The Milwaukee Brewers are tied for first place in the N.L. Central with the Cardinals at the All-Star break. The Brewers are 49-43 on the season. They are 5 games behind the Braves in the Wild Card race, so the easiest way to the playoffs is probably by winning the division. The Brewers could be on the hunt for a 3B and or bullpen help at the trade deadline in a couple of weeks. Here is a look at the players who had the biggest impact for the Brewers in the first half of the 2011 season:

Team MVP: Ryan Braun is having a great season but 27-year old lefty swinging 1B Prince Fielder is on fire in his free agent walk year. Fielder has played in 92 games for the Brewers so far this year and he was 95 for 320 (.297 avg, .990 OPS) with 53 runs scored, 22 homers and 72 RBIs. He is also showing off a great eye at the plate as he has walked (59 times) more than he has whiffed (58) so far this year. I think he’s going to have a huge second half of the year as he sees the Gold Pot at the end of the Rainbow.

Biggest Surprise: 38-year old righty reliever LaTroy Hawkins was awful last year for the Brewers. But this season, Hawkins is more than making up for 2010. He has pitched in 27 games (0 starts) for the Brewers so far this year and he is 0-0 with a 1.08 ERA and a 1.12 WHIP. He has been incredible and the Brewers need him to keep up the good work in the second half of the season.

Biggest Disappointment: 28-year old righty swinging 3B Casey McGehee has been awful so far this year for the Brewers. McGehee has played in 89 games for the Brewers so far this year and he is 73 for 327 (.223 avg, .594 OPS) with 26 runs scored, 5 homers and 36 RBIs. The Brewers really need McGehee to get back to the hitter he was in 2010.

The Milwaukee Brewers got thrashed by the Reds over the weekend. The Reds outscored the Brewers 23-11 last weekend as the Brewers only hit .223 with a .720 OPS. Rickie Weeks and Ryan Braun each whacked two homers apiece over the weekend for the Brewers but they didn’t have much help offensively. The pitching was supposed to be improved for 2011 but it didn’t look like it against the Reds, who were running up to the plate to hit against them.

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.