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Well, what can you say about the Brewers opening week? There were some good individual performances. Heck, there were some truly great individual performances. But the team couldn't function on all cylinders and they went 1-5. It was awful and it's not going to be any easier this week. First up are those darned Cardinals who are yet again a strong team.
Let's take a look at last year's numbers.
The Position Players
| Player | Position | DRS | UZR | PA | BB% | K% | AVG | OBP | SLG | wOBA | wRC+ | fWAR |
| Yadier Molina | C | --- | 8 | 445 | 6.3 | 12.5 | 282 | 333 | 386 | 317 | 102 | 2.9 |
| Tony Cruz | C | --- | -4 | 150 | 8.7 | 18.7 | 200 | 270 | 259 | 242 | 51 | -0.6 |
| Matt Adams | 1B | 8 | 2.4 | 563 | 4.6 | 20.2 | 288 | 321 | 457 | 337 | 116 | 2.1 |
| Kolton Wong | 2B | 9 | 2.8 | 433 | 4.8 | 16.4 | 249 | 292 | 388 | 299 | 90 | 1.9 |
| Jhonny Peralta | SS | 17 | 12.0 | 628 | 9.2 | 17.8 | 364 | 446 | 443 | 343 | 120 | 5.3 |
| Matt Carpenter | 3B | -2 | -0.8 | 709 | 13.4 | 15.7 | 272 | 375 | 375 | 339 | 117 | 4.0 |
| Matt Holliday | LF | 0 | -1.9 | 667 | 11.1 | 15.0 | 272 | 370 | 441 | 360 | 132 | 3.6 |
| Jon Jay | CF | 6 | 3.1 | 468 | 6.0 | 16.7 | 303 | 372 | 378 | 336 | 115 | 2.4 |
| Jason Heyward | RF | 32 | 24.1 | 649 | 10.3 | 15.1 | 271 | 351 | 384 | 329 | 110 | 5.2 |
| Peter Bourjos | OF | 7 | 8.9 | 294 | 6.8 | 26.5 | 231 | 294 | 348 | 287 | 82 | 1.7 |
| Randal Grichuck | OF | 4 | 5.4 | 116 | 4.3 | 26.7 | 245 | 278 | 400 | 299 | 90 | 0.6 |
| Pete Kozma | UTIL | --- | --- | 26 | 11.5 | 15.4 | 304 | 385 | 435 | 365 | 135 | 0.3 |
| Mark Reynolds | UTIL | --- | --- | 433 | 10.9 | 28.2 | 196 | 287 | 394 | 302 | 87 | 1.7 |
Okay, look. I know the Cardinals are the enemy and they embody evilness, but can we just take a moment to admire Matt Holliday's career.?I mean seriously, the guy has been good from day one. He's had 11 seasons where he was just really good averaging 4.4 fWAR.
Okay, look. I know the Cardinals are the enemy and they embody evilness, but can we just take a moment to admire Jason Heyward's defensive prowess? He had a 32 DRS last season which was a career high he's unlikely to repeat, but he's never had a DRS below 15. He hasn't been overwhelming at the plate, but he has been solidly above average. Combine that with his defense and he's darned good. Oh, by the way he's only 25. Dude is in for a huge payday this coming off-season when he becomes a free agent.
Jhonny Peralta has experienced a bit of a late career surge. In his first 8 seasons he accumulated an 11.4 fWAR. In the last 4 seasons he accumulated a 17.1 fWAR. He was worth 5.3 fWAR last year but I don't expect that to be repeated. His defensive value spiked and I don't think he can do that again. He might still be among the best offensive shortstop again.
Yadier Molina had a nice 3 year stretch where his offense was top notch. That seemed to have ended last year when he only produced a .317 wOBA and a 102 wRC+. Small sample size applies, but he hasn't been effective thus far this season. If the offense is gone then so too is the Molina's reign as the top 1-3 catchers in the NL.
