The All-Star break affords the opportunity to look back at the first half to see what went right and wrong for the thirty MLB teams. The Milwaukee Brewers are up next, and here is the pre-season post on the NL Central.
| Statistic | Milwaukee | NL Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Runs per Game | 4.67 | 4th |
| Batting Averge | .255 | 11th-T |
| On-Base Average | .339 | 6th |
| Slugging Percentage | .421 | 3rd |
| ERA | 4.58 | 13th |
| Strikeouts per 9 IP | 7.1 | 7th-T |
| Walks per 9 ip | 3.69 | 9th |
| HR per 200 IP | 29.3 | 15th |
What Went Right
I came into the season fairly down on Weeks and Fielder, but Prince, at age 25 really blossomed into a superstar. We could be looking at 40 doubles, 40 homers and 120 walks by the end of the season. Ryan Braun also improved his walk rate, giving the Brewers two on base machines that can hammer the ball in the middle of the lineup. Casey McGehee is proving a nice addition to the team, and Craig Counsell is filling in well for the injured Rickey Weeks.
Yovani Gallardo made a strong return from his injury, and easily took the place of Ben Sheets in the rotation. He’s posting fantastic strikeout numbers, leading to the opposition hitting just .203 against him. Trevor Hoffman solved their closer problem, doing a much better job than Eric Gagne in 2008.
What Went Wrong
Rickie Weeks’s injury interrupted the season in which the second baseman was putting everything together. He’s always been much better than his batting averages would indicate (low hits but high walks), but this year he brought his BA and slugging percentage up while maintaining a decent OBA. Counsell is giving them the on-base but not the power.
Bill Hall’s peak was fleeting. He put together two good years in 2005 and 2006, but at age 29 he’s looking like a much older player.
The starting staff outside of Gallardo showed flashes of brilliance, but overall they’ve been very poor. Manny Parra’s recent demotion to the minors seems to have worked, but we’ll wait to see how long it lasts. So far, Milwaukee hasn’t been able to land another Sabathia to solidify their rotation. They could really use a starter at the rotation. The offense is good enough that if they could just pull their ERA down 1/4 of a run, they could win this division.
Other teams in this series:
- Oakland Athletics
- Seattle Mariners
- Texas Rangers
- Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
- Pittsburgh Pirates
- Cincinnati Reds
- Houston Astros
- Chicago Cubs
Posted by David Pinto at 3:37 pm | Team Evaluation | Permalink | No Comments
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