The Milwaukee Brewers currently have a great core of starting pitchers. Corbin Burnes, Brandon Woodruff, and Freddy Peralta headline a trio that when healthy is among the best in baseball. Sure, rumors are swirling this offseason regarding a potential Corbin Burnes trade, but odds are that he will be with the Brew Crew in 2023.
Additional pitchers to be included in the starters category include Eric Lauer, Adrian Houser, and Aaron Ashby. Due to injury, Jason Alexander did make 11 starts last season. Ethan Small, Chi Chi Gonzalez, and Matt Bush make up the remainder of players to make a start in 2021. Altogether, Brewers starting pitchers posted as 12.3 fWAR last season.
Looking ahead to 2023, all but one of these players are set to return to the Brewers. The only starting pitcher lost out of the above mentioned group was Chi Chi Gonzalez. Ethan Small may have a larger role next year. Janson Junk, acquired in the Hunter Renfroe trade, is also expected to compete for a starting rotation spot during spring training.
According to fangraphs, the Brewers are projected to have the highest starting pitcher WAR in 2023.
In these projections, the Brewers just edge out the Atlanta Braves by 0.3 WAR for they have a projected 15.0 WAR. The New York Yankees, Miami Marlins, and Philadelphia Phillies are the only other teams with a projected WAR above 13.0.
Projected ’23 starting pitcher WAR (via @fangraphs):
15.0 MIL
14.7 ATL
13.6 NYY
13.4 MIA
13.2 PHI
12.8 TB
12.7 LAA NYM
12.4 HOU
12.2 LAD SD
11.7 BOS TOR
11.5 SF SEA
11.2 CWS
10.1 CLE
10.0 MIN
9.8 STL CIN
8.9 ARI
8.7 PIT
8.3 TEX DET
7.9 KC
7.8 CHC
7.5 WSH
7.2 BAL
6.8 COL
6.4 OAK— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) November 27, 2022
This means that the Brewers starting group is projected to be more valuable then a Braves rotation consisting of Max Fried, Charlie Morton, Kyle Wright, and Spencer Strider. They also beat out the Yankees who have Gerrit Cole, Nestor Cortes, Luis Severino, and Frankie Montas.
These projections show how deep and talented the Brewers are at the starting pitcher position. This group did struggle to stay healthy in 2022. Hopefully their fortunes can turn around in 2023 and the Brewers can make this projection come true.
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