Milwaukee Brewers Dream 2022 Opening Day Lineup

Brewers fans love critiquing lineup decisions by manager Craig Counsell. It’s been a time-honored tradition by fans for decades, despite Counsell and many others asserting that the specific order doesn’t really matter that much.

Things generally have a way of working out just fine for Counsell and the Crew with his lineup decisions as games go along, and that’s why he’s been so successful as manager of the Brewers.

Still, that won’t stop fans from deciding ahead of time what the perfect lineup for any given game is going to be. While we’re still in the offseason and a lockout, let’s dream about being able to argue about lineups again. Let’s discuss what the dream 2022 starting lineup will be for Opening Day this year, which will set the tone for the rest of the season.

What should the Milwaukee Brewers perfect starting lineup look like for Opening Day 2022?

Batting 1st: Kolten Wong, 2B

Last year, the Brewers signed Kolten Wong to a two-year contract to solidify the second base position defensively, and provide a spark at the top of the order. Wong perfectly filled both roles.

Wong had a career season in 2021, hitting .272 with career highs in doubles (32) and homers (14). He was routinely on base, getting things started for the Brewers offense. Wong also supplied seven leadoff home runs in 2021, giving the Crew a quick score, something they were desperately missing in 2020.

There is no better candidate to hit leadoff in the dream 2022 lineup, as the Brewers haven’t added anyone who can fit that role and Wong is still under contract. Now 2022 is the final guaranteed year of Wong’s deal, but the Brewers do have a $10MM club option on him for 2023, so he can still return for another year. Provided Wong continues to produce like he did in 2021, the Brewers are likely to pick up that option.

Unless Wong has the day off or is otherwise unavailable, expect him to be in the leadoff spot in 2022.

Batting 2nd: Willy Adames, SS

Willy Adames joined the Brewers on May 22nd last year and he pretty quickly laid claim to the No. 2 spot in the batting order. He sparked this team, brought energy, fun, and most of all, offensive production. He made some changes to his swing in Milwaukee and that made all the difference.

Adames went from hitting .197 with Tampa Bay to hitting .285 with the Brewers. He was able to tap into his raw power with ease, slugging 20 homers in a Brewers uniform last year. After years of struggling to find a shortstop that can provide offensively, Milwaukee finally got their guy in Adames.

The spark that Adames brought to the Brewers last year earned him some down-ballot MVP votes, ultimately finishing 16th in the balloting.

With the left-handed hitting Wong batting leadoff, it makes sense to put the right-handed hitting Adames right behind him in the No. 2 spot. That sets up a great 1-2 punch ahead of the heavy hitters in this Brewers lineup.

Batting 3rd: An improved Christian Yelich, LF

An ideal 2022 Brewers lineup includes the MVP-level version of Christian Yelich, not whatever version we saw of him in 2021.

The Brewers have him under contract for the next seven years, so he’s going to be in the lineup as long as he’s healthy, and he’s going to be hitting somewhere in the top few spots in the batting order. For this next season, he’s likely to be hitting in the No. 3 spot. With the left-handed hitting Wong entrenched as the leadoff batter, Counsell is likely to alternate handedness and keep Yelich batting third in 2022.

It’s clear Yelich needs to adjust something and find a way to get back to the production he was putting up in 2018 and 2019. That’s what led the Brewers to success in those years and that’s why they signed him to the big contract extension.

This offense getting to the levels of success they need to be at in order to achieve their goals and win the World Series are dependent on Yelich finding himself again. Fans can demand they sign more players and make other moves and additions all they want, but Yelich is going to be here and he’s now eating up $26MM worth of salary every year. That makes it very tough to add anyone else at the level that Yelich can be at. He needs to produce.

Counsell will give Yelich every opportunity to find himself again and swing his way back into MVP production. He’s the No. 3 hitter in our dream Opening Day lineup.

Batting 4th: Hunter Renfroe, RF

The Brewers needed a replacement in right field for Avisail Garcia, who departed via free agency this winter. Luckily, they were able to find one by swinging a last-minute trade with the Red Sox to acquire Hunter Renfroe in exchange for Jackie Bradley Jr. and a pair of prospects.

