Sports Illustrated - USA (2020 - Spring)

72

THE BREWERS HAVE been one of the

game’s feel-good stories over the past

two seasons, a small-market team whose

owner, Mark Attanasio, bucked the

tanking trend and invested to win now. In

doing so he added an MVP in rightfielder

Christian Yelich, a defensive anchor in

centerfielder Lorenzo Cain and two playoff

trips, coming within one win of advancing

to the 2018 World Series.

General manager David Stearns is

dancing fast to extend that streak. Since

Milwaukee’s season ended with a wild-card

loss last October, he has turned over nearly

half the roster without making any large

expenditures or major trades. The key

additions are outfielder Avisaíl García,

catcher Omar Narváez and former Dodgers

righthander Josh Lindblom, 32, signed after

two strong years in the Korean Baseball

Organization (2.85 ERA).

Stearns is trusting that the core of Yelich,

Cain, sophomore second baseman Keston

Hiura and strikeout machine Josh Hader

has another run in it. He’s also hoping that

three of his young arms will be much more

reliable than they were a year ago—which

is a pretty good bet. Righthander Brandon

Woodruff had a 3.62 ERA in 22 starts

wrapped around an oblique injury. Reliever

Corbin Burnes suffered a bizarre year on

contact in which batters hit .414 off him on

balls in play, including a massive jump from

0.9 HR/9 to 3.1. Freddy Peralta, another

righthander out of the pen, had similar bad

luck on contact, even as he improved his

walk rate and upped his average fastball

from 91.4 to 94.1 mph.

There’s no clear favorite in the NL Central

among the Cubs, Cardinals, Brewers and

even the Reds. With a strong nucleus and

an excellent manager in Craig Counsell,

Milwaukee definitely has a chance to get

back to October for the third year in a row.

With no dominant team in the NL Central and Christian Yelich returning, the Brewers

should have a winning season, although another high-8 0 s win total may be a stretch.

OVER

UNDER 82.5

MOVING UP

LUIS

URÍAS

76 OPS+ | 1.0 WAR

The former

star Padres

prospect will

have a chance

to establish

himself in

the Brewers’

infield after

recovering

from left

hand surgery.

MOVING DOWN

LORENZO

CAIN

81 OPS+ | 2.8 WAR

Nearing 34

and coming

off his worst

full offensive

season, Cain

no longer

has the pop

or the speed

to be an

offensive

catalyst.

| KESTON HIURA | 2B| The Brewers’ early-decade run of

success was a remarkable achievement for such a small market,

but it came at the expense of their farm. After producing Hiura

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_Xdg\i\[k_\dXafic\X^l\k\Xd`ek_\j\Zfe[_Xc]f]k_\Ê)'j%

At 33, Hiura has led the NL in on-base percentage six times, and

he’s now set to pass the torch to the high-end prospects who

have come up through the organization in recent seasons.

2030 PREDICTION

BREWERS

NL CENTRAL

JEFF HAYNES

Since the end of last season,

the team has turned over nearly

half its roster without making

any significant additions.