The Milwaukee Brewers currently are 16-22 and in fifth place in the NL Central. The offense has failed to score more than three runs in 10 of 15 games this month, and not surprisingly, the team has failed to win any one of those games in which the offense provided little run support.
The offense has not been the issue the entire season, however.
| Month | Runs Scored Per Game | Runs Allowed Per Game |
|---|---|---|
| April | 4.43 | 5.30 |
| May | 3.40 | 4.20 |
As you can see, the offense has taken a nosedive in the month of May, which has largely coincided with the season-ending injuries to Mat Gamel and Alex Gonzalez. The pitching staff has improved greatly over the past month, but has not gotten the necessary run support to win more than five games in May.
The purpose of this small table is two-fold:
(1) Illustrate the fact that the Brewers’ offense is not terrible. They are simply suffering through a prolonged drought at the plate in the month of May. It does not help that Cesar Izturis is not part of the everyday lineup, though that will likely not remain the case much longer — either due to a trade, a pick-up off waivers, or the promotion of Jeff Bianchi to see what his bat can do at the big league level.
(2) Illustrate that the Brewers currently sit six games under .500 because they have not been able to hit their collective stride. In April, the offense performed a bit above average, while the pitching staff was the fourth-worst in the league. In May, however, the offense has dipped dramatically, while the pitching has shown marked improvement and has been above average. One would imagine that it’s only a matter of time before the offense and pitching click at the same time.
At least, as an optimist at heart, that is the way that I will choose to view the Brewers’ current situation. It’s just a matter of time until the team goes on a winning streak. Let us just hope that the team hasn’t dug their hole too deep before that winning streak comes around, though.
time to end the Jose Veras experiment. we have such promising pitchers in the minors, lets see some in the brewers bullpen!
Not sold on Veras yet, but Chaulk needs to to be the first to go. Put Estrada back in long relief and see what Fiers or Peralta can do in the show.
Keep in mind that the Brewers have scored 5 runs more at the 41 game mark this year than they had last year. They have just allowed 29 more runs compared to this time last year. Obviously the loss of Prince has not really had as much of an impact as we have thought. Combine that with how bad Weeks and some others are hitting, I would say we should count our blessings.