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2009 Milwaukee Brewers Odds & Predictions

Written by Jimmy Boyd

brewers-31609 After back-to-back second place finishes in the NL Central and a playoff berth for the first time in 26 years, the Brewers will most likely take a couple steps back in 2009. A powerful lineup remains, but the loss of ace C.C. Sabathia and Ben Sheets will likely be too much to overcome. The Milwaukee Brewers are listed at +4500 to win the 2009 World Series.

Pitching
It was C.C. Sabathia which came in and gave this team the lift it needed to end a more than two decade playoff drought. Now the southpaw ace is wearing pin stripes. With Ben Sheets also gone the Brewers will be going to battle with a bunch of B-level pitchers. Young Yovani Gallardo inherits the ace tag but he is still very much unproven. He missed almost all of ‘08 with an ACL injury. Jeff Suppan is a guy who can give this team double digit wins. He went 10-10 with a 4.96 ERA in 2008. He’s better than that and will be out to redeem himself this season. Veteran Dave Bush has been up and down his entire career. He has been favorable to back at home but big time fade material on the road. He was 9-10 with a 4.18 ERA last season. Southpaw Manny Parra showed glimpses of brilliance in a season where he went 10-8 with a 4.39 ERA, but what has me concerned is the fact that he had an ERA of 7.79 during crunch time last September. Chris Capuano is likely to start the season in the minors as he recovers from Tommy John surgery. Once he gets called up, the Brewers hope to see him return to the form which saw him win 18 games in 2005.

The pen is likely to struggle in 2009. The Brewers’ attempt to lend credibility to this unit was the signing of all-time saves leader Trevor Hoffman, but Hoff no longer has a fastball with enough velocity to setup his world class change up. Carlos Villanueva is the guy I expect big things from in the pen. He will likely be the main setup man as the future closer for this team.

Lineup
First baseman Prince Fielder has been one of the most valuable sluggers in baseball the last two seasons, trailing only A-Rod and Ryan Howard in total homeruns over the last two years with 84. Fielder went deep 34 times in 2008 and added 102 RBIs. Left fielder Ryan Braun has the look of a special player. He became only the second player in MLB history to hit 30 homers in each of his first two seasons. Braun finished with 37 jacks and 106 RBIs last season. Shortstop J.J. Hardy is one of the elite power-hitting players at his position in the game. He finished with 24 bombs and 74 RBIs last season. Second baseman Rickie Weeks is losing favor in Milwaukee after hitting .234 with just 14 homeruns and 66 RBIs. He only scored 89 runs last season and the best lead off men in the game all score over 100. Right fielder Corey Hart earned an All-Star nod last season with 20 homeruns and 91 RBIs, but boy did he fizzle out in September and the playoffs. Third baseman Bill Hall, center fielder Mike Cameron, and catcher Jason Kendall round out one of the better lineups top to bottom in the NL. With that being said, my previous statement is almost nullified by how undisciplined this team is at the plate.

Prediction: 4th Place NL Central
Few teams boast the kind of young, potent bats the Brewers have across the board, but there are serious questions about the pitching with Sabathia now in the Bronx. If the pitching surprises, and the lineup shows a little more discipline, the Brewers are talented enough offensively to take second place again, but that doesn’t look to likely heading into the season. The Milwaukee Brewers are listed at +500 to win the NL Central.

Beat the baseball odds this season with Jimmy Boyd’s expert MLB picks, featuring his one of a kind MLB betting tips and trends.

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