Brewers: 5 Bold Predictions For The 2021 Season

Let’s get bold. The 2021 Brewers season is upon us and with it is a world of possibilities. The 162 game season is a completely blank slate right now, and anything can happen. What exactly will happen? No one knows for sure, so let’s try to make some bold predictions.

Remember, these are bold predictions. These are not promises that they will happen. If what’s predicted in here doesn’t happen, I don’t want anyone hopping in my Twitter mentions, telling me I was wrong, I don’t know what I’m talking about, etc. These are purposefully bold, and as such, there’s a lot of risk that these predictions won’t come true.

But there is a chance. There’s a chance for all of these predictions to come true, no matter how small it may appear to be at the moment. We’re talking about baseball, a sport where history can be made every single day and you may see something that you’ve never seen before.

Here are my five bold predictions for the Brewers in the 2021 season.

Brewers Bold Prediction #1

Travis Shaw returns to form, hits 30 or more home runs

Let’s hop on the Travis Shaw bandwagon for a moment. All three of Andy Haines, Craig Counsell, and David Stearns have publicly stated that Travis Shaw looks like himself again. He looks like the Travis Shaw we’ve known before. Not the 2019 Travis Shaw, but the 2017-18 Travis Shaw.

Well the 2017-18 Travis Shaw hit 30+ home runs each season. So you know what? He’s going to do that again here in 2021. That’s my prediction.

Shaw is currently slated to be in a timeshare at third base with Orlando Arcia, so that may get him off to a slow start on his quest to hit 30 home runs. But Arcia has struggled to get going in spring, and he doesn’t provide much power himself. If Shaw gets a little hot, he can take the everyday third base role once again.

Once he takes that everyday role, and gets going, there’s little that can get in the way and stop Shaw from reaching 30 home runs.

I’m a believer that Shaw will be able to find something similar to his 2017-18 form. He improved in 2020 with the Blue Jays in a shorter season, and with the Brewers believing he’s looking even better now than he did last year.

A more realistic prediction might be 20-25 home runs for Shaw, but this is a bold predictions piece, not a boring and realistic prediction piece, so we’re going for 30. He’s done it before, he can do it again.

Brewers Bold Prediction #2

Freddy Peralta permanently establishes himself in the rotation, becomes the No. 3 starter

The future is now.

The first wave of Brewers pitching prospects to arrive included Brandon Woodruff, Corbin Burnes, and Freddy Peralta. Woodruff established himself as a member of the rotation in 2019. Burnes established himself in 2020. Now, Peralta will establish himself as a rotation mainstay in 2021.

Peralta was announced as the No. 5 starter to begin the season after a dominant spring training in which he showcased his new slider and worked on a changeup as a fourth pitch. Peralta now has the repertoire to stick in the rotation and find consistent success. Finding that consistency will be key for Peralta sticking in the rotation.

I predict that Peralta will find it, and the slider will serve as a dominant weapon that will allow Peralta to have way more Good Freddy days than Bad Freddy Days.

When Peralta made his big league debut on Mother’s Day in 2018, he gave everyone a little taste of the immense potential that he had, striking out 13 Rockies in just 5.2 IP. He’s shown flashes of that since, and in 2021, he’ll get there more often.

Peralta has gone back and forth between the rotation and the bullpen since, pitching well out of the bullpen, but always getting the opportunity to start. He only started one game in 2020 before moving to the bullpen. Craig Counsell is going to give Peralta a few more opportunities in the rotation this time around and this time, I predict he’ll thrive.

At just 24 years old, Peralta still has a very bright future ahead of him, and he signed that five year contract extension last spring. But the future is now, and the brightness of it is enough to make someone put on two pairs of sunglasses and grab some SPF 100.

As we go through this season, it’s no longer just going to be a 1-2 punch with Brandon Woodruff and Corbin Burnes, but it’ll be a Big Three with Peralta coming for the knockout blow.

With these three leading the rotation, something special could happen…

Brewers Bold Prediction #3

The Brewers will throw their first no-hitter since 1987

That’s right, I’m predicting it. It’s been too long. It’s not a jinx because it isn’t currently ongoing, so I don’t want to hear anything about a jinx.

The Brewers only have one no-hitter in their entire franchise history, thrown by Juan Nieves back in 1987. Other teams have one or two no-hitters every couple of years, but it’s been 34 years since the Crew’s last no-no.

That drought comes to an end this year.

I know what you’re thinking, “A no-hitter is mostly about luck, not skill, so it’s impossible to predict”.

