Brewers 2010 Pitching Optimism

by: Dan Schmidt

A New Season - with a hint of Optimism

With the Packers out of the playoffs and the Brett Favre saga failing to register on my care-ometer, I will gladly shift my focus to Brewers baseball. I was hoping for more of a "splash" during the offseason, but with the signing of veteran lefty Doug Davis, my pitching concerns have stabilized. I feel that the rotation at least has some legitimacy with the signings of Davis and Wolf. I was nervous that desperation might force Melvin to mend fences and make an attempt to overspend on Ben Sheets.

I am anxious for the reports out of the upcoming Spring Training to start declaring that new pitching coach Rick Peterson has:
1. organized the clutter in Manny Parra's head
2. convinced Jeff Suppan to stop thinking he can overpower hitters
3. taught Bushy that he can be consistent
4. realized he shouldn't try to tinker with Hoffman's routine
5. helped Cappy make an amazing comeback from his second Tommy John surgery
6. helped manager Ken Macha learn how to better manage a national league staff

The off season signings of Wolf, Davis, and Hawkins have helped me to feel optimistic about the pitching staff and if Peterson can generate some success with the above 6 points, I feel we have upgraded enough to overcome last year's obstacles.

I will follow patiently as the season draws near to see who establishes themselves in the starting rotation.