Looking back, that rotation is literally in tatters.

Greinke was traded to the Angels when the Brewers thought they were out of contention. Marcum went on the disabled list for over two months, and has a 5.70 ERA in five starts since returning. Wolf was released towards the end of August after he was unable to ever find himself as a starter this season. Narveson went down after just his second start in April with a torn rotator cuff.

In other words, Gallardo has been the one staple of the rotation. The Brewers have had to dip into their farm system to find the rest of their current rotation. And, I have to say, most of them have filled in admirably. Marco Estrada, who pitched out of the bullpen to start the season, was the first guy the Brewers turned to, and, despite the fact he hasn’t been able to notch many wins, he’s been very solid. Mike Fiers, who was having just a mediocre year at Triple-A Nashville prior to his call-up, has come up and established himself as a perennial Rookie of the Year candidate. Mark Rogers was solid before his shut-down, but Wily Peralta has been dominant since taking his rotation spot.

Let’s say the Brewers don’t make any starting pitching-related moves this offseason. The 2013 rotation would look something like Gallardo, Estrada, Fiers, Rogers, and Peralta, since Marcum is leaving via free agency. There are plenty more prospects who will get a chance in ’13 Spring Training, but these pitchers are the ones with the most experience (despite the fact some of them still have very little experience).

There is definitely a lot of inexperience in that rotation, but, if they all pitch to their ability (and get solid run support while doing so), they could all be successful in the Majors. And, personally, I’d almost like to see the Brewers experiment with that next year.

But we know they won’t, because there’s too much risk involved. The Brewers will more than likely go after at least one free agent starter. But, many consider the 2012-13 offseason’s starter front to be one of the worst in years. The highlights will be Greinke, Marcum, Ryan Dempster, and that’s really about it, at least for big names. Greinke is definitely the safest of the three, and he expressed the possibility of re-signing with the Brewers this offseason. But we might have to wait and see if he’s still around after waiting for the $15 million per year that he isn’t going to get.

Since it’s more than likely the Brewers won’t pick up one of those three, I’d almost like to see the Brewers try an experiment of young, in-house starters in the rotation, like I said earlier, and I’d like to see that for a few reasons.

First off, it would keep the Brewers from thinking they need to make an actually unnecessary move that would make the team worse. The most recent examples of that are Wolf and Jeff Suppan. Now don’t get me wrong; I liked Wolf. He had a solid year and a half under his belt with the Crew prior to his release. But things weren’t clicking this year, which makes me worry about the Brewers signing a similar veteran over this offseason. I don’t think I need to explain my reasoning for Suppan.

The front office will probably think that veteran presence is needed in a young rotation, but Gallardo should be at the point of his career where he can start setting an example for the guys behind him and serve as that “veteran” (although he’ll only be 27 next year). Estrada hasn’t been on the Brewers for very long, but he’s been around. I don’t think the Brewers should waste money on getting that “veteran starter” this year.

My second reason is that the Brewers have something that they didn’t have previous years in which they needed a veteran guy: they have a ton of prospects that are big league ready. Fiers, despite his inconsistency recently (which could be due to fatigue from his first year in the Majors), should have a rotation spot locked up for next year. Before his shut-down, Rogers was giving the Brewers a chance to win every time out. It’s too early to say about Peralta, but, after three dominant starts, a good Spring Training next year could net him a rotation spot. And then there are all the prospects (i.e. Hiram Burgos) and the recent draft picks (i.e. Taylor Jungmann, Jed Bradley) that haven’t even made it to the Majors yet.

Even though Gallardo is the only pitcher who has a spot locked down for next year, the Brewers have so many starting pitching prospects that they’ll have to be able to get something out of at least some of them, particularly the ones who are getting big league experience this year. This could be the makings of a very dominant future rotation for the Brewers; why not get a glimpse of it next year?

