Renfroe fuels Brewers’ torrid second-half start
By JERRY TAPP
The Brewers maintain a three-game lead in the National League Central over the St. Louis Cardinals. The Crew has won seven of their first nine games after the All-Star break and one reason is the power supply offered by right-fielder Hunter Renfroe. He has slugged six long balls in those nine games.
To get near the Brewers record for most home runs by a player in the second half of the season, Renfroe would have to continue his power hitting in the remainder of the season. The record for second half HRs is 27 held by Richie Sexson in 2001. That means that Renfroe would have to hit 22 home runs in the last 60 games of the year.
There have been 12 Brewers players who have hit 20 or more home runs in the second half (after the All-Star break) of a season. They are:
Richie Sexson, 27, 2001
Christian Yelich, 25, 2018
Prince Fielder, 24, 2009
Ryan Braun, 23, 2007
Gorman Thomas, 22, 1979
Khris Davis, 21, 2015
Prince Fielder, 21, 2007
Gorman Thomas, 21, 1980
Richie Sexson, 20, 2003
Geoff Jenkins, 20, 2000
Ben Oglivie, 20, 1980
George Scott, 20, 1975
• As mentioned above, the Brewers are 7-2 since the All-Star break, a winning percentage of .778. Chances are they will not continue that pace (they would have to go 47-13 in their last 60 games to finish the second half with a winning percentage of .783). The Brewers best second half winning percentage was in 2011 when they went 47-23 (.671). To break the team record for the second half of the season, the Brew Crew will need to win 40 of their last 60 games. There have been five Brewers teams that had a winning percentage of .600 or higher in the second half of the season: 2011 (47-23, .671), 1987 (49-28, .636), 2018 (41-24, .631), 1992 (47-29, .618), 2021 (42-28, .600).
• If you have watched any Brewers games on TV, you have likely heard the announcers mention that the team needs to score four or more runs to win a game. Through games of July 31, the team is 47-15 (.758 winning percentage) in games where they score four or more runs. That means the team is horrible 10-30 (.250) when they score less than four runs in a game. In addition, the Brewers are 32-9 when they hit two or more home runs in a game, a .780 winning percentage; and they are 20-8 (.714) when they get 10 or more hits in a contest.
