Starting Pitchers
Zack Greinke: A The Zack Attack has dominated this season. He has had two bad stars all year, (Arizona and Chicago) and continues to be awesome at Miller Park. Greinke got snubbed in the All-Star Game, but he still could contend for Cy Young if the Brewers make a run.
Shaun Marcum: B+ Only a lower grade because of his injury. Marcum looked on his way to be considered for the All-Star Game before going down with an elbow problem. He pitched great, and seems very comfortable against National League opponents.
Yovani Gallardo: B This grade might be higher if Gallardo avoided the St. Louis Cardinals. They are officially his daddy as Pedro Martinez once said. Since a horrendous start against the Chicago Cubs in early June, Yo has been great. He hasn't allowed more than three runs in his last six starts, and lowered his ERA by roughly 75 percentage points.
Randy Wolf: D I have called him SuppWolf and other nicknames that would involved Jeff Suppan, the pitching version of Jeffrey Hammonds. Wolf is the equivalent of a shit sandwich this year on the mound. He doesn't listen to his catcher that he MUST have. Every ball is up, yet he gets the Casey McGehee treatment from everyone. Neat.
Marco Estrada: B- Estrada filled in nicely for Chris Narveson, and Shaun Marcum, I guess. He has been on the bad side of luck with pitching good enough to win against Cincinnati and Miami in the past couple of starts. He did a great job bridging the gap against Houston on Sunday, and I foresee a long relief effort in his future.
Michael Fiers: A- It's an early grade for the Brewers' call-up, but it's deserving. He got called up when Estrada went down, and people didn't know what to expect. He keeps pitching great, and teams haven't been able to figure him out yet. Scouts say Fiers' ceiling is fourth or fifth starter, but they've been wrong before.
Relief Pitchers
Livan Hernandez- Incomplete- The most insulting thing this Brewer season was Pat, one our writers asking me who would win in a 40 yard dash between Livan and I.
Tim Dillard- F I realize he's in the minors now, but he played the entire first half. I had no idea why Dillard was on this team. He gave up runs left and right, and just gave us silly impressions along with facial hair.
Manny Parra- B- My name is Charlie Tritschler, and I'm a Manny Parra defender. He had a horrible June like the rest of the bullpen, but other than that? Parra has been stable. I also noticed with his game log that he has more zeros in the hit column than other Brewers' relief pitchers.
Jose Veras- C+ Here's a crazy statistic about Veras from June. He only had a 1.13 ERA, but he had 10 walks and 10 strikeouts, unreal. Veras had two rough appearances against Miami that caused his ERA to skyrocket as of late. Veras needs to find some consistency, but that goes for the entire team.
Kameron Loe- B- Loe has basically been the pitcher we all know and occasionally love. He gives the Brewers three or four good outings, and then blows up like the Hindenburg. It's just what you come to expect with Loe. He has been more stable than many of the other pitchers in the bullpen.
Francisco Rodriguez- C+ It's really hard to judge Frankie's season. He actually has the lowest ERA in the bullpen, but that's not saying much at all. Every time he starts lowering that ERA, he blows up and it leads to runs. He will give some old man a heart attack before the year is done.
John Axford- C The Ax man definitely hasn't been shut down this year. He likes to call out #TwitterToughGuys and tries to provide perspective, but it's pretty hard to defend Axford at this point. He had a horrendous June, but his July looks good so far despite that blown save. Closers are so weird, Axford could end up not blowing a save the rest of the year. Who knows.
Charlie.
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