The 2008 year was full of ups and downs for the Brewers. First, they were in the division race, and then slowly they were out of it, only to find themselves emerge as the front runners for the wild card. Then slowly again, they drifted out of the wild card race only to see this time their manger Ned Yost get fired and then replaced by Ken Macha. With the Brewers on the brink on a lost season, they acquired CC Sabathia from the Cleveland Indians, and he delivers seven complete games and carries the team into the playoffs as the wild card winners. The season ended in the playoffs with a 3-1 series loss to the eventual World Series champions, Philadelphia Phillies.
In the off season the Brewers lost out on CC Sabathia to the New York Yankees as they just couldn’t afford him and left for big money.
Once again this season, offense will be the story for the Brewers as they have plenty of power hitters they could turn to. Their main man will be 270 pounder Prince Fielder, who has crushed homeruns since his rookie season in 2005. In the past three seasons, Fielder has hit 112 homeruns, and has averaged at least 160 hits and 110 RBI the past two seasons. He will most definitely continue to post power numbers for years to come.
At second base Rickie Weeks has been a good bat at the bottom of the lineup and could also play a little bit at the leadoff position. Weeks is more of a defensive presence than anything.
At short stop is power hitting JJ Hardy, who has impressed more with his bat and has now become a key contributor to the Brewers’ offense. In the last two years Hardy has averaged 25 homeruns and 77 RBI. Even if he can’t match those numbers but at least come close, the Brewers would take it, because for a short stop to put up power numbers is something else.
Bill Hall at third base can put up solid numbers and just add to an already great offense. Any offense he can deliver is just extra and is a great compliment player to the other stars on this team. In the past, Hall has shown he can hit the long ball too, and hit 35 in 2006.
In the outfield, the Brewers are stacked with big hitters, as all three positions were occupied by players who have hit twenty homeruns in back to back seasons. Starting with Corey Hart in right field who hit 20 last season and 24 the year before. In centre field is Mike Cameron who has posted three straight twenty homerun seasons, with 22 in ’06, 21 in ’07 and 25 last year. Last and certainly not the least is Ryan Braun out in left field, who has impressed since his debut in 2007 with 34 homeruns en route to being named the rookie of the year, and continued with his torrid pace and improved to hit 37 homeruns last year.
The Brewers are absolutely stacked with power and that can easily carry them to a playoff spot, if they get decent pitching. In last year’s stretch drive the Brewers starting rotation wasn’t getting the job done, and all they needed was one good pitcher, who turned out to be CC Sabathia, but only as a rental player as it turned out.
Right now, the Brewers have Yovani Gallardo, and he missed all of last year due to arm surgeries and returned in the playoffs. Even then, he didn’t look all that comfortable and got roughed up in the game one start in the NLDS. He did show some promise in his rookie season when he went 9-5. The rest of the rotation shapes up with Dave Bush, Manny Parra, Braden Looper and Jeff Suppan.
All five of the starters the Brewers do have aren’t proven number one or number two pitchers and that will hurt the Brewers, unless two of the five pitchers can improve their play.
Dave Bush had two good seasons with the Brewers when he posted two consecutive 12 win seasons, but declined last year with a 9-10 record. His inconsistency really hurt the Brewers.
Manny Parra surprised quite a few people when he went 10-8 in what was essentially his rookie season. If he can at least post eleven victories that will really help the pitching staff, if Gallardo can also return to his rookie form.
Jeff Suppan and Braden Looper were signed in the off season to help bring in some veteran and playoff experience to the starting rotation and those were wise moves made by Brewers management. Looper is capable of winning at least 11-12 games, something he has averaged the past 4 years. Suppan may be nearing the end of his career, but he was able to win ten games last year and twelve in 2006 and ’07. If Looper and Suppan can combine to win at least 21 games, that would be vital for the Brewers to get into the playoffs.
Milwaukee’s main competition in the NL Central is the Cubs and Cardinals. Both teams have pitchers that can deliver quality starts every time out on the mound, but the Brewers do have the edge in run production.
At the end of the day good, solid pitching can trump batting anytime, and the Brewers could really use a CC Sabathia type pitcher.
POSITIVE --> BATTING ORDER IS NUTS, AS THE BREWERS HAVE FIVE PLAYERS THAT HIT TWENTY OR MORE HOMERUNS LAST SEASON.
NEGATIVE --> NEED AT LEAST ONE SOLID, CONSISTENT, BIG GAME STARTING PITCHER.
X-FACTOR --> THE WHOLE LINEUP IS KEY, BUT ONE PLAYER THAT NEEDS TO BE ON ALL THE TIME IS PRINCE FIELDER. HE IS THE TRUE SLUGGER ON THIS TEAM AND THE OFFENSIVE LEADER.
SLEEPER PICK --> JASON KENDALL, ISN’T A POWERFUL BAT ANYMORE, BUT IS A LEADER IN THE CLUBHOUSE, CAN STILL CALL GAMES, AND CAN PROVIDE AT LEAST 50 RBI’S.
PREDICTION --> THIS IS A TOUGH ONE TO CALL IF THE BREWERS MAKE THE PLAYOFFS OR NOT. THEY WILL HAVE TO BATTLE THE CUBS AND CARDINALS, AND EITHER THE METS OR PHILLIES FOR THE WILD CARD. THE BREWERS JUST DON’T HAVE CONSISTENT PITCHING, WHICH WILL COST THEM THE PLAYOFFS.
The opinions and thoughts expressed in this or any other article written by 12nadnuk are of his thinking and what he thinks is correct or close to it in the sporting world. If there are any problems by anyone, 12nadnuk is open for rebuttal and what not, and honest criticism. There is also a comments section, so feel free to post what is on your mind about the article. Thank you for reading.
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