Hello Brewershomeplate readers!  It’s been a long time since the unfortunate end to Milwaukee’s Postseason appearance, but with Spring Training fast approaching, it is time to provide a little insight into what I believe the Brew Crew will look like this year.

Offense:

First and foremost…NEXT TO NOTHING HAS CHANGED!  Every starter 1-8 in the lineup (although the order will probably be shifted) was a Brewer starter in 2008.  Although this is great for team chemistry that is many times lacking in today’s free agent era, the offense…well…it plainly and simply was mediocre at best last season.  Pitching carried the team through the season and into the playoffs, though the offense probably got a little more of the limelight what with Ryan Braun’s legendary home runs and such.  Conversely, the bench will be very different in ’09.  Gabe Kapler (Tampa Bay Rays), Russell Branyan (Seattle Mariners), and probably Ray Durham either have parted ways with Milwaukee or are going to.  This is not good news, as those players managed to provide key sparks to the team when it needed it the most.  Notably, Branyan’s ability to hit a home run any time he strode to the plate, or Kapler’s hard-nosed defense and offensive saavy.  Durham managed to keep the struggling Rickie Weeks motivated at 2nd base and came up with quite an impressive highlight reel himself in the waning months of the 2008 campaign.  The bench this year will still feature the ever-dependable vet, Craig Counsell as well as late-season acquisition Mike Lamb, who will probably be a platoon starter with Bill Hall at 3rd base this year.  Several wild cards to make the bench are Trot Nixon (the ex-Boston Red Sox outfielder), Tony Gwynn Jr., Casey McGehee, a 3rd baseman plucked off waivers in the off season, and perhaps Matt Gamel, the highly touted 3rd base prospect.  Mike Rivera will again be Jason Kendall’s backup at catcher.  So look for the offense to be slightly more productive in ’09, considering the chemistry and new hitting coach, Dale Sveum, who should relate to the players a lot more effectively than the departed Jim Skaalen did.

Pitching:

This is where things could get messy.  The two greatest starting pitchers perhaps ever to don a Brewers uniform are leaving.  CC Sabathia is a New York Yankee, and Ben Sheets is being courted by the Texas Rangers, and although he hasn’t signed with anyone (there is talk of elbow surgery in his future), he has made it clear being a Brewer is not interesting to him any longer.  That throws the young Yovani Gallardo and Manny Parra likely to the top of the starting 5.  Dave Bush should be number 3, with Jeff Suppan behind him at 4.  The 5th spot in the rotation is a little more confusing, as Seth McClung could be a possible answer here, but his flashes of late-inning brilliance may place him in the bull pen.  Carlos Villanueva will be the set up man or long reliever, as he never really settled into a groove as a starter.  The new member to the pen is Trevor Hoffman, a much safer and predictable new closer than Eric Gagne was, because his best seasons were brought about by his pin-point control and wicked changeup (which he hasn’t lost by the way), not steroids.  Guillermo Mota, Salomon Torres, and Brian Shouse are gone as well as Gagne, and that could create a void Trevor Hoffman, Jorge Julio, and Mitch Stetter may or may not be able to succesfully fill.  Julio has been unraveling his past couple years, and Stetter is quite young (albeit he certainly has talent).  Hoffman is certainly aging, but is definitely serviceable (unfortunately, his mid 80s fastball is a little more hittable than Torres’ low 90s sinkers were)  So the pen should be about as good if not slightly better than in 2008.  The starting rotation will almost certainly not produce another 90 win season, BUT, there is enough talent there for new pitching coach Bill Castro to perhaps mold into a legitimate Wild Card contending staff.

Coaching

Dale Sveum is still a member of the Milwaukee coaching staff, but not in a manegerial role.  He is the hitting coach and Ken Macha, the ex-manager of the Oakland Athletics, is taking the big chair.  Willie Randolph, the ex-New York Met’s manager, will be the bench coach.  Needless to say Macha should do a better job making the tough decisions than Ned Yost did, and Willie Randolph will probably be a little harder on the players than Robin Yount or Dale Sveum before him were, which could certainly be what the younger players need to keep themselves motivated.  Mike Maddux, the wizard of resurrecting pitchers plucked off the scrap heap’s careers is now a Ranger coach, and long-time bullpen coach Bill Castro probably will not do quite as good a job as Maddux did.  But he knows his players and their tendencies well, and that is a very good sign.  All in all, the coaching staff is miles and miles ahead of where it was at this point last year.

