Let's take a look at some basic stats for the Brewers thus far in the 1983 season:
As you can see, veteran centerfielder
Joe McPhillips is off to a great start though admittedly his days as a premium defensive centerfielder are in the past (-4.2 ZR in center). He still profiles as an elite defender on the corners but the problem is that the Brewers already have a Gold Glover (and 3-time MVP) in right field in
Antonio Acuna and they need to keep
Val Guzman's bat and running game in the lineup and he has nowhere to play but left field.
Angelo Rivas (.225/.311/.325) provides fine late-inning defense (1.8 ZR) in center (as well as giving
McPhillips days off against left-handed starting pitchers) but doesn't have the bat to start. And fifth outfielder
Myles Ford (.391/.429/.543) has been excellent off the bench offensively, is very fast and also a fine defender. (This glut of quality outfielders led to the team trading away last season's 4th outfielder Eric Dougherty to Detroit on the 23rd of May.)
The catching tandem for the Brewers has been much more than could have been hoped for. Defensive specialist
Willie Ortega has somehow hit .314/.371/.381 so far with a 3.77 CERA, though some of his defensive numbers has thus far been disappointing (23.5% of runners thrown out trying to steal). Young
Jesse Cooper (.372/.406/.523) does not have a strong arm but he is considered a very good defensive catcher otherwise (3.41 CERA) and has the better bat of the two.
After starting the season on the IL,
Dustin Moore (.306/.322/.431) continues to be a productive hitter and an even better fielder, shuttling between second base (2.2 ZR) and shortstop (0.4 ZR).
Starting shortstop
Shawn York has been tremendous in the field (5.8 ZR) and anemic at the plate (.207/.255/.307, a wRC+ of 40, 30 strikeouts with only 8 walks, and although he is very fleet of foot he has also hit into 6 GIDP's).
With
Sadahige Kawasaki out for the season and last year's MGL Harris/Lee award winner
Eric Maisch having been lost for most of the season, the starting rotation has underperformed, with the exception of course of left-hander
Austin Bond. Top prospect
Mike Costa has been good and was awarded the Rookie of the Month honors for May but he has also been forced to leave two of his starts early this month due to nagging (non-arm related) injuries. There is some concern that in spite of his 6'6", 205 lb. frame
Costa may prove to be injury prone.
The bullpen, which ranked 12th in the MGL last year in ERA, is much improved, in spite of the rough start for left-handed setup man
Jeff Mariani. The bullpen ERA of 2.72 is currently the best in the MGL.