Spring Training 2018 is Underway

The 2018 MLB season is getting closer as the preseason is now underway. There are two different spring training leagues, each league with 15 teams each, the Cactus League and the Grapefruit League.

The Cactus League is hosted in Arizona and the Grapefruit League is hosted in Florida, and the  Brewers will participate in the Cactus league, along with neighboring teams such as the Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, and Cleveland Indians.

The Brewers are off to a nice start this spring training. They have a 5-1 record, with wins over the Cubs, Giants, Diamondbacks, Indians, and Reds. Their only loss came to the Angels. The Brewers offense has been fantastic in those games, putting up five runs against the Angels and Diamondbacks, six runs against the Giants and Reds, and a seven run game against the Indians. They only put up two runs against the Cubs, but due to good defense they still won the game 2-1.

Brewers manager Craig Counsell thinks the media is taking notice of the Brewer’s strong performances so far.

“We feel like we’ve earned expectations,” Counsell told Fox6. “Expectations to me are always something from the outside, and so that people have them means you’ve accomplished something. Really it’s the spot that you work to get in, especially when you take over in a spot that I took over in. You work to want to have expectations, so this is like, you are expected to have them. You are working to get them. You want them. You want to maintain the fact that we have expectations every season.”

During the 2017 season, the Brewers always brought a good offense to every game. Multiple players from the Brewers were effective at the plate such as Travis Shaw, Eric Thames, Orlando Arcia, Ryan Braun, a few others. With new additions such as Christian Yelich and Lorenzo Cain, the Brewers are showing no signs of slowing down at the plate.

Brewers General Manager David Stearns is impressed with Yelich and Cain not only on the field, but off the field as well.

“They are two really talented players,” Stearns told Fox6.com. “Whenever you are able to bring in players of that level, both on and off the field, what we think they can mean for our team is impactful.”

Many feel that the area that was holding the Brewers back from making the playoffs last season, was their pitching. The Brewers bullpen often blew leads and games for the Brewers, which seemed to end the Brewers hopes of making the postseason despite their improvements from the 2016 season.

GHS sophomore Samuel Muth thinks the Brewers need to find pitching prospects during spring training.

“We need to look for pitchers,” Muth said. “Our pitching depth is really bad, we need to get better closers and relief pitchers so we can finish games this season.”

Spring training for baseball fans all over is a very exciting time. It’s a time where fans can watch their team play before the season and get to take a look at some promising prospects their team has for the future.

GHS freshman Connor Kramp likes watching spring training whenever he can.

“I like watching it because baseball is my favorite sport,” Kramp said. “I also like it because it’s fun watching some younger prospects end up dominating spring training. Also, watching new players from the Brewers is really cool.”

Spring training for baseball fans is not only fun to watch just because it’s baseball season again, but it’s also fun to watch young prospects who either could end up being really good in the MLB, or bad. Spring training is a nice way for baseball fans to see a behind the scenes look at the teams they cheer for, other than just watching the same players play during the MLB regular season.