It wasn’t mentioned publicly as to whether or not there were scouts at the game, but you can bet there were at least a few. And they couldn’t have liked what they saw. Marcum lasted just four innings while giving up three runs on five hits. He also uncharacteristically walked four batters. There were some signs for concern, especially in the fourth inning, when Marcum stopped to stretch out his leg after every pitch. He was removed with what was later diagnosed as right calf cramping.

That certainly didn’t boost his trade value, but you have to wonder if Marcum would have been dealt anyway. Today is the waiver Trade Deadline, during which players must first clear waivers before having the ability to be traded to any team. Marcum was placed on waivers on Wednesday, and it has yet to be reported whether or not he’s cleared them or if a team has placed a claim on him. If Marcum is dealt by 10:59 CT tonight, he’ll be eligible to play in the postseason for another team. If he’s traded to another team following the deadline, he’ll be able to help that team reach the postseason, but not be able to actually participate in the playoffs.

In other words, the Brewers have around eight hours left to get a deal done involving Marcum, otherwise he’s probably staying with the Brewers until the offseason.

The Brewers would probably prefer to trade him, since Marcum himself has said he expects to test the free agent waters this offseason. Teams that could have had interest (or maybe still do) in him were the Dodgers (obviously), Yankees, and Orioles. The Reds could have also made sense, but trades between division rivals are unlikely at this point of the season.

So, assuming the Brewers fail to get a deal done before the deadline tonight, all Marcum can do now is hope to stay healthy for the rest of the season- something he’s clearly struggled to do- and audition for a free agent market that should be otherwise weak on the starting pitching front.

John Axford hasn’t been spared from this, either. After April of 2011, this guy was one of the premier closers in the game. He broke Francisco Cordero’s previous Brewers save record of 44 by notching 46 saves, which was tied for the National League lead with Craig Kimbrel of the Braves. Axford also boasted a stellar 1.95 ERA in 2011. He even appeared on the Cy Young Award and MVP ballots, placing ninth and 17th, respectively.

But it’s been a completely different season for Axford this year. Every so often, you’ll see a closer with a high ERA, but sometimes it’s deceptive because he has a better ERA in save situations. But that isn’t the case with Axford; his 5.08 ERA tells you every bit how bad he’s been in the closer’s role, as do his league-leading eight blown saves.

From what I’ve seen- and I’m sure other would agree- it’s Axford’s confidence that’s making him falter. In 2011, he looked like he was in complete control on the mound. This year, his body language looks different, and he almost looks scared to throw certain pitches. That certain pitch is probably the curveball, which he seems to have lost all control of this year. In 2011, he’s devastating 12-6 curve, paired with the high-90’s fastball and slider, was what made him such a dominant closer. The curve just hasn’t been there for him this year, and he was probably struggling to adjust.Until recently, that is. Axford converted saves in the last two games of the Cubs series. He looked like he was in 2011-form in the last game, as he struck out the side. The one thing I noticed was he didn’t rely on the curve; he got by using the fastball-slider combination. That tells me he’s finally adjusted to closing without the curveball.And Axford knows that now. Apparently, Axford personally asked Ron Roenicke for the closer’s role back. He said he wanted to restore order in the bullpen, and took blame for the inconsistency of the bullpen the past few months by not being able to lock down the important closer’s role.Axford’s problem all year, starting with that blown save in Kansas City, was confidence. But, it had to have taken confidence to personally ask the manager for the role that he’d been struggling in back, which says his confidence is starting to return. Now Axford needs to continue bringing that confidence back to the mound in the ninth inning, and he could be back into 2011 form before we know it.

It certainly doesn’t feel like it, though. Marcum has been out since early June, and was originally slated to miss just one or two starts with shoulder soreness, which has become quite common with Marcum over the past few years. But, it feels like he’s had to go through endless setbacks, including both shoulder and elbow issues. So here we are in mid-August, and Marcum still hasn’t returned to the rotation.

