The Milwaukee Brewers finished the first half of the 2010 season with a 40-49 record which has them in third place in the N.L. Central, 8.5 games behind the Reds. The season hasn’t all been bad as they have had some surprises as well as disappointments and here’s a closer look at them:

Pleasant Surprises: 27-year old 2B Rickie Weeks has stayed healthy this season (knock on wood) and he’s showing what he can do. He has played in 88 games for the Brewers this year and he is 97 of 361 (.269 avg, .818 OPS) with 56 runs scored, 15 homers, 53 RBIs and 6 stolen bases. Weeks has whiffed 101 times this season but you can overlook the strikeouts as long as he remains productive. 28-year old swinging RF Corey Hart actually started this season platooning with Jim Edmonds. That quickly changed when Hart got hot. Hart has played in 81 games for the Brewers this year and he is 88 of 306 (.288 avg, .918 OPS) with 44 runs scored, 21 homers, 65 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. The biggest surprise for the Brewers has been the rise of rookie reliever John Axford who bumped Trevor Hoffman from his closer’s role. Axford has pitched in 23 games (0 starts) for the Brewers this year and he is 5-1 with 10 saves, a 3.12 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP. 28-year old righty reliever Kameron Loe worked his way to Wisconsin after starting this year in the minors. Loe has pitched in 19 games (0 starts) for the Brewers this year and he is 0-1 with a 1.59 ERA and a 0.88 WHIP. He has only given up 12 hits in 22 2/3 innings this season for the Brewers!

Disappointments: The Brewers decided to trade J.J. Hardy over the winter because they felt that 23-year old righty swinging Alcides Escobar was ready to replace him at SS. But he has been a huge disappointment for the Brewers this season. He has played in 81 games for the Brewers this year and he is 69 of 283 (.244 avg, .630 OPS) with 35 runs scored, 2 homers, 24 RBIs and 7 stolen bases. 42-year old righty reliever Trevor Hoffman (baseball’s all-time saves leader) came into this season as the Brewers’ closer. They quickly had to demote him from that role as he is pitching B.P. during games this year. Hoffman has pitched in 28 games (0 starts) for the Brewers this year and he is 2-4 with 5 saves, a 8.33 ERA and a 1.74 WHIP. He has given up 34 hits (8 homers) in only 27 innings this season! The Brewers spent big money on 37-year old righty reliever LaTroy Hawkins over the winter but he was awful before getting injured. Hawkins has pitched in 13 games (0 starts) for the Brewers this year and he is 0-3 with a 9.26 ERA and a 1.71 WHIP. 34-year old lefty starting pitcher has had serious injury problems related to his heart so it might not be fair to drill him here…..but I’m going to anyway. Davis has started 8 games for the Brewers this year and he is 1-4 with a 7.51 ERA and a 1.98 WHIP. He has given up 55 hits (6 homers) and he has walked 21 batters in only 38 1/3 innings.

The Brewers are 5-7 on the season which has them tied for 3rd place in the N.L. Central with the Cubs, 3 games behind the Cardinals. The Brewers have been outscored 75-61 so far this season as they are wasting a lot of good hitting with bad pitching. Maybe the Brewers can get something going this week as they play three games against the Pirates in Pittsburgh before coming home for three games against the Cubs.

The Brewers were 3-3 in the first week of 2010 despite being outscored 33-28. It seems to me that the Brewers have a few problems in the pitching staff namely the #3 to #5 starter and the fact that Trevor Hoffman is starting to look old. The Brewers need to play better than they did last week. Maybe a road trip to Chicago (3 games with Cubs) and Washington (3 games with Nationals) will be able to cure what ails the team.

The Brewers are 2-2 on the season as they have scored 19 runs and they have given up 19 runs. How much more average can you get than that? Not much. The Brewers should have a better record than they do but Trevor Hoffman gave up a homer with two outs in the 9th inning against the Cardinals last night to blow a game. The Brewers can’t afford to blow games like last night late because they have little room for error this season.

The Brewers still have a chance at the playoffs as they are 2 games behind the Cubs in the N.L. Central with a 81-78 record. The Brewers have three home games left at home against the Padres while the Cubs have three road games in Cincinnati. Even if the Brewers don’t make the playoffs they might have the N.L. MVP and Rookie of the Year on there roster. Fielder has played in 156 games this season and he is 165 of 569 (.290 avg, 1.015 OPS) with 108 runs scored, 50 homers and 119 RBIs. Ryan Braun has been outstanding in his rookie season as he has played in 110 games and he is 143 for 440 (.325 avg, 1.009 OPS) with 87 runs scored, 34 homers and 95 RBIs.