A Schelling For Your Thoughts

MILWAUKEE – If their Opening Day performance is any indication, it could be a long year for the Milwaukee Brewers. It was just the first of 162 games, but Monday could not have gone much worse.

Kyle Lohse was hit hard to the tune of eight runs on 10 hits over 3 1/3 innings, Carlos Gomez and Jonathan Lucroy combined to go 0-for 8 with three strikeouts, and the team even added three errors and two wild pitches throughout a sloppy game defensively.

As if that weren’t enough, Ryan Braun topped it off with an 0-for-2 day and an early exit after the fifth inning due to a strained lower right side.

“We’ll check and see how he is tomorrow,” Brewers manager Ron Roenicke said of the injury that occurred on a catch at the wall in right field.

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Braun’s presence in the lineup would not have made much difference with the Brewers already down 10-0, but his opening day injury is at least some cause for concern. Injuries have been a problem for Braun over the past two years, and with him out of the lineup the Brewers lose a major piece of their offense.

In front of a sellout crowd of 46,032, that offense failed to score a run against Rockies starter Kyle Kendrick, who had just four scoreless outings in 62 starts over the past two seasons. Kendrick scattered seven hits, struck out six batters and did not allow a walk.

Meanwhile, the Rockies feasted on Brewers pitching over the first four innings.

“It happens,” Lohse said. “You don’t like to have it happen, but it’s going to happen. I’ve just got to bounce back.

“Obviously disappointed to start it off like that, but it’s just one of many games that we’ll be playing,” Lohse said. “You just turn the page on that one. All around, just not a good one.”

It became apparent early that it wasn’t the Brewers’ day.

After the Rockies’ first five batters connected for three doubles, Corey Dickerson hit a ball off the end of his bat over the fence to make it a 4-0 game.

“We didn’t have anything going our way,” Lucroy said. “Just one of those bad days.”

If the Brewers were looking for any early bright spots, it’s that Adam Lind went 3-for-4 in his Milwaukee debut, the bullpen looked strong over the final four innings with Neal Cotts, Will Smith and Jeremy Jeffress, and perhaps most importantly, they’ll have another game again Tuesday night.

Still, a 10-0 loss is a tough way to open a season.

“Opening Day, you certainly don’t want to play this way,” Roenicke said. “It’s disappointing. I thought we did a nice job in spring training getting ready for this.”

MILWAUKEE – It’s a always big day in Milwaukee. But this year there’s a lot more red at Miller Park.

It’s hard to overshadow Opening Day, but the Wisconsin Badgers are doing it as they get set to battle Duke for the national championship on Monday night. Don’t worry, the Brewers don’t mind a bit.

“It’s a fun experience for everybody here in Wisconsin,” Brewers general manager Doug Melvin said. “I’m a big Bo Ryan fan. We have 162 games left. They’ve got one huge game tonight.”

It should make for one of the more memorable days in Wisconsin sports history.

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Fans lined up early Monday morning to get a prime parking spot and begin tailgating at 10 a.m. before the Brewers hosted the Rockies at 1:10 p.m. But once things wrap up at Miller Park, the state’s attention will shift back to basketball.

“We’ll all be watching them tonight, that’s for sure,” Brewers owner Mark Attanasio said. “I love it.”

Brewers manager Ron Roenicke said he was happy to share the day, but he did have one caveat.

“As long as we both win, I think it’s great,” Roenicke said. “It’s a big day. No question.”

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Bud Selig, a University of Wisconsin alumnus and MLB commissioner emeritus, was on hand Monday to throw out the ceremonial first pitch.

He said he’s “worn out already,” but excited for the championship game.

“It’s great,” Selig said. “I’m proud of the Badgers. I’m proud to be a Badger.

“This is a great story. It’s great for the university. It’s great for the state of Wisconsin.”

Remembering Joe

Opening Day brought some mixed emotions for Attanasio.

Monday marked the start of his 11th season as owner of the Milwaukee Brewers, but the first without his father, Joe, who passed away in early January. To honor Joe’s memory, Brewers front-office personnel wore “JOE” pins, and a matching logo was painted behind home plate.

Joseph Attanasio sang the Opening Day national anthem in each of the past 10 years, as well as before a handful of postseason games at Miller Park. The Brewers kept the tradition alive one last time, playing a recording of his rendition from last year’s opener.

“My dad loved baseball, loved the Brewers and loved the community here,” Attanasio said. “I wanted to do something that would honor him that would represent his emotion and be a positive thing. He’s a man who liked to have a good time, and he’d want us all to have a good time today.”

The team also observed a moment of silence for Joe, with the Attanasio family gathered behind the microphone at home plate during the anthem, where Joe traditionally stood.

Selig returns

Selig threw out the ceremonial first pitch before Monday’s game, with Attanasio as his catcher.

