[BirdWatcher]

Time for a few observations about the season thus far and how things are looking going forward.

(I should note I am not in front of the game as I type this, so no screenshots and only approximations of stats.)

This is certainly a season when some of the Brewers historical strengths- starting pitching and defense- have been at the forefront. The starting rotation has been strong and deep, with Erik Sloan and Steve Green leading the way thus far. As has previously been mentioned, Sadahige Kawasaki has mostly pitched well but has been the unluckiest of Brewer pitchers. On the other hand, Cheol-han Lee has been the luckiest, with a 4-1 record in spite of not pitching very well and carrying an ERA approaching 5. In their limited starts, both Sekien Hamasaki and John Weaver have done quite well. If anything, there are whispers in the Brewers front office that it may have been a mistake not letting Cheol-han depart as a free agent, as he is not looking like the Ace of old and with Hamasaki and Weaver both looking like they deserve a spot in the rotation, and top prospect Jim Atwell doing very well at single A and probably not far from the big leagues himself, the aging Lee seems like the most expendable member of the rotation.
Matt Helm is always perhaps one injury away from losing his place in the rotation, and indeed he is currently nursing a sore elbow, but thus far he always seems to be able to avoid the serious injury that requires an extended stint on the IL.

The Brewers defense has been great, led by the infield, where Rich White has been a stabilizing force at short, and Bobby Erbakan before he was injured looked like a Gold Glove second baseman (and we don't lose much there with Joe Willemse taking most of the starts in his absence, defensively anyway). Brett Taranto has been a revelation at first, proving to be nearly Erbakan's equal there while also being probably the best hitter on the team up to this point of the season. (Mike Lovett, power hitting prospect at AAA Chester has been just okay this season and is not pushing Taranto for the starting job, yet, at least.) Even third baseman Rodrigo "RodRod" Rodriguez has been solid defensively and has only committed two errors. His bat hasn't been as good as 1975 but he's been heating up the past week or so.

The offense as a whole has been good. As usual, the Brewers lead all of the WPK in batting average and once again are above .300 as a team. Power is down across the league and even worse than average for the Brewers, and it doesn't hurt that Erbakan is on the IL for the next month plus. Joe McPhillips has been the big disappointment at the plate this season and has been hovering at or below .260 much of the season, with far fewer extra base hits than would be expected. His OBP is still decent, and he's a great defender and base runner, but if we are to retain first place we will need to him to wake up at the plate soon. Andrew Kennedy is having a bit of a comeback year and Josh Schaeffer just continues to be a valuable all-around player, in spite of his perceived laziness. And unlike recent seasons, the Brewers are at or near the top in base running stats, though still sub-par in terms of base stealing.

We haven't had a ton of value from the bench, and players have rotated in and out of AAA for those spots. But 5th outfielder Izzy Veliz has given us some good pinch-hit at-bats and fine defense in right field backing up Schaeffer. And Nick Ward, in spite of having absolutely no value at the plate, provides us with a great late-inning defensive replacement for RodRod at third base.

Now as for the bullpen, the area of greatest disaster in 1975. In a word, they have been terrific. The team not only has the best starting pitcher ERA but also the best bullpen ERA. The weak link has been Ben Flynn, who profiles as potentially the most talented (and provides a power bat off the bench), and after his latest disastrous outing he was sent down to AAA Chester for a bit of head-clearing. (Antonio Nieves was recalled to Denver.) Both Tim Shore and Jason Gottula have given us the kind of value in the 'pen that we expected of them when they were picked up in separate mid-season trades in 1975. It didn't work out well last season, but thus far this season, so good. Lefty Eric Marino, who struggles with control, has also been getting better and better and is playing a larger role in the bullpen. When you add in some fine innings in relief by future starters Weaver and Hamasaki and potential starter Damian Hahn, it is no surprise that the Brewers have a great record in 1-run games this season.