MLB The Show 19: Milwaukee Brewers Player Ratings, Roster, Lineups, & Farm System

Established in 1969 in Seattle, the Pilots quickly relocated and renamed themselves as the Milwaukee Brewers in 1970, spending nearly 30 years in the American League and making the playoffs just once. They won the 1982 AL East division and then went on to claim their first and only pennant behind shortstop Robin Yount and third baseman Paul Molitor's strong seasons. They lost that World Series in seven games to the St. Louis Cardinals and didn't get back to playoffs until 2008, by which time they were in the National League and in the same division as the Cardinals.

In recent years the Brewers have won the NL Central in 2011 and 2018, but lost in the NLCS both times, falling in 7 to the Dodgers last season. The Brewers look to be on the cusp of a World Series with their talented core of players. Can you take them over the edge and lift the first World Series in Brewers history?

*All stats correct at time of writing

Team Rating

In MLB The Show 19 there isn't a single team OVR like in other sports games. Instead, you get a ranking from 1st to 30th. This is better for seeing exactly where each team stand compared with one another, but you have no idea how big the gap between 10th and 11th is.

The Brewers come in ranked 9th overall, with their biggest selling point their excellent power, ranking 3rd in MLB. They also have solid contact ability and are about average in pitching and defense. They are very slow though, ranking just 27th in speed.

One issue the Brewers have when it comes to competing for a World Series is their budget. At $154.5 million the Brewers lag behind a lot of the big teams and will need to extract performance out of every dollar. You will need to be very careful with your investments when it comes to building your team. Who are the pieces already on the roster that you can build around?

Christian Yelich, Right Field (90 OVR)

Age: 27

Throws/Bats: R/L

Contract: 3 years/$21.3 million

Secondary Position: LF, CF

Hitter Tendency: Whole Field

Best Stats: Durability (94), Clutch (92), Contact vs R (89), Contact vs L (85), Discipline (81), Arm Accuracy (78), Speed (75)

Christian Yelich was a first-round pick for the Florida Marlins in 2010 and got his MLB debut in 2013, playing 62 games and hitting 4 homers with a .288 average. In 2014 Yelich was an everyday player for the Marlins and began to find his feet more, but he didn't hit more than 10 homers in a season until 2016 when he put up 21 homers. He was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers before the 2018 season and broke out in a major way, hitting .326 with a massive 36 homers and 110 RBI and picked up his first All-Star appearance and won the NL MVP.

In The Show 19 Yelich is a terrific player. He has strong contact skills (89/85) and the speed (75) to steal bases. He is solid in the field (71) and has excellent durability (94). His power (73/61) isn't that great, but he can still drive the ball.

Yasmani Grandal, Catcher (87 OVR)

Age: 30

Throws/Bats: R/S

Contract: 1 year/$18.3 million

Secondary Position: 1B

Hitter Tendency: Extreme Pull

Best Stats: Fielding (91), Discipline (89), Durability (86), Reaction (84), Power vs R (81), Blocking (75), Arm Accuracy (72)

Yasmani Grandal was drafted 12th-overall by the Cincinnati Reds in the 2010 draft but was traded to the San Diego Padres where he got his MLB debut in 2012. grandal played 60 games that season, hitting 8 homers with a .297 average. He was only in San Diego a short while, and in 2015 arrived in LA with the Dodgers. His power output greatly improved, and by 2016 he was hitting 20+ homers a year, but his average rarely topped .240. In 2019 he signed with the Brewers.

In The Show 19 grandal is a terrific backstop, with strong fielding (91) and blocking (75). He has strong power against righties (81) and good discipline (89) at the plate. He is also remarkably durable (86) for a catcher which is nice as you can't just slide his bat into the DH spot.

Jimmy Nelson, Starting Pitcher (83 OVR)

Age: 29

Throws/Bats: R/R

Contract: 1 year/$3.7 million + 1 year Arbitration

Pitches: Sinker, 4-Seam Fastball, Knuckle Curve, Slider

Best Stats: Stamina (85), Velocity (84), Break (81), K/9 (73), Control (73)

Jimmy Nelson was a second-round pick for the Brewers in 2010 and got a brief MLB debut in 2013, pitching 10 innings with a 0.9 ERA. In 2014 he made 12 starts and posted a poor 4.76 ERA with  a high 1.397 WHIP. However he stayed in the rotation and slowly but surely his performance came around. He made 30 starts in 2015 and 32 in 2016 before having a breakout year in 2017 as he posted a 3.49 ERA in 29 starts and had a career-high 10.2 K/9. Unfortunately, Nelson missed all of 2018 with a shoulder injury that required surgery.

In The Show 19 Nelson is a solid starter. His stamina (85) is good and he has nice velocity (84) and break (81) to make all his pitches effective. He has solid control (73) and strikeout skill too (73). None of these stats jump off the page but together they make Nelson a nice pitcher for any rotation. 

Milwaukee Brewers MLB Roster

The Show 19 does can produce some small fluctuation in OVR from save to save, but the underlying stats of each player are the same so don't worry too much about that. Let's start our look at the Brewers MLB roster with the position players and then the pitchers.

The Brewers MLB roster is made up of 13 position players and 12 pitchers. That's made up of your 8-man lineup and a 5-man bench, as well as the 5-man rotation and a 7-man bullpen, which includes your closer.

