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The 2015 season is starting much like the 2013 season did for the Milwaukee Brewers, and that’s light years from good.

Kicking off the 2015 season with a franchise-worst 2-11 record, the Milwaukee Brewers may find themselves out of contention even faster then the 2013 squad, which was basically out of the race before June.

The Brewers did lead their division for a good portion of the year in 2014, but they have now sandwiched futility around that one bright spot.

After strong words of disapproval by ownership following the Brewers’ collapse last season, the team made few discernible changes going into 2015 and the result has been a squad that mirrors the one that collapsed last fall.

It is another Brewers team characterized by an anemic offense, ineffective starting pitching, and woeful results.

You can only say “It’s too early” for so long and that period is close to over. With Carlos Gomez and Jonathan Lucroy now on the disabled list, it’s nearly impossible to imagine that the team’s fortunes will change much before the All-Star break, or after, for that matter.

After nearly 13 seasons with Doug Melvin in charge of personnel management as the Brewers’ general manager, it has become clear that change is needed in Milwaukee.

Given owner Mark Attanasio‘s disappointment with the 2014 collapse, there can be no doubt he’s probably fuming over the team’s follow-through in 2015.  

Hopefully Attanasio spent at least part of the off-season sketching out a disaster plan to put in motion for this current development.

The team went 9-22 over its last 31 games in 2014 and has started 2015 with a 2-11 record. Combined, that makes the Brewers’ record 11-33 over their last 44 games, far below .500 ball.

Attanasio favored continuity over disruptive change this past winter, but with that strategy now backfiring, there’s really no other option left for him except a major overhaul, at minimum in the front office.

This time around, Attanasio might actually consider trying something new in Milwaukee. The Brewers have patched together a team for far too long with aging, expensive veterans like Aramis Ramirez and Francisco Rodriguez. The team might better consider a draft-and-develop approach like its NFL counterpart in Green Bay.

It’s hard to imagine that many schemes could be worse than what the Brewers’ front office did to prepare for 2015, a collective effort that has netted the club baseball’s worst record.

Former Brewers skipper Ned Yost has the Kansas City Royals competing at a high level using a team filled with low-dollar names. Such a strategy certainly seems well-suited to the small-market Brewers.

When seeking a new general manager, the team should consider tapping one of the assistants in Kansas City or elsewhere who has a knack for doing more with less. Recruiting a baseball executive from the St. Louis Cardinals organization, a perennial contender, doesn’t sound like the worst idea either.

Whatever steps are ultimately taken, there’s no doubt that the first needs to be Melvin’s removal.

Ownership stayed the course last season and it now has absolutely nothing to show for it. For the second time in three years, it looks as though the team will drop out of contention before the start of summer in Wisconsin. The season between those two, unfortunately, ended in a train wreck.

It is difficult to imagine that a savvy owner like Attanasio isn’t seeing the same writing on the wall.

The only question that likely remains is the timing of the changes. And one can only hope those arrive sooner than later.

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Jonathan Lucroy suffered a foot injury against the Reds. Martin Maldonado replaced him at catcher. The injury is expected him to sideline him four-six weeks after the ailment occurred. 

Continue for updates.

Lucroy Fractures Toe vs. Reds, Expected to Miss 4-6 Weeks

Tuesday, April 21

Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported Brewers GM Gord Ash said Lucroy is expected to miss 4-6 weeks with the injury.

On April 20, The Brewers would later provide an update after the team’s 6-1 loss:

Entering Monday, Lucroy was batting .167 with zero home runs and two runs batted in. His numbers will start turning around at some point, but this injury might keep him out of action for a bit, thus preventing him from getting his season back on track.

Maldonado will likely serve as Lucroy‘s replacement for the time being. 

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Milwaukee Brewers second baseman Scooter Gennett injured himself in just about the most bizarre way possible Sunday, cutting his hand in the shower after the team’s game against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Continue for updates.  

Gennett Placed on 15-Day DL

Tuesday, April 21

The Brewers announced that Gennett would go on the 15-day disabled list after suffering his hand injury.

On April 20, Gennett posted about the injury he suffered on Instagram:

Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel added:

Aaron Gleeman of HardballTalk reported that Gennett is hoping to return to the lineup by Wednesday. 

Gennett, 24, has gotten off to a slow start this season, hitting just .207 with one RBI and two runs scored. He’s coming off a strong 2014 campaign that saw him hit .289 with nine homers and 54 RBI in 137 games, which raised expectations for him heading into 2015. 

For a Brewers team that has started the season 2-10 and has already placed Carlos Gomez on the 15-day disabled list, this latest setback is almost par for the course. While Gennett’s injury seems unlikely to cost him more than a game or two, the Brewers might be wondering if they are hexed after the brutal start to the season they’ve endured. 

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Opening Day couldn’t have gone much worse for the Milwaukee Brewers. First, they lost 10-0 at home to the Colorado Rockies. Then came news that Ryan Braun suffered an injury in the defeat. He was not in Tuesday’s lineup either. 

Continue for updates.    

Braun Out vs. Rockies

Tuesday, April 7

Braun was absent from the Brewers’ starting lineup against the Rockies, confirmed the team. According to Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Braun was “encouraged” after his MRI and “feels better today than yesterday. Hopeful it will only be a day or two.”

Braun commented on his status, via Rosiak:

On April 6, when Gerardo Parra replaced Braun in the middle of the blowout Opening Day loss, some wondered whether Brewers manager Ron Roenicke was simply resting one of his star players in a game Milwaukee wasn’t going to win anyway.

Instead, Rosiak reported the former National League MVP had a strain in his right side that forced him to depart. Braun went 0-for-2 before his day ended.

