Offense - A
There isn't much you can say wrong about the offense so far this season. Braun is tied for the league lead in home runs and Fielder is second in the league in rbi's. There are some bad spots in the lineup right now, mostly Gomez and Betancourt but they both have had good games on there own to help out the team. The bench has stepped up with Nyjer Morgan coming up big until he got hurt and Mark Kotsay holding down the right field spot until Corey Hart was able to come back. Everybody said the Brewers would have a good offense and they are proving everybody right so far this year and there is no reason to question why it will stop.
Starting pitching - B
Nothing about this team has been more up and down than the starting pitching. Just look at how the seasons have gone for each starter. Yovani Gallardo started out so good, threw a complete game shutout and hasn't pitched well since. Shawn Marcum started off shaky but has since found his grove and has seem to settle in and has pitched well. Randy Wolf started the season off horrible but has since been outstanding. Chris Narveson started off as dominating as one could but has struggled his last couple outings. It's been a very strange month for starting pitching and one that is tough to watch at times. Everybody hits slumps but you only want one pitcher to be in one and you don't want one of them to be your ace. Gallardo will get back on the winning track, he is too good to struggle for long. Narveson should be able to get back to the form he was in, in those first couple starts and Wolf and Marcum should be able to pitch like they are now. Also with the addition of Greinke the rotation should really improve and it also gives everybody a normal rotation instead of the sometimes four sometimes five-man rotations we have used so far this season.
Bullpen - B-
I was going to break this up into two different sections for the front end of the rotation and back end of the rotation but just went with the one lump group. The front end of the bullpen is very hit or miss. Sergo Mitre can get outs but has also had just terrible outings. Sean Green can't seem to have an outing without giving up runs anymore. Mitch Stetter continues to be up and down. Marco Estrada has been clutch with his spot starts and he hopefully continues his great work out of the bullpen, he deserves to stay on the team. The back end of the bullpen has done better but still has its fair shares of mess ups. Latroy Hawkins has looked sharp since his return which is a nice site. Kameron Loe has been good but still has outings were he can't seem to do anything right. Axford has been much more consistant in the closers role since the start of the season which is always good to see. Bullpens can be a very fickle thing on a baseball team, you just need guys you can count on and honestly right now I don't think the Brewers have that. I still get nervous when Axford is on the mound, Loe has struggled more this year and my confidence is shaken in him a little. I think our best guy out of the pen right now is Estrada and who knows if that will even be his role for the team once Greinke comes back, although I really hope thats what it is. Like starting pitching guys will hit slumps but you only want a couple of them at a time and right now it seems some guys still need to find their grove.
Overall team grade - B
The Brewers have stuck around .500 even with all the injuries through this first month and thats good but now we are in May and the team is almost fully healthy. Greinke makes his first start on Wednesday and all others injured in spring training are back. The offense has been good this year and have only been shutdown a couple of times and there is nothing that should slow down the offense and it should get better once Lucroy and Hart regain their offense after coming off of injuries. The starting rotation is kind of shaky right now but Gallardo should get back on pace and Narveson should do the same as well. The bullpen continues to give me concerns but Axford has regained his stuff and its only a matter of time till the other guys start getting back to their old selves. I have to sound like a broken record, but thats just how the season has gone so far, but the team should be getting better and start winning more. It should be fun to watch.
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