Unfinished business: Brewers hope for season-long consistency in 2015
MILWAUKEE -- A few days prior to Opening Day, a video played on loop throughout a relatively empty Miller Park.
The message? Unfinished business.
For 150 days last season, Milwaukee led the National League Central. But nobody will remember that. The 2014 Brewers will be remembered as the first team that spent that length of time in first place to miss the playoffs.
"When you're watching the playoffs and the World Series, you feel like you were supposed to be there," Brewers center fielder Carlos Gomez said. "It gives you more motivation to work hard the next season. All my teammates felt the same way I feel; when the season was done we couldn't wait to start 2015.
"Everybody went home, rested a little bit, refresh the mind and continue to work to get stronger."
Nobody is expecting the Brewers to win what should be an extremely competitive National League Central division, while the Pirates, Padres, Marlins, Mets, Cubs and Giants are popular picks for the two wild-card spots.
But flying under the radar is something Milwaukee is used to and comfortable with.
"I feel like we are always overlooked," Brewers catcher Jonathan Lucroy said. "It feels like it is every year. Last year they said the same thing. For five months, we proved them wrong. Hopefully we can do that again and stay strong the last month."
The Brewers are in a similar situation to many teams. If everything goes right, they can contend. However, there are numerous question marks surrounding this year's team.
First baseman Adam Lind is the only new starting regular, while the club took a risk trading an established pitcher in Yovani Gallardo in part to clear a roster spot for the unproven Jimmy Nelson.
"I like this club a lot," Brewers manager Ron Roenicke said. "I still know that we have to do things right. Last year we knew we had to do things right and we did them really good for probably three months. This club has to be able to do that for six months. I'm not saying play at the level like we did the first three months last year, but we need to do things right.
"We're not a club that's just going to walk on a field and just beat everyone because of our talent. We're talented, but we have to play the right way and do the little things."
The first thing that needs to go right is the health of key players. Milwaukee can't afford an injury to any of its key players, as the Brewers lack depth at most positions.
Ryan Braun's thumb must hold up over the course of the long season, while middle-of-the-order bats Aramis Ramirez and Lind have to overcome injury histories to stay on the field. The Brewers are also counting on shortstop Jean Segura to bounce back from a down year and Scooter Gennett to handle second base on a full-time basis for the first time.
But if the individual pieces of Milwaukee's lineup perform the way the way they have in the past, it could add up to some serious potential.
"Another GM on a National League team told us we 'have a real player at every position,' " Brewers general manager Doug Melvin said. "And you look around, you got Lucroy, you got Adam Lind, you got Scooter, Segura, Aramis Ramirez. And you've got Braun, Davis and Gomez. Four of those guys were All-Star players, or they have been All-Stars at some point.
"Then younger guys like Segura and Khris Davis. Then we've got a veteran guy, Gerardo Parra, who's been a Gold Glover two years, that's another player added to our club that wasn't with us Opening Day (2014)."
Pitching-wise, the Brewers are placing their faith in the inexperienced duo of Mike Fiers and Nelson. Fiers has had significant stretches of success in the big leagues, while Nelson has yet to adjust to the highest level.
The top three of Kyle Lohse, Matt Garza and Wily Peralta is good enough to be counted on, but the questions surrounding Fiers and Nelson along with the lack of depth after the starting five leaves cause for concern.
"Hopefully we're a more consistent team," Roenicke said. "I think the offense with the at-bats that I'm seeing right now, we should be a more consistent team. There's no reason we should have that bad of a month-and-a-half of offense.
"The pitching should be consistent. We have enough good pitching in the five that they should be consistent. I'm hoping we have a more consistent of a team. Be consistent and then have your hot streaks and in the end it should be a good outcome."
Top to bottom, the National League Central should be one of the more competitive divisions in baseball. St. Louis has won the division two straight years, while Pittsburgh is coming off consecutive postseason berths. While they might be a year away from serious contention, the Cubs are vastly improved. Cincinnati lost a few key pieces in the offseason but could contend if the likes of Joey Votto, Brandon Phillips and Jay Bruce return to form.
"We realize that we have a good team, but Cincinnati also realizes it has a good team," Roenicke said. "So does St. Louis. So does Pittsburgh. Now Chicago feels that way. We're not in a division where everyone is going to predict, 'Hey, this team is going to win it.' There's a grouping there where any team gets hot and does the right things to play right, they can win the division.
"That's what makes it hard. I like our team. I like what we can do. But I also realize we have to maintain this for six months, not get hot one month and disappear."
While the Brewers have aggressively used the motivation of last year's collapse in marketing campaigns, the players in the locker room are ready to move on. The only way to do that is by making the postseason in 2015.
"I think at some point you have to move on, you have to move past it," Braun said. "But as I've said before, it's tough. It's tough for me, it's tough for us as a team, you don't get those opportunities too often, and as we've all seen, if you get to the postseason, anybody can win it.
"The challenge is just getting in, and I've now played long enough to know you don't get an opportunity to play those meaningful games in September every year, and when you do get those chances you have to take advantage of it."
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