Spring Is In The Air

Pitchers and Catchers have reported to the Brewers spring training home in Maryvale, Arizona and the Brewers spring training is underway! Manager Ned Yost and GM Doug Melvin are happy with the players they have in camp. Was it a productive off-season for the Brewers? Well let’s answer some of the question marks from last year.

Let’s start with defense; the Brewers finished tied for 12^th in the NL with the Nationals. Defense has been a problem for the Brewers and GM Doug Melvin felt he had to make a few moves to tighten up the defense.

Melvin felt the Brewers needed to be stronger in center, third and catcher. Did he solve the problem in center? Bill Hall did an adequate job in center, given more time I’m sure he would have been an above average in center.

Centerfielder, Mike Cameron was available and that gave Melvin and opportunity to sign a quality centerfielder. By signing Cameron, gave Melvin a chance to solve what he thought was a problem at third.

Rookie of the Year Ryan Braun made an immediate impact when he was brought up in late May. There was no question about his offense, it was his defense at third that was troubling (35 errors). Most of his errors were on throws. Melvin and Yost decided to move Braun to left and move Hall to third. Hall a natural infielder had been the Brewers shortstop in 2005 and also played quite a few games at third and second.

Melvin felt he needed to sign a catcher; Johnny Estrada was basically an offensive catcher and had trouble throwing runners out. He had the worst caught sealing percentage in the NL. In comes Jason Kendall; a better defensive catcher whose offense has slipped the last couple of years. He also has trouble throwing base stealers out. The majority of the Brewers pitchers do not do a good job in holding runners and this is something that really needs to be addressed in spring training. If it isn’t,  we will see the same results as last year with maybe a tad bit more success with Kendall behind the dish.

I believe with those changes the Brewers will be better defensively.

Now the pitching: Starting pitching is strong. It will really help if Ben Sheets stays healthy all year, he anchors the starting rotation along with Jeff Suppan, Dave Bush, and Yovani Gallardo. Chris Capuano, Claudio Vargas, Manny Parra and Carlos Villanueva will be competing for the number five spot in the rotation. The bullpen, which wore out in the second half,, will still have some question marks. The Brewers lost closer Francisco Cordero to the Reds, Melvin signed closer Eric Gagne along with relievers David Riske, Solomon Torres and Guillermo Mota. The starters are the key for the bullpen; the starters need to go deeper in the ballgame. Too many times a starter only went 5, maybe 6, innings and not pitching deep into the games will wear out your bullpen. The one good thing with Riske, Torres and Mota is that you have arms that can throw more than one inning in relief and can be used on back to back days.

The other question: Can Gagne come back to the form he has a few years ago when he was one of the premier closers in baseball? If not, Derrick Turnbow will do the closing.

All in all the Brewers did improve themselves for the upcoming 2008 season. It should be a very competitive Central Division. The Cubs, Reds and Astros all made improvements during the off season. There are high expectations for the talented Brewers. With Prince Fielder, Bill Hall, Rickie Weeks and JJ Hardy anchoring the infield, Ryan Braun and Corey Hart in the outfield, you have the core of the team.

Now, the Brewers will have to stay healthy and play solid defense along with solid pitching, to help out a strong offense. This could be the year the fans have been waiting for since 1982!

I am back online and will be taking your questions.

Go Brewers!!