Milwaukee, WI
2024 MLB Season Preview: Milwaukee Brewers
The Brewers coasted to an NL Central crown in 2023 and were again projected as favorites in the division at the start of the offseason. With a core of veteran difference-makers and exciting young players and weakness from others in the division, it was exactly the type of forecast you would expect to spur the front office to bolster the team’s chances of success in 2024. However, this winter had been full of nothing but mixed signals as to the team’s priorities this season and beyond.
Milwaukee Brewers
2023 record: 92-70 (1st, NL Central; lost in NLWCS)
2024 FanGraphs projection: 81-81 (3rd, NL Central)
When the Brewers inaugurated their offseason by signing Rhys Hoskins to a two-year, $34 million deal, it felt like precisely the type of veteran reinforcement that a team looking to improve on the previous year’s finish would make. Despite missing 2023 with a torn ACL, he had been a top-ten slugging first baseman since his debut in 2017 and projected to approach that production in 2024.
But then just six days later, Milwaukee traded Corbin Burnes to the Orioles for DL Hall, Joey Ortiz, and the 34th overall pick in the 2024 MLB Draft. Nothing says “mixed signals” like making a significant signing only to trade away your ace and 2021 NL Cy Young winner in the span of a week. Sure, Hall and Ortiz could play substantial roles for the big league club this year, but it almost certainly will not come close to replacing the roughly four-and-a-half wins Burnes is expected to produce now for Baltimore.
It’s been quite a precipitous fall for arguably the best starting rotation in baseball across the last three seasons. Not only do they lose a top-five starter in Burnes, they also will be without Brandon Woodruff for most if not all of the season. They brought him back on a two-year rehab deal, the 31-year-old expected to use 2024 to recover from surgery to repair a torn shoulder capsule. This leaves Freddy Peralta as the projected Opening Day starter — by no means a weak candidate for that distinction. He’s been a top-30 starter over the last three seasons by ERA (3.35) and fWAR (9.0) and projects to do the same in 2024, ZiPS predicting a 3.86 ERA and 2.8 fWAR across 28 starts totaling 151.2 innings.
Things look pretty bleak behind him in the rotation, with Hall only projected for 110 big league innings and guys like Wade Miley, Jacob Junis, Colin Rea, and Robert Gasser projected for worse-than-fifth-starter value and with ERAs in the mid-fours. At least they can rely on a strong bullpen much as they have in recent seasons. Even though Josh Hader is long gone, Devin Williams is a more than able candidate to take his place as the team’s closer. He has accrued the most value of any reliever since his breakout in 2020 and again projects as a top-15 bullpen arm by ERA (3.00) and FIP (3.41). He heads a deep relief unit that Depth Charts projects as the third-best by ERA (3.99) and fourth-best by FIP (4.17) and fWAR (4.0).
Turning our attention to the offense, all eyes are on uber-prospect Jackson Chourio. The 20-year-old signed as a teenager out of Venezuela for $1.8 million in 2021 is now a consensus top-three prospect in baseball and has a serious case as an Opening Day starter. He is seen as a legitimate 30-30 threat in the future, though ZiPS does not believe that impact will be instant, projecting him for 17 home runs, 35 stolen bases, a 92 wRC+, and 2.0 fWAR across 612 plate appearances while capping his 80th percentile ceiling at a 114 wRC+ and a hair over three wins.
It must be noted that Chourio will have an intriguing cast of under-the-radar talent around him. William Contreras moved to the Brewers as part of the three-team swap that sent Sean Murphy to the Braves and Esteury Ruiz to the A’s and almost immediately established himself as one of the best catchers in the game, leading all backstops with 5.4 fWAR and placing seventh in wRC+ (124). Interestingly, ZiPS does not believe he can replicate that performance, projecting him to regress by two wins as his offense and defense take a step back. It’s still enough to place among the top five catchers in 2024, though it is perhaps telling that ZiPS’ 80th percentile projection still has him falling almost a full win short of his marvelous 2023 campaign.
I’m not sure anyone could have predicted the leap in ability Willy Adames made upon his swap from the Rays to Milwaukee, the shortstop grading as the seventh-best player at the position by fWAR (11.4) since the day of his trade. ZiPS is confident in the changes he’s made to his game — he’s been the second-best defensive shortstop in the game over the last two years by Outs Above Average (+26) — and projects him for another top-ten finish among qualified shortstops with 4.1 fWAR. Christian Yelich also experienced something of a mid-career renaissance, finishing with his best season (122 wRC+, 4.1 fWAR) since he put up almost 15 wins and won the NL MVP in his first two years with the club. However, ZiPS is less certain that he can maintain this newly-rediscovered production, going as far as to slash his fWAR in half in their projection of his 2024 campaign.
