Mid-Term Report Card

By: Big Rygg

The mid-term tests have been taken and the scores have tabulated. It's time to see not only how this team is performing but also how they've improved with another year of instruction.

Thru 81 Games...

Wins/Losses

2007:
47-34 record, 30-13 at home, 17-21 on the road

2008:
44-37 record, 25-13 at home, 19-24 on the road

What these numbers mean...

Well, first and foremost, we're 3 games worse than last year. Notably, though, is that we've played 5 fewer games at home to this point. With the way we've played at home, especially recently, chances are good that if five of those road game losses would've been played at Miller Park instead, we'd have gone at least 3-2 in them to match last year's record. But that is, after all, just speculation.

Location is Everything...

Last year, thanks to a strong start coupled with Chicago limping out of the gate, we found ourselves in first place in the NL Central by 6.5 games. This year, we sit in third place, 4.5 games out of first place (though we do also have the third best record in the National League at the end of the day).

What's more, with that third-best positioning, we are 2 games behind the Cardinals for the Wild Card. Specifically, though, we need to take note that we are closer to the Cubs now than they were to us last year. The division is still very much winnable.

Grades

Starting Pitching: B

Ben Sheets has been stellar so far this year, we know that. In fact, he's really only had two poor outings, both of which resulted in his losses on the year. He should even have a couple more wins than he does since a couple saves were blown in his starts. Individual grade: A+

Jeff Suppan has been Jeff Suppan and sometimes that's the biggest compliment you can pay a pitcher. You know what you're going to get from Soup the vast majority of the time. He is currently 4-6 which is a bit lower than you'd like, and his ERA is a touch above 4.00 which is also a bit higher than you'd like out of a starter, but it's also a half-run better than his career average. Individual grade: B-

Manny Parra has eight wins coupled with only 2 losses. He's one win behind Ben Sheets and (though he officially qualifies as a 2nd year player) he's basically a rookie. He struggled early in the year and has had several short outings due to pitch count, but he's definitely learning how to pitch in the Majors and is coming into his own quickly. Once he consistently attacks the strike zone and gets ahead of hitters more often than not, he'll see his grade improve farther. Individual grade: B+

Dave Bush was sent down to the minors at one point this year, but was quickly called back into the starting rotation due to an injury to Yovani Gallardo and the ineffectiveness of Carlos Villanueva. The poster boy for "big inning issues", Dave Bush has had several starts blow up in his face when things seemed to be going just fine. His last two starts, however, have been things of beauty as he took a no-hitter into the 8th inning against Toronto and allowed only four hits to the Atlanta Braves a few days later. Individual grade: C+ (but on the rise)

Seth McClung was pressed into duty after beginning the year in the bullpen in the long relief role. He has pitched admirably since his job change, posting a 4-2 record in 7 starts. That is coupled with an ERA of 4.62 which leaves plenty to be desired. The bottom line with McClung, though, is that he's kept the Brewers in the majority of his starts. He's had four quality starts (one of which actually resulted in one of his losses) and has only had two rough outings. Individual grade: C+

Relief Pitching: C-

This is a tale of two seasons so far for this group. As a whole, all players and outings considered, is why this grade is as low as it is. Certain aspects of the bullpen have been outstanding (i.e. Torres in the closer's role, Shouse the majority of the time, Villanueva the majority of the time since we was switched back to the 'pen) and certain parts have been downright frightening (i.e. Derrick Turnbow, half of Gagne's outings, Guillermo Mota lately). We've also had a bit of a revolving door on the backend of the bullpen, with spots having been filled at times by Mark DiFelice, Tim Dillard, Zach Jackson, the released Julian Tavarez and currently manned by lefty Mitch Stetter. While most guys have performed well at times, only a couple have performed well consistently.

Offense: INC

You might think the "INC" stands for incomplete, but I don't take that cop out. In this case, it stands for Inconsistent. Certain games have been A++ and there have been several D- games along with a couple of F performances. I'd settle for a consistent B to B+ at this point, but that just hasn't been the case for this club.

Defense: B+

In what was supposedly our off-season focus, we brought in former Gold Glove Award winner MIke Cameron for the outfield and Jason Kendall to call games behind the dish. Cameron's addition allowed Bill Hall to move back to the infield while forcing Ryan Braun to move the left field. Well consider this a success. Kendall has helped tremendously in ways that many fans don't even realize. Braun has amassed a perfect fielding percentage to this point in the season and while Hall has had his share of errors while reacclimating himself to the third...well, they don't call it the "hot corner" for nothing. That's why guys like Scott Rolen should be even more admired than they are sometimes.

Overall Team Grade: B

This team, while performing well at times, really has a lot that it can improve on. The biggest thing has always been consistency with this team this year. Every team wishes it was more consistent to be sure, but if this team could simply perform up to its capabilities more often than it has to this point, we may even be in the lead in our division.

But therein lies the story...  We've endured injuries and terrible play to and by key members of our bullpen, Rickie Weeks has been on the DL, Mike Cameron missed 25 games due to a suspension and then has struggled enough to be benched at times, J.J. Hardy has a shoulder that's bothering him, Bill Hall has fallen into a platoon with Russell Branyan, Yovani Gallardo suffered a season-ending injury on a hustle play, Carlos Villanueva was sent to the bullpen due to inconsistency and a seeming allergy to pitching past the 5th inning......and all of these things have left us where? 10 games out? 15?

Try 4.5 (and only 2.0 out of the Wild Card) thanks to the 3rd best record in the entire National League. That's good stuff, boys and girls.

But that's why the grade is what it is...we could be doing so much better despite what our opposition is doing.

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Anyway, I could break it down further probably, but those are my overviews of the aspects of the Brewers so far this year.

Agree/disagree? Please leave me some comments so that I know what you think!