MLB Betting – Milwaukee Brewers 2020 Season Preview

• Brewers have long 40-1 odds of winning the World Series in 2020

• A few top players from last year will no longer be on the roster

• Losing Mike Moustakas, Yasmani Grandal and Eric Thames is a blow to the offense

• Bookmaker is offering a generous welcome bonus - Maximum $1000

In a division that looks wide open according to oddsmakers, the Milwaukee Brewers are likely the team residing in the basement in 2020. That’s difficult to say for a team that performed well the last two seasons winning a total of 185 games with a pair of playoff appearances. We saw the Crew trend down last year winning seven fewer games and their offseason defections are hard to overlook. The newcomers are a lateral move at best and the rest of the NL Central made improvements or didn’t downgrade as significantly.

2020 Milwaukee Brewers At A Glance

Milwaukee Brewers World Series Odds +4000

Milwaukee Brewers NL Pennant Odds +1800

Milwaukee Brewers NL Central Odds +525

2020 Milwaukee Brewers Overview

Craig Counsell has done a marvelous job with the Brewers in his five seasons. He’s led them to one-third of their all-time postseason trips while posting the fourth-most wins in history. It’s easy to be a good manager when you have the players. Counsell will make his salary this season, if it’s played, since a few top performers from last year are no longer around.

Losing Mike Moustakas, Yasmani Grandal and Eric Thames is a blow to the offense. The trio combined for 88 homers and 225 RBIs, nearly 30 percent of their runs, last year. It’s a big hole to fill and I’m not sure management did enough during the offseason. It’s not like they were ball busters with those guys in the lineup finishing 20th in average and tied for 15th in runs scored.

They do have Christian Yelich, who is the only impact bat in the lineup. Ryan Braun’s numbers were solid last year but not quite what we’ve seen in the past. The Brewers need their newcomers to go above and beyond in 2020 if they are going to keep their playoff streak alive.

Christian Yelich a bright spot in the Milwaukee Brewers lineup

Pitching

Despite dealing with injuries last year the rotation did enough to earn a playoff spot as a wild card. Like the rest of the team the staff will have a much different look when the first pitch is tossed. Brandon Woodruff and Adrian Houser are the only returning starters. Woodruff is the closest thing to an ace the club has and Houser performed better out of the pen, so it’s safe to say pitching isn’t going to scare opponents.

Another strong season from Woodruff could raise the bar for the rest of the staff. He was 11-2 with a 3.62 ERA in 22 starts but wasn’t a top-of-the-rotation guy. Can he handle the pressure of being elevated? Houser had a strong 3.72 ERA, but struggled during his 18 starts. He’s slated for the rotation but might be better out of the pen.

Filling out the rotation are Brett Anderson and Eric Lauer with several others fighting over the No. 5 spot. After several injury plagued seasons Anderson was healthy enough to start 31 games with Oakland in 2019 going 13-9 with a 3.89 ERA. Josh Hader is a dominant closer posting a 16.4 K/9 ratio last year. He also had 37 saves and a 2.62 ERA. Getting to him is the deep question. Corey Knebel is one possible set-up man, but he missed all of last season and there’s no guarantee he returns to his 2017 form.

Hitting

You can’t go wrong having Yelich in the middle of the lineup. One year after winning the MVP he had better numbers with a .329/.429/.671 slash line and 44 homers. He won’t have as much protection around him so teams will pitch around him. That gives Braun an opportunity to increase his output, which is sorely needed this year. Braun hit .285 with 22 homers in 2019, but he has to come up big for the offense to click.

Three-fourths of the infield will be new. Avisail Garcia and Justin Smoak are plugging the dike and not long-term solutions. Luis Urias was a top prospect in the San Diego organization and proved to be a solid Triple-A player. Maybe a change of scenery will get his MLB career headed in the right direction. The Brewers hope so giving up starter Zach Davies as the main piece in return. If the offense produces the same as it did last season the Brewers will be competitive. The group isn’t strong enough to overcome a suspect pitching staff, though.

2020 Milwaukee Brewers Season Pick

Even in a division with no clear-cut favorite, I don’t see the Brewers doing enough to surpass St. Louis or Chicago. Heck, the Reds made improvements and might be the front-runner. There are too many concerns with the rotation, and the bullpen is questionable after Hader. The Brewers did little to replace the lost production on offense leaving them out in 2020.

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- Phil Simon, Gambling911.com