Milwaukee Brewers Week One Recap: A Little of Everything

The baseball season is a grind. Great teams will lose 70 games. There will be ebbs and there will be flows. For approximately the next 25 weeks, I am going to attempt to smooth out these curves with a weekly check-in to look back on the previous seven days. 

All statistics are through Sunday, April 12.

Brewers Record: 2-4

Team OPS: .708

Opp OPS: .853

The Milwaukee Brewers were introduced to six high-quality starting pitchers in the first week of 2009, facing the likes of Tim Lincecum, Randy Johnson, Matt Cain, Rich Harden, Carlos Zambrano, and Ryan Dempster. 

If there was a list of the top 15 pitchers in baseball, three (Lincecum, Harden, and Zambrano) would be on it, and the three others would be in the top 30. Even Johnson, at 45, looked as good as he did since leaving Arizona at the end of the 2004 season.

With this daunting task in front of them, especially considering the fresh arms, the offense was expected to struggle. However, there were some positives to be taken from the experience.

The first thing that jumped out at me was the overall patience at the plate. Patience doesn't necessarily translate to less strikeouts, but more so up the opponents pitch count and gets to the bullpen quicker. 

Successful teams bleed pitchers, work counts, and don't swing unless they are comfortable. This philosophy needs to be ingrained in game one—it eventually becomes contagious and can maximize the efficiency of an offense. 

Lincecum only lasted four innings, Johnson threw 84 pitches before being pulled after the fifth, Harden threw 96 in six innings, and Dempster pumped out a whopping 110 pitches in only six innings as well. As the Brewers get into the heart of the season this new mind frame will begin to pay dividends as long as they stay in contention. Otherwise, this young roster may start to press.

No player has exemplified this philosophy more than center fielder Mike Cameron. The only regular with more walks than strikeouts (6 to 3), Cameron leads the team in OPS and his home run against Johnson on Wednesday got the Brewers an early lead. 

Despite eight strikeouts, first baseman Prince Fielder also has six walks and hit two balls over the fence against Chicago this past weekend, unfortunately one was brought back by right fielder Reed Johnson, resulting in a sacrifice fly instead of a grand slam. Overall, he seems to be seeing the ball well.

Two areas of concern are the early production of left fielder Ryan Braun and short stop JJ Hardy. Braun appears to still be favoring his back, which has been flaring up regularly over the past six to nine months. He is such a talented hitter that at this point any "slump" should immediately be chalked up to the status of his health. 

Hardy on the other hand has been slow out of the gate for two consecutive seasons while batting fifth or lower in the order. I am not sure what else needs to happen here for manager Ken Macha to move him up to  No.2 in the lineup. This kickstarted the team last season and it needs to be considered again before 1) the team falls out of contention, or 2) Hardy begins to lose confidence. 

The pitching and the defense are showing signs of being a problem throughout the season. Jeff Suppan's two starts were complete disasters, and his ERA is now over 12. 

Manny Parra, possibly the single biggest x-factor on the roster had a rough outing on Thursday against a weak San Francisco Giants lineup in a pitchers park.  

The rest of the staff, led by ace Yovanni Gallardo was solid. Dave Bush looked strong for four innings on Saturday, but got into trouble in the fifth and the bullpen couldn't hold the lead for him. 

Braden Looper kept the Brewers in the game on Friday despite having a less than 2-to-1 K/BB ratio. This toughness is what the staff needs because I don't see many shutouts or complete games on the radar.

On the defensive side, Milwaukee leads the NL in errors and is ranked 15th (out of 16 teams) in fielding percentage. Outside of Cameron and Hardy, the roster is not full of guys who can consistently catch the ball. 

If the 2008 Tampa Rays taught us anything, it's that defense can hide pitching deficiencies and can carry a team to a World Series. Right now, this defense is not playoff caliber. 

The Brewers are an average-to-good team as the lineup is currently constructed. For them to be great, it appears that a trade of another top-flight starter may be in order. 

The team has some chips to work with, especially in the middle infield, with Hardy, second baseman Rickie Weeks, and Triple A phenom SS Alcides Escobar. For the Brewers to acquire a Jake Peavy or a Roy Halliday, they will have to part with one of these and possibly a second tier pitching prospect. 

The front office has shown in the past (see: CC Sabathia) that they are not afraid to sacrifice tomorrow for today. This may continue to occur as long as the Braun/Fielder/Gallardo core remain intact.

Week two brings a three-game home series against the Cincinnati Reds, followed by three at the Mets. Edison Volquez kicks it off tonight against Gallardo. It will be interesting to see if the young ace can be the stopper that the Brewers expect while the team hopes to put an end to the first losing streak of the season. 

On the back end of the week, Suppan draws Johan Santana on Saturday. If he struggles again, expect to see Macha think about relief pitcher Seth McClung as the fifth starter moving forward. He filled in last season and could do the job if needed. Suppan has to be on the short leash at this point.

Ideally, the plan would be to win every series. With the pitching matchups, it's a possibility this week.  

The peaks and valleys of a season can be extreme. Through six games, the Brewers may as well be on a ski trip in Colorado. 

Week 2

Monday - Volquez (Reds) @ Gallardo

Tuesday - Arroyo (Reds) @ Parra

Wednesday - Owings (Reds) @ Looper

Friday - Bush @ Hernandez (Mets)

Saturday - Suppan @ Santana (Mets)

Sunday - Gallardo @ Pelfrey (Mets)