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Brewers: 5 Bold Predictions For The 2023 Season

By David Gasper |
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Arizona Diamondbacks v Milwaukee Brewers / Kayla Wolf/GettyImages
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Bold predictions sometimes have a way of coming true, even if they seem crazy when they're made. Sometimes it's a couple years later, such as our 2019 bold prediction that Corbin Burnes would win the Cy Young. Sometimes only half of a prediction comes true.

Looking back to last season's bold predictions, some sort of came true, while some fell flat. This year, we have a whole new slate of bold predictions with a whole new roster.

The 2023 season is about to get started and everyone is going to begin with the same 0-0 record, and where things go from there, no one will be able to fully predict. With new rules in place across the league, that also changes how the games will go and makes everything even tougher to predict.

Brewers 2023 Bold Prediction #1: Rowdy Tellez becomes a first time All Star

Bring on the Rowdy Tellez breakout season! With the new shift restrictions and solidified playing time, Rowdy Tellez is going to get everyday playing time and a whole lot more opportunities for base hits. Tellez was one of the most shifted against hitters last season and he performed much better without the shift. Taking away the second baseman being in short right field should help bump up not only his batting average but his overall stats.

Those base hits that he should be finding more often now to the right side of the infield will add to his on-base percentage, slugging, OPS, everything. While this won't make Tellez a .300 hitter by any means, every little bit will help.

Also, last season Tellez slugged 35 homers, but it felt like he should've had a lot more. There were countless fly balls that seemed to die on the warning track for him. Perhaps this year with Tellez being a bit stronger and more ready to go, more balls will fly out of the park, improving his stats even more and improving his chances of going to the All Star Game.

Betting on a strong season from Tellez isn't that bold, it's a common prediction actually, but cracking the NL All Star roster as a first baseman will be an uphill climb that I think Tellez will be able to make. There's Paul Goldschmidt, Freddie Freeman, Matt Olson, and Pete Alonso in the NL at the same position and there aren't that many spots on the All Star roster at first base.

But let's remember, the NL first base All Star group was loaded in 2018 when Jesus Aguilar came out of nowhere for an All Star bid, so it's not impossible. I'll call it right now, soon we'll be saying Rowdy Tellez is an All Star.

Brewers 2023 Bold Prediction #2: One of the Brewers prospects will win the 2023 NL Rookie of the Year

Take your pick. Garrett Mitchell, Sal Frelick, Brice Turang, Joey Wiemer, any one of them could easily catch fire and win the Rookie of the Year award in 2023.

Garrett Mitchell might have a slight leg up because of his MLB experience last year, but still retaining rookie eligibility, and having already locked down his roster spot and a pretty solid path to playing time.

The way things are currently lining up, we're also going to see at least one of Frelick or Wiemer on the Opening Day roster as well, and if they do what they've been doing in the minors and in spring, they could just as easily lock down a starting job and win the Rookie of the Year.

Brice Turang may have the toughest path to winning Rookie of the Year, at least at the moment, simply because his path to regular playing time is a bit more cloudy as the season begins. While he could make the Opening Day roster, he also could miss it, and if he does make it, there's no guarantee he'd be an everyday starter out of the gate. He'd have to earn more and more playing time in a crowded infield picture. That's not to say he couldn't do that, because I could absolutely see him forcing Craig Counsell to put him in the lineup everyday.

The Brewers have been putting out a video series called "The Freshmen" focusing on these four young prospects, along with Jackson Chourio. We're going to be seeing these four a lot this year. The Brewers cleared the runway for them to take off this season with the departures of Hunter Renfroe and Kolten Wong. This is their time to spread their wings and fly. While I won't say hard and fast which one of these players will win Rookie of the Year, I feel confident that one of them will.

Brewers 2023 Bold Prediction #3: Jesse Winker ends up as the Brewers best offseason acquisition

The trade for William Contreras may have been the best all around move, given the Brewers gave up very little to get 5 years of control over an All Star hitter to solidify the catcher position, but the Jesse Winker addition will end up being the best one for the 2023 season.