The newly retired commissioner also was scheduled to fly to Phoenix later in the day to throw out the first pitch for the Diamondbacks. He said it was believed to be a first for Major League Baseball to have one person throw out the first pitch in two cities on the same day.

The former Brewers owner said he had been warming up recently to avoid bouncing it. He was worried about being heckled by Brewers announcer Bob Uecker.

“Uecker would never forget,” Selig said. “He left a message on my machine that he’s coming out a radar gun.”

While he’s still getting used to Selig’s new role, Attanasio was happy to have him back in Milwaukee.

“I still think of Bud as Commissioner Selig,” Attanasio said. “He did promise to come out to a few more games this year.”

Healthy Brewers

One of the keys to spring training every year is getting through it with a relatively healthy ballclub. The Brewers did that this year and then some.

Aside from reliever Jim Henderson going on the 15-day disabled list with right shoulder inflammation, Milwaukee has no significant injuries to report.

That strong health to start the season could go a long way toward the Brewers’ ability to compete in what may be the toughest division in baseball.

“We have to stay healthy,” Melvin said. “Health is a big issue to a club like ours.”

The most important health issues for the team center around a thumb and a back.

While he’s looked good this spring, the Brewers will keep a close eye on Ryan Braun’s right thumb, a nagging issue which had lingered throughout 2014 and robbed him of his power.

If he gets that power stroke back, the Brewers’ offense will benefit greatly.

“He’s swinging the bat really well,” Roenicke said. “He’s got his swing back.”

Adam Lind’s back issue also will be an ongoing concern, as it could pop up as a problem at any time.

For all that has gone wrong in the last three weeks, the Brewers remain in a relatively fortunate position.

Starting strong while the rest of the National League Central struggled, Milwaukee built up plenty of cushion for the slump that had to come eventually. Unfortunately, that slump turned into a free fall. But even after such an inexplicable 3-16 free fall, they remain in the hunt.

Sitting just 1½ games back of the Pirates in the wild-card race and four behind the first-place Cardinals, they have three games each against those two teams next week. Win more than they lose and the Brewers could be right back in a postseason spot.

So, the opportunity is there. But the odds are not in the Brewers’ favor.

Last month, Pittsburgh came to Milwaukee six games back and the Brewers had a chance to bury the Pirates as far as nine games behind, or at least knock them down to seven back with a series win. Instead, they lost two of three and the teams started heading in opposite directions.

So much so that the roles now have reversed.

The Brewers are the team heading on the road looking to get back into the playoff picture, and the Cardinals and Pirates have the opportunity to deliver knockout blows. Don’t expect their NL Central rivals to be as accommodating as the Brewers were three weeks ago.

Instead, the Crew will miss the playoffs as the Cards and Bucs play on.

Just look at the next nine games. The Pirates host the Cubs, Red Sox and Brewers; Milwaukee hosts Cincinnati before traveling to St. Louis and Pittsburgh; and the Cardinals host the Rockies, Brewers and Reds.

Playing at home, the Cardinals and Pirates are more likely to gain ground than lose it over the next 10 days. As such, the Brewers could be looking up from an even bigger deficit with just six games to play.

Mathematically, you can’t count the Brewers out yet.

But I wouldn’t bet on them making the playoffs.

Find a group of Milwaukee fans and ask them how to fix the Brewers. Chances are, at least one will say, “Fire Ron Roenicke.”

Doing so wouldn’t be an entirely unprecedented move. But it might not change anything, either.

Just six years ago, the Brewers made the shocking decision to fire Ned Yost on Sept. 15, 2008, with 12 games left to play. Milwaukee had just lost for the 11th time in 14 games, dropping into a tie for the National League wild card after having led the Phillies by 5½ games at the start of the month.

So Yost and Ted Simmons were out and Dale Sveum and Robin Yount were in. The front office wanted to send a shock through the clubhouse, and it seemed to work. The Brewers won seven of their final 12 and held off the Mets to grab the NL wild card spot.

Fast forward to this season, and things look remarkably similar. Milwaukee has inexplicably dropped 11 of its last 13 games — including eight in a row — to free fall from a 2 1/2-game lead in the NL Central to three games back and barely hanging onto a wild card spot.

If it worked then, why not try the same thing now, right?

Well, first you have to assume it even worked the first time. Who’s to say the ’08 Brewers couldn’t have finished 7-5 over the last two weeks with Yost at the helm? The team on the field didn’t change. Did a different manager really make a difference?

The second problem is finding Roenicke’s replacement.

Looking around his coaching staff, it’s hard to envision any one of them bringing anything much different to the table than Roenicke. Yost was fired to shake things up when he “didn’t have the answers” to the 2008 team’s problems.

But Roenicke has gotten the team this far, and if he can’t solve this team’s struggles, what could anyone else do differently?

Most importantly, though, firing Roenicke now would set a dangerous precedent.

