Milwaukee Brewers: 5 Keys To Success For The Crew In 2019

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PHOENIX, ARIZONA – MARCH 06: Jhoulys Chacin #45 of the Milwaukee Brewers delivers a pitch against the Arizona Diamondbacks during the first inning of a spring training game at Maryvale Baseball Park on March 06, 2019 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Norm Hall/Getty Images) /

4. Jhoulys Chacin Needs To Repeat A Career Year

At age 30, Jhoulys Chacin put up his best numbers over a whole season since his rookie year in 2010 in Colorado. His 3.50 ERA was solid and he was the only Brewers starter to not miss a scheduled start over the entire season, making all 35 of them.

Now he’s gotta do it again.

Last year, Chase Anderson and Zach Davies, who were supposedly the Crew’s two best healthy pitchers going into last year struggled mightily and Chacin was left to pick up the slack. Now Anderson is in the bullpen and Davies is the No. 5 starter.

With Jimmy Nelson beginning the season on a Triple-A rehab assignment, Chacin is the Crew’s only established, quality big league starter. When Nelson returns, who knows what kind of pitcher he’ll be. All signs look positive for now, but the regular season is a whole lot different than simulated games and Cactus League play. The Brewers need Chacin to do it again.

Heading into the second year of a two-year deal, Chacin will be a free agent at the end of the season. He’s provided immense value so far, and with his $6.75 million salary, he’s making the most money on this entire pitching staff. They’ll need him to pitch like it.

While he posted a 3.50 ERA last year, his 4.07 FIP and 4.47 xFIP point to regression this year. He’s going to need to outperform his peripheral stats and indicators for another season if the Brewers are going to continue their success. The rotation overperformed at times last year, and Chacin is going to need to beat out the predictive metrics this year once again.

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