Odds Suggest Milwaukee Brewers Will Miss Playoffs in 2019

• Books are offering odds against the Milwaukee Brewers making the 2019 MLB playoffs
• At the same time, they’ve lowered the odds of the Brewers winning the World Series from +1400 to +1000
• The Brewers made the playoffs once in back-to-back years in 1981-82

Sportsbooks can’t seem to get a handle on what exactly the Milwaukee Brewers are brewing up for the 2019 Major League Baseball season.

I know we’re only 1 week into a long baseball season, but I’m sure liking how it’s starting out!! ⚾️
Go Brewers! #ThisIsMyCrew #BrewCrew #MilwaukeeBrewers pic.twitter.com/jCRzNxMyGC

— Kyle Waters (@LiveMusicFan1) April 4, 2019

Books are offering a prop wager with odds favoring the defending National League Central Division champion Brewers to miss the MLB playoffs in 2019. You can see how all 30 teams stack up at our 2019 MLB Playoff Odds Tracker.

Will the Milwaukee Brewers Make the MLB Playoffs in 2019?

*Odds taken 04/05/19

At the same time, sportsbooks have lowered the Brewers’ odds of winning the 2019 World Series to +1000. Milwaukee was +1500 as recently as April 1st.

Among NL teams, only the Los Angeles Dodgers (+700) and Philadelphia Phillies (+750) are given better odds of winning the 2019 Fall Classic.

Brewers Off to Fast Start

Racing through the first week of the season to a 6-1 start, Milwaukee is 3-0 at home and 3-1 on the road. The Brewers certainly are offering every indication that they intend to pick up where they left off.

The Milwaukee Brewers are now 6-1. They are 5-0 in one-run games, and their other win is by two runs. And on a day when Josh Hader wasn't available, Alex Wilson comes in to lock down the save. Jeremy Jeffress should be back by the end of the month, too. Quite the dangerous team.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) April 3, 2019

Four games out of first place on September 7th, the Brewers closed 16-5 to tie the Chicago Cubs for first place in the NL Central. Milwaukee finished with seven straight wins, and went 9-1 in the last 10 games.

The Brewers beat the Cubs in a one-game playoff for the NL Central crown. They rolled along until Game 7 of the NLCS before succumbing to the Dodgers.

Is it Sustainable?

Last season was Milwaukee’s first in the playoffs since 2011. The analytics on their 2018 season show that the Brewers outplayed their run differential by five games. Numbers like that tend to even out the following year.

.@ChristianYelich is batting .375 with 4 homers to start 2019.

Watch his ABs live in a Game 163 rematch at 8:10pm ET! #MLBTwitterHItter pic.twitter.com/ZQc2hysadt

— MLB (@MLB) April 5, 2019

Likewise, NL MVP Christian Yelich saw significant upward spikes in his power numbers. He went from 21 homers to 36, and his slugging percentage jumped to .598 from .436. His percentage of home runs on fly balls vaulted to 35.0 from a career average of 20.3. Will he maintain those lofty figures, or come back to earth some this year?

Another issue could be OF Ryan Braun. He’s 35 and his OPS+ has decreased in each of the past three seasons.

The Division Will Be Tough

The NL Central is among the deepest divisions in baseball. The Cubs are just three years removed from a World Series win. The St. Louis Cardinals were a different team when Mike Shildt took over as manager. They added Paul Goldschmidt and Andrew Miller during the offseason.

Just taking care of a little spring cleaning in Cincinnati. 🧹 pic.twitter.com/OLIpJFFuq9

— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) April 3, 2019

The Cincinnati Reds figure to be much improved and the Pittsburgh Pirates are no easy out.

What the Numbers Say

The Sportsline Projection model pegs the Brewers with a 23.6% chance of repeating as division champs. They are given a 53.%  chance of making the playoffs.

Yes, #ThisIsMyCrew. pic.twitter.com/MIUG2ksjwo

— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) April 4, 2019

Milwaukee hasn’t been a playoff team in consecutive seasons since 1981-82.

As good as they’ve started, we just don’t see the postseason happening for the Brew Crew in 2019.

Pick: No (-180)