Estrada is currently living in opposite land; he’s dominant on the road but lousy at home. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

Milwaukee Brewers starting pitcher Marco Estrada‘s home/road splits are eye-opening. In seven starts this season, Estrada has been shelled at home while being paramount on the road. Estrada gives up a bushels worth of home runs almost every time he takes the mound at Miller Park, which is a notorious hitter-friendly stadium. If the 29-year-old (I can’t believe he’s 29 either) wasn’t so prone to giving up long balls, Miller Park would be more accepting of him.

His situation is unique. In most cases, pitchers thrive in their home environments. They have the hometown fans rooting for them and they’re familiar with the ballpark. But for Estrada, it seems like he’s more comfortable when he’s far, far away from Milwaukee.

Now obviously I don’t really believe that Estrada should only pitch when the Brewers are on the road, but his road stats are something to take notice of. Take a look at his splits.

Those numbers are staggering. In the same number of innings, Estrada has allowed 14 more earned runs and five more home runs at home than on the road.

In all likelihood, Estrada will get back on track at Miller Park and his ERA will start to suffer on the road. Before this year, he had been much more efficient at home, but this is his first season as a full-time starter; maybe that has something to do with it. It obviously would be ideal if he could find a way to improve his home starts while keep dominating on the road, but that’s being a bit optimistic.

If his road dominance and home lousiness continues, do you think it’s possible that the Brewers only start Estrada when they’re on the road?

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Like it or not, those are the facts. The response and reactions by Brewers fans have been decidedly polarized, many arguing that Lohse is just going to be another Jeff Suppan, while many others believing that his success with the St. Louis Cardinals will translate to Milwaukee. After all, Lohse doesn’t have to start against the Brewers anymore—a team he owns a career 4.44 ERA against.

This article isn’t really about what I believe regarding Lohse, what I think about the reactions, or anything like that… though my opinions will be present in my evaluation of him. It’s just that I’ve been sitting here racking my brain trying to figure out how this is going to impact the starting rotation. Who’s in, who’s out? How will those chosen to carry the starting torch perform? And what will the outsiders looking in be left to do?

To start, we’re going to go with the three certainties of this rotation. Barring injury, these first three pitchers make a formidable punch in the National League (which is somewhat hinting at my opinion on Lohse).

1 – Yovani Gallardo 

The ace of the rotation, even though the man just signed gave up 0.8 less runs per nine innings than Gallardo last season. That’s not a knock on Gallardo—he’s the best pitcher in this rotation until someone definitively shows otherwise. His ERA is consistently bloated by a few really, really bad starts every year. For roughly 27 games, you can expect Gallardo to go on the mound and be one of the best pitchers in baseball. For the other five, you have to watch his 93 MPH fastball get clobbered out of the ballpark over and over again. His stat-line last season was pretty decent—16-9, 3.66 ERA, 204 IP, 204 K, 1.304 WHIP—but it’s only a glimpse of what he’s capable of.

Gallardo always puts together numbers similar to those… a K/9 of around 9.0, an ERA in the mid-3′s, and pretty good numbers everywhere that just don’t shout “ace”. To see the ace in Yovani, you have to go deeper than the numbers and realize that he’s better than his statistics indicate. He’s a dominating presence on the mound almost every time he steps out, he’s capable of going the full nine (even though skipper Ron Roenicke won’t allow it), and he will give you 200 good innings a season. He has the stuff of an ace, with a fastball sitting around 92-94, a new cutter around 90s, a slider/cutter hybrid in the mid-80s, and a huge power curve in the low 80s.

He will continue to be the ace for the foreseeable future… hopefully a contract extension is in the works.

