Series Recap: It could be worse (abbreviated version)

On the bright side, by winning the first game of the series the Brewers extended their "not getting swept" streak to four.

I did not have a chance to watch any of the games this series as I spent a lot of time running around this Memorial Day weekend. As such I do not have much insight for this series recap. I do, however, have a brief rant about the starting pitching.

Mike Fiers and Yovani Gallardo both failed to pitch past the 4th inning on Saturday and Sunday, respectively (Gallardo needed 97 pitches today to allow four runs in four innings). In addition to the pitching being bad there is no relief in sight. The only hope is the Brewers catch lightning in a bottle a la 2012 Mike Fiers or 2005 Rick Helling. It would also be helpful if they could fill three bottles. Until this happens the Brewers will become more of a chore to watch because as a fan I go into every game with little hope of a victory.

The 2004 Milwaukee Brewers were the last truly awful team we've had to follow. However, that team also had Ben Sheets at the height of his powers.* His starts were exciting because he pitched deep into games, stuck out a ton of batters, and gave you hope that you'd see an elusive victory. If not you'd at least be treated to mid-90s heat and the most wicked 12-6 curve I ever did done see. Fast forward to today: Outside of Kyle Lohse getting off to a hot start and a few scattered strong outings (such as Marco Estrada on Friday) there has been almost nothing to get excited about with the starting pitchers. To the contrary, I'm beginning to dread the games.

*Doug Davis was no slouch, either. 

The Brewers do not have a stopper, nor do they have a reliable "slower down-er," a phrase I doubt will catch on. When short starts and big innings become the rule rather than the exception you don't root for the home team as much as you wait for the wheels to fall off. This, dare I say, is just not very fun. It gets worse when you realize there are 114 games left. I'm almost beginning to miss Jeff Suppan. Almost.

Looking ahead...

There is another team in the majors with similar pitching woes, and wouldn't you know they are coming to Milwaukee to start a 2/2 four game series with the Minnesota Twins. On the morbid curiosity scale the appeal of this series is off the charts. If you combined the best starters from each team you'd still have a bottom five rotation. While this may seem depressing, this series could actually be a lot of fun. Bad pitching leads to runs and good old fashion shootouts are high entertainment, even with two crummy teams are involved.

Giddy up!