5 Things Brewers Fans Have To Be Thankful For In 2020

4. Corbin Burnes’ Development Into The Co-Ace

For the Brewers to make the playoffs, they needed Corbin Burnes to develop as a starting pitcher. Burnes struggled in 2019 and some had written him off as a lost cause as a starter. But he came into 2020 with a new pitch, the cutter, and a renewed focus and mentality.

Burnes joins Brandon Woodruff as a homegrown ace atop the rotation. Developing one of those has been rare enough for the Brewers over the years but to develop two of them at practically the same time? That’s incredible. That’s something to be thankful for.

For years, the Brewers have had to put mid-rotation starters into “ace” positions despite them not being ace-level pitchers.

Burnes was the highest finisher in NL Cy Young voting the Brewers have had since CC Sabathia in 2008. He seems well on his way to winning that award sooner rather than later.

He’s under team control, and cheap too, for the next several years. He’s at the level now where the Brewers can expect to win every single time he’s out on the mound.

With Burnes and Woodruff, the Brewers have two of those guys, which is more than they had in years past. That is something to be thankful for.

5. Devin Williams and “The Airbender”

Hitters across the league are not at all thankful that Devin Williams’ changeup exists. For that reason, Brewers fans should be quite thankful that it does exist and Williams pitches for Milwaukee.

For your own enjoyment, here’s five minutes of Williams’ changeup.

Absolutely beautiful.

Williams won the 2020 NL Rookie of the Year award, and rightfully so. His breakout performance helped lock down whatever leads the Brewers were able to muster and they would not have gotten to the playoffs without him this year.

His stuff is legitimate, and he’s going to continue to put up dominant performances over the next several years with that fastball-changeup combination (He also has a slider he hasn’t mixed in yet).

Having Devin Williams on this team for the next several years is something to absolutely be thankful for.

From our Reviewing the Brew family to yours, enjoy your Thanksgiving!