The Milwaukee Brewers have used doubts to fuel their dreams all season long. After the Chicago Cubs lost 5-3 to the Oakland A’s on Wednesday, the Brewers have now won the Central Division of the National League.

“This team,” coach Pat Murphy said earlier this month, “was not expected to be where it is now.”

At the start of the season, the PECOTA projection system predicted that the Brewers would win only 79 games. The team had traded away their star player, Corbin Burnes. Lockdown closer Devin Williams suffered a back injury in the first few days of spring training that would cost him months. The injury woes plagued Milwaukee’s pitchers for much of the season.

And yet the Brewers just kept playing winning baseball. Christian Yelich had a batting average of .315 before his season-ending back surgery in August. Willy Adames had another outstanding season as shortstop. William Contreras made a name for himself as perhaps the best catcher in the league. After only achieving a batting average of .210 in his first two months in the major leagues, rookie star Jackson Chourio calmed down and developed into one of the best hitters from the beginning of July.

But most of all, the Brewers have managed to get here because they have excelled on the sidelines. Tobias Myers has become the star of a pitching staff that has exceeded all expectations. Players like Brice Turang and Sal Frelick have fueled Milwaukee’s small-ball strategy, stealing bases, playing winning defense and keeping the Brewers in check in nearly every game.

GO DEEPER

Are the Milwaukee Brewers, considered underdogs in the small-ball league, ready to be the spoiler in October?

Although often overlooked, it is the Brewers – not the Cubs or St. Louis Cardinals – who are the driving force of this division. They have won the Central Division handily, reaching the playoffs in six of the last seven years and winning the division four times in that time.

They’re still vying to leapfrog the Phillies or Dodgers in the first round, but now in the postseason, we’ll see if their lucky year can continue.

“This could be a great opportunity,” Murphy said, “a really great opportunity to do something really special.”

Required reading

(Photo: Chris Coduto/Getty Images)