Top Five Open Questions As The Milwaukee Brewers Try To Return To The Playoffs

The Milwaukee Brewers are hitting a key transitional year in 2009. The Crew landed a Wild Card berth in 2008 and gave the championship-starved Brewer fans a much-deserved taste of the playoffs for the first time since 1982.

This season, to an extent, will determine whether the talent they have been developing for years is enough to turn them into perennial contenders for the NL Central title, or whether they are moving back to the middle of the pack.

Although the Brewers have a managerial change at the top, handing the reigns to Ken Macha, the on-field questions are much more significant.

Starting Pitching is the most pressing concern as the Brewers move into the season.

After losing CC Sabathia and Ben Sheets, and not overextending to sign key free agents on the market, they will be entering the season with some young talent and a few question marks.

Yovanni Gallardo will be thrown into the ace spot after spending much of the 2008 season on the DL after tearing a knee ligament May 1 at Wrigley Field. Gallardo has looked wise beyond his years on the mound, and definitely has top-of-the-rotation stuff, but is a bit low on MLB experience to jump into the role of ‘go to’ guy.

He did show remarkable resilience by coming back at the end of the year and picking up some key innings after Sheets went down in the playoff stretch run.

After an injury-plagued minor league career, Many Parra has started to live up to his promise in the majors in 2008, going 10-8 with a 4.38 ERA. He showed the inconsistency of a young pitcher at times, but also showed the talent that made him a top draft pick.

If he can remain healthy he should develop into a mainstay in the rotation.

The remaining rotation is rounded out by Dave Bush, Jeff Suppan and Seth McClung.

Dave Bush could not have been more inconsistent last year, which led him to a stint in the minors. However, he also bounced back to pick up the only Brewers' playoff win.

Since signing with the Brewers two years ago, Jeff Suppan has eaten up a lot of innings, but a 10-10 record and 4.94 ERA doesn’t live up to a $42 million contract. The Brewers cannot afford to have him pitch his way out of the rotation.

Seth McClung pitched more than adequately when called into the rotation in 2008 due to injuries. He also pitched some key relief innings during the playoff run with remarkable composure. He can throw in the high 90’s and could be the surprise of the Brewers, season.

There is not much starting pitching depth remaining in the organization, so a few injuries could put the rotation into chaos quickly.

After the starting rotation, the next questions surround the bullpen—it was the glaring weakness of the team last year. After the gamble of Eric Gagne fell apart, the Brewers have taken steps to make this more consistent.

Clearly the flagship of the bullpen will be all-time save leader Trevor Hoffman. He will be set up by Carlos Villanueva, who had a break-out year in the bullpen.

To improve on last year's performance, the Brewers will need veterans David Riske and Todd Coffey to return to form. They'll also look for help from Chase Wright, who was recently acquired from the Yankees.

One big question for the position players will be Corey Hart. Will he be the All-Star who hit .289 with 15 HRs before the break, or the absent fight-fielder who hit .239 with five HRs after the break?

If he cannot develop plate discipline, it's unlikely Hart will continue to get chances to prove he can be the All-Star once again. Having scoffed at the idea of walking to local media near the end of last season, his tendency to swing at three straight pitches from pitchers struggling to find the zone has left a bitter taste in the mouth of Milwaukee fans.

Hart is a strong outfielder without great range, but who gets to the balls hit to him. At the plate, he can be a doubles machine, but he needs to show he can do it for a whole season. When coming up through the minors with the talent of Rickie Weeks and Prince Fielder, it always seemed to be Hart who was the unsung hero, so look for Hart to come to continue to develop into a consistent contributor.

While Hart is the player must under the microscope, third base is the field position with the most unanswered questions. Bill Hall has failed to live up to his promise after being rewarded with a long term contract. He will begin the year with the starting job. but Mike Lamb will be at the ready to move into a platoon role if Hall struggles, especially batting against righties.

Hall has all the talent and athleticism to be successful, but if he ,or the Hall/Lamb platoon doesn’t produce, there could be a quick call to Mat Gamel, who may be knocking down the door in AAA.

The thing the Brewers have done better than any other team in the recent years is to consistantly deliver talent out of their farm system.

This will be a key year to indicate whether the core nucleus of Prince Fielder, Rickie Weeks, J.J Hardy, Hall, Hart and Ryan Braun can truly lead the Brewers to contention, or if more help is needed from free agency and the minors.

Weeks needs to improve his .234 BA significantly this year, although he did take more walks in 2008 for a .342 OBP and showed strong base running abilities to help create runs once on base.

Hardy continues to be a solid contributor, but could see himself moved from short stop around to second or third if Weeks or Hall falter and the team needs to make room for Alcides Escobar, a top Brewers prospect who, by all reports, is a defensive gem.

Fielder took a slight step back from his 50 HR sophomore season, but still delivered 34 HR and 102 RBI. After getting contract issues behind him this year with a two-year deal, and losing a bit of weight in the offseason, he could be poised for a monster year.

Finally, who knows what Ryan Braun can really do with the bat? There are times when he looks overmatched, or even completely fooled at the plate and yet always seems to rebound on the next pitch or next at-bat. As Braun develops more plate discipline and a better knowledge of the strike-zone, his first two seasons could be just a glimpse of what he is capable of.