The writing was on the wall.
In March of this year, Corbin Burnes reported to the Brewers camp with some eye-opening remarks regarding his contract situation after feeling hurt – his words, not mine.
Fast forward to today, the Brewers are a half-game out of first place and have been hovering around .500 for much of the past month or so – matching the pace of their ace.
Burnes is sitting with a win-loss record of 5-5, a 4.10 earned run average, and a WHIP of 1.19.
His strikeout rate is down, and his walk numbers are up.
If the season ended today, those three statistics would land Burnes as his worst since 2019, a season in which he struggled mightily.
The Brewers are at a bit of a crossroads here.
Sitting three games above .500 and questions surrounding their roster, the future of their outlook all lies in the right hand of Burnes.
Will these struggles lead the team to look to deal the soon-to-be free agent? Has his performance garnered his price to drop?
GM Matt Arnold will have to gather the answers to those questions and decide on a path for his team going forward.
At the beginning of the year, I said “No way” on trading the 2021 Cy Young winner.
With a team that has more questions than answers, today, that opinion has changed.
