The Brewers have pulled righty starter Carlos Villanueva from the starting rotation and they’ve replaced him with Seth McClung. Villanueva was very ineffective as he pitched in 11 games (9 starts) for the Brewers this season and he is 3-5 with a 6.06 ERA and a 1.56 WHIP. He will return to his former job of being the Brewers’ long man in the bullpen. Seth McClung will replace Villanueva in the rotation and he has a big time arm. In 12 games (1 start) for the Brewers this season he is 2-1 with a 3.55 ERA and a 1.26 WHIP. McClung has to tighten his control a little bit if he wants to stay in the rotation for a while. He has walked 13 batters and whiffed 24 in 25.1 innings which shows that he has the stuff to succeed if he can stay focused.

The Brewers might have to consider pulling Eric Gagne from the closer’s job if he doesn’t pick it up soon. He has already blown 5 saves this season and many closers don’t do that in a entire season let alone one month. Gagne has pitched in 16 games for the Brewers so far this season and he is 1-1 with 9 saves, a 6.14 ERA and a 1.70 WHIP. The other big addition to the bullpen over the winter was David Riske but he can’t be counted on to replace Gagne. Like most Indians and Royals fans know…..Riske looks like a deer in headlights when the game is on the line. Riske has pitched in 14 games this season and he is 0-1 with 1 save, a 5.51 ERA and a 1.65 WHIP. That leaves either Salomon Torres or Guillermo Mota as the possible replacements for Gagne as the Brewers’ closer. Torres tried that job for the Pirates last season and he couldn’t keep the job. Torres has pitched in 15 games for the Brewers this season and he is 3-0 with 1 save, a 2.95 ERA and a 1.36 WHIP. Guillermo Mota also had a chance to close a couple of seasons ago for the Marlins but he failed miserably. Mota has pitched in 13 games for the Brewers this season and he is 1-1 with a 2.40 ERA and a 1.53 WHIP.

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.

Elmer Dessens has been pretty awful this season for the Brewers. In 12 games, Dessens is 1-1 with a 6.60 ERA and a 1.80 WHIP so far this season. In 15 innings, Dessens has allowed 24 hits and 3 homers already this season. At least Dessens is throwing strikes as he’s whiffed 12 batters while walking only 3. Dessens has been relegated to the mop-up role in the bullpen and that’s where he will stay until he starts to pitch better.

Dave Bush has not pitched well so far this season. Bush has started 6 games this season and he’s 2-3 with a 6.03 ERA and a 1.37 WHIP. In 37.1 innings this season, Bush has allowed 45 hits but he’s only walked 6 batters. Bush has also whiffed 31 batters this season. It seems as if batters are just digging in against Bush because they know he’s going to be around the plate. If he truly wants to be effective he’ll have to start pitching inside and keep batters off of the plate.