26-year old lefty starting pitcher looked like he would be a solid member of the rotation this season. Coming into this year, Parra had pitched in 41 games (31 starts) in which he was 10-9 with a 4.31 ERA and a 1.52 WHIP. He won a spot in the starting rotation this spring but he has been awful for the Brewers this season even being dispatched to the minors during the year. He has pitched in 25 games (all starts) for the Brewers this season and he is 10-10 with a 6.42 ERA and a 1.84 WHIP. Parra has allowed 169 hits in 130 1/3 innings this season while walking 71 batters. Parra will have to win a starting job next spring for the Brewers as nothing will be handed to him.

34-year old righty starting pitcher Braden Looper has had a ton of run support this season from the offense and he has needed every bit of it to succeed. Looper has started 27 games this season for the Brewers and he is 11-6 with a 4.88 ERA and a 1.42 WHIP. Looper doesn’t have many quality pitches as he’s better suited for a relief role. You can see that when you look at his stat line and see that he has allowed 32 homers in only 155 innings this season. Looper will likely only continue to win games if the Brewers keep putting up impressive run totals when he pitches.

Seth McClung has not pitched well for the Brewers this season. He has worked in 38 games (2 starts) for the Brewers this year and he is 3-3 with a 5.03 ERA and a 1.63 WHIP. McClung’s two biggest problems are walks (36) and homers (11) in 59 innings this season for the Brewers. It’s getting to the point where the Brewers can’t afford to pitch McClung in a close game.

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.