2020 Brewers rotation

[sveumrules]

I personally think the Brewers rotation is top half of the league depending on the starters chosen, but I'm also probably more familiar with our players than your average FG writer and am probably a bit biased. I'm very surprised an FG writer would rank Brewers there, you look at Brett Anderson and Josh Lindblom in 2 spots...how can you see this rotation on paper and be like "yup, they are top half".

 

Edit - oh that's right, in projection world 90% of pitchers pitch to between a 3.75 and 4.75 ERA.

 

From 2016-19 FanGraphs projected the Brewers rotation 26th, 25th, 19th & 24th.

 

They actually finished those years 23rd, 10th, 15th & 15th in runs allowed WAR.

 

Obviously there is a lot more "randomness" in play over a 60 game season (if we even make it that far) than a 162 game season, but it will be interesting to see if the rotation options assembled by Stearns & company for 2020 can beat their projections for the 5th straight year.

[markedman5]

 

Anderson to 10 day dL

[nate82]

Looks like Burnes and Peralta will be games 2 and 3 starters to open the season. Burnes would only start if Anderson is not able to pitch. Lindblom won't be available for the Cubs series but should be good after. Lauer will be ready around the 2nd or 1st week of August. He is currently behind by about 1 week due to quarantine. So might be earlier for Lauer though I think the 2nd week of August is when he will make his first start for the Brewers.

[TURBO]

I hope both Burnes and Peralta are so good, they can't possibly be removed from the rotation.

[brewmann04]

I think you might be just onto something.

[brewerfan82]

Even if it wasn't the plan, it's definitely a much more comfortable position for the organization to be in than the beginning of last year (ie. start with Burnes and Peralta in the rotation with reinforcements already on staff rather than scrambling to find them once they underperform). Hopefully they'll feel less pressure knowing they're not going to be depended on as much this year. But they could feel more pressure knowing they need to be unbelievable to keep their spots. Regardless, it'll be interesting to see how it turns out and having some open spots at the beginning of the season will help sort out "who's on" and "who's not" while the other guys get ready to get thrown into the mix.

[monty57]

So is it expected to be Woodruff, Burnes, Peralta against the Cubs, Houser, Lindblom, Woodruff against the Pirates, with Lauer and Anderson starting off on IR?

[nate82]

So is it expected to be Woodruff, Burnes, Peralta against the Cubs, Houser, Lindblom, Woodruff against the Pirates, with Lauer and Anderson starting off on IR?

 

Burnes and Peralta were just rumored for games 2 and 3 and the rest haven't been decided on yet. Probably see something today or tomorrow on what they are going to do.

[Zad Fnark]

BrewCrewBall is saying Burnes is up for the 2nd game.

[MVP2110]

I'm surprised they wouldn't have Houser lined up to go against Chicago. Seems like you'd rather have Houser face the Cubs than Freddy

[FVBrewerFan]

I'm surprised they wouldn't have Houser lined up to go against Chicago. Seems like you'd rather have Houser face the Cubs than Freddy

 

You want Freddy pitching a day game whenever possible

[DR28]

Woody

Burnes

Peralta

Houser

Lindblom

 

Oh man do I love this rotation!!

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

Woody

Burnes

Peralta

Houser

Lindblom

 

Oh man do I love this rotation!!

 

Three homegrown guys at the top, followed by a partially homegrown guy in Houser. Pretty exciting.

[DR28]

Woody

Burnes

Peralta

Houser

Lindblom

 

Oh man do I love this rotation!!

 

Three homegrown guys at the top, followed by a partially homegrown guy in Houser. Pretty exciting.

 

Oh hell yes!!

[pacopete4]

Other than Houser, I’m very excited about this staff. Hopefully, if/when Houser tanks, they’ll get him back to the pen quickly in this shortened season.

[A Swing and A Drive]

Other than Houser, I’m very excited about this staff. Hopefully, if/when Houser tanks, they’ll get him back to the pen quickly in this shortened season.

 

When LHP Eric Lauer is ready to take a rotation spot, I can see Houser moving to the pen. Gives us one young lefty with some promise in the rotation as well.

[Smichaelis9]

Other than Houser, I’m very excited about this staff. Hopefully, if/when Houser tanks, they’ll get him back to the pen quickly in this shortened season.

Curious what you don't like about Houser as a starter?

[MVP2110]

I trust Houser as a starter much more than Freddy. Freddy has potential to be a TOR but is so inconsistent at the moment that it's hard to trust him

[sveumrules]

Over Houser's first 6 starts, when he was still bouncing around between AAA, the bullpen & the rotation, he allowed 20 ER over 23 IP (7.83 ERA).

 

Once he was put in the rotation on July 30th & left there for the rest of the season, he allowed 21 ER over 57.2 IP (3.28 ERA), literally our best pitcher down the stretch run.

 

It will be interesting to see who gets moved into what role when Lauer/Anderson are ready to return, but I'd probably rank Houser's rotation spot the second most secure at this point considering his 12 start stretch to finish last season is longer (& more recent) than any periods of effectiveness that Burnes or Peralta have demonstrated.

[Dadbauer]

I don't get the Houser hate when he was literally better than both Burnes and Peralta last year.

[Smichaelis9]

There was a pretty great article from Mike Petriello on MLB.com yesterday talking about Houser and what he was able to do last year once he went to the rotation full time, as well as his total body of work. Both his four seam and two seam were elite pitches last year and as mentioned a few posts ago, the results in his dozen starts after going full time to the rotation were extremely good. The article is here

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

Other than Houser, I’m very excited about this staff. Hopefully, if/when Houser tanks, they’ll get him back to the pen quickly in this shortened season.

 

LOL you are sticking to your guns on the "Houser isn't a starter" idea. I can respect that.

[pacopete4]

Other than Houser, I’m very excited about this staff. Hopefully, if/when Houser tanks, they’ll get him back to the pen quickly in this shortened season.

 

LOL you are sticking to your guns on the "Houser isn't a starter" idea. I can respect that.

 

Hope I’m dead wrong. Just don’t believe it. Maybe he’s a late bloomer and has figured it out. I’d be all for it.

[sveumrules]

Other than Houser, I’m very excited about this staff. Hopefully, if/when Houser tanks, they’ll get him back to the pen quickly in this shortened season.

 

LOL you are sticking to your guns on the "Houser isn't a starter" idea. I can respect that.

 

Hope I’m dead wrong. Just don’t believe it. Maybe he’s a late bloomer and has figured it out. I’d be all for it.

 

Houser was born 2/2/93. Woodruff was born eight days later on 2/10/93. Is Brandon a late bloomer too?

 

Houser career | 127 IP | 122 ERA+

Woodruff career | 207 IP | 113 ERA+

 

Jacob deGrom is maybe the best pitcher in baseball, one of a small handful of "true aces" in the game, entering his age 27 season (as both Adrian & Brandon are) he had 140 IP & a 128 ERA+.

 

Corey Kluber had 67 IP & a 74 ERA+ entering his age 27 season.

 

Pitching is weird & guys get hurt & figure things out at different times. Given their respective sample sizes the book is still essentially out on our entire rotation.

[pacopete4]

Woodruff did well in the minor leagues while Houser has struggled. Time will tell on this. I just see him long term as a reliever unless he’s added something different to the arsenal.