PHOENIX, AZ
Welcome baseball fans to Milwaukee Brewers spring training. Expectations are high for the Brewers in 2011. Coming into this spring, they are considered serious contenders or NL Central if not the favorites. This is a position that is fairly new for the brew-crew as they have not even won a division championship since 1982.
Lets take an inside look at the face of their roster including their additions, departures, offense, and pitching.
To start off, lets recap who the Brewers lost from the 2010 season, and their new additions heading into this year. The first one of note is not even that of a player, but that of the manager. Ken Macha is out in Milwaukee and Ron Roenicke is in. Lets see what Roenicke will be working with during his tenure as the Brewers skipper.
DEPARTURES:
PITCHERS: Trevor Hoffman, Doug Davis, David Riske, Dave Bush, Jeff Suppan, Braden Looper.
OUTFIELDERS: Jim Edmonds, Lorenzo Cain.
INFIELDERS: Alcides Escobar, Bill Hall, Gregg Zaun.
ADDITIONS:
PITCHERS: Zack Greinke, Shaun Marcum, Takashi Saito,
INFIELDERS: Yuniesky Betancourt
The loss of Trevor Hoffman is somewhat significant due to the fact that there is no experienced closer on the roster at the moment. The Brewers are looking to their quasi-closer from last season, John Axford, to fill the void. Axford finished the year with 24 saves and a sub 3 ERA. Losing some veteran arms is concerning as well but the addition of Greinke, Marcum, and Saito should ease the pain and then some. Betancourt will take over for Escobar over the middle at SS and youngster Johnathan Lucroy will fill in for the departed Gregg Zaun behind the plate catching. Carlos Gomez has emerged as the starter in the outfield amongst Braun and Hart so there should be no worries over losing Edmonds and Cain.
OFFENSE:
Projected Batting Order -
1) Rickie Weeks 2B
2) Corey Hart RF
3) Ryan Braun LF
4) Prince Fielder 1B
5) Casey McGehee 3B
6) Yuniesky Betancourt SS
7) Johnathan Lucroy C
8 ) Carlos Gomez CF
Offensively, the Brewers have the firepower to stand toe to toe with the best scoring teams out there. The first 6 batters in the lineup are proven threats with the bat who can get base runners home. Weeks and Hart had career years in 2010 and Braun and Fielder are perennial powerhouses. Casey McGehee had his coming out party in 2010 with 24 HRs and 104 RBIs. He should look to avoid the sophomore slump and continue on with his emerging career. New shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt had a good offensive season last year for the Royals knocking 16 out of the park and bringing 78 runs home. Lucroy and Gomez are unproven but look to contribute to what seems to be a very well endowed offense heading into 2011.
PITCHING:
Projected Pitching Rotation -
1) Zack Greinke
2) Yovanni Gallardo
3) Shaun Marcum
4) Randy Wolf
5) Chris Narveson
Projected Bullpen -
Takashi Saito
LaTroy Hawkins
Zack Braddock
Kameron Loe
Closer - John Axford
Pitching wise, this could be the best rotation Brewers fans have ever seen. The addition of former Cy Young winner Zack Greinke and proven starter Shaun Marcum were key to bolstering the rotation. With the kind of offensive firepower that the Brewers have, all these guys have to do is keep their team in the game and all of the men in the rotation have shown they could accomplish that in the past. Bullpen wise they are mediocre. Saito was a nice pick up but he is pushing 40 years old and really is a question mark heading in the season. Hawkins is also no spring chicken either as he is 38 and entering into the season with the 8th different team of his career. Braddock and Loe are good young pitchers but they cannot be relied upon with confidence. Closer John Axford had a great season last year posting 24 saves in relief for the elderly Trevor Hoffman. He was impressive during his time as the closer and if he can ride that momentum into this year there will be no question who the Brewers will look to to close out their games in 2011.
OUTLOOK:
With new faces like Greinke and Marcum leading the pitchers, superstars like Braun and Fielder leading the offense, and a brand new manager breathing energy into a squad ready to break out, 2011 looks to be a successful year for the Brewers and their fans.
Home 
