Search the Site

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Brewers Starting Pitchers Coming Into Focus; Opening Day Roster Set

Some good news on the pitching front this week. Shaun Marcum pitched for the Brewers yesterday and experienced none of the shoulder tightness he felt his last time out. He threw 68 pitches, so he's slightly behind schedule, but he'll be able to start vs the Reds on Saturday, with a likely pitch limit of around 80-85.


Marco Estrada, meanwhile, pitched well on Sunday vs the White Sox, allowing seven hits and two earned runs over six innings with a walk and four strikeouts. He took the loss vs Mark Buehrle but certainly made his case to start for the Brewers on April 6. Estrada will start the season in the minors, so it's possible that the Brewers look to newly acquired Sergio Mitre for that start, too.

The Brewers made some roster moves recently and it appears that the Opening Day roster is set:

Starting Pitchers: Yovani Gallardo, Shaun Marcum, Randy Wolf, Chris Narveson

Bullpen: John Axford, Takashi Saito, Kameron Loe, Sean Green, Zach Braddock, Mitch Stetter, Sergio Mitre, Brandon Kintzler

Catchers: George Kottaras, Wil Nieves

Infielders: Prince Fielder, Rickie Weeks, Yuniesky Betancourt, Casey McGehee. Bench: Craig Counsell, Erick Almonte

Outfielders: Ryan Braun, Carlos Gomez, Mark Kotsay. Bench: Nyjer Morgan, Jeremy Reed

Five Brewers will begin the season on the DL: Zack Greinke, Corey Hart, Jonathan Lucroy, LaTroy Hawkins, Manny Parra. Each player's return will cause one of the players above to lose their spot or be sent to the minors. Jeremy Reed appears to be the odd man out in the outfield, but beyond that things become a bit murkier. Big Rygg at Brewer Nation does a good job of breaking down the potential roster moves.

In other good news of the day, Jonathan Lucroy has been cleared for full activity and will begin the season in the minor leagues. Now he just needs at bats to make up for the time he missed this spring. He could return to the Brewers in as little time as 1-2 weeks. LaTroy Hawkins will also begin the season in the minors, making his return to the Brewers not too far off, either.

No comments:

Post a Comment