My Projected Lineup by Position:

1B: Prince Fielder
2B: Rickie Weeks
SS: J.J. Hardy
3B: Bill Hall/Mike Lamb/Casey McGehee
C: Jason Kendall
LF: Ryan Braun
CF: Mike Cameron
RF: Corey Hart

My Projected Season Numbers

Final record: 87-75
Standings: 2nd place, NL Central, NL Wild Card runner up

Give the injured Ben Sheets credit for starting Saturday afternoon’s critical game against the Cubs (likely his last ever in a Brewers’ uniform).  Just don’t look at his final line.  The All Star starter is probably done for 2008, but his shaky start made it all the more hard for the Crew to reach the “Promised Land.”  He gave up a 2-run blast to backup first baseman Daryle Ward in the 1st, and two more on a Mike Fontenot single in the 3rd.  Mark DiFelice, Dave Bush, and Manny Parra pitched 5.2 solid, scoreless innings that set the stage for a Brewers’ rally that just fell short.  In the 8th, down 4-1, the Crew rallied to score 2 runs and load the bases with 1 out for J.J. Hardy, who chopped out into a force play at home plate.  Then Corey Hart, the struggling outfielder who did manage to collect a big hit the night before, could not keep the magic going, as he grounded out harmlessly.  Salomon Torres was pounded by Kosuke Fukudome, the light-hitting Cubs’ outfielder who hit a two-run home run to put the game out of reach.  Kerry Wood closed the door in the ninth.  With a Mets’ 2-0 win, the Brewers found themselves tied for the Wild Card lead with one to play, setting up perhaps the most important game in club history.  A win guarantees at least a one game playoff with the Mets, but a loss could very likely shatter the season.

Manny Parra gave up 5 runs in 1.1 innings…no that is not a typo.  He was flat out terrible, a mirror image of how the rest of his team has been in September.  The Brewers did next to nothing against Cole Hamels, though Jason Kendall hit a two-run double in the 4th and Ryan Braun finally hit a homerun, a solo shot, in the 8th.  Parra is now 10-8.

Offensive MVP: Phillies SS Jimmy Rollins (3-5/3R/12B/1HR/3RBI/0BB/0K)

Pitching MVP: Phillies SP Cole Hamels (6.1IP/6H/2ER/3BB/4SO/0HR/Win-13th)

Alex’s Take:

I don’t really have much to say today.  The Brewers are just awful right now, in every phase of the game, and it doesn’t look like there is any light at the end of the tunnel.

Manny Parra was knocked around by the Mets on Tuesday, and although he made a big contribution with the stick, his rocky start made it an uphill climb for the Crew, and they eventually fell to New York again.  Rickie Weeks led off with a homerun and Milwaukee scored four in the fourth to tie the game (Parra hit a two-run double), but they managed nothing against the Mets pen, and guaranteed the Mets a series victory.  Endy Chavez hit a go-ahead sac fly off Salomon Torres in the tenth.  The Brewers were stung by a couple close plays, one in the fourth when Hardy was gunned down trying to score, and in the eighth, when Weeks tried to stretch a single into what looked to be a clean double, but was called out.

Offensive MVP: Mets CF Carlos Beltran (2-3/2R/1HR/3RBI/1BB/0K)

Pitching MVP: Mets CP Luis Ayala (1IP/1H/0ER/1BB/2SO/Save-5th)

Alex’s Take:

This one was ugly.  The Brewers stranded 11 baserunners, executed some questionable base-running, and suffered yet another bullpen letdown.  Though Salomon Torres has been dependable this year, an error on Jason Kendall set him up for a bad tenth inning, and it cost the Crew the game.  They are now 0-2 in September following a 20 win August, and though they do play somewhat easier opponents than the 1st place Mets, they have a bear of a road trip coming up that will take them to Philly, Chicago, and Cincinnati.  The way they’ve been playing contenders recently, starting with being swept at home by the Cubs in late July, it appears as though that trip could squash Milwaukee’s postseason dreams.  Even so, they could make the playoffs if the other contenders continue to falter, but they will get NOWHERE in the playoffs if they can’t find a way to beat good teams.

Manny Parra was extremely good, but his bullpen was the exact opposite, as Milwaukee fell 5-3 to the Cardinals on Wednesday.  The Brewers staked a 3-0 lead off of Adam Wainwright thanks to a J.J. Hardy two-out single in the third, a Mike Cameron double in the fourth, and a Jason Kendall single in the fourth.  But the Cards pounded David Riske in the eighth for four runs.  Ryan Ludwick hit a solo homer off of Parra in the sixth.  Chris Perez got the save.

