The Brewers are one of those consistently inconsistent teams which struggles to find an identity. They are not bad enough to not consider them playoff contenders but are not considered to be a team which is in contention every year. The Brew Crew's offense can get it done: there aren't too many weak spots in the Brewers' line-up. Braun, Weeks, Lucroy, Hart and Ramirez are solid. Now the pitching staff...well, we'll get to it. So, let's see how the Brew Crew will fare this year:
Starting Lineup
RF Norichika Aoki
2B Rickie Weeks
LF Ryan Braun
3B Aramis Ramirez
1B Mat Gamel/Corey Hart
C Jonathan Lucroy
CF Carlos Gomez
SS Jean Segura
Aoki was a pleasant surprise last year: he's a well-balanced hitter with great plate discipline, steals bases, hits for a good average and even a HR or two. 2-6 is one of the best in the league. Weeks had a rough season with the batting average but he can be a table setter after Aoki. Braun and Ramirez don't need an explanation. Hart will bat 5th once he comes back from knee surgery, so Gamel must show he can hack it at the MLB level or suffer the AAAA label. Lucroy is the most underrated offensive catcher (Sleeper!). Gomez and Segura provide speed at the bottom of the lineup and Gomez finally broke through. Solid lineup.
Starting Rotation
SP Yovani Gallardo
SP Marco Estrada
SP Wily Peralta
SP Mike Fiers
SP Mark Rogers
Brewers are going young...very young. Gallardo is an ace without question. The rest of the rotation is all young but inexperienced. Estrada pitched most of the season in the rotation: his first full one. He and Fiers were valuable and unexpected contributors. Fiers, Estrada and Rogers all posted above a strikeout an inning and Peralta is the team's best pitching prospect. Kudos to the Brewers trying all their young starters but this can backfire especially since reinforcements are more young starters. This can either backfire or work out very well. My prediction is that a few of them will struggle somewhat, but for the long term, it's the right move.
Bullpen
CL John Axford
SU Mike Gonzalez
SU Tom Gorzelanny
SU Jim Henderson
SU Burke Badenhop
SU Chris Narveson
The bullpen got an extreme makeover (home edition? Horrible, I know) after a few implosions last year. Only Axford, Henderson and Narveson remain from last year. Badenhop was picked up from Tampa Bay and Gonzalez and Gorzelanny were signed this offseason. This bullpen is in better shape for this season.
So what is likely for the Brewers? Well, this team can be a 70 win team or a 90 win team. The pendulum can swing in many different directions. Unfortunately, this is probably another 3rd place finish around 85 wins: they can most look forward to the 2nd Wild Card.
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