We are now on our 14th day, and that means we are heading north on I-94 to Milwaukee. Let's check out how the Brewers did in 2009, beginning with their record and team leaders:
Milwaukee Brewers:
Record: 80-82 (Third place in the NL Central, 11 games behind St. Louis).
Batting Leaders:
Batting Average: Ryan Braun (.320)
Home Runs: Prince Fielder (46)
RBIs: Prince Fielder (141)
On-base Percentage: Prince Fielder (.412)
Pitching Leaders:
Wins: Braden Looper (14)
ERA: Yovanni Gallardo (3.73)
Strikeouts: Yovanni Gallardo (204)
Innings Pitched: Braden Looper (194.2)
WHIP: Yovanni Gallardo (1.31)
Saves: Trevor Hoffman (37)
Highlight of the Season: A pretty creative way to celebrate a game-winning home run against the Giants on September 6.
Lowlight of the Season: An ugly 17-4 loss at Dodger Stadium on August 4. Adding insult to injury, Prince Fielder attempted to storm the Dodgers' clubhouse after the game, looking for reliever Guillermo Mota, who drilled him with a pitch with two outs during the ninth inning of that game.
The Lowdown:
The roller-coaster ride to the 2008 Wild Card proved to be too tough of an act to follow for this year's bunch, as they failed to make consecutive postseason appearances for the first time since 1981-1982. They fell victim to a severe lack of pitching in 2009, which was no doubt affected by the departure of CC Sabathia to New York. Their lineup, however, still featured their fair share of bruisers, led by the dynamic duo of Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder. Unfortunately, even their efforts were not good enough to propel this team back to the playoffs again, as they finished with their seventh losing season of the decade, and theif first since 2006. Let's break down the Brew Crew, beginning with their offense.
Offense:
The Crew in 2009 proved that they can still mash, as they finished in the top ten in MLB in runs scored (785- 9th) and in home runs (182- 10th). They were led by the bruising combo of Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder, who combined to go deep 78 times. They also were very effective in driving in runners, as Fielder tied Philadelphia's Ryan Howard for the major league lead with 141, and Braun finished with 114. Also, to compliment how well they did in the power department, they each finished with great batting averages and on-base percentages. Braun hit a fantastic .320 to go along with a .386 OBP, while Fielder hit .299 to go along with a .412 OBP. This was simply two fantastic seasons put together by two fantastic players.
Two other standouts in Milwaukee's lineup include Casey McGehee and Mike Cameron. However, both contributed in two different categories; McGehee in batting average, and Cameron in the power department. McGehee put together a solid season, hitting .301, while pounding out 16 home runs and driving in 66. Cameron fashioned even better numbers power-wise, hitting 24 home runs while driving in 70.
To go along with the total runs scored and home runs hit by this team, they also hit .263, which tied for 12th in MLB. You really can't ask too much more from this lineup; they performed to their potential. They are pretty darn good.
Final Grade: B+
Pitching:
Milwaukee's staff in 2009 was largely unremarkable, and that led them to struggle for most of the year. Their 4.83 ERA tied for 26th in MLB, and the 818 runs they allowed was the fifth-most in MLB. The only pitcher that was a standout in the starting rotation was Yovanni Gallardo. He finished with a 13-12 record to go along with a 3.73 ERA. In fact, he would end up being the only starter to finish with an ERA under four, as Braden Looper, Jeff Suppan, Manny Parra and Dave Bush all broke the five-barrier in that category.
In the bullpen, the two real standouts were Todd Coffey and Trevor Hoffman. Coffey proved to be an effective set-up man for the future Hall of Famer Hoffman, recording 27 saves and a 2.90 ERA. Hoffman enjoyed yet another great season closing out games, as he recorded 37 saves in 41 chances to go along with a fantastic 1.83 ERA.
Outside of the aforementioned three, there was nothing that really separated this staff from other pathetic ones like Washington or Cleveland.
Final Grade: D+
Wild Card: Strikeouts
With the good always comes the bad, as Milwaukee's offense struck out 1,231 times, the fourth-most in MLB. Hitting for so much power sometimes comes with a cost, and I suppose a high strikeout total is it.
Final Grade: D
Overall:
Even though the lineup still mashed as usual in '09, their pitching was bad enough for the team to regress greatly. Regardless of whether or not Braun and Fielder hit 50 homers each next year, if this team does not get better in the pitching department, they'll remain stagnant.
Final Grade: C
Check back tomorrow for the report card on the Chicago Cubs!
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