posted March 26, 2008 at 15:44 in MLB Articles

Starting Pitching:

With Yovani Gallardo suffering a short term injury and Chris Capuano suffering a season-ending elbow injury, the Milwaukee Brewers have some holes to fill in their rotation.

Ben Sheets and Jeff Suppan man the top two spots but the remaining three spots are up for grabs.

Prospect Manny Parra has been lights out in spring training and figures to contribute to the club at some point this season – possibly right away. Claudio Vargas and Dave Bush will likely take up two spot since both are veterans, leaving Parra and Carlos Villanueva the No. 5 role.

If Gallardo can return from his minor knee surgery mid-April and be effective, the Brewers should have plenty of arms to compete in the National League Central.

Relief Pitching:

The Brewers performed reconstructive surgery on their bullpen this offseason and regardless of the obvious questions (why?), the bullpen will need to gel quickly.

Setup man Scott Linebrink and closer Francisco Cordero are out while David Riske, Salomon Torres, Guillermo Mota and Eric Gagne are in.

With Derrick Turnbow around, the Brewers believe they have some security in case Gagne is a disaster, like he was late last season. But keep in mind that Turnbow was one of the reasons that the Brewers acquired Cordero originally.

On paper, it looks like the Brewers have severely downgraded their closer position, but upgraded all of the arms that they will use prior to the ninth inning.

Riske is a solid setup man while Torres has been one of the most underrated bullpen arms over the last five years.

If Gagne holds up, this unit will be solid. If not, the ninth inning will be a recurring problem.

Hitting:

With Mike Cameron suspended for the first 25 games due to a drug suspension, the Brewers will look to fill his role with Tony Gwynn Jr.

Like Gwynn Jr., the Brewers are banking on the growth of a few youngsters to keep their potent lineup humming.

Rickie Weeks needs to step up, while Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder need to reproduce their strong output from last season.

J.J. Hardy and Corey Hart are quality bats and when Cameron comes back, there won’t be any free outs from one-through-seven.

Interestingly enough, manager Ned Yost plans to bat catcher Jason Kendall ninth while hitting the starting pitcher eighth. The theory is to have two leadoffs hitters.

Regular Season Wins: 84.5

The Brewers won 83 games last year but the bar is raised to 85 for them this season.

The key for them is that they play in one of the worst divisions in baseball.

The Cincinnati Reds and Pittsburgh Pirates are toiling, the St. Louis Cardinals are in some sort of a rebuilding mode while the Houston Astros are pitching-thin and hitting-thick. That should translate into at least a .500 season.

To get the few other wins, the Brewers improved their defense with the addition of Mike Cameron and Jason Kendall. But 85 wins is a risky proposition if you don’t believe in Eric Gagne. Teams typically lose steam and confidence if their closer collapses and the Brewers won’t get to 85 wins if Gagne isn’t steady.

Free Pick: Under 84.5 wins

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