Headlines

  • Stuart Sternberg Has Agreed To Sell Rays To Patrick Zalupski, Deal Expected To Be Final By September
  • Nationals Select Eli Willits With First Pick Of 2025 Amateur Draft
  • 2025 MLB Draft, First Round Results
  • Red Sox Place Hunter Dobbins On 15-Day IL Due To ACL Tear
  • Astros Promote Brice Matthews
  • Red Sox Likely To Activate Alex Bregman Tomorrow
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Rumors

MLB Trade Rumors

Remove Ads
  • Home
  • Teams
    • AL East
      • Baltimore Orioles
      • Boston Red Sox
      • New York Yankees
      • Tampa Bay Rays
      • Toronto Blue Jays
    • AL Central
      • Chicago White Sox
      • Cleveland Guardians
      • Detroit Tigers
      • Kansas City Royals
      • Minnesota Twins
    • AL West
      • Houston Astros
      • Los Angeles Angels
      • Oakland Athletics
      • Seattle Mariners
      • Texas Rangers
    • NL East
      • Atlanta Braves
      • Miami Marlins
      • New York Mets
      • Philadelphia Phillies
      • Washington Nationals
    • NL Central
      • Chicago Cubs
      • Cincinnati Reds
      • Milwaukee Brewers
      • Pittsburgh Pirates
      • St. Louis Cardinals
    • NL West
      • Arizona Diamondbacks
      • Colorado Rockies
      • Los Angeles Dodgers
      • San Diego Padres
      • San Francisco Giants
  • About
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Tim Dierkes
    • Writing team
    • Advertise
    • Archives
  • Contact
  • Tools
    • 2025 Trade Deadline Outlook Series
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Agency Database
  • NBA/NFL/NHL
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors
  • App
  • Chats
Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

The Brewers’ 2011 Rotation

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | August 11, 2010 at 6:28pm CDT

The Brewers made the 2008 playoffs thanks, in large part, to a rotation led by C.C. Sabathia and Ben Sheets. Yovani Gallardo has since established himself as a frontline starter, but the Brewers have struggled to surround him with equally capable arms. Barring injuries, the Cardinals and Reds will have strong rotations next year. Here’s how Milwaukee’s starting five will compare.

Gallardo leads all NL starters with 10.1 K/9 and his 2.86 ERA ranks eighth in the league. He’ll be the team’s opening day starter in 2011. Doug Melvin’s challenge: fill out the rotation with other capable arms.

Randy Wolf was supposed to be a solid complementary starter this year, but Melvin’s big offseason addition hasn’t worked out nearly as well as most Brewers fans hoped. Wolf has been durable enough to make his starts, but his walk, hit and homer rates are up and his strikeout rate is down. The Brewers will have to hope Wolf, now 33, bounces back in 2011.

Left-handers Manny Parra, Chris Capuano and Chris Narveson have all started games for the Brewers this year. Parra can strike major leaguers out and could win a rotation spot despite his high walk totals. Capuano has started just two games since returning from his second Tommy John surgery, but has pitched effectively. And Narveson (5.62 ERA and 131 hits in 115.1 innings) has been hittable. Like Parra and Capuano, Narveson strikes out twice as many batters as he walks, but the Brewers will presumably want alternatives to this trio of southpaws heading into the season.

Doug Davis ($6MM mutual option) and David Bush are both eligible for free agency after the season, but the Brewers can consider promoting a couple of prospects. 

Amaury Rivas has a 3.21 ERA with 7.1 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9 in 21 AA starts this year. He was the Brewers’ minor league pitcher of the year in 2009 and impressed Baseball America with an efficient approach based on “three pitches, command, confidence and aggression.” It’s easy to imagine the 24-year-old starting for the Brewers at some point in 2011.

Former fifth-overall pick Mark Rogers has a 3.78 ERA with 8.4 K/9 and 5.8 BB/9 in the upper minors. He has a mid-90s fastball, but the 24-year-old needs a John Axford-esque improvement in command to succeed as a starter in the majors. Baseball America liked Rogers’ stuff enough to rank him 11th among Brewers prospects before the season, but they suggested he “fits best as a reliever” because of his command and health issues.

Rivas and Rogers are promising pitchers who could contribute in 2011, but they are not sure things. Neither are Narveson, Parra and Capuano, so Milwaukee will presumably be in the market for one or two starting pitchers this winter.

