Brewers: Year in Preview

Pitchers and catchers report to training camp in just 33 days. You can almost smell the Koops Mustard and Usinger's sausage now; or maybe that's just Wisconsin. I digress.

With the anticipation of baseball just around the corner, it may be fitting to take a look at where the Brewers stand. After a handful of free agent additions this winter, the Brewers roster seems all but completed. However, there is still much to be determined in the starting rotation, where there is room for several top prospects to make the cut.

Nyjer Morgan / T-Plush / Tony Gumbo elected free
agency in November

Back in November, a number of Brewers elected free agency. Nyjer Morgan, Jose Veras, Kameron Loe, Alex Gonzalez, Shaun Marcum, Francisco Rodriquez, Travis Ishikawa, and Manny Parra will no longer be part of the organization in 2013. Of course, four of those players were part of the worst bullpen in baseball in 2012. The Crew posted a bullpen ERA of 4.66, good for worst in all of baseball. Melvin made a concerned effort to fix the bullpen this winter, a la the departure of Veras, Loe, K-rod, and Parra.

New Bullpen

With that crop of relief pitchers saying goodbye, the Brewers were left without a singe LHP in the bullpen. A trade for former Devil Ray Burke Badenhop (RHP) and FA signings of Tom Gorzelanny (LHP) and Michael Gonzalez (LHP) helped to rebuild the bullpen and provide some depth with both RHP's and LHP's.

There are still some things to be determined in the bullpen, but as I see it, it looks to have shaped up this way:

Long Reliever: Tom Gorzelanny. He was a former starter for the Pirates and Nationals who finally found some success in the bullpen last year. He has good stuff against both righties (.247) and lefties (.237); just the kind of guy Roenicke likes to use here.

Lefty Specialist: Mike Gonzalez. Good against lefties (.179), not so good against righties (.297).

Set up man: Jim Henderson. He was a breakout guy last year during Ax's struggles. With the hopes that Axford will be more of his 2011 self, Henderson will see the 8^th inning.

Closer: John Axford. Melvin made it clear at the end of last season that even though Ax had struggled, he was still the Brewers' closer. Hopefully DM made the right call.

Other guys: Burke Badenhop and Brandon Kintzler are shoe-ins to make the roster. I am a strong supporter of both Josh Stinson and Tyler Thornburg. One (maybe both, I doubt it though) will make the roster.

(Read a similar article from www.wisportsblog.blogspot.com)

A host of other minor league prospects (and others) will also be competing for spots on the opening day roster, including: (Italicized players have a good chance to be on the opening day roster, parenthesized number is their rank in Brewers organization, via www.mlb.com)

RHP Nick Bucci

RHP Hiram Burgos

RHP Fautino De Los Santos

LHP Miguel De Los Santos

RHP Johnny Hellweg (5)

RHP Santo Manzanillo

RHP Michael Olmsted

RHP Ariel Pena (12)

RHP Jesus Sanchez

SS Jeff Bianchi

UT? Mat Gamel

2B Scooter Gennett (6)

UT Taylor Green

CF Khris Davis (18)

RF Caleb Gindl (15)

CF Josh Prince

CF Logan Schafer (8)

Non-Roster Invitees

A whole host of promising young talents will join the Brewers at training camp. The list:

RHP Jairo Asencio

LHP Jed Bradley (4)

RHP Darren Byrd

RHP Donovan Hand

RHP Taylor Jungmann (3)

RHP Arcenio Leon

LHP Travis Webb

C Dayton Buller

C Anderson De La Rosa

C Blake Lalli

C Rafael Neda

C Adam Weisenburger

SS Hector Gomez

1B Hunter Morris (7)

UT Donnie Murphy

CF Kentrail Davis (11)

Opening Day Roster

I see the opening day roster shaping out something like this:

Tyler Thornburg made his first
Major League start in 2012

Bullpen

John Axford

Jim Henderson

Tom Gorzelanny

Michael Gonzalez

Brandon Kintzler

Burke Badenhop

Josh Stinson

*The Brewers are insistent Thornburg will be a starter in the future. Because of this, I see them choosing to use him as a starter in Nashville over the opportunity to pitch out of the bullpen in Milwaukee

Rotation

Yovanni Gallardo

Mike Fiers

Marco Estrada

Chris Narveson

Mark Rogers

Estrada was forced into the starting rotation
in 2012 after an injury to Chris Narveson.
He was 5-7 with a 3.64 ERA last year.

*Over and over again this summer, DM has stated how much guts the A's had starting so many young pitchers. I think deep down, that's what he wants to be. After Spring Training, the rotation will probably look like this, but I would prefer to see Peralta here and Estrada in the bullpen (bumping Stinson out). Estrada is a good starter, but great from the pen. Put him where he succeeds.

Lineup

RF Norichka Aoki

1B Corey Hart

LF Ryan Braun

3B Aramis Ramirez

Alex Gonzalez!

C Jonathan Lucroy

2B Rickie Weeks

CF Carlos Gomez

SS Jean Segura

Pitcher

Bench

UT Mat Gamel

UT Donnie Murphy

C Martin Maldanado

UT Taylor Green

OF Logan Schaefer

*I would prefer the Crew sign a veteran SS (Alex Gonzalez!) and not use Murphy there, but I wouldn't be surprised if they kept their pockets closed the rest of this off-season.

The Bullpen is much improved and should be competitive. The offense will be as good as last year, if not better with an improved Weeks and an upgrade at SS. The question marks are in the starting rotation. As they go, the Brewers will go. Which Mike Fiers will we see? Can Rogers stay healthy for a big league season? How will Narveson rebound from season ending surgery last year?

If the pitching can be in the upper half of baseball, the Brewers will shine.

-Zack

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