The Brewers offense is powered by the reigning NL MVP Christian Yelich (contact R 89, contact L 85) as well Lorenzo Cain (contact L 99, contact R 78) and Jesus Aguilar (power R 86, power L 81). Around those three is a strong supporting cast of Travis Shaw (poer R 86, contact R 66), Mike Moustakas (power R 80, contact L 67), Eric Thames (power R 86, power L 69), and Hernan Perez (contact L 72, power L 58). The last handful of players like Yasmani Grandal (power R 81, power L 64) and Ryan Braun (power L 75, contact 72) can also produce at the plate, while the bench includes solid players like Ben Gamel (contact R 70, contact L 68) and Manny Pina (contact R 67, power R 56).

Defensively the Brewers are solid. Grandal (fielding 91) is a star behind the plate and Cain (fielding 85) is a very good defensive center fielder while Travis Shaw (fielding 73) and Christian Yelich (fielding 71) can make their mark with the glove too.

The starting rotation is unspectacular but solid. Jimmy Nelson (stamina 85, velocity 84) and Jhoulys Chacin (break 89, clutch 78) are a nice 1-2 punch but neither are a real ace. The 3-5 spots are filled by Freddy Peralta (break 99, stamina 73), Corbin Burnes (velocity 94, stamina 68), and Zach Davies (stamina 83, break 66). That trio are pretty young and have room for growth, so immediately trying to find another arm isn't necessary.

The Brewers bullpen is solid as well.  Closer Corey Knebel (break 99, velocity 91) and setup men Josh Hader (break 99, K/9 99) and Jeremy Jeffress (break 92, velocity 87). Other arms like Brandon Woodruff (stamina 68, velocity 65) and Alex Claudio (control 69, break 65) are fine, while Brent Suter (stamina 69, control 66) can eat up innings and Jacob Barnes (velocity 87, break 72) can bridge to better arms too.

Lineups

The Show 19 has 4 lineups for you to set, against right-handed starters with and without the DH and against left-handed starters with and without the DH. As the Brewers are in the National League the majority of your games will come without the DH available. The Show 19 does give you preset lineups to use, so let's have a look at them.

Against righties without the DH CF Lorenzo Cain is in the lead off man with SS Hernan Perez behind him and RF Christian Yelich at #3. 1B Jesus Aguilar and 3B Travis Shaw are next, followed by 2B Mike Moustakas, LF Ryan Braun, C Yasmani Grandal, and finally the pitcher spot. With the DH Perez moves to 2nd base, Moustakas takes the DH spot, and Tyler Saladino plays SS and takes the #9 slot in the lineup.

Against lefties without the DH the top 4 are the same, though Perez plays second base. Moustakas plays 3B in the #5 spot followed by Braun, Grandal, SS Saladino and then the pitcher. With the DH Ben Gamel comes into the lineup at #2, with Hernan Perez dropping all the way to #7. These lineups are pretty good, but they can be improved on.

The biggest change against righties is to take Ryan Braun out of the lineup for the more powerful bat of Eric Thames. He takes up the #6 spot with Moustakas dropping back to #7. With the DH Thames takes that spot and Braun comes back into the field, hitting #9.

Against lefties a lot has changed. Braun is still in left field and hitting #2, while Hernan Perez hits #6 and with the DH Ben Gamel comes in and hits #7.

Farm System

The farm system in MLB The Show 19 can be frustrating as those minor fluctuations in OVR also affect potential, which is how well young players develop. There is also a lack of some real life prospects so you can't just pull up a list of top prospects and call those guys up. Still, there are useful young players in the Minors for the Brewers. Who are they?

Carlos Arturo, Left Field (74 OVR)

Age: 25

Potential: C

Throws/Bats: L/L

Secondary Position: CF, RF

Hitter Tendency: Opposite

Best Stats: Durability (94), Arm Strength (77), Reaction (64), Contact vs R (63), Speed (62), Stealing (62)

Carlos Arturo brings superb durability (94) and a good arm (arm strength 77) as well as nice speed (62) and stealing (62) which the Brewers lack. Arturo isn't strong a the plate just yet, with ok contact skill (63/55) and a lack of real power (57/51) and he also lacks the smarts at the plate, with ok vision (61) and poor discipline (44). 

Paul Rivas, Starting Pitcher (70 OVR)

Age: 27

Potential: B

Throws/Bats: R/R

Pitches: 4-Seam Fastball, 2-Seam Fastball, Changeup, Slurve

Best Stats: Stamina (80), Velocity (78), Arm Strength (69), Break (68), BB/9 (66)

Paul Rivas has MLB-ready stamina (80) and solid velocity (78) and break (68). He's not fully ready to step into a spot in the rotation as his control (54) is wobbly. While he could step up if the injury bug strikes, Rivas would be best used as a bullpen arm while that control improves and then hopefully he could take a spot in the rotation.

Jim McMullen, Starting Pitcher (56 OVR)

Age: 25

Potential: A

Throws/Bats: R/R

Pitches: 4-Seam Fastball, Curveball, Splitter, Cutter

Best Stats: Velocity (99), Arm Strength (77), Stamina (73), BB/9 (64)

Jim McMullen may have a poor OVR, but with elite velocity (99) and good stamina (73) he has massive upside. His break (46) and control (37) is poor so don't think you can just throw him into the Majors right away, but after a year or two McMullen may well be capable of getting outs against Major League hitters.