Brewers: FanGraphs Likes Crew’s Chances of Making 2022 World Series

It is now five days after MLB finally lifted the league’s lockout and team operations were allowed to resume. With a resulting flurry of activity across the league, Milwaukee Brewers fans are now getting more of an idea of what their team will look like going into the new Opening Day 2022.

The Brewers’ first signing of the “second half” of this offseason’s free agency was a smaller splash, but still an important one. They opted to bring back reliever Brad Boxberger as they signed him to a one-year deal with a second-year option, adding some needed depth to the bullpen.

Then yesterday, Milwaukee added a little more punch to the lineup, as well as more outfield depth. That was when the team reached an agreement to add outfielder Andrew McCutchen to the fold, a possibility that was first reported by The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal earlier in the day and came to fruition by that night.

Combine that with the pre-lockout trade for outfielder Hunter Renfroe and even if the Brewers made no more moves before the regular season, they probably head into 2022 with a pretty decent core. It seems one of the first set of playoff predictions seems to agree.

The postseason projections over at FanGraphs currently give the Brewers one of the better chances at making the 2022 World Series.

On Tuesday, the postseason projections for the 2022 MLB season went live at FanGraphs. They don’t just put the Brewers as the cream of the crop in the NL Central, they also give the Crew one of the top chances in the league at making their first World Series since their lone appearance in 1982.

FanGraphs currently has the Brewers at a 15.4% chance to make the World Series as well as a 7.6% chance to win it. Those marks both rank as the sixth best chances in MLB as well as the third best chances in the National League, behind just the Dodgers and defending champion Braves.

As such, FanGraphs obviously gives Milwaukee a pretty good chance at making the playoffs in general. In fact, they’re given the fourth best chance in the league at 85.9%, trailing only the Dodgers among NL teams. And that’s not just because of the new 12-team expanded playoffs

Being favored to win the NL Central shouldn’t be too surprising for anyone who has paid attention this offseason. The Cardinals, who have the second-best chance at making the playoffs from the division at 48.0%, have largely stood pat this offseason. Meanwhile, the Reds have continued selling off their big names after the lifting of the lockout, while the Cubs and Pirates are still the Cubs and Pirates.

Competition at the top of the NL will be stiff again, though. The Dodgers are still in the process of assembling yet another super team. The Braves appear as though they will lose 2020 MVP Freddie Freeman in free agency but have already replaced him with another young slugger in Matt Olson and should still be a force to be reckoned with.

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The Brewers seemingly have a good chance at making their fifth straight playoff appearance. Their chances at making the World Series are apparently good too, but that won’t be of any comfort to fans unless they actually make it there.