Brewers: 3 Takeaways From Craig Counsell’s Press Conference

Craig Counsell just wrapped up his “Winter Meetings” press conference with Brewers and national media.

Because of the virtual nature of this year’s Winter Meetings, there were no manager media sessions like normal. So now a week later, Brewers manager Craig Counsell gets his chance to answer questions from the media.

Here are some of the big takeaways from what Counsell said at his press conference.

1. Still hope for the DH

Despite MLB telling teams to plan as if there won’t be a DH in the NL next year, Counsell believes there’s a “decent chance” the DH will be brought back to the Senior Circuit in 2021.

It’s still sad that MLB hasn’t given teams a firm answer on this yet and we’re in the middle of December. The longer that drags on, the worse things will get for both teams and players.

This is certainly welcome news for Daniel Vogelbach, the resident DH on the Brewers roster. Counsell also stated that Vogelbach would be playing some first base if there isn’t a designated hitter position. But it’s also pretty well known that he’s more of a DH.

It would also be good news if Ryan Braun decided to return as it would give him a position where he can hit with minimal strain on his body. But speaking of Braun…

 2. Ryan Braun Might Not Be Back

I want to preface this by clarifying that Craig Counsell didn’t specifically say that Braun won’t be back. A decision still hasn’t been made by Braun and the door certainly isn’t shut on his return.

But when asked if he talked to Braun about coming back, Counsell said that he had not. It sounded like he had been in contact with Braun, but the topic of returning in 2021 had not been discussed.

Counsell went on to discuss how not having Braun in the clubhouse would be a huge loss and spoke about Braun in the past tense. If Braun was leaning towards coming back, Counsell would probably be speaking differently.

As it looks right now, Braun appears to be leaning toward retirement. But that can change and a decision has not been made.

3. Lorenzo Cain Primed For Big 2021

After a down 2019 season, Lorenzo Cain came into camp in 2020 down several pounds and primed for a bounceback year. Things were looking good through the first few games, but after the Cardinals came into town with an outbreak, Cain opted out of the season.

After missing practically the entire season, Cain is ready to get going in 2021.

Counsell mentioned that Cain got himself into a really good spot in 2020 and he expects Cain to get back into that same good spot in 2021.

The return of Cain is going to be important for this Brewers team. Without him, the Brewers lacked a strong leadoff hitter and table-setter for Christian Yelich and Keston Hiura. Getting Cain back in a good spot would be huge.

There’s still a lot of offseason left to go, and some more moves to be made.