2 – Kyle Lohse

The man that started the article, the man that is lighting up Milwaukee fans around the country, and the man that everyone is glad to see find a home, if for no other reason than to end the news cycle. Lohse’s free agency expedition is well documented and commented on, and may very well be the catalyst in reforming some of the draft-pick compensation rules that came with the new Collective Bargaining Agreement. A client of Scott Boras (AKA: He Who Must Not Be Named, You Know Who, LORD VOLDEMORT), Lohse naturally came out of the season and into the winter aiming for the stars, seeking a deal for as long as five years at $15 million a year. Yeah right. If the Brewers had jumped on that grenade, maybe then I’d be a little perturbed.

Behind Gallardo, Lohse is going to carve a nice home in the Keg. The many doubters out there will point to his mediocre-to-bad seasons, primarily when he was in the American League, but it’s a lot easier for me to look at the very recent success he’s had in a division he’s very familiar with. The Suppan comparisons are, quite frankly, outrageous. Lohse has some very good pitches, and since he’s developed his low-90s two-seam fastball, he’s been one of the best pitchers in the NL Central, leading the league in win percentage last season (16-3), and as I mentioned besting Gallardo by a significant margin in ERA with a sparkling 2.86 ERA in 2012, and another great ERA of 3.39 the year before. Suppan had a fastball that sat at 87 MPH, and didn’t have much else. He was a bum and a bad signing, period. Lohse is not the same pitcher.

He’s a ground ball pitcher, not relying much on the strikeout. That’s okay though, because Aramis Ramirez played Gold Glove defense at third, Jean Segura is a young and very talented shortstop, Rickie Weeks will commit his fair share of errors, but is an altogether solid defender at second, and once Hart is back in action, he’ll be fine at 1st.

Lohse probably won’t replicate his sub-3 ERA with Milwaukee this season. I’m expecting him to give them around 200 innings of mid-3 ERA work. My official prediction: 209 IP, 3.48 ERA, 135K, 1.110 WHIP. Good enough to be a strong No. 2 behind Yo.

3: Marco Estrada

Entering Spring Training, long before the addition of Lohse, Estrada was pegged as the No. 2 starter behind Gallardo. I don’t think he’s going to have his feelings hurt being knocked down one peg to number three, especially when it’s an established veteran like Lohse taking his No. 2 spot.

I’m a huge Marco Estrada fan, and I’m not going to pretend otherwise. The fact that the Brewers obtained him for pretty much nothing and have turned him into an absolutely fantastic pitcher is a beautiful thing to me. He had a remarkable season last year, with a sparkling stat-line (5-7, 3.64 ERA, 138.1 IP, 143 K, 1.142 WHIP, and a ridiculous K/BB of 4.93), and a solid pitching repertoire that has continued to blossom. He hits his spots with his low-to-mid 90s fastball, and he misses a ton of bats with his strong cruve, and his bread and butter, a fading change-up in the low 80s.  Estrada can strikeout batters in droves, and in most starts, he looks like Yovani Gallardo 2.0 (with an even better ERA and K/BB!)

This will be his first season entering opening day as a starter instead of a long reliever. Given this immediate boost, and barring an injury, Estrada will be another pitcher who gives the Brewers 200 innings and he will deliver a K/9 around 9.0, similar to that of Gallardo. The thing is, I think Estrada isn’t just going to be as good as last year—I think he’s going to be better. If his strong spring training is any indication (1.88 ERA, 14.2 IP, 12 K, 9.5 OppQual), Estrada is going to emerge as a household name in 2013, and could very well outshine the two high-profile names above him. Don’t be surprised if Estrada posts an ERA in the low-3′s. His method of pounding the strike zone while still getting hitters to miss the ball is an ability no other Brewers pitcher has. It could be special.

4. Chris Narveson

Okay, here’s where things start to get tricky. Narveson has performed fairly well this spring, and appears to have come back from a season ending torn rotator cuff that limited him to two (bad) starts last season. He’s a lefty with a lot of major league experience, and he knows how to pitch in the majors. I’m not wild about Narveson, and in most other rotations, I believe he’d be the No. 5 starter at best, but we’ll get there in a minute.

