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Sunday, August.4, 2013

Kyle Lohse has been the one bright spot for the Brewers starting rotation this season. He is the ace of the staff and he can be someone that the younger pitchers can look up to. The right-hander has won seven games for the club this season, with an ERA of 3.22 in 134.1 innings pitched. He has also has a WHIP of 1.13 and has only walked 22 batters. Lohse relies on having control of all his pitches to have success against opposing batters. He is limiting batters to a .254 average on the season and left-handers can only manage a .232 batting average in 233 at-bats. He is very impressive while pitching with runners in scoring position, as teams just have a .194 average.

By Chris Lacey (Lead Baseball Columnist/Minority Website Owner) Follow @aecanada12

The Milwaukee Brewers season in 2013 is one both the fans and team would like to erase from their memory. They have the 2^nd worst record in the National League at 46-64 and they are also last in the NL Central with them 20 games behind the Pittsburgh Pirates.

They just had the face of the franchise Ryan Braun suspended for the rest of the season, because he was named in the Biogenesis scandal. For a team to lose a player like him, this would be normally be a crushing blow.

Kyle Lohse 2012 Highlights – Parental Guidance Is Advised

Jim Henderson has done a remarkable job closing games for the Brewers this season. He has saved 14 games to include a 1.99 ERA and a WHIP of 1.10 with 47 strikeouts in 40.2 innings pitched. The right-hander is holding the opposition to a .192 average and righties are barely hitting their own weight with a .161 batting average. He is extremely tough with two outs and runners in scoring position with teams only hitting .143.

However, he has been on the disabled list numerous times this season and the club has grown accustomed to not having him on the team. There are other players on the team that have stepped their game up in his absence.

There are still some reasons to check out the Brewers in the second half of the season, even though it may seem like there is no reason to.

One of the reasons is that the starting pitching for the club can’t pitch any worse than they did in the first half of the season. They are last in the NL with a staff ERA of 4.70, but this does not mean that everyone in their rotation is horrible.

They have two pitchers that are worth mentioning when talking about the future of their rotation. Kyle Lohse is the best pitcher on the team this season with him having the lowest ERA of any starter at 3.22.

He has also thrown the most innings of any starter at 134.1 innings and has a WHIP of 1.13 on the season. The right-hander has never been known as a strikeout pitcher in his career and the same is true this season.

He has only struck out 88 batters, but displays great control by only walking 22 batters. He relies on throwing strikes and using both sides of the plate to get opposing batters out.

He is holding the opposition to a batting average of .254 on the season, and has great success facing left-handed hitters with them only hitting .232 in 233 at-bats.

This is somewhat surprising that he struggles to get right-handers out as they have no issues against him. They have a .272 average in 279 at-bats facing him this season.

The one area where he is very effective is when runners are in scoring position, with him holding teams a .194 average in 103 at-bats. He becomes even tougher with two outs and runners in scoring position, as teams only have a .143 average in this situation.

Lohse will be the ace of the staff this season and next, he can also be someone that the younger pitchers on their staff can look up to.

One of those young pitchers is Wily Peralta, who is not having a good season with a 4.57 ERA, but there is a reason for hope. The right hander throws a fastball in the mid-90s and mixes in some breaking pitches as well.

The biggest issue with him and with most young pitchers is control, as he has walked 52 batters in 130 innings pitched. This has led to him having a high WHIP of 1.46 on the season.

Once he learns to control his pitches more, the success for him will come and so will the strikeouts. He has 84 on the season, and I see no reason why he should not be able to get within 200 the next season for him.

The next reason to check the team out has to do with their bullpen and one reliever in particular for them. Jim Henderson has been dominant in closing games for them.

He has a 1.99 ERA in 40.2 innings pitched to go along with 47 strikeouts and has only allowed two HRs. The left-hander has a strikeout rate of 10.9 SO/9 this season.

The one area he does need to work on is limiting his walks, with him giving up 17 free passes already this season. He is limiting teams to a .192 batting average and is still amazing with runners in scoring position, as teams just hit .200 in this situation.

The third reason to keep an eye out for this team has to with a key player on offense for them. They have one of the better offensive catchers in the NL with Jonathan Lucroy.

He has a .286/.336/.842 triple-slash this season in 332 at-bats to include 16 HRs and 58 RBIs. The right-handed catcher hits southpaws very well with a .293 average in 92 at-bats. He is very solid with a .306 average and 43 RBIs with runners in scoring position.

He will be key player for the offense going into next season as well.

The final two reasons to follow this team have to do with two young players that have a bright future with them team. They are shortstop Jean Segura and center fielder Carlos Gomez.

These two young players are both hitting over .300 on the season, and Segura is first in the NL with 133 hits. They also have a combined 60 stolen bases between both of them, while only being caught 11 times this season.

They will play a crucial role in ensuring that Milwaukee has successful year next season with their performance on the field.

Jonathan Lucroy is having a very productive season at the catcher position for Milwaukee. He has a .284/.335/.837 triple-slash in 335 at-bats with 16 HRs and 58 RBIs. He also has hit 17 Doubles and has 94 hits in total on the season. Lucroy has caught 17 would be base stealers, which is good for fifth in the NL. He is a right-handed hitter, but he has better success facing lefties with a .293 batting average against them in 92 at-bats this season. Another reason for his success has to do with how he handles the bat with runners in scoring position. He has a .304/.395/.936 triple-slash with 43 RBIs in this situation. He is also very good in clutch situations, with a .338 batting average when the game is tied.

  *** The views and opinions expressed in this report are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views      of mlbreports.com or their partners.***

A big thank-you goes out to our ”Lead Baseball Columnist and Minority Website Owner” Chris Lacey. Chris has been a fan of watching baseball since the age of 13. Now he does like all sports – but his favorites after baseball are hockey and basketball. 

Chris is very good with computers and is a college graduate.  

Chris is very active on Twitter and especially during the baseball season chatting with other Diamondbacks fans. Be sure to follow him and talk about the great game of baseball. Chris is addicted to writing baseball. 

Check out his work for rantsports.com here, for baseballhotcorner.com here, for venom strikes here and if you can believe it – fanrag.com here

Follow @aecanada12

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