The Milwaukee Brewers had one of the top starting rotations in baseball in 2011. All five starters won least 11 games last season, and only one had an ERA over 4.00. With all five back in 2012, I expected more of the same this season.
Things began to go wrong almost immediately. Left-hander Chris Narveson started only two games before being lost for the season with a torn rotator cuff. His replacement, Marco Estrada, also missed a month with an injury. Shaun Marcum was 5-3 with a 3.39 ERA before he went on the disabled list on June 15th with tightness in his right elbow, and there is no timetable for his return.
Despite all the injuries, the starters as a whole have done a good job in the first half of the season. Zack Greinke leads the way with a record of 9-3, and ERA of 3.32, and 111 strikeouts in 111 innings pitched. He's clearly the ace of the staff at this point. Greinke, who is a free agent after the season, may not be with Milwaukee much longer, as the Brewers will look at trading him if they cannot sign him before the July 31st trading deadline. I hope they can sign him but I'm not optimistic. Several teams are interested, so the Brewers should be able to get some top of the line prospects for him in return if he is traded.
Yovani Gallardo got off to a disturbingly bad start and was 2-4 with a 5.04 ERA on May 15th. He has since improved to 7-6, dropped his ERA to 3.74, and is essentially matching Greinke in the strikeout department with 107 in 108 1/3 innings. His slow start was beginning to concern me, but it looks like he's back to normal now.
One positive result of all the injuries has been the emergence of Michael Fiers as a starter. Initially, Fiers was brought up from Triple A Nashville to fill in for a couple of starts until Estrada returned from the disabled list. Before Estrada returned, Marcum went down, and there were more opportunities for Fiers to prove he belonged in the rotation. He's made the most of those opportunities, and is 3-3 with a 2.31 ERA, 50 strikeouts and just nine walks in 46 2/3 innings. Fiers has allowed just three runs in his last 28 2/3 innings, including a 21 1/3 innings scoreless streak.
Manager Ron Roenicke changed his mind about sending Fiers back down after all the starters returned and said he would remain with the club, possibly in Estrada's old role as long reliever. Help is definitely needed in the bullpen, and Fiers would be available for spot starts and a return to the rotation if yet another starter suffered an injury. Whether he is a starter of reliever the rest of this season, Fiers is here to stay and I project him as a member of the starting rotation in 2013.
Finally, Randy Wolf is having a down year with a 2-6 record and a 5.80 ERA. Despite the high ERA, Wolf should have a better won lost record as the bullpen has blown games for him time after time since his last victory way back on April 30th. Wolf's contract has a $10 million club option for 2013, which will almost certainly be declined. Wolf is probably ready to move on anyway, just to get away from Milwaukee's bullpen.
A Featured Contributor in Sports for the Yahoo! Contributor Network, Mark Hudziak has been a fan of the Brewers since they moved to Milwaukee in 1970.
Sources:
Milwaukee Brewers on Yahoo! Sports
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