Spring training 2023 is nearly upon us. Brewers pitchers and catchers will report to camp on February 16 and the first full team workout will be a few days after that. However, pitcher Brandon Woodruff is down in Arizona early and recently caught up with beat reporter Adam McCalvy.
In a video that McCalvy posted, Brandon Woodruff commented on the upcoming 2023 season.
Woodruff starts the video off by saying “I think we’re (Brewers) going to do a lot of things that will surprise some people. We see stuff, we’re not picked to win the division”.
The Brewers’ first organized workout isn’t for a few days, but the work is already underway. Brandon Woodruff threw a light ‘pen to new catcher William Contreras this morning. pic.twitter.com/SxCMKnREDt
— Adam McCalvy (@AdamMcCalvy) February 14, 2023
Woodruff is right in the fact that quite a few projection systems currently favor the Cardinals to repeat as National League Central champions. Two projection systems that we have taken a deeper dive into at WI Sports Heroics are ZiPS and PECOTA.
According to the latest ZiPS projections, the Brewers are estimated to win 83 games. They have a 21.9% chance of winning the National League Central and a 39.7% chance at making the playoffs. PECOTA’s projections like Milwaukee more in which they are estimated at 87 wins with a 64% chance at making the playoffs.
The second half of the video posted by McCalvy talks about new catcher William Contreras.
William Contreras, brother of long time Chicago Cub and now current St. Louis Cardinal Willson Contreras, joined the Brewers courtesy of a three team trade earlier this offseason. William had a breakout season with the Braves in 2021. In less than 100 games he belted 20 home runs, had a .506 slugging percentage, and a 138 OPS+.
It’s clear that a big factor that went into acquiring William Contreras was his ability to perform offensively. In the video above, Woodruff discusses how important communicating and getting on the same page with a new catcher is. He goes on to reference how he had to go through a similar process with Yasmani Grandal, Victor Caratini, and Omar Narvaez.
There is a lot to be excited about regarding the 2023 Milwaukee Brewers. As mentioned by Woodruff, they are coming in as a bit of an underdog this season, but perhaps that will play to their advantage.
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