I don’t know if it’s the mid-April snow storm keeping people off the golf course, the Bucks brutal OT loss to the Celtics, or the hangover from an epic 414 Day celebration, but the negativity from the Brewers fan base has got to stop.
Being a Senior writer in my fifth year covering this team, I’ve established a number of different ways to keep a pulse on this ball club. In addition to watching and listening to most games (when schedules, and my wife, permit), I’m tapped in to a large community of Brewers talk on both Twitter and Reddit. I try to listen to sports talk radio at least a couple of times per week. I keep tabs on my favorite Brewers blogs, and I always read whatever legendary beat writer Tom Haudricourt takes the time to write. I love this team – I always have, and I always will. Keeping as much of a pulse on this team as I can without a press pass is a hobby of mine that I very much enjoy… but this year, it’s almost been too much to handle.
The Brewers are 8-8, the same record they owned through 16 games last year. They’ll return to Miller Park tomorrow fresh off a 3-3 road trip and will get to play their first “below average” team since the Padres two weeks ago. Two of their three losses this past week were on walk off home runs (baseball has a funny way of balancing itself out). They’re right in the mix in both the NL Central and the NL Wild Card picture (irrelevant at this point, but worth mentioning).
They’re fine.
But you wouldn’t know it by listening to Brewers fans! The negativity surrounding this team is insane! It’s honestly ridiculous. I’ve seen countless posts and tweets talking about how both the Cardinals, the Cubs, the Nationals, and the Yankees have nothing to worry about despite their similar slow starts. The Dodgers look terrible right now: I don’t see anyone counting them out! But with the Brewers, it’s a completely different story.
“We’re doomed!” “Same Old Brewers” “Might as well stop watching!”
GIVE ME A BREAK!
Judging by the overreaction to every error, every mistake, every run allowed in a late inning game, you’d think it was the final week of the regular season. I mean, jeeze louise, people… relax- it’s April!
Does the Brewers defense need to tighten up? Absolutely. They lead the majors in errors and have lost more than one game because of their sloppy defense.
Does the starting rotation concern me? Of course it does- the Brewers bullpen ranks 3rd in the NL in innings pitched, behind the Padres and the Marlins. That’s not sustainable over 162 games. Brewers starters have to start finding ways to go 6+ innings.
Have I been underwhelmed by a Brewers offense that was supposed to rank among the best in all of baseball? For sure, and for good reason: they rank in the lower third of the NL in runs scored, and in the top third for strikeouts.
But it’s April, people. And while I’m not going to sit here and make excuses for any of the aforementioned points, the Brewers have gotten so insanely unlucky with injuries thus far that you have to cut them at least a little slack.
Take a look at this list of Brewers who are currently injured:
- Corey Knebel – DL – hamstring – out another 4-6 weeks
- Christian Yelich – DL – oblique – not reactivated today despite being eligible to return
- Ryan Braun – day-to-day (pinch hit today), exited yesterdays’ game with back tightness- reliably fragile as always
- Manny Piña – day-to-day – calf soreness
- Eric Thames – day-to-day – exited today’s game with a mild left hip strain
- Steven Vogt – DL – shoulder – expected to be out another 2-3 weeks
- Jimmy Nelson – DL – shoulder – hopeful for a July return
- Lorenzo Cain – very clearly playing through pain
Five of those eight players could be considered the five most significant players on this Brewers roster if healthy (hint, not Thames). Two of the remaining players are catchers, forcing Jett Bandy into day-to-day action, a role that he’s simply not good enough to fill at this point. Every team goes through injuries, but to lose the players that the Brewers have lost thus far is maddeningly unlucky.
Which is why I refuse to panic.
April baseball is ugly. It’s cold, it’s sloppy, it’s unorthodox. It’s about trying to find a groove while keeping yourself close to the rest of the pack. A win is a win in April, no matter how ugly. With all of these injuries, the Brewers should be commended for being 8-8 given the strength of their early season opponents (STL twice, Cubs once, and the best in baseball NY Mets this past weekend).
My advice to Brewers fans? I won’t say “RELAX”, because we say that far too much in Wisconsin. Let’s try this:
Settle down.
Believe it or not, we’re still going to be doing this four months from now. That’s an eternity. Do you remember where you were four months ago? I do – I was at the Squeaky Curd annual writer’s Christmas Gala, absolutely crushing it (like always). There’s so much baseball in front of us- why are we wasting our energy panicking?
If you’re going to live and die by literally every ball and strike in April, then it’s going to be a long season. For those of us who have been through this before (ahem, Sr. Writer), I prefer to wait until Memorial Day before making any definitive statements about this team’s performance. For right now, I’m thrilled that they’re 8-8.
I’m excited to see them get healthy, and I’m confident that the defense will tighten up and the bats will come around. Remember what I said just two short weeks ago- this is a good baseball team. They’re going to win games. It’s going to be a long, enjoyable summer.
Settle down, Milwaukee. You’re driving me crazy.