Just a mere seven months ago, the Milwaukee Brewers were the 2011 National League Central Champions and a serious contender for a trip to the World Series.
Now, twenty seven games into the 2012 regular season and the Brewers (12-15 record) couldn’t look any further from that team who broke numerous franchise records and captured the hearts of baseball fans all over Wisconsin.
With four serious injuries and an inconsistent line-up, maybe it’s time to give up on Milwaukee realistically making the playoffs.
Yes, the Brewers may be back only four games, but let’s not fool ourselves, the St. Louis Cardinals at 16-11 are leaps and bounds better than Milwaukee. They have consistent pitching, offensive playmakers (David Freese above) and are the defending champions.
Therefore, the division title is out of the question.
But what about the wild-card? I can hear those optimistic Brewers fans echoing how the season is still young and rejoicing at Bud Selig’s decision to add that extra wild-card spot.
However, it doesn’t even look like the Brewers are the second best team in their own division with the Cincinnati Reds being the clear selection for that honor. Heck, even the Houston Astros who were projected to finish dead last in the division are showing more promise with some crafty offense (4.9 runs per game) and stellar play at home (9-5).
Sure, the Brewers have a lot of time to turn it around, but with each day passed it seems to become more and more improbable.
Starting shortstop Alex Gonzalez’ trip to the DL only compounds the problems the Brewers have in the offense. As if losing Mat Gamel and Carlos Gomez wasn’t enough, Gonzalez was perhaps the best thing Milwaukee had going for them.
On top of all that, Manager Ron Roenicke seems to be lost when trying to come up with a functional line-up.
As for pitching, the Brewers can’t get much worse.
They rank last in the National League with a puffy 4.96 ERA and have given up the most earned runs at 125. The major problem has been the issue of walks with an average of 3.6 free passes a game. It doesn’t stop there as they are also allowing opposing teams to bat .283, second only to the Colorado Rockies in the NL.
It’s actually quite surprising that the Brewers have won 12 games despite having one of the worst pitching staffs in the majors.
I’m not trying to depress Brewers nation, but maybe it’s time to sink expectations for this team to slightly more realistic.
Do you think I’m jumping the gun with this Brewers team or are you also coming to the harsh realization that this team will not make the playoffs? Let me know by commenting below!
Nick Grays is a senior writer at the Sports Bank where he covers the Wisconsin Badgers, Green Bay Packers, and Milwaukee Brewers. He also enjoys to share Fantasy Advice from time-to-time. Follow him on Twitter by clicking here or visit his blog Nick Knows Best.
Pictures:
Alex Gonzalez (washingtonpost.com)
David Freese (greenwichtime.com)