2018 was truly a magical year for the Milwaukee Brewers. For the second time in team history, Milwaukee reached the National League Championship Series. Although they lost the series in seven games against Los Angeles Dodgersfans remember this Brewers team fondly.
Christian Yelich, of course, was the NL MVP this year after hitting .326/.402/.598 with 36 home runs, 110 RBI and 22 stolen bases. First baseman Jesus Aguilar had the best season of his career, hitting .274/.352/.539 with 35 home runs and 108 RBI. Additionally, third baseman Travis Shaw hit .241/.345/.480 with 32 home runs and 86 RBI.
As fans will recall, the Brewers also made a huge midseason acquisition this year, selling the club to Mike Moustakas of the Kansas City Royals. In 54 games with Milwaukee after the trade, he hit .256/.326/.441 with eight home runs and 33 RBI.
Moustakas etched his name into Brewers history with a single in the bottom of the 10th inning of Game 1 of the NLDS:
Moustakas hit .364/.462/.455 in that series, but only .138/.194/.172 in the NLCS.
In 2019, he re-signed with the Brewers for one year and made the All-Star team, hitting .254/.329/.516 with 35 home runs and 87 RBI that season.
Former Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Jorge Lopez has signed with the Washington Nationals
Moustakas is fondly remembered in Milwaukee even though he played for the Brewers for just a season and a half. However, to acquire him, the team had to part with some of their youthful talents.
Many fans will remember that beloved outfielder Brett Phillips was included in the deal. The same was true for a right-handed pitcher Jorge LopezBrewers’ second-round pick in the 2011 amateur draft.
Since being traded to Milwaukee, Lopez has bounced around the Majors, playing for six different teams in six years.
He’ll be hoping for a little more stability in 2025, having agreed to a one-year, $3 million contract with the Washington Nationals:
Jorge Lopez is receiving $3 million plus bonuses from the Nationals, according to a source. @JonHeyman he was on it.
— Mark Feinsand (@Feinsand) January 11, 2025
Lopez spent 2024 playing for the New York Mets and Chicago Cubs. He was 2-3 with a 3.76 ERA for the Mets, but 1-1 with a 2.03 ERA for the Cubs. He finished the season with an ERA of 2.98, marking the second time in his career that he had an ERA below 3.00 for a year.
The second time came in 2022, when he made his first and only career All-Star team. He started this season with the Baltimore Orioles and went 4-6 with a 1.68 ERA and 19 saves in 44 games. However, he was traded before the MLB deadline to the Minnesota Twins, with whom he was 0-1 with a 4.37 ERA and four saves.
He finished that season with a 2.54 ERA between the two teams.
Jorge Lopez of the Milwaukee Brewers
Lopez made his Major League debut for the Brewers in 2015. He started two games for the Major League club this year, going 1-1 with a 5.40 ERA.
He didn’t appear in the Majors again until 2017, when he pitched in one game for Milwaukee, giving up four hits and running in two innings of relief.
Part of the reason he intrigued the Royals before the Moustakas trade in 2018 was that, at the time, Lopez was 0-1 with a 2.75 ERA in 10 games with the Brewers this season.
However, after the trade, he was 2-4 with a terrible ERA of 6.35 in seven games (all starts) for Kansas City.
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