Brewing Up Some Pitching

Milwaukee's Brewers have not been all that active going after major (read big-buck) free agents thus far. And with up-and-coming Jimmy Nelson on the mend from surgery, they could certainly use a stud addition. But they did make a couple of moves to add to the pitching staff that are worth noting.

First, they brought back Brewer alum Yovani Gallardo, he of the five opening day starts (a team record). Traded to Texas in 2015, Yo struggled there and subsequently in Seattle as well, which dropped him after a terrible campaign this past season. He's not that old a guy, knows Milwaukee and is, in essence, a cheap addition.

I hope they sat Yovani down and told him A) we're giving you a shot, but you're on a short leash & B) you will probably end up in the bullpen. Long relief wouldn't be a bad spot for him. The issue I've had with him in the past is his penchant for high pitch counts. Never seemed to get past the 5th inning as he was always going full count on hitter after hitter. We put him in the pen, that's not a problem. Go ahead, throw your heart out for two or three or four innings.

The other pickup was the hard-to-pronounce Jhoulys Chacin. Here's a guy who has been with several different teams in his career, and spent 6 seasons with the Colorado Rockies. Denver is the city where pitching ERAs go to die.  This might work in his favor as Miller Park, like Denver, is hitter-friendly. Still, Chacin had a 3.93 career ERA in 193 games (67 starts) and a 59-67 record. He was 13-10 for the woeful San Diego Padres last year. His overall ERA 3.89 with 153 strikeouts BUT he was 1.79 at pitcher-friendly Petco Park. His two-year, $16 million contract is pretty team friendly, so I think it's a good acquisition.

With Nelson coming off surgery, that left Chase Anderson and Zach Davies as the only returning starters. Look for Brandon Woodruff and, my choice, fire-balling lefty Brent Suter, to step into the rotation.

Adding pieces to the bullpen, as well as subtracting, is something Milwaukee has continued. Gone is Taylor Jungmann (off to ply his trade in Japan) while coming aboard  Boone Logan (33) and J.J. Hoover (30). Logan, a lefty, had success with the Cleveland Indians and should be a good situational addition.

As for Hoover? Well, he sucked (can't resist, sorry!) in 2016 with a 13.50 ERA, but throughout his career he's pretty much cleaned up (again, can't resist) with an ERA of 4.09. He should help the bullpen if he can regain the way he pitched in 2015.