But the Brewers have played a preponderance of their games at home (62%), where they are 16-5. But on the other hand, the Mets are only 7-7 at home so far this season.
The Brewers hot start has surprised many, but I've seen it coming for a couple of years. They have some excellent young players coupled with solid veteran starting pitching.
Rickie Weeks is their second baseman and leadoff hitter. Pressed into duty due to illness I selected Weeks for Master Bates' fantasy team in the draft prior to last season, over Jason Giambi. The move may finally start to pay off as Weeks is becoming a legitimate 20/20 guy, though his OBP is low for a leadoff man.
JJ Hardy is the other half of one of the best young double play combinations in baseball. Hardy is batting .331 with 9 homers already this year. He had 9 in all of 2005 in roughly 3 times as many at bats. An ankle injury cost Hardy most of last year.
Prince Fielder bats behind Hardy and leads the team with 10 homers. Prince is the prodigal son of the prodigious home run hitter (and eater) Cecil Fielder. As we learned on an episode of "Real Sports," father and son have no relationship because of gambling and bad business investments by Cecil which left the family broke. But he sure hits like his pops.
Bill E. Hall sometimes bats cleanup and usually plays centerfield. Hall had a breakout season last year by hitting 35 home runs. One of those home runs came against the Mets, in the bottom of the 10th inning, to win a game against the Mets, on Mother's Day, with a pink bat in those awesome retro uniforms.
Geoff Jenkins, who's off to a hot start this year, starts the veteran part of the order along with Kevin Mench, Craig Counsell and the catcher (Johnny Estrada and Damian Miller).
The Brewers also have an excellent starting rotation. It all starts with Ben Sheets who will face Mike Pelfrey on Saturday. Sheets is a legitimate ace who can never seem to stay healthy. He is their highest salaried player at just over $11 million but is only 2-2 this season with a 4.04 ERA (numbers that closely approximate his career record 63-71 with a 3.84 ERA).
Before the 2005 season I made fun of Chris Capuano at a fantasy baseball draft. Since then he is 34-24 with a 3.89 ERA. This year he is John Maine's main competition for this year's Way Too Early Cy Young Award in the National League. Capuano has a 5-0 record to match Maine's but his ERA of 2.31 is half a run higher. Unfortunately, that dream pitching matchup won't happen. Capuano will face Oliver Perez on Sunday.
Friday night's game will be started by free agent pickup Jeff Suppan. Soupy who haunted the Mets in the NLCS last year is 5-2 with a 2.63 ERA.
The Brewers other two starters are Dave Bush and Claudio Vargas.
In the bullpen the Brewers have Francisco Cordero, a volatile closer who is hot right now. He's 15 for 15 in save chances with a 0.54 ERA.
Demoted closer Derrick Turnbow is the setup man.
I don't think the Brewers can play .700 baseball all season but .600 is not out of the question, which translates in 97 wins...5 more than they will need to win the NL Central.
The Brewers cannot afford an injury to one of their top 3 starters but with Turnbow as insurance they can withstand a potential Cordero blowup. And a solid young lineup should have this team in the hunt for many years to come.
1 comment:
That's about 15 more than they need to win the Central!!
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