Offensive MVP: St. Louis OF Ryan Ludwick (3-4/2R/2B/HR/2RBI/0BB/0K)

Pitching MVP: St. Louis CP Chris Perez (1IP/1H/0ER/0BB/3K/Save-6th)

Alex’s Take:

This was a pretty sloppy game that revealed an all-too obvious weakness of Milwaukee.  Their bullpen really cannot be trusted with any size lead on any given day, and this is not good considering the critical month of the season is coming up.

Manny Parra was far from perfect, but was also far from as angry as he has been with himself lately.  He threw 5.0 innings, yielding 2 earned runs on 6 hits and 4 walks (he struck out 2).  The Milwaukee offense gave him plenty of support, and the bullpen defended the lead nicely, sealing a 5-2 victory.  The Crew will not face Houston again this year, but finished 2008 with a record of 8-7 against Cecil Cooper’s Astros.  In the first inning, facing lefty Wandy Rodriguez, Rickie Weeks walked, J.J. Hardy hit an infield single, and Gabe Kapler (starting again in place of the sore Ryan Braun) doubled in Weeks.  Prince Fielder promptly delivered with the first of his two sac flies in the game to put his club up 2-0.  The Astros battled back against Parra, and when he left the game, it was 3-2 Brewers.  Carlos Villanueva threw 2.0 strong innings of relief, and J.J. Hardy hit a two-run blast, his 19th of the year, to extend the lead in the seventh.  Eric Gagne tight-roped out of a bases loaded, no-out jam in the eighth that was not totally his fault in the first place, and Salomon Torres nailed down the ninth for his 24th save of the year.  Parra got his 10th win of 2008 against 6 losses.

Offensive MVP: J.J. Hardy (2-4/2R/1HR/2RBI/0BB/0K)

Pitching MVP: Carlos Villanueva (2.0IP/0H/0ER/0BB/3SO)

*Gold Glove Play of the Game: Gabe Kapler gunned down Mark Loretta at home plate in the fifth inning, to preserve the 3-2 lead and Manny Parra’s 10th win.

Alex’s Take:

This was a good win against a very hot Astros ball club.  Not much more can be said about the 5-2 victory.

Manny Parra bounced back from his string of mediocre starts with a strong outing on Sunday at Miller Park.  He limited the Washington Nationals to 1 earned run on 6 hits in 7 innings.  He struck out 9 and walked none.  The Crew fell behind in the sixth inning, when Parra yielded a run-scoring single to Lastings Milledge with two outs that scored shortstop Christian Guzman and gave Washington a 1-0 lead.  But thanks to a Bill Hall sacrifice fly to score Gabe Kapler in the bottom of the sixth, the game was knotted up right away.

Neither offense made a move until the top of the eighth inning, when the Nats pounded recently-reliable reliever Eric Gagne for 3 runs off of a double and back-to-back homeruns.  Ryan Zimmerman (the Washington third-baseman) fought back from down 0-2 to a 3-2 count, and on the 12th pitch of the battle, he doubled down the left field line.  Austin Kearns, also down 0-2 to Gagne, fought back and hit a booming homerun to put his club ahead.  The next batter, Lastings Milledge, also went deep to swell the Milwaukee deficit to 4-1.  In the bottom of the eighth, Prince Fielder walked with one out (a very unselfish approach considering his hit streak was on the line), Corey Hart struck out looking on a very close call, Bill Hall hit an single that Ryan Zimmerman could do no more with than keep it in the infield, and then Mike Cameron walked to load the bases.  After a pitching change brought the talented Joel Hanrahan into the game, backup catcher Mike Rivera sent a pitch to the left field wall that unloaded the bases and sent the sellout crowd into a frenzy.

With the game tied, the Brewers could not finish the game in their half of the ninth, tenth, eleventh, or twelfth innings.  They managed to draw a season-high 13 walks on Sunday, but stranded a whopping 16 baserunners.  Thanks to solid performances from relievers Salomon Torres, who pitched the ninth and tenth innings, Carlos Villanueva, who pitched the eleventh and twelfth, and Guillermo Mota, who threw a scoreless thirteenth, the Crew was afforded a lot of time to get their act together.  Gabe Kapler was facing an 0-7 day at the plate in the thirteenth, but he wasted little time in clinching victory for the Brewers and the largely reduced crowd.  He hit a walk-off homerun to left for the first such homerun of his career and the first walk-off round-tripper by Milwaukee this season.  Thanks to a St. Louis loss, the Brewers climbed to 3.0 games ahead of Tony La Russa’s ballclub.

