One year in, Crew’s rebuild on the right track

MILWAUKEE — The Milwaukee Brewers are on a very long journey, but steps in the right direction have certainly been taken.

In the first full season of the Brewers’ rebuilding project, the team Thursday night won its 69th game of the season, 3-1, over the Pirates. Conveniently enough, that’s one more game than the Brewers had won in 2015.

The progress, of course, goes deeper than that. The Brewers have uncovered some young talent that should be beneficial for the long-term future. And their leadership cadre looks like it has a firm grasp of what needs to be done.

Brewers chairman and principal owner Mark Attanasio was at Miller Park on Thursday and spoke very positively about what the Brewers have accomplished this season. And he gave his endorsement to the work of general manager David Stearns and manager Craig Counsell.

“We had more positive performances from young players this year than I was expecting, so I would say that gives David a high grade right there,” Attanasio said. “And I want to get David’s assessment of Craig, but from an owner’s seat, the main thing I was looking for was for our guys to play with enthusiasm and with an edge, and they’ve certainly done that. … So I’d say high marks for both.

“I feel very good about this season. Virtually everybody we wanted to see performance from performed. Jonathan Villar, Hernan Perez, Keon Broxton. Chris Carter, 37 home runs. In the bullpen, [closer Jeremy Jeffress] was lights out and then [Tyler] Thornburg was lights out. Craig’s gotten the most out of this team and I …

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