Realistically, Roenicke and pitching coach Rick Kranitz are going to keep Narveson on a very, very short least, especially to start the season. Five inning outings, and any sign of trouble will result in Narveson being pulled and evaluated. Narveson doesn’t have any pitches that blow you away, and his fastball only touches 90 once every blue moon, but he mixes his pitches well, and even with his lack of knockout pitches, he still does a good job of striking batters out, owning a career K/9 of 7.4 (compared to Lohse’s 5.6). The fact that he’s done well this spring and is a left handed pitcher gives him the upper-edge over the other guys vying for the last two spots in the rotation. You can expect a so-so year from Narveson as long as he stays healthy. Around 160 or so innings, an ERA in the mid-4′s… you know the drill with Narveson. Nothing that will astonish you (except on the occasional night when he looks like an ace), but nothing that will repulse you.

5. Wily Peralta AND Mike Fiers

Okay, okay. I know. One spot, two pitchers. But think about it… does platooning the fifth spot not make at least a little sense? Mike Fiers clearly showed us last year that he is more than capable of pitching in the majors, and was, at one point, the most un-hittable man on the mound in the country. Peralta is a young fireballer who saw success in his limited time as a Brewer last season. Both are ready to start in the majors (even if their spring training numbers haven’t been great), and both are good enough to earn this fifth spot. After the top three, the Brewers are going to be doing a lot of mixing and matching, so why not start the season out with a six-man rotation, having Fiers and Peralta start once every 10 days each, with some bullpen time inbetween to keep their arms active? It’s an experiment worth trying when you’re looking at two candidates both deserving of the job.

If the powers that be in Milwaukee decide it has to be one or the other (which they probably will), I’d have to say they’re going to give Peralta the job, but have Fiers on speed dial ready to make a run like he did last year in place of an ineffective or an injured pitcher. Giving the nod to Peralta is because of his upper-90s fastball and devastating slider… two pitches that are just too good to pass up, and even though his spring numbers aren’t much to look at, I think he’s going to be just fine if he’s given the opportunity.

The rest of it. 

Mark Rogers is out of minor league options and to say that he has underperformed this Spring is an understatement. He’s suffering from a case of “dead arm” right now, lowering his velocity and greatly limiting his control. He’s confident this will blow over and he’ll be ready to contribute to the team. But when… well, if this happens, what role will Rogers serve? Tom Gorzelanny is the long reliever, and Melvin already made plenty of upgrades in what was the the worst bullpen in the majors from last year.

Rogers is going to start the season as a middle relief pitcher, probably getting a few long relief appearances if Gorzelanny is seeing too much action in too short of a time. There’s no way the Brewers risk placing him on waivers to go to the minors, because any number of teams would scoop him up in a heartbeat, and there goes a fifth overall draft pick with seemingly unlimited, but still unrealized potential. If this dead arm phase passes, and Rogers starts to perform, what happens to the rotation? What about Tyler Thornburg and Johnny Hellweg, both sent to AAA Nashville, but both nearly ready to make it in the bigs?

A lot of people are saying this rotation lacks depth, but I’d argue that they’re suffering from a bit too much, though that’s not really a bad problem, given the fact that any number of these pitchers could be injured at any point (knock on wood).

I love the addition of Lohse. Without him, the rotation is too young and too volatile. I think he’s going to perform well in Milwaukee, and I think the comparisons to Jeff Suppan are pretty outlandish.

If nothing else, with the addition of Lohse, the Brewers’ top three starters combine to make a formidable punch, and the bottom of the rotation (along with the outsiders looking in) contain massive upside. This is not a rotation to be overlooked.

Tha-Tha is “set” for a positive 2013 campaign. (Frank Victores-USA TODAY Sports)

Brewer Nation also has a preview on the right-hander. Give that a look and you’ll have reached your daily dose of Marco!

To the song lyrics!

