This is a preview of the Joe Sheehan Baseball Newsletter, an e-mail newsletter about all things baseball, featuring analysis and opinion about the game on and off the field from the perspective of the informed outsider.
You can subscribe to the newsletter for one year for $79.95 using your PayPal account or major credit card.
--
The concern with the Brewers was always the pitching staff, not the offense. I had the hitters 15th preseason, the rotation 23rd, the pen 17th -- the latter two units backed up by the best defense in baseball. The Brewers’ hitters have combined the second-highest BABIP and sixth-highest walk rate in baseball to produce the second-highest OBP, driving an offense that is top ten in wRC+. It may be a little over its skis, but it’s not going to be the problem. No, the risk here is entirely in the pitching staff. I am not entirely sure who the #2 starter is, and the injuries in the pen have pushed a lot of work onto Uribe and Aaron Ashby. Ashby is third in the majors in relief innings pitched since the break, Uribe is tied for 22nd.
