Brewers: Milwaukee set to return dominant pitching staff in 2022

After a devastating first round exit in the NLDS, there is still plenty of room for optimism for the Brewers heading into the 2022 off-season.

The NL Central champion Milwaukee Brewers are set to return their dominant starting rotation almost in it’s entirety.

2021 Brewers starting rotation stats:

Brandon Woodruff: 179.1 IP, 2.56 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, 211 SO

Corbin Burnes: 167 IP, 2.43 ERA, 0.94 WHIP, 234 SO

Freddy Peralta: 144.1 IP, 2.81 ERA, 0.97 WHIP, 195 SO

Adrian Houser: 142.1 IP, 3.22 ERA, 1.28 WHIP, 105 SO

Eric Lauer: 118.2 IP, 3.19 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 117 SO

Brandon Woodruff, Corbin Burnes, Freddy Peralta, Adrian Houser, Eric Lauer, and Aaron Ashby are all under contract next season. That’s a heck of a foundation in place when trying to decide where to allocate resources in effort to re-tool this ball club.

28 year old Brandon Woodruff still has three years of arbitration remaining, 27 year old Corbin Burnes is just entering his first year of arbitration, and 25 year old Fastball Freddy is entering the third season of a five year deal he signed with Milwaukee. The Brewers three headed monster isn’t going anywhere for the foreseeable future and gives Milwaukee as good of a 1-3 you’ll find in all of baseball.

Behind the big three, 28 year old Adrian Houser enters his first year of arbitration after enjoying a breakout campaign (3.22 ERA). As does 26 year old Eric Lauer who enters his first year of arbitration after a bounce-back season that assuredly makes Brewers fans feel at peace about the trade with San Diego.

23 year old Aaron Ashby debuted in the major leagues this season out of the Brewers bullpen, but is expected to compete for a spot in the starting rotation as early as next year. He showed great promise out of the bullpen and by all accounts looks the part of another strong starting pitching option for the Brewers.

It’s also worth mentioning that the Brewers minor league pitcher of the year Ethan Small is knocking on the door of the major leagues as well. There are myriad options for the small market Brewers in the starting rotation.

Starting rotation 2021 resume

• Starting rotation was 2nd in the majors with a 3.13 ERA
• 6th most innings pitched in all of baseball (1,436)
• 2nd lowest amount of hits allowed (1,156)
• 5th fewest home runs allowed (168)
• 1st in the majors in strikeouts (1,618)

The Milwaukee Brewers pitching staff, more particularly the starting pitching has become the focal point of the ball club, both now and moving forward. There is more than enough talent in place for Milwaukee to make a run at their fifth consecutive playoff appearance next season.

Next season’s success is going to depend greatly on David Stearns ability to improve the clubs offense. A more balanced attack could be the difference between a first round exit and making some postseason noise.

The front office has done a fantastic job compiling this impressive group of arms, with depth to boot. Small market team’s rarely find themselves with controllable pitching of this quality in the rotation, especially from top to bottom.

With the core of the rotation back next season the Brewers arms will once again be relied upon to shoulder the load for the Brewers. It’s going to be vital that the club capitalize on this unique window of cost controlled opportunity to try and bring a World Series home to Milwaukee.