{image1}At the ceremonial halfway point of the 2005 Major League Baseball season, the Milwaukee Brewers have shown flashes of brilliance, yet once again, languish deep in the National League Central Division standings.
So, with Carlos Lee and Manager Ned Yost heading to Detroit for the All Star Game, let's take a look at the Brewers' first half.
Offense
Coming out of Spring Training, the biggest question mark facing the team was the bullpen. Anchored by the surprising emergence of Derrick Turnbow as the closer, the bullpen checks into the All Star break with an earned run average ranked third best in the National League.
The pen also stepped its collective game up a notch when top starter Ben Sheets went to the disabled list with an inner ear infection. Wes Obermueller made several quality spot starts, but was unable to keep the momentum after Sheets return, and reclaimed his role as long reliever/emergency spot starter, a position in which he has handled quite well.
Starting Pitching
The rotation has been as good -- if not better -- than expected. Chris Capuano has emerged this season as a top-flight starter, posting a 9-6 record with an ERA of 3.48. Doug Davis was coasting along in the second spot, but a seven-run, 1.2-inning performance at Toronto last month pushed his ERA over four. Still, the lefthander is 9-7 on the year.
Sheets has recovered from a rocky start and a stint on the DL, and is working back to his status as the teams ace. All the Brewers starters numbers have been tainted by a lackluster offense that has provided few wins.
Nobody has suffered more than Victor Santos. The right hander has dazzled this season, striking out 63 in 98-plus innings, while walking just 38. His 3.28 ERA is among the league leaders, but run support has been non-existent in his starts, leading to a 2-8 record.
The biggest impact of the year goes to left fielder Carlos Lee.
Picked up from the Chicago White Sox in exchange for Scott Podsednik last winter, the deal is one of the rare ones where it works out for both teams. Lee was named to his first-ever All Star team last week, with a batting average that has hovered between .270 and .280 much of the season, as well as a team best 22 home runs, and a major league leading 73 runs batted in. (all stats current at deadline).
Lee has provided the powerful, right-handed bat general manager Doug Melvin has sought in the middle of the lineup since he and manager Ned Yost came to Milwaukee two and a half years ago.
Lee has been one of the few bright spots in the Brewers lineup, which was hitting just .256 heading into a series with Atlanta this weekend. Taking Podsedniks place at the top of the lineup has been Brady Clark.
Clark has quietly established himself as a talented everyday centerfielder and leadoff guy. While he doesn't have the speed on the base paths that his predecessor has, Clark is hitting .314 with seven home runs and 28 RBI. More impressive is his .378 on-base percentage, which has led to him scoring a team-best 59 runs.
Junior Spivey's trade to the Washington Senators paved the way for Rickie Weeks to make his mark on Milwaukee. High hopes for the youngster have started to pay off, especially in the Pittsburgh series at Miller Park, where he hit three decisive home runs in three days.
Nobody knew what to expect with Jeff Cirillo, but the veteran was hitting .280 and a solid fixture in the two-hole before a broken hand sent him to the disabled list, and Russell Branyan has shortened up his swing to cut down on strikeouts and add some pop to the bottom of the order. He just returned after missing a month with a broken finger.
Off the bench, Chris Magruder and Wes Helms have been serviceable pinch hitters. Bill Hall worked his way into an everyday role thanks to a much more disciplined approach.
Defense
Yost has let Weeks and shortstop J.J. Hardy get a lot of time together in the middle infield, which makes sense seeing as the team eyes the pair as the infield of the future. Both have been marvelous at times, but yet still need to grasp the routine of everyday plays. Infield instructor Rich Dauer has spent a lot of time working with the kids, and that process will continue.
Lee and Clark have been solid in left and center, while Jenkins has had few problems adapting to right. Bill Hall and Wes Helms have shown there is a lot of room to grow at the corner positions. Errors though, have cost the team a number of games in the first half and will need to be cut down during the end of summer.
It's too much to expect that the Brewers will make a late-season run at the postseason, but it looks like the pieces are finally in place at most positions for the team to finally break its drought of losing seasons.
