2020 record - 29-31, 4th place in the NL Central
Key Addition - Kolten Wong
The Brewers have had a pretty quiet winter but they did make a few nice additions which improve their team.
They brought back Travis Shaw who looks set to play third base as part of a platoon. Shaw has struggled over the last two years - one with the Brewers and last season in Toronto. In 136 games over the last two seasons, he has hit just .191 with 28 extra base hits.
We think that Luis Urias will play more and more as the season goes on and that the position will be his be the end of the year.
Free agent Jackie Bradley Jr. was signed after spring training started and is probably the biggest name addition to Milwaukee. He signed a 2 year $24m contract which has an opt-out option at the end of the first year.
Bradley Jr. comes to the Brewers after having arguably his best season so far in 2020. Last year, he hit a career high .283 but what impressed us the most was how he appeared to alter his approach at the plate. His hard hit percentage was notably down but as a result, he was able to significantly increase his walk percentage and lower his strike out percentage to career best levels. He was still able to hit 7 home runs and 11 doubles in 55 games with this approach.
We think he continues this trend in Milwaukee and has a really good season for the Brewers.
But we think the biggest signing for the Brewers is Kolten Wong, for a number of reasons.
Firstly, consistency. You know exactly what you're getting with Wong at the plate - an excellent contact hitter who rarely strikes out and walks a ton. Secondly, he is an outstanding fielder at second base and has a couple of gold gloves to prove it. With Wong at 2nd, the Brewers are able to move Keston Hiura to 1st base after he was something of an adventure defensively at 2nd.
Wong signed on a 2 year $18m deal in February and we think he fits into the Brewers line-up as an ideal leadoff man. A season where he hits .260, double figure home runs and excellent defence are realistic expectations for him.
Just missed out - Jackie Bradley Jr.
Key Departure - Ryan Braun
Braun has been with the Milwaukee Brewers organisation for his whole career, starting when he was their first round pick in the 2005 draft.
He's now 37 year old and far from the player who won Rookie of the Year, an MVP and 5 all star appearances in his first 6 seasons, but the strange sounding American Family Field or Miller Park as it was previously known will feel different without him being on their team.
Braun played pretty well in 2020 when he hit .233 with 8 home runs in 39 games. There was a sizable increase in the amount of line drives he hit too - which was nearly 10% higher than the previous season.
Sure his career numbers are declining but we can't help but feel that he might still be around if the DH was still being used in the National League. Although Braun himself hasn't expressed much of a desire to return to the baseball field in 2021, so who knows?
If he has played his last game for Milwaukee, he leaves the Brewers as their top home run hitter of all time with 352 bombs, second for doubles with 408 and third for WAR with 46.9.
Braun will be fondly remembered by Brewers fans, although his career numbers will always be somewhat questionable due to his suspension for using performance enhancing drugs.
Notable rookie cards - None
There are no Brewers representatives in the rookie class of 2021 Topps Series 1.
Predicted 2021 Team MVP - Christian Yelich
For us, there were a few possible choices here; Yelich, Brandon Woodruff, Corbin Burnes, Josh Hader & Devin Williams.
Josh Hader is one of the best closers in the game with career 2.54 ERA. He led the National League in saves last season while having a ridiculous 14.7 K/9. We fully expect that he has another All Star calibre season in 2021 but being a relief pitcher means he is only likely to pitch around 70 innings in 65 or so games. They will be top class innings but we decided to pick an everyday player here instead.
Brandon Woodruff had the best year of his career in 2020 where he set career highs in ERA, K/9 and WHIP. Woodruff was named the Opening Day starter for the Brewers for good reason. We think that a 13 win season with an ERA below 3.50 is a real possibility for him.
Corbin Burnes was arguably even better than Woodruff was last year. He came 6th in the Cy Young voting in just his 3rd season. He started 9 games for the Brewers in 2021 and finished with a 2.11 ERA, 13.3 K/9 and significantly limited the number of home runs hit off him which had been something of a concern in 2019. We expect he has another excellent season in the Brewers rotation.
Devin Williams had a stunning 2020 season where he won the Rookie of the Year award and earned Cy Young and MVP votes. Pitching with a .033 ERA, 17.7 K/9 and a 0.630 WHIP will do that for you.
Those are simply crazy numbers. Literally any relief pitcher that has ever played the game of baseball would do anything for numbers like that. And despite those numbers, Williams still isn't the closer in Milwaukee which goes a long way to tell the story of how good Josh Hader is. With those two waiting in the bullpen, the Brewers won't lose many games that they are leading in the 8th inning.
But after all that, we still think Christian Yelich will be the team MVP in 2021 and he bounces back stronger than ever after a sub-par 2020.
Last year, Yelich's struggles at the plate weren't a secret - a .205 average and the highest strikeout percentage of his career attest to that. But he had been one of the best hitters in the game until last year and we think that he returns to his best this time around.
He's simply too good.
We predict that Yelich hits .280, close to 40 home runs with over 100 RBI for the Brewers as they look to make a return to the postseason.
Just missed out - Josh Hader, Corbin Burnes, Devin Williams, Brandon Woodruff
Player to watch for the future - Brice Turang
Turang is the 2nd top prospect in the Brewers system and 96th overall according to MLB Pipeline. He was the Brewers 1st pick in the 2018 draft and he has made steady progress in the minor leagues.
Between rookie ball and A+, Turang has a .263 average and while he might not hit for too much power right now - he projects to be a 25 HR guy in the Major Leagues - it is his approach at the plate which has impressed the most. In his first full professional season, Turang led the whole of the Brewers farm system for most walks which is an unusual and admirable trait to have at such an inexperienced age.
In addition to his bat, Turang is also a quality defender at shortstop and he has plus speed which he has demonstrates by stealing 44 bases in 171 minor league games.
We think that he starts the season at AA Biloxi and that he'll spend most of this season there before making it to the Big Leagues either towards the end of next season or the start of 2023.
Storyline to keep an eye on - Who will emerge from the platoon options and stake a full time role?
The Brewers are blessed with excellent depth and experience at the Major League level but with so many players and only a limited number of innings, it will be really interesting to see who performs and makes a position their own.
Travis Shaw, Omar Narvaez, Daniel Robertson, Manny Pina, Daniel Vogelbach and Keston Hiura are all names with an opportunity to begin the season on the Opening Day roster for the Brewers. There are plenty of others too.
But will any of them hit well enough to make it difficult for manager Craig Counsell to take them out of the line-up on days that their platoon partner would usually play?
They might not be the biggest names in the game but the Brewers will need at least some of these players to hit well if they are to reach the playoffs for the 4th straight season.
We aren't confident here, but if we had to guess, we think that Daniel Robertson has a good chance to surprise a few people in 2021.
Prediction for 2021 - 3rd in the NL Central
We think that the Brewers have another decent season and finish above .500 again; mostly on the strength of the top of their line-up (Wong, Cain, Yelich & Bradley Jr), their 2 top starters (Woodruff & Burnes) and 2 best relief pitchers (Hader & Williams).
But while the rest of their roster is filled with experienced Major League veterans, we don't know if they will be good enough to challenge for the top of their division this year.
We predict that the Brewers battle with the Cubs for 2nd place in the NL Central, with Milwaukee just being pipped at the post. Will this be good enough for a wild card berth? Probably not. But if Yelich returns to form, Woodruff & Burnes continue where they left off and Devin Williams has another outstanding year, then we wouldn't be surprised if the Brewers finish 2nd.
It'll be a close one but a really interesting race to watch, for sure.
Do you agree with our predictions? Or have we got them horribly wrong?
Let us know in the comments or on twitter.
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