Brewers pitchers... Not sure I can trust any of you!

Another loss today by the Brewers has Wilber's Way making its May debut. Being shutout for the third time in four games has me changing a bit of what I was going to write here.
Regardless, the Brewers have now lost 8 of their last 10 games and were outscored by the Padres 21-2 in four games. So while pitching was a question mark coming in, the offense made sure to not let us forget about it having problems and being inconsistent.
Doug Davis, who has had his problems, was not so reliable in Game 1 of the series and the guy that came on in "relief" of that one was Jeff Suppan. When all was said and done, the Padres won 9-0.


Dave Bush  did pitch pretty good in Game 2 of the series, giving up just three runs in seven innings of work. But the offense couldn't get anything going and fell 5-0.
It marked the first time since 2005 the Brewers had been shut out in back to back games.
It was the best starting pitching showing since Yovanni Gallardo was solid against the Pirates on Monday night at Miller Park, but this time the offense did not back the up. Just the bad luck of baseball.

The Brewers did get a win Saturday night behind Gallardo. But even that was a chore. Yo went seven innings and struck out 11 on 118 pitches and had to hit a home run, his fifth of his career.
Hawkins, who has seen his share of troubles came on in the eighth and Trevor Hoffman, who you all know about his struggles, returned to the city where he saved 552 games, and closed the game out.


That sets the table. Now I have to ask the question. Who do you trust on the mound for this team? The problem has been mainly the starting rotation. Here are the lines (From Baseball-reference.com):
Yovanni Gallardo: 3-2, 36 IP, 40 K, 16 BB, 32 H, 15 R, 12 ER, 3.00 ERA
Randy Wolf: 2-2, 37.1 IP, 27 K, 16 BB, 41 H, 18 R, 16 ER, 3.86 ERA
Dave Bush: 1-2, 29.1 IP, 15 K, 12 BB, 30 H, 17 R, 15 ER, 4.60 ERA
Doug Davis: 0-3, 22.1 IP, 24 K, 10 BB, 38 H, 23 R, 22 ER, 8.87 ERA
Jeff Suppan: 0-1, 14.1 IP, 11 K, 3 BB, 22 H, 14 R, 13 ER, 8.16 ERA
Chris Narveson: 1-0, 15 IP, 12 K, 9 BB, 22 H, 12 R, 11 ER, 6.6 ERA
Now you can't take everything by those numbers, but know this. The team ERA ranks 13th of 16 teams in the NL. The staff has given up the second-most hits in the National League. That heps rank them 14th in the NL in home runs allowed (33).
Where was the help Doug Melvin was supposed to bring in? Nothing has changed from last year, at all. Now people claiming Doug Davis should be taken out of the rotation, are crazy. Who are you going to put in that spot? They made the one move with Narveson going in. I'm sure we'll see Manny Parra starting at some point this year, but not in place of a healthy but struggling Davis.

Like I said, this isn't going to be all about the pitching. The last three series' dating back to getting swept by the Cubs, then dropping two of three to the Pirates has worn on this team, which has lost 8 of 10.
The offense, up until this point, was one of the best in baseball. The numbers show that.
After checking Baseball-Reference.com, I found some pretty interesting numbers that I didn't realize (maybe because the pitching was so awful).
The Brewers are second in the NL in runs scored (128), first in doubles (56), fourth in homers (28), first in on-base percentage (.355), third in batting average (.273), second in slugging percentage (.452) and second in OPS (.807).
Those are some pretty staggering figures. To me, that says this 10-14 start is something that is on the pitching. Yes the last week has been rough for the hitters. I'm not going to put it on all of them, but I am going to single out one guy, Rickie Weeks Now I'm not coming down on Rickie, just pointing out some numbers.
Since the Brewers drilled the Pirates for that 20-0 win on April 22, Weeks' average has dropped from .344 to .258.
It's been seven games since then and during that time Rickie is 4 for 34 (.118 AVG), with 17 strikeouts, just one RBI (which came on his home run) and he's taken only five walks. Here's the link, again on Baseball-Reference.com. For a team built around Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder, having guys on base in front of them makes them dangerous. That makes Rickie getting on base imparative to the success of the team. It doesn't help that Macha is still struggling to find a suitable guy to put in the No. 2 spot. With Carlos Gomez and Jim Edmonds hurt, that has made things a struggle and put guys you wouldn't necessarily want in front of Ryan and Prince.

Ok, enough on the Brewers for now. That will resonate throughout Monday for me. We need some funny to lighten the mood. Leave it to Jimmy Kimmel and his unnecessary censorship. Damn funny!


I'm pretty sure these next two ladies are Brewers fans and would be very interested by the success of the team. Yep, the Maxim Hometown Hotties Contest is in full swing and we got a double feature of Nussies for you.
First is Franklin's Andrea. She likes Wii (take a look! Haha.) And Susana is from Richfield, which is like 15 minutes from me. The links take you to their profiles. There were a handful of other Wisconsin girls that made the initial cut. Be sure to check out the rest of the Hometown Hotties.
Here's Andrea.


Here's Susana

The myster of the No. 5 starter gets clearer

Finally, things start to get a little clearer. With today's news the Brewers put Jeff Suppan on the DL for the next 15 days, the mystery that is the Brewers fifth starter is getting a little clearer.
Dave Bush got named the fourth starter Monday, leaving lefties Chris Narveson and Manny Parra.
That question might have gotten a little clearer yet Tuesday with both of them pitching. Narveson pitched today and extended his shutout streak to 12 innings and got out of a bases-loaded jam in the process. I'd have to say he's showing he belongs in the rotation.
Parra pitched two shutout innings today, following up Narvey against the Angels. Here's Tom Haudricourt's story from the J-S.
With all that, I'm not sure which way the Brewers are leaning. They don't have to make a real decision until April 15 when that fifth starter has to pitch. I'm not sure that is a good idea. I'd almost say go with the hot hand and let Chris take the ball and let everyone know he's it. In the meantime get Manny ready to come in from the Pen. He needs to be coddled mentally and needs that support. Why drag him along and let him get all mind kcufed like he did at times last year? That would be my move. Plus they'll need him ready when and not if one of the original five goes down with injury and misses a start. Hopefully they won't be out long, but not everyone will make every start. That's just the percentages.
Give Narvy the ball!


While we're on the subject of the pitching, the rotation, aside from the No. 5 starter was named Monday. And Yovanni Gallardo will be pitching Opening Day. He'll be followed up by Randy Wolf, then Doug Davis and Bush in the No. 4 spot.  I'll be honest, I'm really liking those four. Add Narvy to that mix and I'm pretty confident in all five going out and getting the job done. We'll have to see when the season starts who gets hot and throws well, but they've given me a bit of confidence most of the spring. Wolf looked vary sharp in his last outing (I saw it on FS Wisconsin).

Speaking of the Opening Day starer, the Brewers unveiled a handful of commercials today and I must say they are pretty dope. MLB.com doesn't allow for embedding. Let me know which spot you think is the funniest and best. I really liked the Prince one and the pitchers playing darts one. You'll see. Here's the link.

On a subject of pitchers. I really like Randy Wolf. He's got a bit of a following. And I'm considering becoming part of it in Section 223. Could you imagine this? Oh yeah. It could get fun!


And now to your favorite portion of the broadcast. Yep, the Nussie Hunter. Keeping with the baseball theme, it's Alyssa Milano. Nussie Hunter said he really liked this picture. Well, it's a hot chick in a Cubs hat. Wait, that's Alyssa. Damn. If that's the only thing wrong with her, I might be able to over look that. Haha.
Either way, here's Alyssa.