What a difference that a season has made for The Milwaukee Brewers. At this point last season, The Brewers had a 6.5 game lead over The St. Louis Cardinals with their eyes set on their first National League Central Title. The Brewers won 96 games last year which was the highest win total in franchise history. The Brewers were two games away from The World Series before they succumb to the eventual World Series Champion Cardinals. Things have indeed drastically changed for “The Brew Crew” since then.
There was a dark cloud hanging over the reigning National League Most Valuable Player Ryan Braun. Many including myself felt that Los Angeles Dodgers center fielder Matt Kemp had the better numbers last season to earn The MVP Award. Then last December, reports had surfaced that Braun had failed a mandatory drug-test that was given by Major League Baseball. Braun was facing a 50-game suspension to start the season, but he was able to fight the failed test and his suspension was overturned. Braun’s longtime teammate in Milwaukee, All-Star first baseman Prince Fielder signed a nine-year, $214 million contract to play for The Detroit Tigers which took away one of the most powerful 1-2 punches in The National League.
To offset Fielder’s departure in the lineup, The Brewers signed former Chicago Cubs third baseman Aramis Ramirez. Ramirez has been a pleasant addition to Milwaukee’s lineup as he is currently third on the team in homers with 16. One of the main problems for The Brewers has been their pitching staff which hasn’t been as dominant as they were in 2011. Milwaukee’s team earned run average has increased from 3.63 in 2011 to 4.35 this season.
Last season saw all five of Milwaukee’s five starters register double-digit in victories led by Yovanni Gallardo’s 17 wins. Starting pitcher Shaun Marcum has been on the disabled list since June with an elbow injury. The Brewers traded starting pitcher Zack Greinke to The Los Angeles Angels in July as they have appeared to wave the white flag for 2012. Milwaukee’s bullpen hasn’t come close to the production that they had in 2011 either. Francisco Rodriguez was a dominant setup man for The Brewers last season after he was acquired from The New York Mets in July. Rodriguez posted a 1.86 earned run average while striking out 33 batters in 29 innings for The Brewers. This season K-Rod has imploded with a 5.23 earned run average in 51.2 innings off work. His tag-team partner in the bullpen, closer John Axford has cooled off as well. Axford led The NL in saves last season with 46 while only recording two blown saves. This season Axford has already recorded eight blown saves and his earned run average has jumped from 1.95 to 5.14.
Coming into this season I expected The Brewers to contend in The NL Central with The Cardinals and Cincinnati Reds. Instead Brewers manager Ron Roenicke and his team find themselves 17.5 behind The Reds for first place in mid-August as they appear to be riding out the rest of the schedule.
There doesn’t appear to be the same level of excitement by this team which can be caused by losing. Outfielder Nyjer Morgan aka “Tony Plush” hasn’t been as talkative this season. It was easy for him to be the team’s mouthpiece last season when The Brewers were dominating The NL Central and his batting average was at .304 as opposed to it dipping to .236 on this campaign. Brewers second baseman Rickie Weeks benefited from Fielder’s presence in the lineup as well. Weeks is only batting. 221 with 13 homers as opposed to him batting .269 in 2011 and earning his first All-Star Game appearance. The only player that has seemed to be unfazed by everything in Milwaukee has been Braun. Braun is leading The NL in home runs with 32 while he appears to be on pace to surpass his career-high of 37. Braun once again has a batting average over .300 and he is in the running to once again be The NL MVP.
The fans of Milwaukee haven’t turned their backs on The Brewers. The Brewers ranked seventh in attendance last season. They are currently 12th on this campaign as The Brewers are averaging just under 35,000 fans per contest.
The Brewers have a proactive owner in Mark Attanasio who is never afraid to make a big move in the hopes of winning. In 2008, The Brewers pulled off a deal to acquire All-Star pitcher CC Sabathia from The Cleveland Indians for four prospects. Sabathia helped The Brewers make the postseason for the first time since “Harvey’s Wallbangers” in 1982. After the season, Sabathia left via free agency to sign with The New York Yankees, but Attanasio showed the fans in Milwaukee that he was willing to win. Prior to the 2011 season, The Brewers acquired Greinke from The Kansas City Royals while they also made a trade with The Toronto Blue Jays to obtain Marcum. With a very thin free-agent market going into 2013, it will be tough to bring in new talent via free agency, but with an owner that is willing to make deals we should see The Brewers once again in contention.
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