Sure, it’s been done before, and the situations are remarkably similar. But pulling the same move again doesn’t guarantee the same result. In fact, it might do nothing more than ruin the outside perception of the job.

Who is going to want to manage a ballclub that has fired two of its last three skippers in the middle of a pennant race?

No, firing Roenicke now is not the answer.

But that doesn’t mean his job is safe, even if he did look like a manager of the year candidate as recently as last month.

With the Cardinals in town for four games, the Brewers could be back in first by Saturday, or their season could be all but over by Sunday. Unfortunately for Milwaukee, the latter seems more likely at the moment.

The suddenly red-hot Cards could deliver the knockout blow to the punchless Crew this week. If they do, it wouldn’t be a shock to see the Brewers shake things up in the offseason.

Jimmy Nelson is the better pitcher. But Mike Fiers is better right now.

The latter reason is exactly why Fiers is the young pitcher the Brewers should keep in the rotation when Matt Garza returns next week.

If you’ve been paying attention over the last month, Fiers is the obvious choice. Though, just because it seems obvious doesn’t mean it’s guaranteed. And if you haven’t been paying attention, then you might not realize Nelson has struggled while Fiers has been nearly unhittable.

In his last two starts, Nelson has allowed eight runs (six earned) over just 10 2/3 innings of work for a 5.06 ERA. Opposing batters hit .304 against him in the two games, tallying 14 hits and four walks against just 11 strikeouts.

Granted, the defense hurt Nelson in the three-run third inning Tuesday and a .382 batting average on balls in play (BABIP) shows some bad luck has been involved. But Nelson’s true problem has less to do with him and more to do with Fiers.

Since being called up in early August, Fiers has been lights out.

The deceptive right-hander has gone 4-0 with a 1.29 ERA, allowing just four earned runs in 28 innings over four starts. Fiers has given up just 10 hits and four walks as well, against 32 strikeouts.

Opposing hitters are batting just .109/.146/.196 against Fiers with a .182 BABIP. Half the battle has been just putting the ball in play.

As long as Fiers continues to dominate opposing offenses, he should start every fifth day. And he isn’t showing signs of stopping any time soon.

There’s no doubt Fiers is benefiting at least in part from being a relative unknown to the hitters he’s faced this month. But the good news there is the Cubs and Pirates are the only teams he’d likely face a second time through the end of the season.

As a bonus, a trip to the bullpen could benefit Nelson.

In the short term, a change of scenery and approach could help Nelson improve on his last few starts. It also would give the Brewers another power right-hander in the bullpen, which could prove valuable down the stretch.

In the long term, shifting to the bullpen for a month or longer would keep Nelson’s total innings down and reduce the 25-year-old’s season-long workload. After tossing 162 1/3 innings last year, Nelson already has tallied 163 2/3 with a month to go in this season.

However you look at it, all signs point to Fiers being the Brewers’ best option. We could find out as soon as Tuesday if manager Ron Roenicke and his staff agree.

With a surprise sweep this weekend, the Brewers jumped right back in the race to finish first in the National League. Meanwhile, the Pirates’ tailspin dropped them six games back in the NL Central.

But that doesn’t make this weekend’s series any less important for the Crew.

In fact, it may even mean more now.

The Pirates will come into Milwaukee on Friday desperate for a series win to turn around their fading playoff hopes. If nothing else, this should give the series a postseason atmosphere at Miller Park this weekend.

Beyond maintaining their lead atop the division, a good series for the Brewers would keep the struggling Pirates down. In fact, a series sweep could all but eliminate the Bucs’ chances in the division.

Dropping to nine games back with 32 to play, Pittsburgh would face a significant uphill battle in the Central.

So, the Brewers should not take the Pirates lightly.

Sure, Wednesday’s win was Pittsburgh’s first in eight games. And yes, the Brewers are 10-3 against the Pirates this year and 76-33 since 2008.

But the Brewers can’t afford to overlook the Pirates and simply expect to win two of three. They’re still facing playoff contenders.

Now, I don’t believe the Crew will have any trouble focusing on this weekend’s series. They certainly shouldn’t be distracted by looking ahead to next week’s matchup with the last-place Padres. Although the trip to sunny San Diego should be enticing.

Still, the possibility exists that Pittsburgh could win two of three simply because it needs this series so much more than Milwaukee. But the Brewers have plenty to play for as well.

For one, they need to avoid the worst-case scenario.

If the Pirates were to surprise with a road sweep, they would suddenly be winners of four straight and just three games out. While the Brewers would be on a four-game losing streak and potentially fall out of first place.

That’s the last thing that should happen to the red-hot Brewers. But it’s possible.

Hopefully for the Brewers, they will seize the opportunity to deliver a knockout blow to the pesky Pirates. If they do, it’ll make for a thrilling weekend at Miller Park.