Why do I believe in this seasons Crew and why you should too.

[jesusoftheapes]

2024 was a banner year for this Brewers team and everyone who was locked into that season can understand why positivity should be the norm here.   

 

The playoff loss was not your typical playoff exit even if on paper people can make this argument it falls flat and the future's so bright for the Brewers we all need to get a healthy dose of excitement for what it to come!    

Getting to the playoffs was a road we dominated through last season. Willy Adames had a great season which helped win games all the way up until the playoffs.    When we got to that dance we saw just why this Brewers team should be feared for many seasons into the future without Adames here anymore.   

 

When you look at the numbers of the playoffs you paint a picture.   The Brewers picture is that of a team oozing with young Stars who are just about to step into their Stardome.     The series against the Mets was one the Brewers lost yet they outplayed the Mets in that series and it was the youngsters who carried this team when the lights were brightest.   Willy Adames, William Contreras did not even show up to those games and it was our young homegrown players who stood out and showed just how much better they can become in progression and that they all seem to have a bit of that Clutch factor winners carry into big series.     

Brice Turang in that series batted .455 ave.  With 5 hits and 3 runs scored and he was one of the best players at bat all series.   His 1.227 OPS will play against anyone and it showed that he is one of this leagues brightest young Stars over those 3 games.   

Blake Perkins who gets hammered for underperforming on offense hit .500 in that playoff with an OPS of 1.000 add and RBI and a stolen bag.    He is still getting better. 

Sal was so good in that playoff if Williams had not given it away his name would not be forgotten like it is now.   His playoff numbers carried .364 Average, The Homer of the series and an OPS of 1.091 

Jackson Chourio was immaculate in the playoffs and was the strongest bats there.  Ave. .455 2 homers and an OPS of 1.500 

Garrett Mitchell while limited also put up one of the magic moments of that series showing himself to have Superstar genes hitting the biggest shot of his life in that series which allowed him to carry a OPS of 1.400 through that playoff leaving all of us wanting him to have had more AB's during that series .   

Ortiz blanked the playoff series but his early 2024 in season has me a believer and his defensive skills are that of the best in the game.   His playoffs are not proof the others gave to account but I still have a massive hope Joey O becomes a big league bat through the 2025 season and hold out hope his next playoff opportunity will look much different.   

 

If our catcher can bring a hot bat to the playoffs and live up to his ability when the lights are brightest , Yelich can be healthy through a season and bring his game to a playoff with no back pain and one or two of the prospect hitters show us why we have held onto them this long this team is better than it was in 2024.    Our young players are just stepping into who they will be and when they are fully developed they are top tier MLB players with no downside.            

 

Everyone seems to believe shopping is the best way to win baseball games because of the modern suckfest that baseball has become.    The Brewers however went old school and built a team from the bottom up and really did a great job  .          

Tyler Black can still be a difference maker as well as Oliver Dunn.    Caleb Durbin is also a superior addition to a team who is on the cusp of delivering.   

Then you have the pitching prospects .   This team is LOADED top to bottom and it is not going to be a down year no matter what the media says.     ENJOY THIS TEAM Brewers fans.     We do not get them this good very often and sulking because the Brewers did not make moves to break up the roster should not discourage you.  

[torts]

Cut, paste, submit - 2025 Brewers Optimism!  

Leeesssggoooooo!!!!!!!

[TURBO]

There is already a Brewers optimism thread that this post would have fit into nicely.

[Outlander]

This post was starting to pump me up but then kind of annoyed me as well. Those Mitchell, Chourio and Frelick homers and Tobias Myers game 3 should have  been Brewers highlights for years to come but now I don't want to relive that playoff series ever again. The veterans kind of did crap the bed that series and it was newbies that came through.

[BrewersAA]

💯💯

[jesusoftheapes]

On 2/14/2025 at 8:39 AM, TURBO said:

There is already a Brewers optimism thread that this post would have fit into nicely.

It is Spring and I wanted a full stage unencumbered by offseason optimism .  I wanted to drive up Spring Training optimism!    I get the optimism thread I really do but we are into the season now and I just went rogue.   I will try to organize these threads better in the future and post them to the proper spaces.   Thanks for checking it out though! GO BREWERS! 

[jesusoftheapes]

On 2/14/2025 at 9:03 AM, Outlander said:

This post was starting to pump me up but then kind of annoyed me as well. Those Mitchell, Chourio and Frelick homers and Tobias Myers game 3 should have  been Brewers highlights for years to come but now I don't want to relive that playoff series ever again. The veterans kind of did crap the bed that series and it was newbies that came through.

Sir it is all how you look at this .    Those are defining moments in this franchise pursuit of history .   Every other exit from the playoffs was a "back the the drawing board" offseason.   That is NOT what we got in 2024 when that game ended.     All I felt after Williams blew it was that WE HAVE UNFINISHED BUSINESS !   We were not outclassed in that playoff unlike every other playoff loss we took since 18'.   We were the better team and we showed it right up and until the Mets seemingly knew every pitch Devin threw before he threw it and forced themselves over us at the end because of this seemingly magic preconception.    ( I think they cheated... I cannot prove it but I watched that entire series time and time again.  Jonboy Media said Williams tipped his pitches while that was happening in live time and I tended to believe him until I watched the film closer.  He was not tipping his pitches and the Mets still seemed to know what pitches he was throwing before he threw them. )    Anyways that topic is for another day .  My point is this.   Those hits WERE a huge moment in Brewers history ! 