Even in an offseason that saw the team lose their ace, perhaps the biggest blow to the organization came on the non-player side of operations. They saw longtime team president David Stearns jump ship to head the Mets before watching manager Craig Counsell poached by the rival Cubs. In the span of a little over a month, the Brewers lost the architect of many of their overachieving rosters as well as the skipper who managed to extract those top-percentile outcomes to drive such success. How the franchise will fare without the pair of guiding hands that made them perennial division contenders remains one of the intriguing mysteries as the season approaches.
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Milwaukee, WI
Former ‘Most Wanted’ Milwaukee man sentenced for killing cousin in 2020
MILWAUKEE – A Milwaukee man, previously named one of Wisconsin’s Most Wanted, has been sentenced to prison for shooting and killing his cousin in 2020.
In court
What we know:
A Milwaukee County jury found 39-year-old Brandon Gladney guilty of first-degree reckless homicide and possession of a firm by a felon earlier this year.
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Judge Michelle Havas sentenced Gladney to 29 years in prison on Friday, April 17. He was granted credit for more than a year’s time served and further sentenced to 14 years of extended supervision.
Arrested in Arizona after years on the run, court records show Gladney has also been ordered to pay the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office more than $1,800 for extradition costs.
Homicide investigation
The backstory:
The shooting happened in May 2020. Investigators said Gladney was captured on video apparently arguing with the victim, his cousin, outside a Milwaukee convenience store near 21st and Meinecke.
“It’s all on video, and it’s devastating for that family,” the marshal on the case told FOX6 when Gladney was profiled on Wisconsin’s Most Wanted. “You have a family member that shot and killed another family member.”
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Prosecutors said Gladney walked away but then returned with a gun pointed directly at the victim and shot him. The victim died from his gunshot wounds at a nearby hospital. Multiple bullet casings were found at the scene.
Gladney went on the run for years. He was arrested in Arizona in January 2023, years after he was charged.
The Source: FOX6 News referenced information from the U.S. Marshals Service, Wisconsin Circuit Court and prior coverage.
Milwaukee, WI
Brewers beat Marlins in extras, Mitchell’s double the difference
Brice Turang slides to home plate to score during a game between the Miami Marlins and the Milwaukee Brewers on April 17. (Photo by Chris Arjoon/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
MIAMI – Garrett Mitchell went 2 for 4 with three RBIs including a two-run double in the 10th inning and the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Miami Marlins 7-5 on Friday night.
By the numbers:
Miami’s Calvin Faucher (1-2) entered a 4-all game in the 10th and walked Gary Sánchez with Brice Turang on second. Jake Bauers hit a single to load the bases.
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Luis Rengifo reached first on a throwing error by second baseman Xavier Edwards, allowing Turang to score. Mitchell followed with his double.
The Marlins scored one run in the bottom of the 10th when Jakob Marsee came home on Trevor Megill’s wild pitch. Megill settled in for his fourth save.
Coleman Crow, who made his debut on the mound for the Brewers, threw 77 pitches over 5 1/3 innings. He threw four strikeouts, gave up two earned runs and a walk.
The right-hander was 2-0 with a 4.07 ERA in two starts with the Brewers’ Triple-A affiliate in Nashville. He missed part of the 2023 season and all of 2024 after undergoing Tommy John surgery.
The Brewers scored three runs in the fourth inning. With the bases loaded, Mitchell hit an RBI single, Bauers scored on a forceout at first and Rengifo scored on a throwing error by catcher Agustín Ramírez.
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Miami’s Otto Lopez hit a triple to center field in the fourth and scored on a sacrifice fly by Owen Caissie. Lopez hit a two-run homer in the sixth to pull Miami within 4-3 and Ramírez doubled in the eighth to tie the game at four.
Abner Uribe (1-0) earned his first win of the season, coming on in the ninth inning.
Marlins third baseman Graham Pauley left the game in the seventh inning with right oblique discomfort after spinning out of the way of a pitch.
What’s next:
The Brewers and Marlins continue their 3-game series on Saturday, with Brandon Woodruff (1-0, 4.36 ERA) taking the mound for Milwaukee and Sandy Alcantara (2-1, 2.67) for Miami.
