Heading into the season, baseball discussions around here focused almost solely, Shaun Marcum and Zack Greinke. A little more than a week into the season, though, it's been two returning players who have been most impressive.
Sunday starter Yovani Gallardo (1-0, 1.20 ERA) has looked very good in his first two outings of the year.
He over came some early rust in his Opening Day outing at Cincinnati, only to see the game lost on John Axford's blown save and then topped that with a complete game shutout effort Tuesday against Atlanta.
One of the few (only) home-grown pitchers to make it to Miller Park, Gallado has continued his development into one of the best young pitchers in the game. He's been able to overcome a big obstacle of year's past by keeping his pitch counts low, allowing him to work deeper into games and spare the bullpen extra innings of work.
Possibly more impressive than Gallardo has been Chris Narveson's performance. The young lefty was projected to be the No. 5 starter when the season began. He went 12-9 with a 4.99 earned run average a year ago, but seemed to turn a corner in the second half.
Including his two start this year, Narveson is 6-3 with 3.35 ERA since the All-Star Break last year.
He opened his 2011 season with six shutout innings against the Braves and followed that up with seven more scoreless innings Saturday against Chicago for his second victory of the young season, this after struggling at times with command during Spring Training.
"Does he have an ERA yet?" asked first baseman Prince Fielder. "Sick. He's been outstanding."
With Greinke looking likely to return by early May, Gallardo's continued improvement and the pleasant surprise of Narveson can only mean good things for the Brewers' rotation.
Roenicke new to rivalry: Brewers manager Ron Roenicke had heard about the atmosphere at Miller Park when the Brewers host the Cubs.
He has, however, experienced the home team being turned into a guest by opposing fans before, something that happens regularly when the Cubs come to town.
"Boston and New York," Roenicke said of his time on Mike Scioscia's staff in Anaheim. "Always Boston. There's a lot of red there (at Angels Stadium), but most of it was Boston red. It's incredible. I used to wonder how all these people in Anaheim could be Boston fans."
Finally: Shutting down Andrew Bogut for the remainder of the season was the right move for the Bucks, who were eliminated from the playoff race earlier this week. Unfortunately, the move should have come earlier.
This has been a disappointing year for the Bucks. After rekindling interest in the local fan base last season with a thrilling 22-8 finish and a seven-game first round playoff series, Milwaukee dropped almost to the bottom of the Central Division (thanks, Cleveland) for any number of reasons -- poor shooting and numerous injuries the two biggest.
Whatever the problem was, seeing the Bucks drop back to irrelevance is disappointing on any number of levels. The team has a lot of needs, both on and off the court. Reverting back to their losing ways doesn't do much to improve the franchise's image.
Making an impression: Jimmy Butler, who helped propel Marquette into the Sweet 16 for the first time in eight years has been impressing NBA scouts this week at the Portsmouth Invitational. DraftExpress.com has an interview with Butler here.
Larry King Lounge: Five Wisconsin golf courses were included in Golf Digest's list of America's 100 best golf courses. Whistling Straits in Kohler was the highest-ranked, checking in at No. 17 ... The Bob Uecker edition of "Baseball Voices," narrated by former Brewers announcer Pat Hughes, is now available for digital downloads on iTunes and at Amazon.com ... The Brewers completed their deal with Toronto, which sent Carlos Villanueva to the Blue Jays over the winter. In return for the right-hander, the team received cash considerations ... Forget the funny "Tony Plush" story, forget his blistering performance so far, Nyjer Morgan is a hard-working, blue-collar and down-to-earth nice guy ... The Brewers all-time attendance at Miller Park, which opened in 2001, passed the 25 million mark Saturday.