Barring any more “frustrating,” as Marcum calls them, setbacks, we should see him finally back in the rotation as soon as next week. Marcum has been rehabbing with the Timber Rattlers, the Brewers’ Class A affiliate, and has had up and down results. In his first start, which was last week, Marcum threw 36 pitches- 28 for strikes- over three solid innings while surrendering a solo homer. Marcum made his second start last night, which didn’t go quite as cleanly. He went 3 2/3 innings while giving up three runs, two of which were earned, on four hits. He also walked two and struck out four. But, Marcum needed 59 pitches (39 strikes) to get through those 3 2/3 innings.

Prior to his injury, Marcum was one of the more consistent Brewers starters, with a 5-3 record and 3.39 ERA. His only real bad start was a six-run disaster against the Giants back in May. Had he stayed healthy, Marcum would have been on pace to have a similar season to that of his 2011 season, when he went 13-7 with a 3.54 ERA.

Unfortunately, it looks like Marcum is going to come back, hope to stay healthy the last month or so, then test the free agent waters this offseason. I’ve heard multiple reasons that Marcum might be choosing to stay with the Brewers. The first is Marcum is bitter that the Brewers didn’t even attempt to extend him last offseason because they focused so much on Zack Greinke, despite the fact Marcum showed a lot of interest in staying Milwaukee long-term. Another rumor is that the Brewers think Marcum is going to draw $12.5 million per year. Even though Marcum is probably going to be a coveted starter in an offseason where there won’t be many starters available, I just can’t see him getting that much; his injury-plagued career doesn’t match it. The last reason is the Brewers simply don’t want him anymore because of his collapse in September and the postseason of 2011. Marcum had a 5.17 September ERA last year, and a horrible 14.90 ERA in three postseason starts, all of which he lost.

The most likely of those is that Brewers honestly think he’s going to attract too many suitors on the free agent market, and that they won’t be able to maintain him.

But we’ll see what happens. It’s a bit early to get into all of that free agent mumbo-jumbo. There’s still time for us to see how Marcum responds to not pitching in over two months, and that will determine his free agent situation.

Unfortunately, the bullpen is the third vital piece to a good, contending team, and that’s the one piece the Brewers have been missing all year. They have arguably the worst bullpen in baseball. You can say what you want about the Mets or the Rockies, but there are few bullpens in baseball that you can give a six-run lead, and that bullpen will find a way to blow it. But that’s been the story of the Brewers’ bullpen.

However, there has been one piece down in the ‘pen recently who has given Brewers fans hope. That reliever is the Canadian 29 year-old long time farmhand Jim Henderson.

Prior to his call-up, Henderson had been in the Minor Leagues for all 10 of his professional seasons, without getting even one call-up. You have to wonder how he didn’t go insane while toiling down there. Before joining the Brewers’ system in 2009, he had previously pitched in the systems of the Expos/Nationals and the Cubs.

Henderson had the definition of an inconsistent Minor League career, which could be why it took him so long to get to the Majors. One year, he’d have a stellar sub-3.00 ERA, then the next year he’d get shelled and his ERA would skyrocket to over 5.00. Take his career in the Brewers’ farm system, for instance. In 2009, his first year in the system, he had a 2.04 ERA at Single-A, High-A, and Double-A combined. Then, in 2010 at Double-A, he struggled to a 5.46 ERA. In 2011, he came back and put up a 2.64 ERA at Double-A, but had problems after his call-up to Triple-A, posting a 5.93 ERA in half of a season there.

So that meant he was due for a good year this year, and it definitely happened. In 35 games for Triple-A Nashville, Henderson went 4-3 with a 1.69 ERA. That included his first 21 games of the season in which he didn’t give up an earned run. Henderson served as the closer for the Sounds, notching 15 saves before his call-up.

So far, he’s brought that same a-game to the Majors. He has yet to factor in a decision, but has a 1.29 ERA in seven innings pitched over eight games.

