Baseball is back. On Friday, Milwaukee Brewers will play their first game of the season. Should they have been playing a few weeks ago? Maybe. But there is a case to be made that baseball and basketball ended up in a perfect scenario because they did not get sucked into the faux flattening that happened in June. Brewers are not expected to return the playoffs for a third straight year. Yet again it is a ‘No one believes in us’ season for Milwaukee. It looks like the Brewers are going to have to do the damn thing once again and find themselves back chasing their first pennant. Here are five things I think will happen this season.

1. Brewers are finishing with a better record than the Reds – Everyone wants to tell you about the Reds. They are the sexy team right now. They’re Olivia Culpo or Harry Styles hot right now (Gotta give both sides in 2020!). But how all are their pieces going to work? Derek Johnson is a pitching wiz, but can he find a way in the most homer-friendly ballpark in the United States? Their offense is brand new and the pressure will be there. Brewers play them seven times at home, and those games are going to be critical to Milwaukee making or missing the playoffs.

2. Brandon Woodruff is breaking the Opening Day curse – Craig Counsell says there is not a curse on the Opening Day starter. I know curses, there is a hex on it. Each Opening Day starter seems to struggle that year after a successful past year. Woodruff will break the mold. I’m not sure he is a Cy Young pitcher, but the guy has the stuff to be a top-flight pitcher. Woodruff will have another solid year and establish himself as the guy for the Brewers rotation.

3. Lorenzo Cain has a bounce-back year – Sign me for a good year from Lo Cain. Father time is getting close to his doorstep, but Cain realized that he needs to take more time off between games. The 60-game sprint may actually hurt him when it gets deeper into the season. But with plenty of options and Cain not feeling like he has to be out there every day, he will get more rest and be back to the player he was in 2018.

4. Corbin Burnes or Freddy Peralta’s breakout will happen a year late – We already saw it with Peralta out of the bullpen and it wouldn’t surprise me to see it again. Burnes could be the guy this year that changes the whole season. He has been filthy in Spring Training camp and Summer Camp. If he figured out all that was wrong with him, look out. Burnes can sling it and if he is finally a starter which is his preference, he can be a stud for this team.

5. If Brewers are bad in the first month, Hader will be on the block – I hate to end negative but this might be the boldest of them all. If Brewers start 12-18, Josh Hader will be thrown around in trade rumors. And I don’t hate it. David Stearns could pull the wool over some team’s eyes to get Hader for a month plus for a lion share of prospects with the arbitration years he has left. That is a deal that I know Stearns is noodling if Brewers take a step back.

Baseball will be back on Friday night with the Brewers and Cubs. I, for one, cannot fucking wait.

Charlie.