The Milwaukee Brewers had a poor first half of the 2010 season
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.