Henderson has also answered a huge call the past two days: the job of the Brewers’ closer. Coming into the season, the Brewers thought they had two established closers at the back end of their bullpen in John Axford and Francisco Rodriguez. But that simply hasn’t been the case: Axford’s ERA is 5.10, and K-Rod’s sits at 5.48.

Axford did save the first game of the series with the Reds (with a little help from Norichika Aoki). But, the past two games, Ron Roenicke has opted to go to Henderson, which I’ve been begging him to do ever since Henderson’s call-up. I actually even tweeted before his call-up that I wanted Henderson to come up and become the closer.

A few months later (and probably a few months too late), my wish has been answered.

In the second game of this series, Henderson threw a 1-2-3 ninth, including a strikeout, in a 3-1 win that locked up Mike Fiers’ best start in the Majors so far. Then, today, Henderson tossed another scoreless ninth in the Brewers’ 3-2 comeback win. He did walk batter, but also struck out two.

Henderson definitely has the stuff to be a closer. He has that high-90’s fastball, then a deadly slider that compliments it perfectly.

But, it’ll be a long time before we know if Henderson can be a real closer in the big leagues. Obviously we haven’t seen enough of him, as he’s pitched in just eight games and has two saves. But, even if Henderson finishes the season as a great closer for the Brewers, we still won’t know. If Henderson has a 40-save season in 2013, we still won’t know. Why? Because of Derrick Turnbow. Because of Trevor Hoffman. Because of John Axford.

The Brewers have just had horrible luck with closers in recent years. Each of the closers I just listed was dominant for roughly a year and a half to two years, and then just flamed out. I want and hope that Henderson will be different than those guys, but we just won’t know for a few years.

For now, though, the Brewers have found a guy who can safely get them through the ninth inning, even in a close game. And that’s all we can ask for in a season like this.

Kottaras, originally a late round pick by the Padres in 2002, was picked up by the Brewers during the 2009-2010 offseason, on the same day that the Red Sox released him. He had served as the Brewers back-up catcher for most of the time since, except when he briefly took on the starting role in early 2010 after a season-ending injury to Gregg Zaun. He promptly lost it after the emergence of Jonathan Lucroy.

Kottaras hit .218 over his three seasons with the Brewers, which is what you’d expect from a back-up catcher most of the time. In his first season, 2010, he didn’t hit for a very high average (.203), but hit nine home runs and had 26 RBIs and showed some promising power. The power fell in 2011 (just five home runs), but he hit .252.

He got off to a very hot start this year, hitting three home runs in the Brewers’ first six games of the season. But, Kottaras hasn’t hit a home run since April 12^th, and his average fell from the mid-.400’s all the way to .209.

After Lucroy’s injury in late May, instead of using Kottaras as the starting catcher, Ron Roenicke opted to call up Martin Maldonado and try his hand at starting. Maldonado was hitting under .200 at Triple-A Nashville, but has been very productive at the plate since his call-up, with five home runs and a .275 average. With Lucroy recently coming back from his injury, there just wasn’t a place on the roster for Kottaras, who has just been serving as Randy Wolf’s personal catcher, on the roster any more. He was designated for assignment as the corresponding move for Lucroy’s return to the 25-man roster.

But the Brewers, who are still high on Kottaras, believed he still deserved a shot at playing in the Majors. Teams like the Indians, Blue Jays, and Athletics were interested in using him in the Majors, and it was the A’s who wound up getting him. The A’s definitely need help at the catching position, with their two catchers- Kurt Suzuki and Derek Norris- both hitting barely over .200. On the year, Athletics catchers are hitting for a cumulative .198 average. Kottaras won’t necessarily help with the average part, but he’s always had a massive on-base percentage (he had a .409 OBP despite his .209 average this year). His great eye helped with that, as he had more walks than strikeouts.