Offensive MVP: Mike Rivera (2-3/0R/12B/3RBI/3BB/0K)

Pitching MVP: Manny Parra (7IP/6H/1ER/0BB/9SO/0HR)

Alex’s Take:

This one sure took long enough.  The fact that Milwaukee is now up 3-0 in the series against a very beatable opponent shows that perhaps they have turned their home struggles around.  Sweeping the series would be very nice, but it should be considered a successful series regardless of Monday’s outcome.  The Brewers patience at the plate was extremely encouraging, but their nasty habit of stranding runners hurt them all day long.  They could have just as easily lost this game if one of the relievers had slipped up.  But thankfully, no one did except Eric Gagne in the eighth, and it turned out to be a very exciting 67th 2008 win for the Crew.

Jeff Suppan was strong on Wednesday against the Reds.  He threw 7 strong innings, giving up 3 runs early but was perfect from then on.  The Brewers offense continued to perform well in the clutch, going 5-11 with runners in scoring position (a .455 average).  After going 10 for their last 104 at bats (a .095 average) in their 13 games prior to yesterday’s 8-1 victory, and having a well-documented dugout brawl between Manny Parra and Prince Fielder, Ned Yost’s club has bounded back strongly, and although it is but a two day sample, they’re hitting .410 in the clutch.

The scoring started in the first inning, when Cincinnati’s Jay Bruce hit a run-scoring groundout.  Down 1-0, Bill Hall worked a one-out walk and scored the tying run off a Mike Cameron double.  Backstop Jason Kendall then reached first via another Homer Bailey walk (a promising, but mightily struggling young Reds’ starter).  Suppan executed a perfect sacrifice bunt, putting runners on second and third for lead-off man Rickie Weeks.  Weeks had 4 hits in Wednesday’s game, and his biggest one was right there, scoring both Cameron and Kendall without trouble.  Cincinnati did manage to tie it up, when Bruce struck again.  He hit an absolute moonshot to straight-away center to score Joey Votto and himself.  In the fifth, Ryan Braun hit a tough pitch from Bailey to the opposite field.  He ended up on second and Rickie Weeks motored around to score and put his club in the lead.

The Crew tacked on some key insurance in the sixth when Kendall hit a hard grounded to Bailey’s left side.  The pitcher could do no more than deflect the ball and it rolled slowly out of the infield, bringing in two more huge Brewer runs.  Brian Shouse, Eric Gagne, and Salomon Torres hurled the final 2 innings and gave up no runs.  Gagne has been very good since returning from the disabled list, giving up only 1 earned run in his last 7 appearances.  Torres earned his 22nd save of the year.

Offensive MVP: Rickie Weeks (4-5/1R/2RBI/0BB/0K)

Pitching MVP: Jeff Suppan (7IP/7H/3ER/0BB/3SO/1HR/Win-7th)

My Take:

The Brewers looked very good again.  They scored 6 runs without hitting a single home run, held the lead without much excitement, and locked up another winning road trip.  They have won 32 games on the road already in 2008.  Last year, they only managed 32 the entire season.  If Milwaukee can keep this road success going, they will be in good shape for August, as most of their games this month are away from Miller Park.  Come September, however, they will have to find their home magic again.  Milwaukee is coming off a 1-6 homestand, but will get a chance to right the ship a little with a 4 game set against the struggling Washington Nationals.  Make no mistake, regardless of the fact the Nationals have about 10 more losses than the Brewers have wins, it will be a very, very important series.  Milwaukee will HAVE to prove that they are the better team, and if they play down to the level of the Nationals and fail to win the series, it will be a major warning flag that the Brewers are not championship caliber.  For now, I am enjoying another great road trip!

