In 2008, the Milwaukee Brewers reached the playoffs for the first time in 26 years. So far during the Hot Stove, CC Sabathia has signed with the Yankees, the Brewers signed Mike Lamb, and just recently signed future-Hall-of-Fame closer Trevor Hoffman to a one year, $6 million contract.
The upcoming 2009 season could go terribly wrong, or it could be another incredible campaign to October baseball.
Here are my predictions—some bold, some not-so bold—for the upcoming season:
-The Brewers will improve to 94-68. The NL Central crown will finally belong to the Brewers!
-Yovanni Gallardo, the Brewers' No. 1 starter, will astonish Baseball Nation with a record of 18-8. "Yo-Yo" will make his first all-star appearance.
-Dave Bush wins on the final Saturday to clinch the NL Central Division crown and improves his record to 14-9.
-New closer Trevor Hoffman brings "Trevor Time" to Milwaukee with an All-Star performance, earning 2.09 era and a franchise-record 42 saves.
-Corey Hart will lead the team in batting average, boasting a .308 mark. He adds 26 homers, 31 stolen bases, and 81 RBI to another productive season in right field for the Brewers.
-Ryan Braun finishes fourth in the MVP voting with a .296 average, 39 dingers, and 115 RBI, and his second All-Star appearance. He hits three walk-off winners for the Brew Crew.
-With low production at third base, the Brewers bring up Mat Gamel from AAA to fill the void there. He doesn't fail to impress fans with a .265 batting average and 17 home runs.
-New manager Ken Macha wins NL Manager of the Year.
-Second baseman Rickie Weeks disappoints again. This year he hits .227 with 14 long balls and 15 stolen bases.
-J.J. Hardy "brings sally up" (as his at-bat intro says) with a league-best .987 fielding percentage among NL shortstops.
-The Brewers make another big trade-deadline move, this year trading big slugger Prince Fielder for a pitcher (that I cannot name at this time in January).
-The franchise attendance record is once again shattered with 3.3 million people coming out to Miller Park.
-In the playoffs, the Brewers reach the NLCS, but there they lose to the Mets in six games.
So, there you have it. Those are my predictions for the 2009 Brewers season.
Go Brewers!
4 comments Last one added 5 months ago — Leave a Comment
jake erb 6 months ago
are you for real? they are going to stink this year. doug melvin only had one thing on his mind and that was cc. he didn't have a plan b and the brewers are going to pay for it.
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Tim Seeman 6 months ago
if corey hart has those kinds of numbers, hopefully some of them happen in the last month of the season. cuz he did NOTHING in september and october of 2008
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Curt Hogg 5 months ago
very true-but i think corey's going to be able to put up better sept. #'s this year because he has that experience now.
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Pablo Med 5 months ago
JAKE:
Why does everyone think Milwaukee is going to stink this year?
At the start of the 2008 baseball season, expectations were high in Milwaukee. Many around the baseball world felt that Milwaukee would contend for the Central Division crown. That was all before the CC Sabathia trade. Yes, Sabathia had to perform extraordinarily well down the stretch to put the Brewers in the playoffs, but they also had several bats fall silent, and injuries to Sheets and Gallardo. Gallardo's injury lasted all season, and he is a good pitcher.
Gallardo is back, and the bats are pretty much the same as the start of last year. Fielder, Braun, Hart, Hardy, Cameron. Run production should be okay. The Brewers still managed to blow quite a few saves last year...Hoffman may be the answer to that. 10 blown saves the other way changes a season.
Another pitcher would be a huge plus, but we have a solid rotation. We lost two gems, but if the Brewers can pick up another pitcher, I don't see why the expectations from the start of last season shouldn't be the same for 2009.
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