So best of luck to Kottaras in Oakland (or wherever else he winds up after). I’ve always tried to be high on him myself, but there isn’t room for him in Milwaukee any more.

After closer Francisco Rodriguez’s terrible outing last night in Philadelphia, he issued an apology via his Twitter account, @El_kid_rod57. Here’s what he said (split into two tweets):

First tweet: “I so sorry guys I do want to apologize for the performance the I did today from the bottom of my heart I will get better bcuz”

Second tweet: “You guys deserve better then that am sorry”

If you didn’t already know, English is not K-Rod’s primary language. He also posted the tweet in Spanish.

Anyway, this is sort of a classy move, I suppose. Not that it puts him off the hook for what truly was a very hard inning to watch, but it’s good to see he at least cares.

If you didn’t see the end of last night’s game, though, let me attempt to paint the picture. K-Rod started off the inning fine, striking out former Brewer Laynce Nix on a nasty curveball down and in. After that, however, he completely lost it. He proceeded to walk Jimmy Rollins, then give up a single to Juan Pierre. K-Rod also walked Chase Utley to load the bases. At first, I thought these were just more of his “20 minutes of terror” antics, but when he gave up a two-run single to Ryan Howard, it was obvious that wasn’t the case. K-Rod still had a one-run lead at that point, but not for long, as he went on to give up the game-tying single to Carlos Ruiz. He then walked Hunter Pence, and the last few pitches of that at-bat weren’t even close. K-Rod was flying and falling all over the place with his delivery and follow-through- towards the plate, towards first base, back at the mound- everywhere. Anyway, then the inevitable happened: he gave up a walk-off sacrifice fly to Ty Wigginton.

K-Rod’s final line? 0.2 innings, three hits, four earned runs, three walks, and one strikeout. It marked the second straight appearance that he walked three batters.

But the circumstances surrounding this game made the blown save that much worse. First off, K-Rod was given a three-run lead to work with going into the ninth, and managed to blow it before recording two outs. Second, the Brewers had just been swept in Cincinnati and were looking for a great win over Roy Halladay and the Phillies. Also, the bullpen blew yet ANOTHER lead for Randy Wolf; he’s got to be on the verge of breaking some sort of record for the most blown saves by his relievers behind him after exiting the game. Lastly, K-Rod’s ERA ballooned to 4.47, and his trade value has easily plummeted.

Even after that rant, though, it was good that he apologized. Again, not saying that it by any means lets him off the hook; nothing- including apologies- can fix the way this awful season has gone.

But now we need to hope that K-Rod won’t go down the road of John Axford and continue blowing more critical games. The Brewers are already basically out of contention, but this season doesn’t need to be any more painful than it already is.

Tyler Thornburg has been a- or the- top pitching prospect for the Brewers ever since he was drafted in 2010. The Brewers knew what they were getting when they took him out of college as a third round pick: a flamethrowing right-hander with a plus-breaking ball and a change-up that’s probably still improving.

Thornburg, along with a few others, has been talked about as the future ace of the Brewers. Everyone is high on him. He’s even drawn comparisons to Giants (used to be) ace Tim Lincecum, which I don’t quite I agree with since he doesn’t come nearly as over the top. Still, considering Lincecum has two Cy Young Awards on his shelf, that’s a pretty good pitcher to be compared to.

Thornburg lived up to that hype for pretty much all of his Minor League career. He dealt with injuries for awhile to begin his professional career, but proved to the Brewers that hitters at the rookie level and Single-A couldn’t hit him- he held hitters to a sub-.200 batting average while pitching for those affiliates. Fast forward to 2012, and that dominance continued at Double-A. He got off to a fast start this year for the Stars, starting the season 8-0 with a 2.54 ERA.

