Inflicting Pain With the Leather

Don't blame Prince Fielder.

The Big Vegetarian is scoffing down collard greens in Detroit these days, but that's not the reason his former team, last season's NL Central Division champs, is being lapped by the pretenders in Houston and Pittsburgh.

The Milwaukee Brewers deserve the 18-26 spanking they've received from Major League Baseball this year, after wining 94 a year ago. Despite the off-season departure of 275 pounds of slugging, the Brewers continue to rake, tallying 4.34 runs per game, fifth in the senior circuit.

The problem with the Brewers is the pitching. Check out these two high-priced noodle-arms in the rotation:

Shaun Marcum: 2-3, 3.93 ERA 19BB/49K

Zack Greinke: 5-1, 2.70 ERA 12BB/59/K

Whoops! Looks like those two are delivering like email. But the rest of the rotation is pure spam. Consider these in a 3.95 ERA league:

Yovani Gallardo: 2-4, 4.62 ERA 25BB/48K

Randy Wolf  2-4, 6.02 ERA  21BB/29K

Marco Estrada  0-3, 4.50 ERA  7BB/34K

The bullpen is even worse, leaving the team with a 4.48 ERA. That's nearly a full run worse than last year. You can't blame the former first baseman for that. 

You can't blame Fielder for the decline in Fielding either. He contributed less than the racing kielbasa on defense last season. (You never sausage a lousy glove man.)

 

In just 44 games, the Beermakers have cost themselves 27 runs afield, according to Baseball-Reference's Zone Fielding metric. That's about three losses on the defense alone, compared to two wins in 2011. Since the team is third in the Majors in avoiding errors, that can only mean they have all the mobility of a derrick crane. Can't blame Cecil's kid for that. The tatooed first basespheroid actually cost the team six runs with the leather in 2011.

Milwaukee gave up a lot of future talent for Greinke and Marcum, but they can't do it alone. They need some defensive help -- in the field, behind them in the rotation and after them in late innings. They proved last season that they have the talent; they just need to begin showing it before the woebegone Cubs catch them.

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