 |
| |
|
 |
 |
|
|
Milwaukee Brewers
By John Donovan, CNNSI.com The Milwaukee Brewers lost 94 games last season and still finished ahead of two teams in the National League Central. Well, so much for the happy news. Now for the bad stuff. The Brewers set a major league record last year by striking out a stunning 1,399 times, with Jose Hernandez and Richie Sexson going neck-and-neck for the whiff crown (Hernandez won, 185-178). All the missing contributed to a team batting average of .251, better only than the impotent Mets and Pirates, and a 13-25 record in one-run games, the worst in the NL. The Brewers also became the first team to have more strikeouts than hits. All that led to the firing of hitting coach Rod Carew -- who struck out only 1,028 times in 19 years -- and a little more shaking up. The Brewers jettisoned Jeromy Burnitz (150 strikeouts, sixth in the league), trading him to the Mets for left-hander Glendon Rusch and others. They signed Eric Young (.279, 31 stolen bases, only 45 strikeouts) from the Cubs to hit leadoff. And they began to make some noise about paying attention to another part of the game -- pitching. That started last season with young Ben Sheets (11-10, 4.76 ERA in 25 starts), who made the All-Star Game as a rookie on the strength of a strong first half (10-5, 3.59). He's healthy and expected to be the team's No. 1. Rusch (127-114 lifetime) will plug nicely into the rotation, along with Ruben Quevedo (4-5 in 10 starts, 4.61 ERA) and Jamey Wright (11-12, 4.90 in 194 2/3 innings). Young Nick Neugebauer could become a starter, too. None of this, of course, is particularly worrisome to Houston, St. Louis or the Cubs. The Brewers still will strike out a lot. Sexson and Hernandez, after all, haven't gone anyplace. But Sexson, remember, had 45 home runs and 125 RBIs last season. Hernandez hit only .249, but he contributed 25 homers and 78 RBIs. The Brewers figure to hit better -- how can they hit worse? -- and their move toward establishing a good pitching staff can only pay dividends, if not immediate ones. Given last season's disaster -- and the fact they haven't had a winning season since they played in the American League East in 1992 -- the Brewers feel it's a start. For their fans' sake, let's hope they don't whiff on that one. Up for grabs: Spring's all about making your mark, which is what Tyler Houston and Mark Loretta will be trying to do at third base and Henry Blanco and Raul Casanova will be aiming for at catcher. But the interesting jockeying will be between two guys trying to take over Burnitz's place in right: Matt Stairs (signed from the Cubs) and Alex Ochoa (snagged from Colorado). Stairs had 17 homers and 61 RBIs in 128 games last year, while Ochoa split time between Cincinnati and Colorado, homering eight times and driving in 52 runs in 148 games. Spring chicken: The Brewers dream about a top-of-rotation with Sheets and Neugebauer, the hard-throwing, 6-foot-3 right-hander. Neugebauer was limited toward the end of last season because of a sore shoulder -- this was after he struck out 11 in just six innings with the big club -- but scouts say he's a prospect's prospect. He has a good, hard fastball, a nasty slider and a better-than-good curve. He had 175 strikeouts in 130 2/3 innings splitting time last season between Class AA and Class AAA.
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