To that, I will point you to the ancient Roman philosopher Seneca, who stated “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity”.

There are 162 opportunities for a no-hitter every single season, so there’s no shortage of that this year. The Brewers are as prepared for throwing a no-hitter as they’ve ever been. They signed Jackie Bradley Jr. and Kolten Wong this offseason, two Gold Glove winners who prevent a ton of hits with their excellent defense, to go along with current Gold Glovers Lorenzo Cain and Christian Yelich already on the roster.

Defensively, they’re quite strong at shortstop as well with either Luis Urias or Orlando Arcia at the position. The Crew’s “Run Prevention Unit” also serves quite nicely as a “Hit Prevention Unit”. After all, it’s hard to score runs if you don’t allow any hits.

As for which pitcher will throw it, it could be anyone. I won’t narrow it down to one single pitcher throwing it, because the Brewers have multiple pitchers who can. Obviously, Brandon Woodruff and Corbin Burnes are two very strong candidates to throw the Brewers first no-hitter since 1987. They’re top of the rotation arms with the stuff to stymie hitters, go deep into games, and minimize hits allowed.

Burnes had a stretch last year where he was practically unhittable, while Woodruff has had flashes of that as well.

Another dark horse candidate is Freddy Peralta. He has no-hit stuff when he’s really on his game. Remember that early April start in 2019 against the Reds where he went 8.0 IP with only two hits allowed and 11 strikeouts? He looked practically unhittable that day and those two hits were not made from hard contact. With his nasty slider now in his mix, Peralta could throw a no-no.

There’s also a very strong possibility that it would be a combined no-hitter, with the bullpen, mainly Devin Williams and Josh Hader, closing the door if the starter can’t go all the way.

However it’s done, whoever throws it, I’m predicting this will be the year the Brewers throw their second no-hitter in franchise history. The pitchers have the stuff to do it and the defense has the gloves to help get it done.

Preparation has met opportunity.

It is time.

Brewers Bold Prediction #5

Ryan Braun returns midway through the season, helps Brewers secure their first World Series championship in franchise history.

What a story this would be.

Ryan Braun has been noncommittal on retirement, leaving the door open for a potential return later in the season. He’s shown no interest in playing in spring training or really in the first half of the year, but he wouldn’t rule out a return completely.

At some point this summer, Braun will get the itch to come back, I predict. When he does, he’ll call Mark Attanasio or David Stearns and he’ll try to sign a deal to help the team in the second half of the season. After all, if the Brewers are going to win the World Series, Ryan Braun deserves to be there for it.

He wouldn’t have much more than a bench role, but just his presence in the clubhouse can boost this team to new heights. Just look at what they’ve done since Braun made his debut in 2007. With his veteran experience and leadership, and not to mention clutch hitting ability, Braun can give this roster the little extra help it needs to achieve it’s ultimate goal of a World Series title.

If these other predictions hold true, with Shaw becoming a core piece of the offense with 30+ homers, Freddy Peralta helping establish a Big 3 in the rotation, and the Brewers possessing the MVP, Cy Young, and a couple of Gold Glovers, a World Series is definitely within reach, even before a possible Braun return.

Getting through the gauntlet that is the National League is going to be tough, with the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres representing the teams to beat. Both added to already stacked rosters this offseason, but the Brewers should be able to compete. With Woodruff, Burnes, and Peralta leading the rotation they have the stuff to compete with any rotation in the postseason, even if they don’t currently have the name recognition.

The Brewers also have the bullpen depth and a strong staple of arms to get through any seven game series, and with Craig Counsell pulling the strings, they can out-maneuver anyone.

Throughout the past few years, the Brewers have shown a knack for getting hot towards the end of the year, Craigtember, as it’s called. But the Brewers will need to keep that going through Craigtober in order to win the World Series.

They had the Dodgers on their heels in 2018, and then had unfortunate luck in 2019 with the Yelich injury and weird hop in the Wild Card game. The Dodgers ended the Crew’s season in 2020, but they hung with them despite the offense doing mostly nothing.

This is possible. Believe it can happen. This offense could reach 2018 levels, and with a very strong pitching staff to go with it this time, the Brewers can go further than they did that year.

All of these predictions are possible, even if all of them happening together this year is unlikely. There’s plenty of reasons to be optimistic heading into the 2021 season. As much as things can go wrong, they can also go right. It’s a new year full of opportunities. Bring it on. Let’s get bold. Let’s get a ring. And let’s get a ring for Braun while we’re at it.

Hopefully some of these predictions will come true and we can revisit them at the end of the year and remind yourself that you heard it here first.