[BirdWatcher]

It is of course way to early for much of anything to be clear yet but there are few trends worth watching.

First let's look at a few position players whose roles might be somewhat in jeopardy.

Shortstop Chad Brown has been a mainstay of the team since its beginning.
Brown has good range in the field and is great at turning the double play but it is becoming increasingly clear that he will likely never live up to the Gold Glove award winning potential it was once thought he had. Not only does Brown commit far too many errors but his range has plateaued at above average and shows signs of regressing from there. But more troubling is that his batting contact skills, once thought to be well above average, are now profiling as average at best. With very little power and an inability to draw many walks, even a slight decline in contact skills can render Brown an offensive liability. In his earlier days he at least showed a great ability to avoid being struck out, and while he is still a plus in that area the signs are that he is likely trending in the wrong direction there as well. What Brown still does possess is great speed and base-stealing/base-running abilities. But with Joe Willemse showing good bat skills and, with a bit more playing time, having the potential to exceed Brown defensively, is Brown, who is signed to a healthy contract through 1979 (team option for final year) on the verge of being reduced to a backup middle infield and pinch-running role?

Starting catcher Kevin Curtis is a fan favorite and a 3-time Gold Glove winner. But while he does have some good on-base skills (a good eye at the plate) and decent gap power, he has always been a poor hitter overall who strikes out at rates that put him among the league leaders. And in 1973 his defense seemed to suffer as well. Rookie Zacarias Martell is off to a great start and playing far more than Curtis thus far in 1974. Martell's hitting will almost surely regress to the mean (I am unsure of his BABIP right now, but I would imagine it is quite unsustainable). On the other hand, thus far his defense looks tremendous. All indications are that he is of the highest order in terms of work ethic and intelligence and this should bode well for his progress in the future. He was expected to be Curtis back-up this season. But thus far that seems to be reversed.

Young center fielder Joe McPhillips looks like he might finally have that break-through season expected of him. Now if we can just keep him relatively healthy for an entire season.

Josh Schaeffer hit a home run in his first at-bat of the 1974 season (in fact, the team's first AB) but then went into a bit of a slump. He is showing signs of bouncing back and with his great on-base skills and decent defense should remain a valuable member of the team. He does however struggle a bit against left-handed pitching and so right-hander Ryan Rodgers got quite a bit of work in right field in Spring Training and has already progressed to a level of proficiency equal to Schaeffer's. (With his still very good range and very strong arm, Rodgers should be able to man right field nearly as well as he does left field, where he is near GG caliber.)
The trick always for the Brewers is getting 4 very talented outfielders enough playing time. But so far, especially with Rodgers ability to play all 3 OF positions, things have gone well on that front.

Harry Lyerly is the weak link thus far in the starting rotation, with Matt Helm, Steve Green, and Erik Sloan all off to great starts and Cheol-han Lee looking like his usual ace self (though he did have to leave his most recent start early due to back spasms- fortunately he is expected to be fully recovered soon and likely will just need his next start to be pushed back a few days). But the thought at this time is that Harry's struggles were predictable and in hindsight team leadership should have given him a bit of a rehab stint at AAA Chester when he came off the IL as he just hasn't had much work yet this year.

Jonathan Koch and Mike Foster are off to great starts at the plate and Koch is a wizard in the field. Should they falter Joe Willemse could see his role enhanced and Rodrigo "RodRod" Rodriguez is waiting in the wings at AAA Chester.

The bullpen is looking pretty solid, especially Jordan Stephens.

So the big early questions are:
1) Will Harry Lyerly work his way out of his early struggles? (The feeling is that he likely will, eventually.)
2) Will Chad Brown see his role continue to decline? (Probably yes.)
3) Will Kevin Curtis lose the starting catcher job to rookie Zacarias Martell? (Too early to tell, but at least a fairly equal platoon situation is likely.)