The Milwaukee Brewers have acquired 26 year old righty reliever Seth McClung from the Devil Rays for Grant Balfour. Seth McClung reminds me a lot Derrick Turnbow and it will be interesting to see how he works with pitching coach Mike Maddux. No one has ever questioned the arm of McClung as he brings big time heat to the plate but he doesn’t know how to pitch. McClung has pitched in 40 games in AAA this season for the D-Rays and he was 1-5 with 5 saves, a 1.99 ERA and a 1.38 WHIP. In 58.2 innings this season in the minors he has allowed 38 hits, walked 43 batters and whiffed 68. McClung has three seasons of major league experience with the Devil Rays and the results have not been pretty. He has pitched in 85 games (37 starts) for the Devil Rays and he has a 17-24 record with 6 saves, a 6.27 ERA and a 1.65 WHIP. In 251 major league innings McClung has allowed 259 hits, 40 homers, walked 155 batters and whiffed 176. Coach Maddux will have his work cut out with McClung.

The Brewers are happy to get a pitcher with McClung’s stuff for Grant Balfour who they actually had designated for assignment. Balfour pitched in 3 games for the Brewers this season and he was 0-2 with a 20.25 ERA.

The Brewers have acquired righty reliever Scott Linebrink from the Padres to fortify their bullpen but the price was high. The Brewers traded righty Will Inman and lefties Joe Thatcher and Steve Garrison. Baseball America had ranked Inman as the #3 prospect in the entire Brewers minor league organization. The magazine also had Thatcher (#23) and Garrison (#27) ranked highly in the Brewers system. Still, Linebrink is one of the best setup men in baseball and he will give the Brewers the flexibility to trade Derrick Turnbow for a big hitter (maybe Jermaine Dye). Linebrink has pitched in 44 games this season for the Padres and he was 3-3 with 1 save, a 3.80 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP. In 45 innings this season Linebrink has allowed 41 hits, 9 homers, walked 14 batters and whiffed 25.

The Brewers have placed Ben Sheets on the 15-day disabled list with a partial tear of the tissue surrounding the tendon in his right middle finger. Sheets has started 19 games this season and he is 10-4 with a 3.39 ERA and a 1.16 WHIP so far this season. In 119.1 innings Sheets has allowed 113 hits, walked only 25 batters and whiffed 90. Look for Yovani Gallardo to get his big chance to start for the Brewers with Sheets out. Gallardo is 1-1 with a 2.83 ERA and a 1.05 WHIP in 6 games (3 starts) for the Brewers this season. He has thrown 28.2 innings this season and he has allowed 21 hits, walked 9 batters and whiffed 27. Look for him to do a good job for the Brewers. Still this is a bad break for both the Brewers and Sheets as he was finally getting the run support that could have made him a 20 game winner this season.

With the exception of Ben Sheets the Brewers rotation has been pretty bad so far this season. Chris Capuano is off to a rough start in 2007 as he is 5-6 with a 4.78 ERA and a 1.48 WHIP. Look for him to rebound in the 2nd half of the season as he’s been a little banged up in the first half of the season. Jeff Suppan is starting to regress back into the pitcher he used to be before he got to the St. Louis Cardinals. He is only 8-8 with a 5.00 ERA and a 1.50 WHIP so far this season. The Brewers gave Suppan a lot of money in the off season and they need him to start earning it. Dave Bush (7-7, 4.86 ERA, 1.33 WHIP) and Claudio Vargas (6-2, 4.52 ERA, 1.49 WHIP) both need to pitch better in the second half of the season to keep their jobs because the Brewers have Yovani Gallardo and Carlos Villanueva waiting for their chance to start out in the bullpen.

The Brewers pitching staff is being carried by Ben Sheets in the starting rotation and Francisco Cordero at the back end of the bullpen. Sheets has stayed healthy and that is all he needed to do to dominate. He is 10-4 with a 3.41 ERA and a 1.17 WHIP so far this season. Look for Sheets to make a push at 20 victories as he finally has a team around him good enough to make that a reality for once. Francisco Cordero is 0-2 with 27 saves, a 2.86 ERA and a 1.07 WHIP. His improved control is the biggest reason for his dominance as he has only walked 12 batters and whiffed 49 in 34.2 innings this season.