There is a gulf between the hopeless and the helpless in Major League Baseball, even if the fog of a 162-game season can make both concepts feel painfully intertwined.
Hopeless are the Pirates and Orioles, the Diamondbacks and Rockies, all still playing worse than .400 ball, at least 9 ½ games south of their division leader and no addition this side of Babe Ohtani likely to change that.
Helpless? Well, everyone can use a little help, and even if every stroke of luck has gone against your club, it’s nothing that a little tweak and a hot streak can’t cure for just about every other squad.
Just ask the Milwaukee Brewers. Ten days ago, they were 21-23, closer to last place than first.
Then, a slight tweak. The club dealt reliever J.P. Feyereisen to Tampa Bay for shortstop Willy Adames, an all-glove, light-hit player who can camouflage his .745 career OPS with irrepressible enthusiasm.
Ever since? The Brewers have won seven of nine games and are now perched two games out of first place, Christian Yelich healthy and aces Brandon Woodruff and Corbin Burnes ready to bulldoze opponents.
Switching up the vibe didn’t hurt, either.
“Willy’s awesome,” Burnes said Sunday, before the Brewers completed a three-game sweep of the Washington Nationals. “From the very first day we got him, he walked into the clubhouse full of energy, ready to play. Willy’s a guy that comes to…
