The nice thing about the start of the 162-game marathon that is the baseball season? Every teams starts out as equals.
The trick will be for the contenders and pretenders to sort things out in the next several months.
Did the Milwaukee Brewers, coming off a 95-win season, do enough to improve on that squad and have post-season success?
I think so. In their Central Division, the St. Louis Cardinals will once again be the primary foe, followed by the Cincinnati Reds. The Chicago Cubs are in rebuild mode, as are the Pittsburgh Pirates.
That leaves me thinking that the Brewers should win 97 games this year, win the NL Central and qualify for the post season for a fifth straight time. IF Christian Yelich returns to the form of the Yelie we all know and love, that is.
The offense is better with Hunter Renfro & Andrew McCutchen (slotted as a DH now that the National League has added that back to the mix). First base still remains a work in progress, but once a hitter, always a hitter. That's why I think Keston Hiura will regain his stroke as well. A little more power from catcher Omar Narvaez won't hurt either, along with continued development -- once he's back healthy -- by Luis Urias.
Yet this team is built around pitching. Manager Craig Counsel has a rotation of Brandon Woodruff, Corbin Burns and Freddy Peralta to anchor the squad. Throw in Eric Lauer, Adrian Houser and Aaron Ashby and it could well be one of the best pitching staffs in baseball.
On the back end, Josh Hader is one of the premier closers in all of baseball. If Davin Williams can learn to avoid fist-fights with walls, the bullpen should be fine.
There are those who might pooh-pooh the Crew for their lack of playoff success. But you can't get to the World Series without making the playoffs, so at least this small market squad is giving Brewer fans something to root for.
Now, all Milwaukee needs to do is find success against the Los Angeles Dollars.....er, Dodgers, and make it's first World Series appearance in 40 years!
No comments:
Post a Comment