First Half Report Card

B

Up until this latest road trip, I would have given them a B+, but I have to
take into account the recent losses to a few teams that, quite frankly, the
Brewers should have beat. Being tied to the proverbial tree-of-woe almost
every time you go on a road trip may be what keeps this team from making the
playoffs this year. That said, you can't really get down on 'em too much,
because they are a young team that, as I've said before, is still searching
for their identity, a young team still learning how to win. As it happens
with a lot of young teams, just when you think they've figured things out,
they stumble a little bit. Two steps forward, one or two steps back. No
biggie. They'll learn.

The team directly to the South, the team with the highly inflated salary,
have vastly underachieved in the first half, and even though the Crew lost
20 of 30, the sCrUBS only managed to pick up a few games in the standings.
Not that they'd ever go anywhere in the post-season, but with that potent
offense, I wouldn't bet against the F.I.B.s catching up to the Beer Makers
in the second half. That said, the Crew can silently be proud that the
sCrUBS couldn't catch up them in the first 87 game they played.

What do the Brewers need? They can start with consistent starting pitching.
The quality starts have been gone, as of late. Up to this point, Capuano
seems to be lacking command and has far fewer quality starts than at the
same point last year. Suppan also seems to be strugling with his command.
Sometimes when I watch him pitch, it seems like he's throwing the same pitch
up there. Pitch after pitch he's nibbling at the corners, not getting the
strike call from the ump more times than not, and when he has to throw a
strike, it seems the only way he knows how to do it is with a big old
meatball right down the middle that gets pounded into space. (Note to JS:
Don't be afraid to throw a curve with some real break to it every now and
then!) Sheets has certainly earned his "Ace" status, Vargas has done ok, tho
it'd be nice to see him go more than six innings every other time out, and
while Bush spent the majority of the first half looking like an everyday
player converted to a starting pitcher, he seems to have found his groove
going into the All-Star break. Villanueva has been nothing short of
spectacular as a reliever. He soaks up middle innings like a fat family at a
buffet table, and he does is better than almost anyone in MLB.

Personel moves have been good, IMO. Doug Melvin traded Jose Capellan to
Detroit for 23-year-old left-hander Chris Cody. Cody was 5-6 with a 1.89 ERA
in 15 starts between low and high A ball, had 95 strikeouts, 16 walks and
was a Midwest League All-Star. Bringing up Ryan Braun was an outstanding
move that management of years-gone-by would have never done. In fact, the
talent the the Brewers have in the minors has proven to be so outstanding
that I am now proclaiming that Jack Zduriencik is the baseball equalivent of
Ron Wolf. Or maybe it's Doug Melvin that's Ron Wolf. Or maybe it's Gord Ash.
Whatever. Whoever. It's working just fine, thank you!

Those are just a few of my thoughts about the first half of the season. What
are your thoughts?