Trouble Brewin’ In NL Central
by Pete Cataldo
Sheets the key
Last year I did a piece on the Milwaukee Brewers, I thought they would be much improved in 2005, and they were.
So here I go again. The 2006 Brew Crew looks very good on paper and from what I have seen of them this spring, they may get even better.
The have the one thing you need to stay with the Houston Astros and Tony La Russa’a Cardinals- pitching!
A rotation of Ben Sheets (3.33 ERA), Chris Capuauno (3.99 ERA), Doug Davis (3.84 ERA) and Tomo Ohka (3.84 ERA) is formidable. The fifth starter could be Dave Bush who comes over from Toronto.
The closer’s spot is still up for grabs between Derrick Turnbow who had 39 saves last year with a 1.74 ERA, and Dan Kolb who returns to the Brewers after a year with the Atlanta Braves.
At the plate, the Brewers have speed and power. Carlos Lee, 32 home runs and 114 RBIs, is the clean- up guy. Brady Clark (cf), who hit .305 last season, will set the table, with second baseman Rickie Weeks in the number two spot. Weeks is the real deal. He had 13 homers and 15 stolen bases in just 96 games in ’05.
Add Geoff Jenkins (rf) with speed, power, 25 dingers and 85 RBIs, and you have a great top four. Youngster Bill Hall at third added 17 homers in ’05 and the promising slugger Prince Fielder at first is expected to bring more power to Miller Park in ’06.
Veteran catcher Damian Miller squats behind the plate to handles the staff. J.J. Hardy will cover shortstop. Corey Koskie, picked up in January, will be the utility infielder.
The Brewers finished 81-81 in ’05. That is a marked improvement over just 67 wins in ’04 and 68 in ’03.
Generally, I think the NL Central is a bit weaker then it was in 2005. The Astros lost Clemens, the Cubs are again in trouble as Wood and Pryor are on the shelf, and the Reds have no pitching. So don’t be surprised if the Brew Crew sneak into a wild card spot in the fall
From a betting aspect the Brewers are hard to figure. They should score, but they have good pitching, so the over-under is tough to figure.
However, I would not hesitate to take them straight up against anyone with one of their top four starters on the hill.
Pete Cataldo can be heard every Wednesday at 3pm EST on www.BetUSradio.com. To reach Pete for more on baseball, email jrclemente@hotmail.com.
