It's time to look back at every team from around the MLB and what they each showed us during the 60 game sprint!
We are going to explore a few things for each team: Review in-season transactions, what we learned, what we loved, what we didn't love, the most significant need(s), and lastly, the biggest takeaways.
Let's jump over the NL with the Milwaukee Brewers today. We talked about the Padres, A's, Marlins, Yankee's, Cardinals, Whitesox, Cubs, Twins, Reds, and BlueJays so far; you can find all posts on the homepage https://www.theballboyblog.com/.
What moves did the 2020 Brewers make?
Milwaukee Brewers traded RHP David Phelps to Philadelphia Phillies for 3PTBNL: RHP Brandon Ramey, RHP Israel Puello, and RHP Juan Geraldo.
The rest of the team's moves the team made in 2020 were just claims, callups, and send downs. This move was really the only one the brewers could make because Phelps carried the most value, and being able to get 3 prospects in the deal was good for the Brewers.
What did we love about the 2020 Brewers?
Going into the season, I had a lot of love for the Brew-Crew. I thought this lineup was solid, and the most central questions were around the rotation and the pitching as a whole. This is one team that I was way off from projections as I had them projected at 40-20 and is #2 in the division. I took the L on that one as they finished 29-31 and still made the playoff on the last day of the season. We loved that. We love that left side of the IF with essentially two SS in Luis Urias and Orlando Arcia. We loved to see a new ace emerge for the Brewers in Brandon Woodruff, who had an excellent season leading the team in wins, ERA, and strikeouts. I also wouldn't say I loved it, but I did like the season we got out of Devin Williams and Eric Yardley out of the bullpen. I also really did love the season 2B. Keston Hiura had to lead the team with a .260BA, 13HR, 32RBi, and 46H.
What did we not love about the 2020 Brewers?
The rest of the pitching staff outside of Woodruff and Corbin Burnes, and Josh Hader was pretty bad. The pitching staff had a 4.16ERA to end the season. We didn't love what seemed like a lackluster season from Yelich, who posted a .205BA with 12HR but only 22RBI. The team as a whole hit .223 and had 582K- 221BB yikes. The all or nothing approach did not work out for the Brew Crew in 2020. Overall, Yelich is the face of the Brewers for many, many more years to come. Yelich is the leader on and off the field, and if he struggles, they don't really have anyone else to go to.
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What is next for the 2020 Brewers?
Getting Yelich some talent around him. Like Hiura will be an excellent 2B and protection in the lineup for Yelich. But finding someone to compliment him in the lineup to take some of the pressure off will be critical. I don't see that person on the team currently. I see good players who can contribute but not at a level that Yelich needs. The Brewers would love to trade this off-season, but with the 26th ranked system and not many assets to do so with, free agency will be essential. Hader is really the only trade bait they have but coming off a year of regression, all signs point to holding on to him and getting more value next season.
What was the biggest takeaway of the 2020 Brewers?
You can look like a great team on paper, but you have to show up when it comes to actually play baseball. The Brewers got lucky the playoffs were expanded and got the chance to lose two more games. There are many things to like about this team, but they need to put it together as one whole unit if they want to win games, and it starts with Yelich as the leader of this team.
As always, guys, thank you so much for your support, love, good vibes, and time. You don't have to read my content, but you do, and I appreciate it. I am always hard at work, making improvements to the site, blog, writing style to make it better for you guys. I just want to say thank you, much love, gratitude, and blessings.