Will the Brew Crew Play During Oktoberfest?

The Brewers ended a 25-year playoff drought when they faced the Phillies in the NL Division Series in 2008.  Unfortunately for the Brewers, they were eliminated by Philadelphia in four games.  Since then, the Brewers have finished under .500 and in third place for two consecutive seasons under Ken Macha.  The Brewers last year finished with a 77-85 record and played losing baseball both at home and on the road.  The team could not get it done against their division last year finishing 37-40.  The Brewers had no problem against the Pirates going 13-5 against them, but struggled mightily against the Division Champion Cincinnati Reds going 3-11.

The organization’s first order of business was to change the direction of the ballclub.  The team dismissed manager Ken Macha and hired former Angels’ bench coach Ron Roenicke.  The Angels organization is known for producing great managers.  Before Roenicke took the job in Milwaukee; Bud Black and Joe Maddon took managerial positions in San Diego and Tampa Bay respectively and have had success.  Roenicke hopes to instill a winning attitude in Milwaukee once again. 

The manager alone cannot win ball games.  In order to have success, you need really good players to get the job done.  The Brewers feature one of the best lineups in the National League.  The team ranked second in the NL in home runs with 182 and fourth in the NL with 710 RBI last season.  This lineup is headlined by outfielder Ryan Braun, first baseman Prince Fielder, and third baseman Casey McGehee.  Braun and Fielder were not at the top of their game last season.  Braun finished the season hitting .304 with 25 home runs and 103 RBI.  Fielder hit .261 with 32 home runs and 83 RBI.  If those were underachieving statistics, then I would definitely be looking forward to next season when Prince is in his contract year.  That’s right Brewers fans, Fielder could actually play himself out of Milwaukee after this season.  The third part of the trio, Casey McGehee, had a career year in 2010.  The third baseman was given a chance to play every day at hit .285 with 23 home runs, 104 RBI, and 38 doubles.  The Brewers have a nice 3-4-5 combination in the lineup that will win a lot of games for them this year.

Unlike the dominant hitting the Brewers displayed last season, the pitching was a whole different story.  The Brewers’ pitchers ranked 14^th in the NL in team ERA at 4.58 last season.  The team also managed to record a measly 35 saves despite having the All-time saves leader, Trevor Hoffman last season.  Hoffman did not perform very well as the Brewers’ closer.  Hoffman recorded just 10 saves in 50 games and had and ERA of 5.89.  Needless to say, Hoffman relinquished his duties to John Axford mid way through the season.  Axford filled in nicely converting 24 saves out of 27 save opportunities and sported an ERA of 2.48 in 58 innings. Aside from Axford, the Brewers bullpen combined to blow 18 saves and lose 27 games.  This offseason, the Brewers added former Dodgers closer Takahashi Saito.  Saito spent last season with the Braves finishing with a 2-3 record and an ERA of 2.83 in 54 innings. 

The starting rotation was not that bad last season.  Yovani Gallardo, Randy Wolf, David Bush, and rookie Chris Narveson combined to finish 47-41 and posted a combined ERA of 3.15 in 742.2 innings.  David Bush is no longer with the team, but they did add these starting pitchers from Kansas City and Toronto.  Pitcher Zack Greinke and shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt were acquired from Kansas City for shortstop Alcides Escobar, Lorenzo Cain, and prospect Jake Odorizzi.  The Brewers also acquired Shaun Marcum from the Blue Jays for prospect Brett Lawrie.  Of the two starting pitchers, Marcum seems to be the better pickup.  Greinke had a poor season in Kansas City in 2010 finishing 10-14 with an ERA of 4.17 in 220 innings.  During the offseason, Greinke suffered a hairline fracture in one of his ribs.  He is expected to start the season on the disabled list.  A fractured rib is something very serious and difficult to come back from, especially for a pitcher.  If Greinke returns fully healthy after his stint on the disabled list, then the Brewers should hope that he could be the pitcher that won the American League CY Young Award in 2009. Marcum bounced back nicely from missing all of 2009 recovering from Tommy John surgery.  Marcum finished 13-8 with an ERA of 3.64 in 31 starts last season.

With the acquisitions of a new manager top of the line pitching, the Brewers figure to be in the playoff race at the end of the season.  Not only are the Brewers geared to compete, but the fact that there is not clear cut favorite to win the NL Central gives them a legitimate shot at wining the division.  This is definitely an exciting time for Brewers’ fans, but by no means should these fans feel like the Brewers are a lock to make the postseason.