Seemingly the darkest chapter of the 2008 Milwaukee Brewers began yesterday once tensions rose to the point where Prince Fielder and Manny Parra were shoving and yelling at each other in the dugout.  Time will tell whether the altercation will bring the team a little closer together or focus them a little more.  Tuesday evening was a good start, however.  Behind a spectacular start by Dave Bush (7 innings, 1 run, 7 strikeouts) and plenty of timely hitting by the offense (4-11 with runners in scoring position or a .364 clip), the Brewers downed the Reds 8-1.  Bush ran into trouble in the first inning after being spotted a two-run lead, but he settled down and didn’t surrender a run after Edwin Encarnacion’s RBI infield single.  He had entered the game with atrocious numbers on the road and Cincinnati’s Great American Ballpark, but he bested both of those personal demons this time around.

Milwaukee started scoring when Corey Hart pounded a two-run, two-out triple in the first.  Mike Cameron knocked Hart in during the fourth inning, and he later scored on a double by catcher Jason Kendall.  Hart hit a sac fly in the fifth that scored J.J. Hardy (who broke out of his offensive funk on Tuesday with a 2-4 performance).  Up 5-1, Prince Fielder was at the plate with the shortstop Hardy on first.  On the second pitch of the at bat, the ball flew dangerously close to his head.  On the third pitch, another sinister pitch forced him to hit the dirt.  On the fourth pitch, the ball sailed out of Nick Masset’s hand and brought the count to 3-1.  On the fifth pitch, the ball sailed out over the center field wall where it was caught not by Reds’ center-fielder Corey Patterson, but by a fan about ten rows back.  Milwaukee 7, Cincinnati 1.  In the eighth, the scoring was capped by another Jason Kendall clutch RBI hit that scored Mike Cameron.

Offensive MVP: Corey Hart (2-3/1R/13B/12B/3RBI/0BB/0K)

Pitching MVP: Dave Bush (7IP/3H/1ER/2BB/7SO/0HR)

My Take:

This is only one game, but there was more than one good sign that came out of it.  The Brewers cashed in almost every one of their scoring opportunities on Tuesday, and only stranded 5 runners as well.  It was against a struggling Edinson Volquez (who has not been nearly as effective after the All Star Game), but it was in a stadium that has given Milwaukee fits for years.  The best news?  Bill Hall hasn’t even played in this series yet…look for him to make his presence felt, as he usually does against the Reds, tomorrow if in the starting lineup.

Manny Parra pitched 4 good innings and 2 atrocious ones.  He gave up 6 earned runs total on 4 hits, 4 walks, and 6 strikeouts.  Carlos Villanueva pitched 2 innings of solid relief.  The Milwaukee offense was basically put to sleep by Bronson Arroyo, and they only scored 1 run off of him.  They finished with 9 hits, but stranded 9 runners.  Arroyo not only baffled opposing hitters, but hit a two-run double to put his team ahead.  First baseman Joey Votto hit a two-run single and Jay Bruce hit a two-run homer for the Reds.  Ryan Braun and Mike Cameron hit meaningless solo shots, and Corey Hart managed an RBI single, but the 3 runs were not nearly enough to make this one interesting.

Offensive MVP: Reds RF Jay Bruce (1-2/2R/1HR/2RBI/1BB/1K)

Pitching MVP: Reds SP Bronson Arroyo (6IP/4H/1ER/2BB/6SO/0HR/Win-10th)

My Take:

I try very hard to tell myself the season is far from over.  I try hard to remind myself that baseball is in fact only a game and the Brewers cannot be influenced by anything I say or do, but the ways they lose again and again and again, the ways they sputter when it matters most, the way no one in their higher management seems to think anything is wrong, do nothing but annoy and embarrass me.  They can’t hit in the clutch, they can’t pitch if they can’t hit because it seems as though the starters put too much pressure on themselves.  The Brewers have a very gifted starting rotation, but a very poor offense.  It is home run happy, and as fun as it may be at times when Milwaukee grabs victories with dramatic round-trippers, they cannot, will not, and are not winning enough games with that mentality.  Being a small market club, the talent will walk away…I’ve seen it before.  Draft picks will be the only compensation, and draft picks take years to evolve into major league caliber players if they evolve at all…Ryan Braun is a rare exception.  If nothing happens this season, guys like Sheets and Sabathia will most certainly leave, forcing younger, less proven pitchers to hold down the rotation.  Fielder may be traded, and that wouldn’t be the worst thing to happen to the Brewers, but still, it would be for prospects…little more.  Things would seem far less morose if they were putting up a good effort consistently, but they aren’t.  Things would seem better if they didn’t lose every single game because of poor clutch hitting or poor management of pitching and the bullpen, but they usually do.  I don’t know what to make of this team…I really don’t anymore.