Brewers Boosting Doubters Early

Before the season started, there was a lot of fiery talk from the Brewers brass.  They were going to build on their “150 days” of first-place fortitude, dadgummit, they were going to use the disappointment of 2014’s conclusion to figure things out successfully in 2015.  And hopefully they’d have a good start to the season again.

D’oh.

After losing heartlessly 4-0 to the Cardinals on Thursday, the Brewers are 2-7 on the season and well on their way to making last year’s unfortunate final record look like a good mark.

In 2014 they lost 39 games at home.  So far this year the Brew Crew have the jump on losing more, having already dropped five of six at Miller Park to open regular season play.  It’s understandable to lose some on the road in the early going, but to drop five games to begin the year in front of the home crowd?  They should be embarrassed.

Perhaps most disheartening about the Brewers’ play thus far is that it’s proving the doubters correct about this club after only nine games.  The cracks in the walls already are visible for all to see, while the optimists are trying to be as patient as they can.  But it’s getting harder by the day to have any faith in the Milwaukee team, particularly because they seem so content to keep the same guys calling the shots no matter what happens on the field.

Not only is the offense hitting under .250 with virtually no power and getting outscored and outhit 2-1, but the pitching staff isn’t doing its job either.  The club isn’t getting good starts and their team ERA is well over 4.00.  Outside of Adam Lind and Jean Segura, no one can hit the ball.  Jonathan Lucroy looks stymied and Ryan Braun looks totally lost.

Probably most damning, the team looks as unfocused and sloppy as ever after the recently extended manager Ron Roenicke had all of spring to get this team in shape for the rough road ahead.  One wonders if Roenicke might be doing more than shaking his head and muttering if his contract hadn’t been picked up already for 2016.

With 22 of 25 initial games against NL Central foes, the Brewers couldn’t afford to stink it up early.  Yet that is what they are doing because that’s just the way Milwaukee rolls, apparently.  They don’t care about fundamentals.  Milwaukee digs the power ball, only the team looks frightfully impotent when they’re not hitting for extra bases.  Clearly they don’t know what it means to hit strategically with runners in scoring position, or it isn’t prioritized in their nebulous baseball philosophy.

If they can go 7-2 over the next week to reach .500, it will be clear it’s far too early in the year to use hyperbole or get upset.  But if this landslide continues, the Brewers should think more than twice about cleaning house.  Fans are not up to this again for the next six months unless it’s going to have positive consequences to shape the future.  Shape up or ship out.

Milwaukee fans deserve a better “product” than this junk.  They show up in large numbers at Miller Park to see something from their club…it’s on the team to deliver its end of the bargain.