MLB opening weekend observations: The Brewers have reshaped their lineup

Few teams upgraded their offense as much as the Brewers this offseason

The first four days of the 2018 MLB regular season are in the books. Only four teams remain undefeated (Chicago White Sox, Milwaukee Brewers, Pittsburgh Pirates, Washington Nationals) while four are still looking for their first win (Cincinnati Reds, Detroit Tigers, Kansas City Royals, San Diego Padres). The early batting average leader? Seattle Mariners outfielder Mitch Haniger. He is 5 for 8 (.625).  

April is simultaneously the best and worst time of the year for baseball analysis. It's the best because baseball is back! Spring training is fun in its own way, but there's nothing quite like meaningful baseball. It's also the worst because everything that has happened so far has happened in a small sample size. An extremely small sample size. Tough to know what is part of a trend and what is simple randomness. That's never stopped us before though, and there's no reason it should stop us now. 

Here is just one our 10 early season observations.  

The Brewers have reshaped their lineup

Few teams upgraded their offense as much as the Brewers this offseason. In the span of about an hour one January evening, the club signed free agent Lorenzo Cain and traded for Christian Yelich. Those two have batted somewhere in the top three of the lineup in each of Milwaukee's first three games, and look what they've done:

• Cain: 8 for 14 (.571) with three doubles, three steals, one walk, no strikeouts
• Yelich: 7 for 14 (.500) with one double, one walk, two strikeouts

No, Cain and Yelich are not going to hit .500-something all season. What they will do is provide a contact element the Brewers lacked a year ago, when their offense posted an MLB high 25.6 percent strikeout rate. 

Cain and Yelich are two experienced top of the order hitters with a knack for getting the bat on the ball. The Brewers didn't get much production at all from the leadoff spot last year (.240/.320/.367 for an 83 OPS+) and those two will change that. Watching Cain and Yelich do their thing at the top of the lineup has been a breath of fresh air for the Brew Crew faithful.