But this is where things probably got a bit crazy for him. All of a sudden, the Brewers started losing starting pitchers at the Major League level. When Marco Estrada was almost back, Shaun Marcum went promptly went down, leaving the Brewers with another rotation spot to fill. They had a couple of options of what to do at this point. The only Major League possibility was Manny Parra, but he hadn’t- and still hasn’t- started a game since late 2010. There were multiple Triple-A options who were Major League ready, such as Wily Peralta, Amaury Rivas, and so on, but none of them were pitching well enough at the time to be considered. So that made the Brewers go down one more level to Double-A, and who was the one pitcher that caught their eye immediately? It had to be Thornburg.

On June 19^th, nearly two years to the day that Thornburg was drafted by the Brewers, he found himself already making his big league debut. And it was coming against one of the better offenses in baseball, the Blue Jays. He fared well for the first five innings, but the wheels came off with one out in the sixth inning, when he gave up three consecutive home runs to Colby Rasmus, Jose Bautista, and Edwin Encarnacion. That spelled the end of his debut, which lasted 5 1/3 innings. He gave up five runs on seven hits while walking none and striking out two. It’s encouraging that he didn’t walk a batter, but the one glaring stat was the four home runs Thornburg gave up. He gave up six all year at Double-A, so that was already two-thirds of that total.

After that start, Thornburg was optioned down to Triple-A (which, oddly, was the one level he had yet to pitch at since he skipped it). He made one start down there (five innings, two runs, six strikeouts), but also spent a stint on the disabled list due to a very Brewer-like injury: falling into a coffee table.

Thornburg was recalled after the All-Star break and made one appearance prior to today, which came against the Pirates. He went two innings while giving up one earned run (of course that run had to be a home run).

Then, today, he had to make a spot start during the Zack Greinke hiatus. I don’t want to say it went well, but he at least managed to limit the damage. He went 4 2/3 innings while giving up two runs on five hits against the Cardinals. He walked four and struck out five. But, Thornburg needed 103 pitches to get through just 4 2/3 innings. Also, the two runs he gave up were solo home runs, which brings his season total to seven home runs given up. That’s already one more than he gave up in 75 innings at Double-A, and he’s thrown just 12 innings in the Majors.

These things bring me to my conclusion: he may have been rushed to the Majors. It feels like he’s trying to pitch like he’s still in the Minors, which calls for trouble in the Majors. He said himself after his start against the Jays that he felt he needed to work against every hitter, rather than just having to focus on the 3-4 hitters of a lineup in the Minors. That definitely showed today, because 103 pitches in 4 2/3 innings are far too many. He also needs to understand that leaving up low-90’s fastballs (that haven’t been set up the right way) in the Majors will usually result in home runs.

I’m not saying that Thornburg is a bad pitcher, or that he won’t have a successful career in the Majors. But I feel he was rushed, and there are still things he could work on in Triple-A. I would love to see him in the rotation next year (and I have a feeling we will), but first he needs to fix the little things.

At least lately, Green wasn’t given many chances to play. But when he was used as a pinch-hitter and/or received a rare start, he never really capitalized on the opportunities. The last time Green made a real impact on a game was on June 7^th, when he hit his first Major League home run, in a pinch-hit appearance. A day later, he hit his second career shot in another pinch-hit appearance. But Green cooled off since, and his last hit came on June 26^th in Cincinnati. He saw his batting average sink all the way to .198, which is probably what prompted his return to the Minors.

Obviously, though, the playing time he wasn’t receiving wasn’t helping the cause of his batting average. Green can play third base, second base, and first base (I think he can also play shortstop in emergency situations). But, as of right now, he’s blocked at all of those positions- Aramis Ramirez has played pretty much every day since returning from a quadricep strain, Rickie Weeks is proving that he deserves to stay in the lineup for now, and Corey Hart has played outstanding defense since his move to first base. That left Green in a rare pinch-hit role that was usually given to other lefties on the bench, such as Travis Ishikawa.

