5 Reasons Why The Brewers Can Win The World Series In 2023

The Milwaukee Brewers are officially heading to the playoffs for the fifth time in the last six seasons. They have ran away with the NL Central division and will be heading into October as NL Central champions.

At this point, just making the playoffs isn't good enough for the Brewers or fans. A World Series victory is what the ultimate goal here is. That's what the team is focused on, and that's what the fans are focused on. There's a lot of work left to do to get there and the Brewers will have a tough road, but they can get it done.

The question always is, can this team get it done? Can they win the World Series? The past few years, the answer has turned out to be no. Only one team is able to win it each year. Here's why this year could be the Brewers' year to win it all.

Reason #1: Anything can happen in October

One of the beautiful and stressful things about playoff baseball is that anything can happen. Sometimes the best team wins, sometimes they don't. These are short series and any number of crazy things can happen in these games. While pessimists can see that as anything can go wrong for the Brewers, there's just as equal a chance of things going right.

The fact that anything can happen in October is a truism in baseball that the Milwaukee Brewers understand. It's partly why the Brewers employed the "bites at the apple" strategy under David Stearns to get themselves into the playoffs. If you get there often enough and have good teams, eventually you're going to get the breaks to go your way and give yourself a great chance to win a World Series.

Yes, it's difficult for small market teams to take on the large markets with large payrolls over the course of a 162 game season. But in a short series of three or five games, or even a seven game series, anything can happen. Getting hot at the right time, having a lucky break in one or two games can swing the series in your direction. Payroll goes out the window in October.

The Brewers took the Dodgers to seven games in the 2018 NLCS and if they just got one or two more balls to bounce their way or one ball to not go in the glove of Chris Taylor (sorry for bringing that back up), they would've been in the World Series. A ball didn't bounce their way in 2019 and that bounced them.

Anything can happen and as much as that's a reason why they might not win it all, it's also why they could win it all. But that's not the only factor at play here.

Reason #2: The starting rotation has the best trio of any team in the playoffs

The way the starting rotation is currently lining up for the Wild Card round has Corbin Burnes in Game 1, Brandon Woodruff in Game 2, and Freddy Peralta for a potential Game 3. That's a fearsome trio that gives Milwaukee a very good chance to win each of those games. The way the three of them have been pitching of late makes them look very unhittable. For Burnes he literally was unhittable against the Yankees for eight innings.

Brandon Woodruff has a sub-2.00 ERA since returning from an early season shoulder injury, Peralta has a 1.96 ERA over his last 10 starts and opponents have just a .461 OPS against him in that stretch. Corbin Burnes has looked more like the Cy Young version of himself in the second half. In the playoffs you really only need three or four starters and the Brewers have the best trio of starters of any team playing in October.

These guys are going to give the Brewers a very good chance to win every single game they're pitching in. In 2018, the Brewers had these three guys in the bullpen since they were so young and they had to get creative with the rotation. There doesn't need to be any of those games here as all three are now established ace-level arms.

Woodruff missing four months with an injury that they nursed slowly appears to have him completely fresh heading into October. He's only nearing a typical mid-season innings mark and that's good news. Even if Craig Counsell needs a fourth starter for a series, Wade Miley has turned back the clock this year and been a reliable veteran once again and Adrian Houser is pitching well.

Still, they'll lean on Burnes, Woodruff, and Peralta and that's as good a trio you'll see on one team this October. You could put those three in any order to lead off a series and you won't find any complaints. All three would be deserving of a Game 1 start.

Reason #3: The Brewers offense is finally clicking

The biggest question mark about this Brewers team all season was if the offense could do enough to win in October. The offense went cold in 2021 which was the reason for the early exit that postseason and for most of the year the offense was uninspiring. This team was built around pitching and defense and the offense just needed to do enough and sometimes they weren't.

But lately, this offense has kicked into high gear and it couldn't have come at a better time. The additions of Mark Canha and Carlos Santana at the Trade Deadline have made this a more complete unit offensively and the lineup has been vastly improved. The Brewers were operating with a couple of black holes in their lineup before. Not anymore.

The big inning has been a huge part of the Brewers winning a lot more games over the last two months. The number for September is up to 12 now after the 12 run inning against the Marlins on Friday.

The Brewers had a great month of April, then things went cold offensively for a few months. As soon as Santana and Canha were added, all of a sudden the amount of big innings jumped. That's been no coincidence. Canha has been electric, hitting .306 with a .854 OPS and 32 RBIs. He's added thump and production to a middle of the lineup that desperately needed it.

With Milwaukee scoring runs like they are, that puts them in a better position to win heading into October. As much as it's about talent, it's about getting hot at the right time. The Phillies barely snuck into the playoffs last year but made the World Series because they got hot at the end of the year and carried that hot offense into October. If the Brewers can do that, especially with their pitching staff, they can do the same.

The two keys to this offense fully clicking are Willy Adames and Christian Yelich. Adames struggled for most of those middle months of the year, which is why the offense struggled. Once Adames started hitting better, the whole offense got better around him. If he's hot in October, this team can do some amazing things. Also when Christian Yelich is hot in the leadoff spot, this offense is taken to a whole another level. He returned to the lineup on Friday and slugged two homers, looking like his old self. When his back is acting up, he doesn't play well. If Yelich's back is healthy, he's a fearsome hitter.

Even if Yelich's back does start to act up during October, the Brewers offense proved they can get the job done without him over the last week and a half he was sitting. The 2018 and 2019 teams were overly reliant on Yelich's production to carry the offense. That's not the case this year.

Reason #4: The Brewers bullpen is just as scary as the starting rotation

No one wants to face Corbin Burnes, Brandon Woodruff, or Freddy Peralta in the playoffs the way their pitching. The rotation is scary, as we've already detailed. Teams will then usually try to drive up their pitch counts and get into the bullpen. Well, getting into the Brewers bullpen isn't going to be much easier for opposing teams.

The bullpen starts with ace closer Devin Williams. He's been lights out all season and when he comes in, the game is pretty much over. The Airbender changeup is as unhittable as it's ever been and it's a race to the 8th inning because the last thing teams want to face is Devin Williams with a lead.

The setup options for Williams have also been lights out. Joel Payamps has been the 8th inning guy for most of the second half, putting up a stellar 2.51 ERA this season. He's been nails, limiting walks and limiting hard contact.

The Brewers also have a couple of flamethrowers that are as uncomfortable an at-bat you can find. Abner Uribe and Trevor Megill both throw 100 MPH. It's straight heat coming out of the pen for Milwaukee and there's nothing easy facing either of these guys. Uribe has been practically unhittable since arriving mid-season and Megill has looked great since his return from Triple-A. Megill is moving up the bullpen trust tree and another 100 MPH arm that Counsell can trust is a nightmare for opposing teams.

Hoby Milner has also been a shutdown arm from the left side and Elvis Peguero has been great in high leverage spots. He should be ready to return from the IL in time for the playoffs.

This bullpen doesn't really have any weak spots. Bryse Wilson has even been excellent in a variety of roles. Getting one of the Brewers ace starters out of the game doesn't make things any easier for opposing teams. The bullpen can really make or break a team in the playoffs. If there's a weak link out there, it can derail a postseason run, but Counsell manages his bullpen so well and this group is so nasty, there doesn't appear to be a weak link.