Brewers: 3 Reasons Fans Should Be Excited About The 2023 Season

Reason to be excited #2: The new faces on offense

There was quite a bit of turnover on the Brewers offense over the winter. Kolten Wong, Hunter Renfroe, Andrew McCutchen, Omar Narvaez, and Keston Hiura are now gone. Hiura is still in the organization but he is off the 40 man roster and is unlikely to return quickly.

Replacing Narvaez in the lineup is William Contreras. That's a massive upgrade. Contreras was an All Star last season with an exceptional hit tool and 20+ HR power as well.

Replacing McCutchen in the lineup as the DH is Jesse Winker. Winker had a down year last season while he was dealing with injuries but he's back at 100% this season and had never had a season below a .830 OPS prior to last season. The 29 year old's as good a bet to have a bounce back season as anyone in the league and he's not on the downswing of his career like McCutchen was. He's dominated at American Family Field and is comfortable hitting in the division. This is an improvement.

Luke Voit has replaced Keston Hiura on the roster. He'll fill that backup 1B/DH role and brings legitimate power and solid hitting ability. While he strikes out at a high clip, it's still far less than how often Hiura was punching out and he gets on base more consistently. That's an improvement.

Replacing Wong will be filled with a combination of Luis Urias, Owen Miller, and one of the freshmen, Brice Turang. While Wong was a productive member of the offense last year and not really part of the problem, the Brewers should be able to replicate or even improve upon his production with this group.

Reason to be excited #3: This rotation still shoves

This is the best starting rotation in baseball. Led by Corbin Burnes, who will be setting out to dominate after the Brewers misguided approach to his arbitration hearing. He'll be out to prove he's worth every dollar he wants. He's going to take out his frustration on opposing hitters and his stuff is still just stupid good. He's a Cy Young favorite just by walking in the building.

He's followed by Brandon Woodruff, the Big Woo. Woodruff flies a bit more under the radar because Burnes takes most of the spotlight, but Woody is just as dominant and nasty on the mound. They're the best 1-2 rotation punch in the big leagues. Hitting coaches lose sleep at night when they see these two coming up on their schedule.

Freddy Peralta would be the Opening Day starter that leads the rotation for most ballclubs. For the Brewers, he's third on the depth chart. He'll be the 4th starter in the rotation because the Brewers want to split up their lefties and not have them back to back, but he's the #3 in this group. When healthy, he has #1 type stuff, he can be unhittable when he's on.

Then there's the lefties, Eric Lauer and Wade Miley. Lauer had a solid season last year and has looked really strong in spring training. He threw the most innings of his career last year and is poised for an even bigger leap in 2023, Ever since leaving the Brewers after the 2018 season, Wade Miley has been a very productive pitcher wherever he's gone. He was great for the Reds in 2021 in a very hitter friendly ballpark and is back in a place he feels comfortable and had the best season of his career.

Other teams salivate over the idea of having a rotation as good as this one. They are green with envy. They want what the Brewers have. A rotation this strong makes things a lot easier on the offense since they won't need to score as many runs to win games. With the improvements made on offense as previously mentioned, the Brewers are sitting pretty with their recipe for success in 2023.

The NL Central is there for the taking. The Cardinals didn't do much to improve at all this offseason. It's a new year. Opening Day is special because it brings the hope and excitement and wonder of a new season. A fresh 162 games. Last year doesn't matter. A new year begins. Anything can happen. It's time for baseball!