 We should NOT feel defeated or lost because of that series finish and should be very excited for what is to come off that.    It was not a win but it was a battle that was living proof the Brewers draft/acquire youngsters and develop system is working better than many of the bought and paid for rosters of baseball in 2025.     It showed that the Brewers can play with the Big Money clubs when the lights are brightest and that our young talent is very talented.      So many fans were insanely dejected after the 2024 seasons end and it was a hard pill to swallow yet it was not a low moment in anyway for this franchise.  It was a loss and nothing more in a very close game which ended in a way that did not expose any holes in the Brewers game that better teams could exploit.         I want all of you who felt that way to rethink how you all see things because 24' was a GREAT season to build from and should be looked at with PRIDE and not disappointment.   

The 2024 Crew  showed that the modern MLB team building model is flawed and that there are other ways of building a contender despite what the talking heads who cover baseball say.   The Brewers proved that you can build a contender without a billion dollar payroll or Moneyball framework .   A focus on simply acquiring talented via the draft/signing of young prospects with high ceilings and developing them into Superstars in house is still one heck of a team building model and it being undervalued has opened the door for Milwaukee (and Cleveland) who have focused on this old school way of rostering good players from A-MLB.   The 2024 Brewers are unpopular with the sports broadcasters and talking heads of MLB because they do not subscribe to the modern philosophy of shop shop shop.    Baseball talking heads hate it when their ideology for how baseball is done is challenged and the Brewers success throws all that in their faces.  This is why they project the Brewers wrong every single offseason and why the Brewers are always facing a season where they are projected to lose.      2024 made it harder for these morons to make these arguments with a straight face.    They will still do it however because they simply hate the Brewers.   I am sure the hate is even more than normal now that 2024 really proved them wrong at the highest levels .    I believe 2025 will be the last season the Brewers are undervalued before the season is underway.   After the 2025 season the Brewers model will no longer be able to be mocked by the talking heads who cover baseball and it all started with the 2024 season which showed that this model of team building is legitimate and not passe.     

          No 2024 was not the ending any of us wanted but it was the ending that builds champions.    WE all felt that we had a team there that could compete with the Dodgers and could have been a challenge for any of the teams in that playoff field.   We were proven correct when Bauers and Sal put those back to back dingers in the stands.   Unlike every other exit from the playoffs before this there is no reason to hang your head as a Brewers fan.  SO DON'T ! 2024 was WONDERFUL and a building block to stand on moving into the place we are right now.  Champions are not build in one season when building from the ground up.  Losing must be part of the learning experience when building a team with talent you grew from scratch but the reality sets in when a team like this loses a playoff game they should have won.   Losing a game like that should put fire in the belly of these young Stars.   I know it did for me.      That fire is where champions are built.    I expect winning  now more than ever and I own that feeling to the 2024 season and cannot look down on any part of that burgeoning team who showed they truly belong with the best teams in baseball and that this roster core can win against anyone when the lights burn brightest.    

    In 2024 the Brewers upgraded their Manager situation BIG!  We have a championship Manager now for the first time ever and we have a LOT of winning to do moving forwards under Murphy.     We all need to realize that this was YEAR 0 .  The first season of under new Management NEVER works as well as it did for the 2024 Brewers.   Year 0 is typically a losing affair for most franchises.   For us however it showed that there is massive improvements taking place in live time here and that the future(which is now)  for the Brewers is brighter than ever before.           

I saw the bones of an champion in that 2024 Brewers team that with proper management from the top down this team should contend for big moments for the foreseeable future with the roster they are building and give us a team worth cheering for well into the 2030s and one that can win it all.   I saw nothing but positives from this team in 2024 and even if it took its first hard loss under Murph we still proved this entire experiment in team building is working !  That is proof of something very special coming that we all need to get excited about every season moving forwards because big things are cooking here that we helped build only if even slightly.         The 2024 season ended with a big slap to the face.   That  should motivate the Brewers current roster because it proved they all belong there.  If they keep up this level of work they are seeing the returns of improved outcomes each season grow with every step they take to the Pennant.        Everyone involved is better in 2025 because of the 2024 season and the mission to keep this core team together in the offseason is the BEST move this team could have made given it was so close in 2024.        The Brewers are going to win a championship with this core and Manager in place that much I am sure of and the one last thing this team needs is for US the fans to see it too.    The only question now all that is WHEN? I say why not 2025??   LET'S DO THIS! 

GO CREW!   I love all you in Brewers Nation!  WE are going to carry this team to places that we have never been !   CHEER LOUD  so everyone can hear you! We have a winner on our hands and need to nurture this franchise past its past!    WE can help it develop into that team we all have been waiting for so long to see.         BELIEVE IN THIS CREW!  That is what I got out of that playoff loss this past year.  I BELIEVE!  2024 showed me this team is about to shock the world and am so glad I am here to see it !  GO BREWERS!              

 

[bigred]

It's very difficult to be very optimistic about this season, when apparently they're seriously considering having Frelick play some 3rd base, and wouldn't pay a measly $1 - $2M to have Dejong be a veteran leader, and recoup some of the HR's and RBI's we lost by Adames leaving. 

[MNBrew]

2 minutes ago, bigred said:

It's very difficult to be optimistic about this season, when apparently they're seriously considering having Frelick play some 3rd base, and wouldn't pay a measly $1 - $2M to have Dejong be a veteran leader, and recoup some of the HR's and RBI's we lost by Adames leaving. 

It's okay to disagree.  Sky's falling in your world re: the Brewers' IF choices and (non-)actions & that's perfectly fine.  I see the same thing but am still optimistic.