Opening Day

Brewer logo at AmFam Field. 8/27/24 dwm

 It's opening day for the 2025 edition of the Milwaukee Brewers. The game is in Yankee Stadium, against the Yankees.

 Both teams lost in the post-season - Milwaukee lost at home in the Wild Card round to the New York Mets while the Yankees lost the World Series to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

 The Brewers lost their closer, Devin Williams, to the Yankees in an off-season trade, receiving two players, a starting pitcher, Nestor Cortes and a young infielder Caleb Durbin. Cortes is in the starting rotation, while Durbin waits his chance in Triple A ball.

 Milwaukee also said good-bye to an All-Star shortstop, Willy Adames, who couldn't refuse a big-money offer from the San Francisco Giants. He was a great player and a fan favorite, we will miss him on and off the field.

Milwaukee will miss Williams but the bullpen is one of the team's strengths, leading the National League in relief pitching the last two seasons. Trevor Megill will get the first opportunity to close out games but there are other candidates if he needs help. 

The Brewers biggest loss was in the broadcast booth, when Bob Uecker died January 16, just days away from his 91st birthday. Uecker described the action and told stories for 54 seasons. He will be missed.

Christian Yelich is back and healthy after a back injury ended a good 2024 season prematurely.  Jackson Churio, the 21-year old outfielder who made his major league debut last year, is back and ready to build on a spectacular first campaign. The sky is the limit for Churio. Expectations are becoming unrealistic for Jackson, but his play and personality have Brewer fans pulling for him.

Managing the team for a second season, is Manager of the Year, Pat Murphy. He pushed all the right buttons in 2024. My favorite thing about Murph is that the charge he put in front of the team was to win that night's game. 

Bernie Brewer and Barrelman before a game. 4/23/23 dwm

162 games are a marathon, not a sprint, and most managers approach it that way, recognizing each team will lose 60 games, win 60 games, and fight over the other 42. Murphy wants the 9 men on the field to play to win every night.

Milwaukee is a small-market team, but it's a team battling and succeeding to reach the post-season every year. It's something they've done at a more frequent rate than any other stretch of Brewer history.

Win or lose, the Brew Crew is entertaining, made even better by a team that's in it to win it. I expect the Brewers to be in the hunt for another division title and reach the play-offs for the seventh time in eight seasons. Go Brewers!