Milwaukee Brewers: Fun to Watch Again

It wasn’t that long ago that I wouldn’t even listen to or watch a Milwaukee Brewers game.

I admit it–the team just was not very entertaining and rather than get frustrated after yet another loss, I simply checked the boxscore the next day or maybe caught the score on television or the radio.

Not any more; the Brewers are fun to watch again.

The Brewers started out the year winning just five of 22 games as the calendar turned to May 1 and although they won the next two games against the Chicago Cubs, it wasn’t enough as manager Ron Roenicke got the boot on May 3.

Former Brewer Craig Counsell took over the reins on May 4 and earned his first managerial victory that night against the Los Angeles Dodgers, 4-3. Since then, the team has won three of six games under the Whitefish Bay native.

Although they have not made much headway in the last week, the Brewers have been playing some exciting baseball and at least for me, they are fun to watch again.

Let’s take a look at what they have doing the last few games.

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The Brewers finished up their series in Cincinnati with an 8-3 win and things were looking up as they traveled to Wrigley Field for a three-game weekend series.

Milwaukee dropped a tough-luck 1-0 decision on Friday night, but took the next two before Brewers owner Mark Attanasio decided to change managers.

On Monday, reserve Hector Gomez pulled off a first against Dodger ace Clayton Kershaw–Gomez banged a triple and a home run, the first time Kershaw had allowed that combo to a single batter in his big league career as the Brewers snuck out a 4-3 win, with closer Francisco Rodriguez earning the save and flipping the ball to his manager after the game.

Milwaukee managed a four-game split with Los Angeles, but then once again took two of three against the Cubs, this time at Miller Park.

After seven games with the new manager, the Brewers stand with a 4-3 mark and things are looking up. It’s not that Roenicke was a bad manager, but sometimes the owner will make a move simply because the team is under-performing, as I mentioned three weeks ago.

What has Milwaukee done over the last 7-10 days that has made a difference?

The pitching has been up and down, with the starters averaging just over six innings per tilt the last ten, but have tallied six quality starts in that span.

The relievers have been hot and cold, with the ‘pen throwing 16 1/3 scoreless innings across six appearances, but blowing up in the other four contests, allowing 17 earned runs in 13 innings (11.77 ERA).

Milwaukee has scored 48 runs in the last ten, allowing 46. It took the Brewers 18 games to score that many runs in the early going, so it looks like the offense is coming around. The bullpen might be getting ‘used up’ too soon, but time will tell.

Star catcher Jonathan Lucroy has not played for three weeks, hoping to come off the DL in early June. Third baseman Aramis Ramirez has missed a few games and might be starting to show his age (36).

Luckily, players like Martin Maldonado, Elian Herrera, and Hector Gomez have played well in relief of the injured regulars.

Time will tell, but I think that as Milwaukee gets their star players back and summer heats up, so will the Brewers.

But win or lose, at least they are fun to watch again.