Do the Brewers have enough star power to win World Series?

The Milwaukee Brewers enter the weekend with the best record in Major League Baseball, owning a full three-game lead over the next closest team. They are an objectively outstanding team that does pretty much everything well. It is a balanced roster that is not overly reliant on home runs, puts pressure on opposing defenses by putting the ball in play and doesn't have many weaknesses.

There is, however, one thing that stands out about the roster when compared to previous World Series winners that might be a bit of a concern for the Brewers when it comes to winning it all this season.

The Brewers do not have many major impact players

This is not the same thing as saying the Brewers do not have any good players. Because they absolutely have a lot of good players. A lot of very good players. You do not get to the best record in baseball by accident. But when you look at the Brewers' roster and the overall production of individual players, there is not really one player that truly stands out as a big-time, MVP-level player. 

Freddy Peralta is having an outstanding season and is a legitimate front-line starting pitcher, and in most non-Paul Skenes years would probably be pitching at a Cy Young level. But he's the only true front-line starter on the team. 

Brice Turang, Christian Yelich and Jackson Chourio are all having strong years at the plate, but none of them have an OPS+ higher than 125, while Turang's 5.4 WAR (Wins Above Replacement) is the highest on the team and 13th in the Majors. The Brewers only have two position players in the top-70 in WAR across the Major Leagues. 

Again, it's not bad. The lineup is full of solid, above-average Major Leaguers. But teams that win the World Series usually have at least one, and potentially more, superstar-level players.

The superstar power of recent World Series winners

Excluding the 2020 Los Angeles Dodgers (due to the shortened season), each of the past nine World Series winners had at least one player on their roster who had accumulated at least 6.3 WAR in their World Series-winning season. The 2020 Dodgers didn't get a chance to do that because of the shortened season, but still had the Major League leader that year (Mookie Betts) and three of the top-30 players in WAR.

• 2024 Los Angeles Dodgers: Shohei Ohtani (9.2)
• 2023 Texas Rangers: Marcus Semien (7.7), Corey Seager (7.3)
• 2022 Houston Astros: Yordan Alvarez (6.8)
• 2021 Atlanta Braves: Austin Riley (6.3)
• 2019 Washington Nationals: Anthony Rendon (7.3)
• 2018 Boston Red Sox: Mookie Betts (10.7)
• 2017 Houston Astros: Jose Altuve (8.1), Carlos Correa (6.7)
• 2016 Chicago Cubs: Kris Bryant (7.3)
• 2015 Kansas City Royals: Lorenzo Cain (6.9)

The last World Series winner, excluding the aforementioned Dodgers, to not have at least one player with a WAR of 6.3 or higher was the 2014 San Francisco Giants. 

It might not seem like a big deal, but having one or two superstars that can take over a game or a short series could be the difference between a pennant that flies forever or a long offseason of wondering what could have been. 

The lack of that true superstar-level player is one of the things that always held back the small-market Tampa Bay Rays whenever they would go on their deep playoff runs. Balanced lineups and great depth can take you a long way. Sometimes you need that Ohtani, Betts or Altuve level of player to get you over the top.

The Brewers do not really have that. It might be the one red flag surrounding them going into the playoffs.

They could still pull it off. It just might be a little tougher.