The NL Central is a tough division to navigate for the Milwaukee Brewers when the Cubs and Cardinals are two of the best teams in the National League. They bolstered their offense this offseason with two big additions of outfielders Christian Yelich and Lorenzo Cain.
Milwaukee needed to add to their starting rotation this offseason, but they whiffed at adding any top-of-the-rotation starters. They just added a few veteran ‘fifth starters’ with no upside.
The Brewers have a ton of speed and will have the green light to run, like last year. Milwaukee could ‘steal’ a few games if they can easily get runners in scoring position.
Here is the 2018 MLB season preview for the Milwaukee Brewers.
2017 Win/Loss Record: 86-76
Key Additions: OF Lorenzo Cain, OF Christian Yelich, SP Wade Miley, SP Jhoulys Chacin, SP Yovani Gallardo, RP Matt Albers, RP Boone Logan, C Christian Bethancourt, 1B Ji-Man Choi, RP Ernesto Frieri, SP Erik Davis, RP J.J. Hoover & RP Mike Zagurski
Key Losses: 2B Neil Walker, RP Carlos Torres, RP Jared Hughes, RP Anthony Swarzak, SP Matt Garza, RP Wei-Chung Wang & OF Lewis Brinson
Interleague Schedule: AL Central
Projected Starters: Manny Pina, Ryan Braun, Jonathan Villar, Travis Shaw, Orlando Arcia, Christian Yelich, Lorenzo Cain & Domingo Santana
Projected Starting Rotation: Zach Davies, Jhoulys Chacin, Chase Anderson, Yovani Gallardo & Wade Miley
Closer: Corey Knebel
Fantasy Sleeper: 3B/OF Hernan Perez – The Brewers added two starting outfielders this offseason, so Hernan Perez and Keon Broxton will both see a reduction in playing time. Due to Broxton’s penchant for striking out, I’m giving Perez a slight nod above him. Perez could still get some extra at-bats at third base to spell Travis Shaw a little. He could be a nice NL-only guy as a utility player. He could still be a low double-digit power & speed guy.
Prospect To Keep Your Eye On: 2B/SS Mauricio Dubon – It’s hard to pick a prospects in the Brewers farm system that should appear this year. They do have some starters, which they are in desperate need of, but none of them are the answer to their problem. Outfielders are also out of the question due to their dearth at the position. Dubon is a middle infielder with a lot of speed. He stole 38 bases in-between Double & Triple-A. Dubon has a better shot of at-bats this season than most of the the Brewers top prospects.
Team Analysis: The Brewers were a game shy of earning the second Wild-Card spot in the National League. They relied on the deep ball with three guys hitting at-least 30 homers. They also had the green light on the basepaths. Milwaukee needed to take the extra risks due to their lack of dynamic starting pitching.
The Brewers didn’t do much this offseason to bulk up their starting rotation. They made a run at a couple guys, but they didn’t pony up enough. This could be a huge issue as ace Jimmy Nelson is coming back from labrum surgery. Their rotation looks more like a good Triple-A staff.
Milwaukee is expected to play a similar strategy as last season with the additions of outfielders Lorenzo Cain and Christian Yelich. They both have decent power and speed, so their really good offense should be even better. They will boast a starting-nine with nearly everyone able to steal a base.
The biggest issue that faces the Brewers this season is everything in-between the first inning until when closer Corey Knebel takes the ball. Milwaukee will just need to focus on their offense as they could have trouble limiting the opposing team’s run total. I don’t want to bash their starters too much as I do love Chase Anderson, and Zach Davies and Wade Miley are serviceable starters in the Majors. I just don’t know if Jhoulys Chacin and Yovani Gallardo pitch at a Major League level these days. Chacin did have a bounce-back year last season with the Padres, but his advanced stats showed he did get lucky.
Milwaukee should have a good enough offense to balance out the lack of the end-of-the-rotation starters. They should be in the Wild Card race mix.
2018 Wins Over/Under Betting Line: 83.5 (Prediction: OVER)
2018 Projected Win/Loss Record: 84-78 (3rd NL Central)
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About the Author…
Bobby Roberts (otherwise known as Sweetbob) is the creator of ‘America’s White Boy’ and contributor at Project Shanks. His writing has been featured on ESPN’s ‘SportsNation’, Sports Illustrated’s Hot Clicks, Guyspeed, and various other sites. You can follow him on Twitter at @Sweetbob.