The Milwaukee Brewers open the season against the Colorado Rockies for the second time in the last three seasons. We’ll soon see if the Brewers are the team that led the National League Central for five months last season, or the team that collapsed in the final month and fell out of playoff contention.
The Brewers themselves are banking on seeing the team that led the division for five months will resurface. The number of offseason moves made by the Brewers was minimal. They acquired first baseman Adam Lind from the Toronto Blue Jays and sent starter Yovani Gallardo to Texas to open a spot in the rotation for Jimmy Nelson.
The Brewers are banking on Ryan Braun’s thumb returning to form. They’re hoping Aramis Ramirez can put together one more productive season.
They made the decision to send Gallardo to Texas to give Jimmy Nelson a chance. The Brewers will need Nelson to take advantage of the opportunity.
Scooter Gennett becomes the everyday second baseman. Can he be productive enough against left-handed pitching.
Can Matt Garza put together a full season without injury? What will the Brewers get from Mike Fiers? Does Francisco Rodriguez still have something left in the tank? Will Jean Segura return to his 2013 form?
A lot of questions and only time will provide the answers.
Kyle Lohse takes over the number-one spot in the rotation. He’ll get the opening day nod for the Brewers today against Colorado’s Kyle Kendricks.
The Brewers have tried to put last seasons collapse to bed and have avoided spending much time talking about it during the spring. We’ll see if there’s any kind of hangover for the Brewers, who will spend most of the first month battling teams in the National League Central.
AUDIO: Ryan Braun says the Brewers are a good team :13
AUDIO: Will Smith says they don’t spend a lot of time discussing last year :08