Oh Marco–I’m shallow
But I don’t want you to think
That you’re buying my love
With these things

While he may be unable to buy over singer Jane Siberry’s love, Brewers starting pitcher Marco Estrada’s emergence in 2012 won over the organization and its fans.

After being thrust into a starting role amidst a flurry of starting pitching injuries, Estrada, 29, went 5-7 with a 3.64 era (3.35 FIP), 1.14 WHIP, and a sparkling 4.93 K/BB ratio.

Estrada’s numbers were similar to fellow starting pitcher Mike Fiers after Fiers regressed from his white-hot start (yes, pun intended). Both used deceptive off-speed pitches and good command to post the two highest K-rates of all Brewers pitchers with at least 20 starts.  Marco’s changeup has shown to, at times, be one of (if not the) best single pitches of any player wearing the blue and gold jersey this spring.

Many believe – myself, among them – that 2013 is the year for Estrada to emerge as the number two starter that this rotation needs. At the helm is the undisputed ace, Yovani Gallardo, but behind him is a plethora of fresh faces. At only 32 career starts, Estrada holds the second most starts of the seven or so pitchers in contention for starting rotation spots.

Estrada delivers a pitch during his lights-out start against Chicago in August.  (Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports)

Drafted in 2005 by the Nationals and selected off waivers by Milwaukee in February 2010, Estrada command is key to his success. He’s not going to power by many hitters, but will rack up the strikeouts (a career 9.02 K/9) with a blend of fastballs, changeups, curves, and the very rare cutter.

Over his final eight starts to 2012, Estrada showed just exactly how dominant he can be. Taking out two rough starts, he gave up one earned run over a 41.2 inning span.

One.

This included a nine-strikeout, six-inning blanking of the Cubs in August; a one-run, ten strikeouts in seven innings against Pittsburgh; and an outstanding eight-inning, eleven-punchout shutout dominance against Houston in his final start. All in all, he held a 2.63 era in September over six starts, showing no fatigue at all.

If the youth movement at starting pitcher that Ron Roenicke and Doug Melvin are going with is to work, Estrada has to be a mainstay at the top of the rotation.

2013 RtB Predictions: 12-9, 30 GS, 195 IP, 3.87 ERA, 202 K, 40 BB, 2.7 WAR, one good lookin’ mohawk.

Follow @ReviewngTheBrew on Twitter and/or the author (and self-proclaimed most active Twitterist of the staff), Curt Hogg. Be sure to like us on Facebook, too, for more Brewers Season Outlook updates.

To view previous season outlooks, click here. To view last year’s previews, go here.

If you had said that a year ago, most people would have laughed in your face.

Not many players in the major leagues have a history like Estrada, who went from being a nobody with no upside when he was with the Washington Nationals, all the way to being a top-of-the-rotation starter with the Milwaukee Brewers.

What happened? It could be anyone’s guess. For as long as he’s been in the majors, even during those two forgettable years in Washington, Estrada has always been able to strike batters out, so it’s not like he lacked talent.

Estrada has always had good stuff. His four-seam fastball is usually thrown around 91-93 MPH, he has a good hard curveball in the upper-70s, and he has a great change-up with excellent movement in the low-80s. The change-up is probably his best pitch, but he’s more than capable of throwing all with great control and command.

Estrada has become a control freak the past two years. In 2011 he pitched to a respectable 3.03 K/BB ratio, but in 2012 he managed a ridiculous 4.93 K/BB. His strikeout ratio was 9.3 K/9, and he had a minuscule 1.9 BB/9.

That’s where the question of how he got here arises… he went from having virtually no control (2008-2010 BB/9 of 4.3) to being one of the best command/control pitchers in baseball.

It could be the coaching staff in Milwaukee and its minor league affiliates, or it could just be Estrada coming into a state of maturation a little later than the normal pitcher.