If the Brewers entertain offers for Prince Fielder, as expected, they’ll presumably ask for big league-ready starters in return. Even if they trade Prince, they could have interest in re-signing a pitcher like Bush (he has turned in a solid season). Milwaukee has many question marks behind Gallardo and Wolf, so it would be a surprise if starting pitching is not at or near the top of Melvin’s offseason wish list once again.

Share 2 Retweet 6 Send via email0

2011 Rotations Milwaukee Brewers

Poll: Which Team Will End Its Playoff Drought First?
Main
Giants Acquire Mike Fontenot
View Comments (0)
Post a Comment

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.

Log in Register

    Top Stories

    Stuart Sternberg Has Agreed To Sell Rays To Patrick Zalupski, Deal Expected To Be Final By September

    Nationals Select Eli Willits With First Pick Of 2025 Amateur Draft

    2025 MLB Draft, First Round Results

    Red Sox Place Hunter Dobbins On 15-Day IL Due To ACL Tear

    Astros Promote Brice Matthews

    Red Sox Likely To Activate Alex Bregman Tomorrow

    Phillies Reportedly Targeting Controllable Relievers

    Yankees Prioritizing Pitching, Also Searching For Infield Help

    Orioles Trade Bryan Baker To Rays

    Yankees Release DJ LeMahieu

    Trevor Williams To Undergo UCL Surgery

    Nationals Fire PBO Mike Rizzo, Manager Dave Martinez

    Brewers Activate Brandon Woodruff

    Clarke Schmidt Expected To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

    Bobby Jenks Passes Away

    Braves Release Alex Verdugo

    Top 40 Trade Candidates For The 2025 Deadline

    Rays Reinstate Ha-Seong Kim

    Yankees Have Shown Interest In Ryan McMahon

    Royals Interested In Bryan Reynolds

    Recent

    Stuart Sternberg Has Agreed To Sell Rays To Patrick Zalupski, Deal Expected To Be Final By September

    Adolis Garcia Drawing Trade Interest

    Poll: Who Will Win The 2025 Home Run Derby?

    Royals Place Michael Lorenzen On Injured List

    Yankees Claim Rico Garcia

    Blue Jays, Joe Mantiply Agree To Minor League Deal

    Submit Your Questions For This Week’s Episode Of The MLBTR Podcast

    D-backs Have Listened To Offers On Outfield Depth

    Vinny Nittoli To Opt Out Of Brewers Deal

    The Opener: Home Run Derby, Draft Day 2, Rodriguez

    MLBTR Newsletter - Hot stove highlights in your inbox, five days a week

    Latest Rumors & News

    Latest Rumors & News

    • Sandy Alcantara Rumors
    • Luis Robert Rumors
    • Alex Bregman Rumors

     

    Trade Rumors App for iOS and Android App Store Google Play

    MLBTR Features

    MLBTR Features

    • Remove Ads, Support Our Writers
    • Front Office Originals
    • Front Office Fantasy Baseball
    • MLBTR Podcast
    • Trade Deadline Outlook Series
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Agency Database
    • MLBTR On Twitter
    • MLBTR On Facebook
    • Team Facebook Pages
    • How To Set Up Notifications For Breaking News
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors

    Rumors By Team

    • Angels Rumors
    • Astros Rumors
    • Athletics Rumors
    • Blue Jays Rumors
    • Braves Rumors
    • Brewers Rumors
    • Cardinals Rumors
    • Cubs Rumors
    • Diamondbacks Rumors
    • Dodgers Rumors
    • Giants Rumors
    • Guardians Rumors
    • Mariners Rumors
    • Marlins Rumors
    • Mets Rumors
    • Nationals Rumors
    • Orioles Rumors
    • Padres Rumors
    • Phillies Rumors
    • Pirates Rumors
    • Rangers Rumors
    • Rays Rumors
    • Red Sox Rumors
    • Reds Rumors
    • Rockies Rumors
    • Royals Rumors
    • Tigers Rumors
    • Twins Rumors
    • White Sox Rumors
    • Yankees Rumors

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives
    • RSS/Twitter Feeds By Team

    MLBTR INFO

    • Advertise
    • About
    • Commenting Policy
    • Privacy Policy

    Connect

    • Contact Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed

    MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

    Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

    hide arrows scroll to top

    Register

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version