Milwaukee Brewers: Assessing starting rotation options
By Kenny Jilek
The Milwaukee Brewers have plenty of starting pitching options for the 2019 season. With spring training fast approaching it’s time to speculate who will make the rotation and who will be relegated to bullpen duty.
The Milwaukee Brewers have a logjam at the starting pitcher position with a lot of good but not great options. The Brewers did not have a lockdown ace last year, although Jhoulys Chacin was their most reliable starter, especially in the down the stretch and in the playoffs. What they did have, and still have coming into 2019, is a stable of guys that have all shown flashes of greatness, but have lacked consistency.
There are a lot of question marks for the Brewers coming into 2019 about how certain players, positions, and the team as a whole will perform, but the biggest question mark is what will they do with the surplus of capable starting arms. To Craig Counsell, this might not seem like an issue seeing as his philosophy places them all in the same category of “out getters”, but someone has to start the games and Brewer fans everywhere are on the edge of our seats wondering who will seize those starting spots.
The Brewers plethora of options currently includes Chacin, Zach Davies, Chase Anderson, Corbin Burnes, Freddy Peralta, Brandon Woodruff, and don’t forget a healthy Jimmy Nelson. There have also been rumors about acquiring another pitcher, like the possibility of bringing back Gio Gonzalez or signing former Cy Young winner Dallas Keuchel. There have also been rumors of trading for an ace to put them over the top, like Madison Bumgarner or Corey Kluber. Let’s take a look at them all.