He’s capable of a ton of strikeouts without surrendering too many walks. Usually you have to pick one or the other—a guy who isn’t afraid to walk someone by pitching off the plate for the strikeout, or a guy who hammers the strike zone and pitches to contact without surrendering too many walks.

Even the club ace, Yovani Gallardo, falls into the former category. His 3.6 BB/9 and 9.0 K/9 give him a respectable 2.52 K/BB, but Gallardo definitely has to walk a few to get his high strikeout numbers.

The shocking thing about Estrada? His 2012 9.3 K/9 is higher than Gallardo’s 9.0.

Granted, there are flaws here, chief among them being that Estrada pitched over 60 innings fewer than Gallardo last season.

In fact, last season was Estrada’s first real chance to be a full-time starter. It didn’t happen immediately, and he had to take some time on the DL due to an injury, whereas Gallardo has been a solid workhorse every season since 2009.

This article isn’t about who’s better than who, though. I don’t think there’s a person on the planet who would argue that Estrada is better than Gallardo. Gallardo, if he could just stop having three or four bad outings every season, could be a Cy Young Award candidate. Estrada is just now emerging as a legitimate starting threat.

Estrada will be on the opening day starting rotation for the first time in his career this season, and he’s probably going to be pretty high up in that rotation. Ron Roenicke recently opined that the only two “certainties” to make the rotation are Gallardo and Estrada, leading me to believe that Estrada will be the Brewers’ No. 2 starter unless the Brewers decide to sign Kyle Lohse (which they shouldn’t).

Is he good enough for that high-billing though?

To put it succinctly, yes. He is.

Estrada was downright dominant in most of his starts last season. It seems as if, at the age of 28, Estrada has finally figured out how to pitch in the majors.

The past two seasons have been his coming out party, and it seems like every time we see him he just keeps getting better and better. Don’t be surprised if Estrada rivals Gallardo as the best starter in this rotation this season.

He is a true diamond in the rough. He’s come from being a no-name reliever/minor league cellar dweller with Washington all the way through the ranks to high-rotation starter. Not many pitchers make that ascent and get better as they go. There’s usually a period of necessary adjustment to transition from reliever to starter.

Not for Estrada, though. He took the starting job in stride and hasn’t stopped getting better.

It’s interesting to look at the Brewers’ roster and see all of the players that have been transformed from nothings to integral parts of a pretty good team. Estrada, along with rotation partner Mike Fiers, relievers Jim Henderson and John Axford, as well as several position players have all climbed from anonymity to relative stardom.

Now we just have to see if Estrada can really hold onto the job for a full season. My guess is a resounding yes.

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One of the most comforting parts of the Milwaukee Brewers team of 2012 was the starting pitching. With a few exceptions aside, the starting rotation of the Brew Crew was consistently giving this club a chance to win every time they stepped to the mound. Whether it was the high-paid star, the staff ace, the spot starter or the rookie, it seemed like every one of the starters knew what they needed to do and how to handle the pressure.

With so many great performances, it was hard to pick just one. So we didn’t.

(more…)

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?

Well, I think it’s safe to say that the Milwaukee Brewers have the Cubs’ numbers this season, wouldn’t you?

Tonight, Marco Estrada‘s second season victory was secured as the hard-swinging Brewers came up big in the ninth inning. It was Milwaukee’s 11th victory over the Northsiders in 2012, and the second most runs they have scored all season.

(more…)

With the season far out of reach of the postseason, the coaching staff and front office for the Brewers are switching to a new strategy – tinkering. The changes are set to come later this month and into September as Shaun Marcum looks to get back into the rotation following a long stint on the Disabled List after dealing with elbow problems.

(more…)

Ron Roenicke (10) argues with home plate umpire Joe West (22) after being ejected from a game against the Houston Astros. Photo:

As a game, baseball is unfair.  Not just on the field, but on the business end as well.  Sometimes, heads have to roll.  One Brewers coach already did a Louis XVI earlier this season, bullpen coach Stan Kyles.  I think that is enough for now, but it turns out I am in the minority of the Brew Crew Nation.  Many of you do not want to see RRR back in the dugout next season.   

