The Milwaukee Brewers were one of the best teams in the National League in 2024.

Milwaukee didn’t enter the season with very high expectations, but it certainly surprised people. The Brewers won 93 games and finished atop the National League Central standings to the surprise of many. Milwaukee made some serious changes before the season with Craig Counsell opting to leave the team to manage the Chicago Cubs. The Brewers also traded Corbin Burnes to the Baltimore Orioles.

While this is the case, the Brewers shined. Milwaukee has an exciting, young roster and seems to be building something special.

The 2025 season should be a fun one. Milwaukee surely will get great play from expected parties like Christian Yelich and William Contreras. But there will be other players to look out for. MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy pegged lefty Aaron Ashby as the player most likely to breako ut in 2025.

“Ashby has already had two mini-breakouts, one in 2022, when he signed a five-year contract extension, and another late last season when he returned from two tough years of injury to become a lights-out reliever. The Brewers hope that Ashby will build on the confidence of last year, when he delivered a 1.98 ERA and 20 strikeouts in 13 2/3 relief innings in September, and that he’ll benefit from a normal, healthy offseason.

“Pitching coach Chris Hook has said he would love to see Ashby compete for a return to the rotation. As a fallback, the Brewers know they have a terrific lefty reliever who was so good he might even figure into the closer conversation.”

He’s just 26 years old but was in the 83rd percentile in fastball velocity despite overcoming injuries. He had a 2.86 overall ERA in 14 appearances — including two starts. The Brewers have been great at developing pitching. Maybe they can get Ashby right for the 2025 season.

More MLB: Why Brewers Should Sign Ex-Red Sox Starter To $60 Million Deal

Associated Press

Portland Trail Blazers (11-21, 13th in the Western Conference) vs. Milwaukee Bucks (17-15, fifth in the Eastern Conference)

Milwaukee; Saturday, 8 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Portland will attempt to end its seven-game road slide when the Trail Blazers face Milwaukee.

The Bucks are 11-6 in home games. Milwaukee has a 9-7 record in games decided by 10 points or more.

The Trail Blazers are 3-14 on the road. Portland has a 3-2 record in games decided by 3 points or fewer.

The Bucks are shooting 47.7% from the field this season, 0.4 percentage points lower than the 48.1% the Trail Blazers allow to opponents. The Trail Blazers are shooting 44.5% from the field, 0.7% lower than the 45.2% the Bucks’ opponents have shot this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Giannis Antetokounmpo is averaging 32.4 points, 11.7 rebounds, six assists and 1.5 blocks for the Bucks.

Jerami Grant is scoring 15.0 points per game and averaging 3.6 rebounds for the Trail Blazers.

LAST 10 GAMES: Bucks: 6-4, averaging 111.3 points, 43.2 rebounds, 26.1 assists, 9.0 steals and 4.4 blocks per game while shooting 47.1% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 109.2 points per game.

Trail Blazers: 3-6, averaging 110.8 points, 43.8 rebounds, 24.5 assists, 7.2 steals and 4.6 blocks per game while shooting 46.7% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 119.2 points.

INJURIES: Bucks: AJ Green: day to day (calk).

Trail Blazers: Matisse Thybulle: day to day (ankle), Jerami Grant: day to day (face).

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

Right back to it. The Nets face off against the Milwaukee Bucks yet again, only this time they’ll be healthier than the last time these two played. The Nets suffered a 17-point loss to the lowly Raptors on Wednesday, thus it’s a second night of a back-to-back. Not to mention, it’s the final game on the New Years road trip. It’s difficult imagining these guys will be at full force with circumstances like that. We know how they work at this rate, specifically with players like Ben Simmons and even Cam Thomas.

For the tank commanders, the Nets are ranked No. 7 at 12-21. Still a little ways to go before they reach the bottom-three.

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0-1 in 2025!

Time: 8:00 p.m. ET

Opponent: Milwaukee Bucks (17-14)

Tune In: YES Network | WFAN Radio

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Game Preview | Brian Fleurantin

Injuries: No Bojan Bogdanovic, Trendon Watford, or Ziaire Williams. Cam Thomas missed yesterday’s game as part of injury management, but is expected back tonight. Ben Simmons played yesterday, so chances are he’ll miss this one. Noah Clowney took a hard fall last night and had to exit the game. We’ll see how he is today. The worst news, however, may be Maxwell Lewis. He left last night’s game with a knee injury. He will be undergoing an MRI sometime today and the team will be releasing an update. Hoping for the best.

BUCKS: Giannis Antetokounmpo (right patella tendinopathy) and Khris Middleton (recovery from ankle surgery) are both probable.

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The Game: He [DLo] gives the Nets another player who can get their own shot on offense, and that can help keep them close on nights they can’t make anything shake in transition. It will also be fun to see how he and Cam Thomas work as a backcourt tandem. CT is building himself back up from an extended injury absence, so managing his minutes and workload will be a fun subplot to the next week of Nets basketball.

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