Winker has been an excellent hitter in years past, but injuries and a new league took a toll on his 2022 production. Back in the NL Central with some hitter friendly ballparks and finally at full health, Winker is a strong bet to have a bounceback 2023 season.

Prior to last season, Winker never posted an OPS below .830 and had never posted an OPS+ below 109. He's also been shifted quite a bit in the past as a left handed hitter and with the second baseman having to stay on the dirt now, that should make things a little easier for Winker to rack up more hits as well.

Winker is among the best in the league at not chasing pitches out of the zone and drawing walks. That, combined with his ability to hit for power, makes him a very good addition to the lineup. Plus, he's always raked at American Family Field in his career, and playing half his games in here now, should make it even better.

While the Brewers had other good offseason acquisitions, namely the William Contreras trade but also bringing in Brian Anderson and Wade Miley, I think Winker will end up having the best season of all of the new faces in 2023.

Brewers 2023 Bold Prediction #4: Rule 5 pick Gus Varland sticks around, becomes trusted setup man out of the bullpen.

The Brewers haven't had a Rule 5 selection stick around all season long since Wei Chung Wang in 2014 and that was an abject disaster. Of course, Wang was selected out of Rookie ball while Varland has experience at Double-A. Varland seems much more prepared for the jump to the big leagues and I think that's why he'll stick around.

Put simply, he's got the stuff that plays at the big league level. He's struck out half the batters he's faced in the Cactus League, he has an electric fastball and looks every bit the part of a big league reliever. As a Rule 5 selection, he cannot be optioned down during the season but I believe the Brewers won't ever feel the need to as he gets some experience under his belt at the big league level.

While Varland will likely start the year as a middle relief option in low leverage situations as the Brewers get his feet wet at the big league level, as the season goes on, I could see him earning some higher leverage opportunities, potentially working his way into being the 7th inning guy or even the 8th inning guy ahead of Devin Williams. His stuff is that legit.

Bring on the Gus "The Bus" Varland era. I believe.

The Brewers usually don't have a lot of defined roles in their bullpen, and even if they do, they redefine them all the time. Pitchers can come up and earn spots and even if they start in middle relief, they can earn high leverage spots. Look at Peter Strzelecki, look at Hoby Milner. Both started as middle inning, low leverage relief options and now they're in much bigger situations because they've earned them. I think Varland can do the same with his opportunity.

Brewers Bold Prediction #5: Jackson Chourio makes his MLB debut late in the year, helps carry Brewers into playoffs

I can see it now. Jackson Chourio continued to light up Double-A, he earns a mid-season promotion to Triple-A and lights it up even more. Brewers fans and pundits alike start pounding the table for the call up.

Eventually, as we get late in the season and rosters expand slightly in September, Chourio gets the call up. The Brewers will likely again be in a close battle for a playoff spot. Even with the prospects like Mitchell, Frelick, Wiemer, and Turang playing well, another spark and another great hitter couldn't hurt.

With the pennant race in full swing, the Brewers call up young Jackson Chourio, still just 19 years old, to make his MLB debut and carry Milwaukee over the top in the playoff hunt and get the team hot heading into October.

A hot Brewers team heading into October, armed with the most talented 19 year old in baseball, the best starting pitching staff, and a loaded lineup, can go on a serious run in October, all the way even to a World Series. Anything can happen in a 7 game series in October. No moment has been too big for the young prospect so far, and if he's dominated his way to making the big leagues in 2023 already, there's every reason to believe he could dominate in October.

There's so many reasons to be excited about Chourio as a prospect, and soon enough he'll force his way onto the big league roster. There's a chance that it could even happen this year, and if this bold prediction comes true and along with the other bold predictions, we'll be looking at 2023 as a very special season in Milwaukee Brewers history.

Next. Ranking the Top 25 Brewers Prospects for the 2023 Season. dark

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