So I doubt Green was actually optioned because of his performance, but rather so he can get the consistent playing times he needs. Green has proven that he can hit at the Triple-A level, as he hit .336 with 36 home runs there last year before a late-August call-up. Unfortunately for him, though, he’ll probably be stuck there until there’s an opening somewhere at the Major League level. And with the way injuries have taken their toll so far this year, it could be pretty soon that we see Green back on the Brewers.

But nowadays, the Brewers haven’t had many issues filling their rotation spots, even in the case of an injury. Shaun Marcum is currently on the disabled list, which has left an extra spot open in the rotation. Marco Estrada and Michael Fiers are both pitching in the rotation right now, and are both doing solid jobs filling in (Estrada was already replacing Chris Narveson). But, once Marcum returns from the DL, and barring an injury to Gallardo, Zack Greinke, or Randy Wolf, either Estrada or Fiers is moving to the bullpen. Actually, if it’s Fiers’ case, he could even get sent down, because he has options left. But with the way he’s pitched, I’d have tough time imagining that.

Estrada is 0-3 on the season, but that’s rather deceptive, as is his 4.31 ERA. His strikeout numbers are remarkable for a guy who doesn’t appear, at least at first glance, to have the greatest stuff. He’s got 46 strikeouts in 42 innings to go along with a 9.9 K/9. His control has also gone relatively unnoticed, as he’s walked just nine batters in those 42 innings. His SO/BB ratio is a stellar 5.11 as well. Estrada was injured for awhile this season with a quad strain, which is why he has so few innings pitched. But, in his first start coming off the DL in Cincinnati, he had a career-high twelve strikeouts. He did give up three runs on a Jay Bruce home run in the sixth inning, though, which has sort of been the story of Estrada’s season. Say he pitches six innings. He’ll be nearly perfect for five of them, but gets hammered in one of them. That’s one thing he needs to avoid from here on out if he wants to make his case to stay in the rotation.

Fiers’ basic numbers, unlike Estrada’s, look remarkable. He’s 3-2 with a 2.29 ERA, and has taken decisions in five of his six career starts. He made his big league debut in early May against the Dodgers, picking up a win with seven strong innings. He struck out just three that start, which led me to believe he was going to be more of a contact pitcher in the Majors, but that hasn’t been the case since. He’s struck out at least five batters in his five following starts, including a stellar ten-strikeout performance his last time out against the Diamondbacks. Like Estrada, Fiers unexpectedly strikes out a lot of batters- his fastball rarely exceeds 90 MPH, and usually lives in the Marcum range of 86-89. Yet, his K/9 is 9.4. But, Fiers has better stuff than Estrada, in my opinion. In his start against the White Sox during Interleague, he threw one of the best curveballs I have ever seen (you can watch the pitch here). Anyway, it’s needless to say I’m very high on Fiers.

If I had to choose which one of these pitchers would stay in the rotation following Marcum’s return, I would have to go with Fiers. There’s a bit of personal bias there, but I have a few reasons for it. Like I’ve kept saying, I think Fiers just has overall better stuff than Estrada. I also think Fiers will be more consistent for the long run, since he’s always been stretched out as a starter, and can avoid the big inning better.

But, there’s the possibility that, by Opening Day 2013, Greinke, Marcum, and Wolf are all off the roster. Despite what Ron Roenicke has been saying lately, the Greinke trade appears to inevitable. Marcum showed interest in staying in Milwaukee over this past offseason, but Doug Melvin didn’t acknowledge that, and odds are it’s too late now. Wolf would be the easiest of the three to retain, but the season he’s having right now tells me that the Brewers won’t pick up his $10 million option. Unless he has a monster second half- which isn’t out of the question, he did it in 2010- Wolf is as good as gone as well. Anyway, you’d hope the Brewers can keep at least one of these guys, preferably Greinke or Marcum.

It’s pretty much a given that that both Estrada and Fiers will be in the Brewers’ rotation in 2013. But, right now, the Brewers have to make a decision on who’s staying in the rotation when Marcum returns. And it should be Fiers.