[BirdWatcher]

Having reached the middle of June (games played through June 15, will report latest series tonight), the Denver Brewers, having set a WPK season record with 108 wins in 1971, are still fighting to remain somewhere around .500 (just slightly above at the moment) in the 1972 season.

The biggest difference has been in team pitching. The Brewers have been the dominant pitching (and defense) team in the league for the past few years but this season they are just pretty middle of the road in that area. While staff ace Cheol-han Lee is having another Pitcher of the Year caliber season thus far, and Harry Lyerly is once again solid (actually on pace for a WAR that equals his 1970 Pitcher of the Year campaign), Steve Green has been inconsistent, Daniel Torres has mostly fallen off the cliff after being the most consistently solid Brewers starting pitcher for many years, and Abel Pennington was lost early on to a season-ending injury. Youngsters Matt Helm and Justin Peacock have shown signs of good potential and may well earn spots at the back end of the rotation for next season.
As diminished as the starting rotation has been this season, it is the bullpen where things have at times been completely disastrous. Veteran stoppers Jose de los Santos and Eric Singer have both been disappointing. Longtime Brewers closer (now set-up man) Miguel Solis is having another good season but at 32 years of age and having been lost to season-ending injuries mid-season the past two years, Solis is considered a season- or even career-ending injury waiting to happen. With his contract expiring at the end of this season, it is considered unlikely that he will return in a Brewers uniform in 1973. Lefty Liann-wei Hua has been a bright spot and likely will anchor the 'pen going forward but he is currently on the IL with a nagging hamstring issue. Jaden Francis has struggled so much that he was sent down to AAA to get his head straight. Dave Duncan has done quite well and will be given opportunities for an increased role. And Jordan Stephens and Sam Pruiett have moved back and forth between AAA Chester and Denver and could earn permanent spots in the bullpen next season.

Denver's offense has been inconsistent but overall has been pretty good. (Though once again, after rising to near the top of the league in this category in 1971, the Brewers are one of the worst home run hitting teams in the MGL.) Bobby Erbakan is having a break-out season, Chad Brown continues to be solid both at the plate and in the field (and of course Erbakan remains the most gifted fielding first baseman in the game), Andrew Kennedy and Pat Rondeau have both contributed with their bats and Rondeau remains a premium defender at all 3 outfield positions.
On the other hand, veteran Jamison Bash, who was the MVP of the MGL last season, is having a dismal season at the plate, though he does remain the team's best HR hitter. Ryan Rodgers has been out with an injury most of the first half of the season. Antonio Puente still has one of the better WAR totals on the team, but his batting average and OBP are quite poor and his premium defense in right field as well as his power help counteract that in terms of WAR. Tanner Yurek is a negative both at the plate and in the field (well, maybe more neutral in the field.)

So what now? If the Brewers continue to underachieve (and last I checked we still had one of the best run differentials in the league and were under-performing our pythagorean expectation by quite a few wins), then it is conceivable they will be active traders prior to the deadline. Likely they will be trying to unload veterans who might still be attractive to contending teams (Yurek, Singer, possibly Bash- though he likely is too expensive and old to get real value for him) and looking to younger players to help them rebound in 1973.

And on that front things are looking promising. More and more as the season progresses rookie center fielder Joe McPhillips looks like a budding star. And young second baseman Jonathan Koch, while not looking like he has that kind of ceiling, does look like a very good option to take over second from Yurek, especially with his superb defensive skills. If the Brewers can somehow unload Bash, Jose Careaga could still be an acceptable option at third for the short-term (not nearly the power Bash offers, but a decent hitter and a better fielder), and Mike Foster is also looking like someone who could inherit this job eventually. Our young catchers both provide great defense and good on base skills (both are around .350 in OBP, hitting in the 7th or 8th slots in the lineup, and hit a fair share of doubles). Erbakan, Brown, and Kennedy are all just now entering their prime and should provide great value.

So while the season has been frustrating, in some ways I'm hoping we do continue to under-achieve as it will make pulling the plug on veterans (especially someone like Yurek who remains a fan favorite and for whom parting ways will pay a bit of a price at the box office) and turning to the young players to take over and begin the next chapter for the team easier.