just as players but as people, they're the kind of guys that you can see as future leaders here with the organization."

The starting pitching was solid, especially considering all the moving pieces. Burnes threw eight of what turned out to be 10⅓ innings of no-hit baseball against the Yankees in New York on Sept. 10 and the next night Woodruff pitched a complete-game shutout in Milwaukee to cap what might have been the best two consecutive days of pitching in franchise history.

Offensively, the resurgence of Christian Yelich was a huge storyline as he had his best season since 2019, although back problems sidelined him for a couple weeks late in the year. Contreras developed into the team's MVP thanks in large part to his consistent contributions at the plate, and Canha and Santana were big reasons for the unit's improved output over the final two months.

Assessing how to improve for 2024 will be 'a long process' for the Brewers

But the regression of Adames – who still led the Brewers in homers – and Tellez hurt. Winker was a complete non-factor as DH, leaving a huge void in the lineup. Never one for defined lineups anyway, Counsell used 135 alignments that saw nine varied No. 3 hitters, 15 cleanup hitters and 23 No. 5 hitters.

Overall, the offense finished in the bottom third of many major categories, often affording the pitching staff next to no margin for error, although it might surprise some that its .269 average with runners in scoring position was eighth-best in the majors.

With runners in scoring position and two outs, the Brewers dropped to 18th with a .236 average.

Asked if he felt offense – and in particular power – would be an offseason focus, Arnold instead insisted potential changes anywhere and everywhere could be in play.

"As I’ve mentioned, we’ve had success, but we’re not comfortable with where we are," he said. "We want to win the last game of the season. That’s really important to us. It’s important to our fans.

"And so I think it’s going to be a long process, to evaluate where we can get better."

THANK YOU: Subscribers' support makes this work possible. Help us share the knowledge by buying a gift subscription.

DOWNLOAD THE APP: Get the latest news, sports and more

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Brewers were strong in 2023 regular season but flopped in playoffs