9 Days...

By: Big Rygg

Okay, so all of our starting pitchers are actually human.

In their most recent appearances, Manny Parra, Claudio Vargas and Chris Narveson all got knocked around pretty well. Hey, it had to happen eventually, right? Nobody carries an ERA under 1.00 for very long during the regular season. Yes, I know Vargas' wasn't that low before today, but Parra's (0.64) and Narveson's (0.57) were...so yeah.

Regardless of the current numbers, because everything resets to all zeroes in 9 short days.....

(By the way, these "short" days I just described? They are going to feel like an eternity...to me at least. But back to the point.)

......there are decisions that need to be made fairly soon as far as which 25 men will comprise the Milwaukee Brewers on March 31st.

Having been paying attention this spring as closely as I can with an infant daughter, here are my predictions, not necessarily in any order:

Starting Rotation (5)
Ben Sheets, Jeff Suppan, Carlos Villanueva, Dave Bush, Claudio Vargas

Bullpen (7)
Eric Gagne, Derrick Turnbow, Guillermo Mota, David Riske, Salomon Torres, Brian Shouse, Seth McClung

Catchers (2)
Jason Kendall, Eric Munson

Infielders (6)
Prince Fielder, Rickie Weeks, J.J. Hardy, Bill Hall, Craig Counsell, Joe Dillon

Outfielders (5)
Ryan Braun, Corey Hart, Tony Gwynn Jr, Gabe Kapler, Gabe Gross

DL (3)
Yovani Gallardo, Chris Capuano, Randy Choate (who would go to AAA if healthy)

Suspended (1)
Mike Cameron

Obviously some things will change on this list, possibly as early as mid-April, but no later than after the game on Sunday, April 27th (our 25th game of the year). When Gallardo is ready to come back to the starting rotation, a decision will have to be made. I'd personally hope that they'd have a taker for Claudio Vargas by then. Otherwise, you have two options with the roster as I have it constructed. Either send Dave Bush down to AAA or hope Seth McClung clears waivers so that you can bump either Bush or Vargas (whoever is pitching worse) to the bullpen. I suppose a technical option would be to send Villanueva down to AAA, but I don't think that's a real option because he is one of our five best starters and needs to stay in that rotation as long as he's healthy, in my opinion.

Also, when Mike Cameron returns there will be another decision to make. Personally, I think that the best option at that point will be to send Gabe Gross down to AAA to keep him getting consistent playing time. We'll want to keep Tony Gwynn for his pinch-running, the fact that he's a lefty, and his intangibles like leading off when Rickie Weeks has the day off and things like that. Kapler, I have a feeling, will be playing well enough to keep his spot, even though he's on a non-guaranteed contract.

And the third wrinkle comes in the form of Chris Capuano. Capuano injured the elbow on his throwing arm, and when the pain didn't subside in a couple of days he had an MRI performed. The Brewers aren't releasing any results from it until their head trainer William Raasch examines Capunao in person. That doesn't sound like a good situation, hence my belief that he'll start the season on the DL. How long he is on the DL remains to be seen, but worst-case scenario... All I'm going to say is that Cappy's left elbow has been operated on before.

As far as his affecting the big-league rotation, I don't expect that to be as much of an issue. Even if he will recover fairly quickly from whatever is wrong with him, he'll be on a minor league rehab assignment for some time after that.

...

Let me say one thing quickly here at the end before I ask you for your opinions...I could definitely see Manny Parra winning the rotation spot with Carlos Villanueva being sent to AAA so that there is a lefty in our rotation. I could also see Yost wanting Villanueva in the bullpen, where he pitched so well during much of 2007, but Villanueva deserves to be a starter...a position which he admittedly prefers.

In a perfect world, Parra and Villanueva would make this rotation and pitch as well all season as they have this spring. But, I'm a realist in that I understand that Vargas is out of options (along with having pitched very well before today) and Bush is one of Yost's guys (along with throwing strikes and being a safe bet for double-digit victories).

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But, as I alluded to earlier...let's here your thoughts, Brewer Nation. Who do you have on your 25-man roster to start the year? How do you handle the eventual returns to Cameron and Gallardo?