Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

The Brewers Remain Atop An Elite Pitching List

Originally posted on The Cold Wire | By Curt Bishop | Last updated 11/28/22

The 2022 season ended in heartbreaking fashion for the Milwaukee Brewers.

After being heavily favored to repeat as National League Central champions, the Brewers got off to a hot start and even led the division by as many as four games at the end of July.

But after the Josh Hader trade, the team went south and fell short of the postseason, watching the St. Louis Cardinals surge to the top.

But one thing that kept the Brew Crew afloat was their starting pitching.

With their top three of Corbin Burnes, Brandon Woodruff, and Freddy Peralta, the Brewers look well positioned to have a solid year in 2023, at least in terms of pitching.

According to FanGraphs, Milwaukee is projected to have the highest starting pitcher WAR in all of baseball.

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

Preseason Projections Favorable For Brewers

At this point, we are still in the early stages of the offseason and the 2023 season is still months away.

Needless to say, these are merely projections and should be taken with a grain of salt.

However, Milwaukee does boast a solid top three in their rotation.

Beyond those three though, they also have Adrian Houser and Eric Lauer, who are solid options at the back end of their rotation.

Their bullpen, despite no longer having Hader, still could end up being a strength with Devin Williams at the back end closing games.

Milwaukee could also be an interesting team to watch in free agency as they look to rebound from a second half collapse and regain their prominence in the NL Central.

This article first appeared on The Cold Wire and was syndicated with permission.

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