Awhile back, in the diaries and elsewhere, there was talk about how underrated the Brewers' pitching staff was. How many "experts" had tagged the staff as the weakness of an up and coming club.

The general feeling held by many, myself included, was that those comments were incredulous. Last year, both the rotation and the bullpen were strengths and a year later, with some additions, it could be even better than last year.

After reading spring training reports, I am now not so sure about this pitching staff.

The first sign of concern for me came when Sheets went out with an injury and was put on the DL yesterday. I know he should be back in time for when the Crew goes to a five-man rotation, but the guy has been injury-prone his whole career, and nothing in his history indicates that this injury will be a one-time thing, that he'll be fine the rest of the season.

If we are going to make a run at 90 wins and a possible wild-card berth, we need Sheets healthy the whole year. It's just that simple. When healthy he is a legitimate ace and absolutely needs to be pitching every five days for the Brewers to have a shot.

But let's say he is out for an extended period of time. We have other good arms in the rotation, right?

Left-hander Doug Davis started a Class AAA game in minor-league camp Monday and gave up four runs (three earned) and six hits in four innings against the Iowa Cubs.

This is just one example, but in four innings, our opening day starter gives up three earned runs and six hits against a Triple A team. According to the Brewers' official site, Davis has only pitched in two games, so maybe it's not time to panic yet. But getting somewhat rocked by a minor league team doesn't exactly make one rest easy.

But I do think it's interesting to point out the ERA's of the projected rotation: Bush as the #5 and lone bright spot has given up only 2 earned runs in 14 innings. Meanwhile, Davis: 8 earned runs in 5 innings; Capuano, 7 earned runs in 8 innings; Ohka, 9 earned runs in 10 innings.

As for the bullpen, Turnbow and Kolb haven't been able to find it yet; both have ERAs over 10.

And maybe I am just worried for no reason. Spring training games don't mean anything and guys are just getting "warmed up" and will be ready to go by April. But when the same stuff keeps happening to multiple, key players I believe it's cause for concern. I'd also like to see the pitching staff enter the season with some kind of momentum - it's not imperative for a good year, but I don't think some of these numbers could make any of them feel comfortable, necessarily.