It's his contract year. He showed up in better shape, and I'd be willing to be there won't be any "mystery" ailments that hold him out this season. Just a hunch...
I heard all of these people hyping Johann Santana, and yes, I realize he is a STUD, but they are practically handing him the NL Cy Young already this season.
It's pretty hard to argue with Jake Peavy, but my pick for this year coming in was Ben Sheets and so far (through 2 games) he is not dissapointing. This guy is great if he can stay on the field. I know there are a lot of solid pitchers but if Sheets can stay healthy, my bet is that he will be getting a piece of hardware in the post season awards.
If he stays healthy, Ben Sheets is a legitimate Ace for one of the best young teams in the NL. I don't think he'll win, but a healthy Sheets is good enough to compete for a Cy Young.
For the record, this is the best way for the Brewers to not have the bullpen blow games for them.
Will he be able to last the whole season?
This is sure a good start, but did he have an opening day complete game last year. This team is good but not much depth they cannot afford to lose him again. The Cubs look like they have improved and they have seven solid starting pitchers in the orginization and eveb Matt Murton cannot make the 25 man roster.
when gallardo is healthy this club has 7 or 8 legitimate starters, with a couple more in the minors ready to be brought up (if necessary).
the reason they couldn't afford to lose him last year is that capuano was losing 20+ straight appearances. even give him 3 wins out of 20 and the Brewers are in the postseason last year.
Sheets in a contract year....typical - when the heat is on for a big time Pro to produce, he comes through. This guy has been anything but money in his career. Now that he has to prove himself, he is off to a fantastic (only 2 games) start with a perfect record (should be 2-0, thanks Gag-me) with a 00000ERA.
We'll see if he can keep it up and then follow it up.
It''s early, but these big wins pay HUGE dividens in the end..........
you know MON40 its early in the year, but i'm still hearing people hype the Cubs pitching. is it just me or are they allowing a LOT of runs? granted the crew had one close game against the Giants this wknd, but the cubs struggled for 3 games against the stros. the stros are you serious? yet thier bats are better, and thier pitching is better right? just b/c a team spent a boat load of money doesnt mean they'll win. the cubs look to me like the crew of last year. they can put up runs, when they need to, but their pitching cant keep the other team to under 3 runs. there is a time table on pitching like that. as for depth w/ the crew, its been said already ,so i wont harp on it, but the crew does boast at least 7 healthy starters when yovanni is back. lets check the rosters before we start spewing false facts about the team.
The Cubs do not have seven solid starters if they did then they wouldn't have lost 2 out of 3 from the CREW!!! They spent all this money but still haven't improved to the point where I would sit back and take notice. Not to mention you need or should I say the cubs need more than just starters, you have to have a bullpen you can count on to finish the game for your starters!! And that they haven't even began to address yet!!
Why does a Cubs fan come on a Brewer thread and try and hate? Whats the point? Although its a bit funny when stupidity starts to show through frustration. Can't afford to lose Sheets? Good one. No, no Brewer fan wants to see the Brewer Ace go down, but this year they can afford it with 5 good starting pitchers, 1 coming off the DL, and another 1-2 in the minors. Although they did they let go of Claudio Vargas which surprised me. Anyways, the Cubs have a junk bullpen and decent starters but nothing to write home about.
Big Ben looked great today and just needs to stay healthy for this club. Braun is also picking up where he left off last year, its just a shame he doesn't have anyone on base in front of him when he has hit those home runs.
The best part of this weekend was seeing Braun get off the schnide. I'll admit I was a little skeptical after the Cubs series...but as long as this team can keep hitting, they should be alright. Here's to hoping they avoid another late-season collapse that has been all too prevalent lately...
Anyone hear if the Brewers are in negotiations with Sheet's agent about a possible extension? While I would love to see Benny win 15-20 games with a sub-3 ERA, if he does that hes going to command at least 70-80 million on the market next year... Who knows though our front office has pushed our payroll up above 90 million for the first time ever so maybe we could afford to keep him.
PS... To everyone talking about the Cubs 'fantastic' pitching, how about them cards winning with relative no names. Im not 100% sure but I think their starting staff has one of the leading ERAs through the first week of the season without former Cy Young winner Chris Carpenter along with Mark Mulder.
As a Brewers fan though, heres to hoping their run doesnt last.
The real big wins were the Cub games. Each win there meant they don't have to find 2 wins elsewhere. I'll take them wins anytime. Win the majority of your division games and you greatly improve your chances of making the playoffs.
So far batting the pitcher 8th hasn't seem to hurt them. What I like about it you can put a more polished baserunner in front of the leadoff guy, not a player who is going to be a station to station runner because you don't want to tire him out before he hits the mound the next inning.
Let's see if Yost can learn how to effectively handle his pitching staff this year. In my opinion that is where he is weakest. He sticks with a pitcher a couple batters longer than he should and then it's too late to save the situation. If Gagne doesn't get his act together will he be willing to get away from him and try someone else in the closer's role. Turnbow has the stuff he could do it but he has too many games where he just appears to be elsewhere and can't get the job done to make him the closer. I'm not sure Riske has the stuff to go everyday as a closer. Maybe a closer by committee situation. Use Riske and Turnbow because in Turnbow's case you can see real early on if he's got the stuff or not. When he's on he's good but when he's off, PU!!! Riske would be a good change for those occasions.
Starting pitching isn't too bad. Keep Sheets healthy and get Gallardo back healthy and he pitches like he did last year and have the other starters give consistently good performances and the Brewers should be OK. Hopefully the starters get them 6+ IP per start otherwise the bullpen will get worn out.
The offense should be good. Kapler so far looks like he's a good signing. I think the Brewers will go as far as their pitching will take them because the offense is solid. We'll know come September.
