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 #4

The Brewers will have a big year at awards season, winning two Gold Gloves, the MVP, and Cy Young award.

With such a big season in store for a number of Brewers players, it will be reflected quite nicely during the awards season.

The defense is going to be elite this season, and how could an elite defense be better rewarded than with a couple of Gold Glove awards? The Brewers have four Gold Glove winners on their roster, Lorenzo Cain, Kolten Wong, Christian Yelich, and Jackie Bradley Jr. Wong is the reigning Gold Glover at second base in the NL.

Between Wong, Cain, and Bradley, the Brewers should be able to get a Gold Glove or two somewhere in there. Luis Urias has looked good defensively, while Wong has stated his goal to get Arcia a Gold Glove, so either one of those two could be candidates, depending on who starts more regularly at shortstop.

Omar Narvaez looked a lot better defensively last year. Could those improvements continue enough to get him a Gold Glove? Could a Brewers pitcher win a Gold Glove? Between all these strong defenders in the Run Prevention Unit, I predict there will be two Gold Glove awards on their way to Milwaukee. Is going for two greedy? Maybe. Is it bold? Absolutely.

Christian Yelich will bounce back from a rough 2020 season and win the NL MVP for the second (should be the third) time in his career. He’s looking as good as ever this spring and the Brewers coaching staff has remarked as such.

If he’s as good as ever, if not better, then he’s a surefire candidate for the MVP and there’s no reason he can’t win it again.

There’s a lot of competition for the MVP in the National League, but with Yelich’s offensive ceiling and ability to just become unstoppable, he’s a strong bet to win the award again.

For the Cy Young, is it Woodruff? Is it Burnes? Both are strong Cy Young candidates. In my crystal ball bold prediction, I am doubling down on Corbin Burnes winning the NL Cy Young award in 2021 (In 2019, I very wrongly predicted Burnes would win the Cy Young). Last year, Burnes bounced back and redeemed my unwavering faith in him and finished 6th in NL Cy Young balloting.

This year, he’s going to move up about five more spots and claim the award. He’s been working on a changeup and a curveball this spring, adding to an already impressive and nasty mix of pitches. He’s dominated this spring with a 1.65 ERA in five starts with a 0.86 WHIP in 16.1 IP.

With his combination of stuff, confidence, and ability to dominate a game, Burnes has a strong chance to win a Cy Young and this year is as good a year as any for this prediction to come true. Especially if he gets that no-hitter as mentioned in Bold Prediction No. 3, that will only boost his case.