Brewers Preview

But, are those improvements enough to put the Brewers in the race? If the starters (namely Sheets) stay healthy, I think it is. The rotation is one of the best in the league, and bullpen is good enough to keep the pitching staff as a whole among the top four or five in the NL. The offense will probably not be much better than average, but it won't suffer like it did last year.

If the Brewers do in fact have an average offense and a top-quartile pitching staff, that would give them approximately twelve more wins than last year. On top of their 75-87 record, that puts them right in the hunt for the wild card. Combined with their pythagorean record of 71-91, it's not quite so optimistic. Either way, there's plenty of evidence this team will substantially improve; at the very least, there should be some meaningful baseball in Milwaukee in August and September.