A look at Brewers’ starters after 5 starts each

With Sunday’s game, each of the 2009 Milwaukee Brewers’ starters have 5 starts in their back pockets…here is how they stack up so far, in their current rotation:

1. Yovani Gallardo, 3-1, 2.86 ERA, 34.67 IP, 9 BB’s, 34 K’s, 8.8 K/9, 0.87 WHIP

2. Jeff Suppan, 1-2, 5.88 ERA, 26.00 IP, 12 BB’s, 15 K’s, 5.2 K/9, 1.46 WHIP

3. Manny Parra, 0-4, 5.33 ERA, 25.33 IP, 16 BB’s, 23 K’s, 8.2 K/9, 1.58 WHIP

4. Braden Looper, 2-1, 3.10 ERA, 29.00 IP, 11 BB’s, 19 K’s, 5.9 K/9, 1.34 WHIP

5. Dave Bush, 1-0, 3.94 ERA, 32.0 IP, 9 BB’s, 24 K’s, 6.8 K/9, 1.09 WHIP

Some conclusions:

1. Skipper Ken Macha sure made the right decision to move Yovani Gallardo up to the #1 spot.

2. Braden Looper’s Wins, Losses, ERA, IP, BB’s, and WHIP are all better than either Suppan’s or Parra’s, and skipper Ken Macha needs to find a way to get Looper to the #2 spot in the rotation.  Macha can move Looper up one spot after the next off day, Monday, May 11, to start at home against the Marlins on May 12 on his usual five days rest…provided he pitches well at Cincy on his next start on Thursday, May 7.

3. While he’s at it, Macha should move up Dave Bush to the #3 spot, as his ERA is a full point better than Suppan’s and Parra’s.  Another reason: Bush is now second on the team in innings per start and, while having him towards the back of the rotation might be great for a bullpen that was overworked earlier in a series, it is generally better in the long run to have your innings eaters pitch more frequently.  Bush could also move up a day after the May 11 off day.

4. That said, Manny Parra is coming on strong, having only given up 1 ER in each of his last two starts.  If Parra puts a third strong start in a row, Macha won’t (and shouldn’t) tweek the rotation…even if Parra’s first three starts were bad, the recent trend of two solid starts makes my initial comparison rather invalid.

5. Suppan…hmmm…well, he’s last in ERA, last in K/9, and second to last in WHIP…unfortunately, due to his large multi-year contract, he’ll be with the Brewers this year and probably be in the starting rotation for most, if not all, of the season…but can’t Macha put him back to the #5 slot?  Please?!?!