The right-handed hitting Renfroe is a perfect replacement for Garcia in the middle of the lineup. Renfroe provides big power, slugging 31 homers last season while hitting .259. His strikeout rate was pretty respectable at 22.7% and he’s a big run producer.

While his slash line numbers may not be consistent, one thing that has always been consistent with Renfroe is supplying home run power. He’s hit at least 26 or more home runs in each of the last four full seasons.

In 2021, the Brewers were lacking in home run power. Most of that stemmed from the sudden loss of production from Yelich and Keston Hiura. They need the power from those guys to come back, but they lost their biggest home run hitter in Garcia, who hit 29 last year. Renfroe brings that back and more with his arrival.

Batting 5th: Nelson Cruz, DH

Here’s a shakeup. In this dream 2022 Opening Day lineup for the Brewers, they have signed free agent Nelson Cruz post-lockout, and that’s because also in this dream scenario, in the next CBA there will be a universal DH.

The DH has been a long time coming and most expect it to enter the NL on a full-time basis in 2022. The NL experimented with the DH in 2020, but removed it for 2021. However, it proved to be very popular among fans and players and the addition of the DH opens up opportunities for the Brewers to sign someone like Nelson Cruz that they haven’t had before.

By signing Cruz not only do they bring his career full-circle and get him back to Milwaukee where it all got started for him, but the Brewers also make a big improvement with their lineup. This team does need some more offensive juice, beyond just Yelich and Hiura getting back to their normal selves. But there aren’t too many openings in the lineup for them to add that power. With the DH coming to the league, that presents a perfect opportunity to add to the offense.

Cruz would be the best remaining addition the Brewers can realistically make to this offense. They aren’t signing Freddie Freeman or Kris Bryant to help this lineup, that’s just not realistic. But adding Cruz, provided the DH comes to the NL this year, is definitely realistic.

Batting 8th: An improved Keston Hiura, 1B

What a fall from grace. Keston Hiura, the Brewers top prospect in 2019, who made his debut to great anticipation and immediate success, is now practically an afterthought in the Brewers lineup plans.

In a true dream scenario, Hiura is back to his old self and can hit in the middle of the lineup, blasting 30 homers a season and hitting .300. However, we haven’t seen that version of Hiura in two years. Craig Counsell isn’t going to trust that that version of Hiura is back for at least a few weeks, if he comes out swinging well in 2022 to begin with.

Hiura does not have a big contract and he’s not established in the big leagues like Christian Yelich. They can ride through Yelich’s struggles every day, but they don’t have that luxury with Hiura. As such, Hiura begins down in the 8th spot in the order in this dream Opening Day lineup.

There’s simply no other spot where he fits in right now. Rowdy Tellez is a strong candidate to earn that starting first base job as he performed well down the stretch. However, the Brewers do believe in Hiura and I believe they’ll continue to give him opportunities to hit at the big league level. He’s too talented of a hitter to be that bad again, right?

Like it or not, the Brewers need Hiura, and they need to give him chances to get going. The best place to get him those chances, is in the 8th spot in the order.

Batting 9th: Lorenzo Cain, CF

Depending on who you are, 2018 can either feel like just yesterday, or it feels like a lifetime ago. Lorenzo Cain was the leadoff hitter for the Brewers that season and he did extremely well in that role. However, Cain has taken on a new role in the final years of his contract.

While still speedy and an excellent defender, Cain is going to be 36 this season and is a bottom of the order bat at this point in his career. He was routinely hitting 8th last year, but with the expected addition of the DH in 2022, Cain becomes the 9th place hitter in this dream lineup.

Cain was still mildly productive in 2021, and he always has quality at-bats, even if the results aren’t always base hits. He’s a leader in the clubhouse, a leader on the field, and a really solid option to have at the bottom of the order.

When Cain does get on base, which will still be fairly often (and a lot more often than a pitcher would get on base) that puts a duck on the pond for the top of the order in Wong and Adames. Those guys become even more dangerous and productive with runners on base, which helps this offense get into a groove.

Cain is the perfect 9th place hitter for this lineup, and he rounds out our dream 2022 Opening Day Brewers lineup.

We’re a few months away from Opening Day and just over a month away from when pitchers and catchers are scheduled to report. Hopefully on March 31st, we’ll see this lineup posted at American Family Field.