We can credit this seasons disappointments to many things: poor pitching, untimely hitting, a complete and total lack of facial hair.  The one thing I do not think any of us can blame this on is the skipper, Ron Roenicke.  (I mean you can, and most of you do, but you shouldn’t) 
 
It is not Ron’s fault that his bullpen couldn’t close out a Little League World Series game.  The only guys that he can roll out there to finish of the 7th, 8th, and 9th innings, are the ones on the roster.  It’s not like he can waive a magic bullpen wand and make them all go away.  Or even better, waive the wand and make them better pitchers.  The current state of the pen leaves RRR very little to work with.  K-Rod has been a joke(2-6, 3 saves, 5.55 ERA), Axford has been uncharacteristically bad (4-7, 18 saves, 5.25 ERA), and everyone else has been adequate at best.  So, I  guess the question is, why is everyone ragging on RRR for the teams struggles? 
 
I am fairly certain that there is not a skipper on this earth that would trade places with Ron.  This guy lost his opening day shortstop, 1st baseman, and #5 starter in his rotation within the first 2 weeks of 2012.  Then you add the loss of Prince Fielder, Takashi Saito, his lover Mark Kotsay, Jerry Hairston Jr, and LaTroy Hawkins before the season even started.  Sprinkle a dash of 23 blown saves by your bullpen, two sluggers who started the season batting under .200 (Ramirez and Weeks), and finally a pinch of terrible batting with runners in scoring position…and you have the 2012 Brewers.  A mess, by any standard. 
 
Now, I am not a Ron Roenicke fan.  I did not think that he was the right person for the job when they hired him last winter (I love Dale Sveum), and that still holds true.  However, what is happening this season, can not be put on him.  And I will defend him for the duration of the season, because the assault he has taken from Brewers fans is unwarranted.  While he may not be my favorite Brewers skipper, he is certainly better than the last two (Macha and Yost). 
 
This bullpen has 23 blown saves.  TWENTY-THREE!!!!!  If they had saved even 40% of those opportunities the team would be a game over .500 and maybe Greinke would still be around.  But they didn’t, so we aren’t, and he isn’t.  Again, not Ron’s fault. 
 
Trying to predict the Crew’s offensive consistency, is a lot like trying to predict how many pounds of garbage it would take to make an entire city stink.  It’s pointless and nobody wants to know. 
 
If you are one of the many people who want Roenicke’s head to roll, just ask yourself this question:
 
If I was coaching the Brewers and we had a one run lead in the 9th inning, who do I send out to close the game?
 
That question SUCKS!!  And quite frankly, I don’t want to answer it.  Do you?  Can you imagine being in that position on Friday and Saturday night against the fricking Astros.  It is a lose/lose situation.  And if we can not stop the Astros offense from walk-off wins…who can we stop? 

Put quite simply, Brewers fans are better than regular fans.  This unnecessary assault on Ron Roenicke needs to stop.  We are not the Yankees, Phillies, or Red Sox.  Let’s not just assume that everything that is wrong with the team is the managers fault.  It is not his fault that management offered K-Rod arbitration, thus ending any hope of bringing back Hawkins and Saito.  It is not Ron’s fault that there is not a single pitcher in his bullpen that he can trust.   And it is certainly not his fault that this team has played flat and lifeless baseball from day one. 

My Dad always said, “If you dress a turd in a tuxedo, it is still a turd.”  The 2012 Brewers are lucky to even have a tuxedo.  I think that any skipper should be given at least 3 season, unless that manager is Ken Macha.  In my next piece (due next week), I will share with you why I think the Brewers are in a prime position for making a run in 2013.  And I would be extremely disappointed in Brewers management if Ron Roenicke was not a part of that.