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2015 Milwaukee Brewers Season Predictions | MLB Betting Preview & Odds

2015 MLB Team Season Previews – Brewers

I bet you probably forgot that the Milwaukee Brewers had a winning record last season. The fact is they have have pretty good success over the past decade but never really broke through (two early playoff exits).

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In the challenging NL Central they are hopeful to improve on last year but I am not sure I see it.

2015 MLB Team Previews – MIlwaukee Brewers

  • National League Central:  +1000
  • National League:  +3300
  • World Series:  +4000

Key Additions:

1B Adam Lind

They are banking on a lot of organic growth and even if it comes through I think they come up short.

Lind is a solid lefty bat but he is not going to be a huge difference maker for Milwaukee this season.

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He really struggles with lefties and is more of a platoon type at this point in his career.

Key Losses:

RH Yovani Gallardo
2B Rickie Weeks

The Brewers are banking on the fact that they have enough internal depth in the rotation to not need Gallardo, who was a mainstay for years and their ace for most of them. At his best he was close to elite but his consistency was maddening for someone with that level of talent. You could say the same thing about departed Rickie Weeks who supplied power at second base but was also very frustrating. He was a lightning rod who might be better somewhere else.

Projected Lineup:

  • OF Carlos Gomez
  • 2B Scooter Gennett
  • OF Ryan Braun
  • 1B Adam Lind
  • C Jonathan Lucroy
  • 3B Aramis Ramirez
  • OF Khris Davis
  • SS Jean Segura

This lineup doesn’t have a lot of holes but there aren’t a lot of stars either. I acknowledge that Gomez gets a lot of pub for fiery play and he has become an All-Star level player but he also strikes out a lot and is prone to cold streaks (those emotional high energy guys like that).

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Guys like Braun and Ramirez’s best years are likely behind them at this point. Lucroy is coming off a fantastic season and is one of the better hitting catchers in the league but he isn’t Buster Posey. I like him but it might be hard to maintain that level.

All in all this is a good enough offense. They need Segura to be a playmaker once again.

Projected Rotation:

  • RH Kyle Lohse
  • RH Matt Garza
  • RH Wily Peralta
  • RH Mike Fiers
  • RH Jimmy Nelson

The rotation looks a lot like the everyday lineup, lots of good but little great. Matt Garza was a big acquisition but failed to have a huge impact. The fact is that he has never been more than a .500 pitcher, even if he is a good one.

Unless you had him on your fantasy team you probably didn’t notice that Wily Peralta notched 17 victories a year ago. His peripherals are alright but that number is likely to dip this season.

Mike Fiers is the big question mark this season. He was almost too good to be true last year, but over just 70 innings. Can he really keep that up over a full season? Nelson was terrible in the Majors last year but has nothing left to prove in the minors so they are giving him a shot. I have never been a fan of Lohse but he keeps winning.

Projected Closer:

  • RH Francisco Rodriguez
  • RH Jonathan Broxton
  • RH Jeremy Jeffress

For a while it seemed like K-Rod was destined to play 2015 somewhere else. He had a renaissance last season and he should be effective once again. His physical opposite is Broxton,  who has shown that he can be very dominant too but has questions with durability.

Milwaukee is hoping to be the franchise that finally figures out how to unlock Jeffress. There is no doubt the talent is there but others have tried and failed. His numbers after joining the club last season were very good but it was a very small sample size. He is their next closer if they can get him figured out.

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2015 Milwaukee Brewers Season Predictions:

The Brewers were a surprise early last season before fading signifcantly.

Even still the 82 wins they scored were probably more than they deserved. Swapping out Gallardo for Nelson is not an upgrade and I worry that the lineup could be below average if Lucroy regresses and Gomez gets too caught up in his clippings. In this competitive division I don’t see there being much of a case for Milwaukee taking the crown.

They should be competitive but they are more likely to challenging the Reds for last place than they are Cardinals and Pirates for first. They are a fade team for me this season.

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By The Wiesguy

The Wiesguy is a newcomer to the handicapping scene. Hailing from Toronto, Canada he is always sweet on the underdogs and you can often find his thoughts, musings and picks at moneydogs.blogspot.com.