The Pitching Staff
| Player | Position | IP | K% | BB% | HR/9 | BAA | WHIP | ERA | FIP | xFIP | SIERA | fWAR |
| Adam Wainwright | SP | 227.0 | 19.9 | 5.6 | 0.40 | 219 | 1.03 | 2.38 | 2.88 | 3.34 | 3.52 | 4.8 |
| Lance Lynn | SP | 203.2 | 20.9 | 8.3 | 0.57 | 235 | 1.26 | 2.74 | 3.35 | 3.81 | 3.84 | 3.4 |
| John Lackey | SP | 198.0 | 19.7 | 5.6 | 1.09 | 262 | 1.28 | 3.82 | 3.78 | 3.48 | 3.64 | 2.4 |
| Michael Wacha | SP | 107.0 | 21.0 | 7.4 | 0.50 | 232 | 1.20 | 3.20 | 3.17 | 3.71 | 3.74 | 1.9 |
| Carlos Martinez | SP | 89.1 | 21.8 | 9.3 | 0.40 | 260 | 1.41 | 4.03 | 3.18 | 3.54 | 3.45 | 1.3 |
| Trevor Rosenthal | CL | 70.1 | 28.3 | 13.6 | 0.26 | 218 | 1.41 | 3.20 | 2.99 | 3.73 | 3.40 | 1.1 |
| Jordan Walden | RP | 50.0 | 30.2 | 13.2 | 0.36 | 1.85 | 1.20 | 2.88 | 3.79 | 3.29 | 3.10 | 0.8 |
| Seth Maness | RP | 80.1 | 17.4 | 3.5 | 0.78 | 253 | 1.10 | 2.91 | 3.38 | 3.19 | 2.88 | 0.4 |
| Matt Belisle | RP | 64.2 | 15.3 | 6.7 | 0.70 | 282 | 1.44 | 4.87 | 3.74 | 3.92 | 3.85 | 0.3 |
| Randy Choate | RP | 36.0 | 21.6 | 8.8 | 0.50 | 208 | 1.11 | 4.50 | 3.58 | 3.58 | 3.00 | 0.2 |
| Kevin Siegrist | RP | 30.1 | 26.4 | 11.4 | 1.48 | 262 | 1.58 | 6.82 | 4.62 | 4.14 | 3.40 | -0.2 |
| Carlos Villaneuva | RP | 77.2 | 21.0 | 5.5 | 0.70 | 277 | 1.39 | 4.64 | 3.13 | 3.61 | 3.28 | 1.2 |
Adam Wainwright has always been one of the best starters in the National League but last year saw some of his skills decline ever so slightly. He was still good producing a 4.8 fWAR in 227 innings. But he had one of the lowest K% in his career and the lowest SwStr% in his career. His velocity dipped a bit too and at least in 1 start it's even lower this year (though SSS applies as velo often is at it's lowest in the first month). In the off-season he had a procedure done to clean up his previously repaired (TJ surgery) elbow a bit. Wainwright isn't exactly young anymore and while none of these things are red flags, they are something I'd be monitoring closely.
The rest of the rotation looks pretty good so the Cardinals should be fine if Wainwright does get hurt. I've always underestimated Lance Lynn and I won't anymore. Michael Wacha looks like yet another Cardinals pitching success. The same goes for Carlos Martinez.
Trevor Rosenthal is really good at missing bats but that walk rate last year is pretty alarming. He needs to clean that up or I could see him going the way of John Axford and Chris Perez. Jordan Walden has some hops. Literally. How his hop towards the plate as part of his wind-up is legal I have no idea. But it is and he's been effective with it.
Pitching Match-Ups
Monday April 13th, 3:15 pm CST: Matt Garza vs Adam Wainwright
He's good. What more can I say? It's going to be a tough game for Brewers hitters.
Wednesday April 15th, 7:15 pm CST: Wily Peralta vs Lance Lynn
He's good. What more can I say? It's going to be a tough game for Brewers hitters.
Thursday April 16th, 12:45 pm CST: Mike Fiers vs John Lackey
Eh, John Lackey is okay. He's got three fastballs (4-seam, 2-seam, cutter) and a curveball. He throws a change-up occasionally. I definitely like this match-up more than the first two games.