The Source: The Associated Press provided this report.
Milwaukee, WI
Beloit Memorial star Amare Hereford remains loyal, signs with Milwaukee Panthers
Michigan wins the national championship over UConn
Michigan beats UConn to win the national championship and we break down how they did it and where both programs go from here.
Loyalty is a word you rarely hear anymore when it comes to college sports.
Amare Hereford is an exception.
The night before he was able to put pen to paper and make his commitment to the UW-Milwaukee men’s basketball team official earlier this week, the Beloit Memorial standout was invited for an on-campus visit with the Wisconsin Badgers.
Hereford did his due diligence. What player wouldn’t have in his position?
“Me being an 18-year-old kid, my first high major [visit], I just decided to go check it out,” Hereford said.
UW put on the full-court press in an attempt to lock down the Wisconsin “Mr. Basketball” finalist.
“They offered me a scholarship,” Hereford said. “It all happened so fast. It was all within a day.”
Hereford went home, processed the situation with his family and came to a decision.
He would honor his commitment to the Panthers, with his signature cementing the deal and UWM announcing the news Thursday, April 16.
“No, it wasn’t really hard to turn down,” Hereford said, referring to UW’s offer. “I love every school and I appreciate every school that reaches out to me. But I’m going to choose a school that I have a great relationship with, with all the coaching staff, and that’s been thinking highly of me and recruited me for the longest time. And that was the Panthers.
“Wisconsin is a great school, of course. But I’m going to the school that has been with me for the longest time.”
The 6-foot-2, 175-pound Hereford is a huge addition for a Panthers squad that, like so many other programs due to transfer portal madness, is in the midst of rebuilding its roster for the 2026-2027 season almost from scratch.
“Amare will be a star here at Milwaukee,” coach Bart Lundy said. “He will be a fan favorite from the beginning. He is a complete basketball player but probably has as good of an ability to score as I’ve seen in any high school player. He is a great student and a great worker and completely fits our culture.
“We are so excited that he will represent the city of Milwaukee and the state and especially his hometown of Beloit.”
Indeed, Hereford put the ball through the net for Beloit Memorial at a prodigious rate, averaging 37.5 points per game – tops in the state – as a senior. He finished as the school’s all-time leading scorer with 2,493 points in four years.
Hereford also poured in 49 points in his final high school game, a WIAA sectional semifinal loss to Verona last month.
Hereford was tough to guard going to the basket as his 60.7% shooting this past season indicates, but he also shot a terrific 45% from from 3-point range (81 for 180) and capitalized on all the contact he drew to the tune of 83% accuracy at the free-throw line.
More than just a scorer, though, Hereford also finished with team-leading averages of 8.5 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 3.9 steals per game.
“My playing style fits the way [the Panthers] play – they get up and down, play fast,” Hereford said. “Coach Lundy said he definitely sees me running [point guard], having the ball in my hands, playing the same way I did in high school, finding teammates, getting to the rim and scoring at all three levels.”
Defense is typically where newcomers experience the biggest growing pains, learning the all-out effort it takes to guard at a high level on every possession.
Hereford, however, indicates he’s more than just a scorer.
“I love playing defense,” he said. “Hitting the gaps, getting steals and different things like that, being active with my hands a lot. I’m definitely looking forward to getting pushed defensively and picking up the ball full court, on-ball pressure in the half court.”
Hereford took his visit to UWM in mid-March, after the season had been completed, but saw enough games on TV to cement his opinion of the challenge ahead.
“The Horizon League is amazing,” he said. “There’s a lot of guards who play the same way I play, like to get up and down, play fast. That’s why I love Coach Lundy and the Panthers and the rest of the staff. They let guys be themselves. They play fast, get up and down, play together as one.
“They let everybody touch the ball and be themselves.”
Before Wisconsin entered the picture, Hereford said he’d narrowed his school choices to UWM and San Diego, where Whitefish Bay Dominican product and former Iowa State assistant JR Blount has taken over as head coach.
Now, Hereford projects as an important piece in the Panthers’ rebuilding process.
“Coach Lundy and the staff, they believe in me heavy. And I just want to prove them right,” Hereford said. “I want them to see that I can come in and make a huge impact right away for the team and in the Horizon League.
“I’m definitely going to come in and compete for my minutes. And obviously, I want to stay there.
“So, definitely looking forward to coming in and earning my spot.”
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