It’s no secret that the 31-year-old has been a shell of his former self over the past two years. He only played in 61 games in 2013 before incurring a 65-game suspension from MLB for his role in the Biogenesis scandal. A thumb injury also limited him in 2014.

Nobody’s expecting Braun to repeat his MVP season of 2011, but he’ll have to be better than he was last year for the Brewers to contend in the National League Central.

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Much like the zombie outbreak that will inevitably consume the globe and drive humanity onto floating colonies at sea, the spread of pinkeye can only be slowed by containment.

You isolate the infected, protect the healthy and remain vigilant for any signs of the disease spreading in the community or its pillows (NSFW language).

The Milwaukee Brewers are facing a pinkeye outbreak of their own, and according to The Associated Press (h/t ESPN), the team is employing preventative measures to fight the epidemic.

After watching catcher Jonathan Lucroy and pitching coach Rick Kranitz succumb to red, watery eyes, the team will reportedly initiate a cease-fire on all high-fives for the next several spring training games.

Judging by manager Ron Roenicke‘s comments on the spread, the scope of the pinkeye situation may be greater than initially believed.

“We’ve been going through it for a while, and it seems like a couple of more show up every day,” Roenicke said.

I’ll say this: The Brewers are recognizing the problem, unlike the gross Pittsburgh Penguins, who essentially said “Looks fine to me” when Sidney Crosby showed up with half of his face overtaken with mump mounds in December.

In any case, the Brewers will have to make do with elbow taps and flying shoulders for now. You can never be too safe when dealing with a potential pandemic.

Dan is on Twitter. He dispatches the infected with his trusty lobo shovel.

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Turn back the calendar only two years, and Milwaukee Brewers slugger Ryan Braun was one of the premier hitters in all of baseball—if not the best.

From 2007 to 2012, Braun’s first six MLB seasons, he averaged more than 33 home runs and 107 RBI. That kind of production is off the charts, and Braun was more than just a power hitter. He hit .313 over that span, didn’t strike out a ton and reached 30 steals in two of those seasons.

However, Braun’s reputation and stats plummeted when he vehemently denied using PEDs—only to admit to using them in August 2013. His confession earned Braun a suspension that forced him to miss the remainder of the 2013 season.

Then he ran into more trouble—this time physically. Braun was ailed by a nerve injury in his thumb in 2014, and his production slowly but surely worsened as the season wore on. Not only did the injury get progressively worse, but it also robbed the slugging 31-year-old outfielder of most of his power.

ESPN.com’s Buster Olney published a column last July outlining just how much Braun’s power decreased in 2014. The discoveries were mind-boggling.

Braun didn’t pull the ball much last year, and a career-high 46.1 percent of his hits were to the opposite field. Also, Braun’s batted balls traveled an average of 17 feet shorter than they did in 2013.

It is unknown whether the thumb is entirely to blame for these numbers, but it surely hampered him in some way.

So what are some realistic expectations for the former Miami Hurricanes third baseman in the upcoming season?

Most importantly, it’s going to come down to whether he is completely healthy. Braun had a cryotherapy procedure done on his thumb over the offseason, which applied extreme cold in an attempt to freeze out the lingering nerve issues.

According to news coming out of the Brewers camp, per Fox Sports Wisconsin’s John Pesetski, Braun is feeling great:

So far it (the thumb) feels great. Everything so far has gone as well as I possibly could’ve hoped. I don’t think I’ll be limited or anything. I’ll have to be conscious about how many extra swings I take. But aside from that, I’m able to do everything.

That is very encouraging news, and Braun did not shy away from portraying plenty of optimism.

“I feel good. I’ve always felt that as long as I’m healthy, success is inevitable,” Braun told Fox Sports. “The better I play, the more I am going to help the team. I expect to go out there and be one of the best players in the league.”

If he truly feels that he can return to being among the best pure hitters in baseball, it is definitely a possibility.

FanGraphs‘ Steamer projects Braun to hit .276 with 24 home runs and 78 RBI. While those numbers would be a slight improvement over 2014, they don’t do him justice.

Braun is one of the best players in Major League Baseball when healthy, and he has what it takes to return to that prestigious group in 2015. If his thumb can stay healthy for the duration of the season, he will be an All-Star-caliber outfielder.

I am going to go out on a limb and predict that Braun will hit at least .285 with 30 home runs and 100 RBI.

He is still a premium talent, and his numbers will reflect his tremendous ability in 2015.

All statistics courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com unless otherwise noted.

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In the modern age of baseball, there are two types of teams when it comes to the offseason. Those looking to make an immediate run to the World Series, and those willing to offload talent to get a jump-start on a rebuild.

After finishing last in their division in 2014, it’s pretty obvious that the Philadelphia Phillies are in the latter category. As such, they have been in discussions to trade some of their biggest names this year. One of those names is closer Jonathan Papelbon.

But while the trade makes sense for the Phillies, who are getting rid of a decent-sized contract with the name recognition of Papelbon, the team that seems to be in pole position to pick up the 34-year-old might surprise a few.

According to ESPN, the Phillies are having discussions with the Milwaukee Brewers about trading the closer.

Right now, it seems like Papelbon could be a positive addition to the Brewers, who finished six games out of a postseason spot last season. The former Red Sox pitcher has been a star his whole career and tallied 39 saves with an ERA of 2.04 in 2014.

The Brewers’ closer from last season, Francisco Rodriguez, is also a free agent this offseason, and although the club has shown interest in resigning K-Rod, the Papelbon rumor seems to dispel that.

Milwaukee has already expressed interest in adding some late-inning relief, and it has the money to bring Papelbon in after trading starter Yovani Gallardo to the Texas Rangers for three minor leaguers.

If Papelbon is worth just those six extra wins that would see the Brewers jump into the postseason, he might be worth it this year, but he comes with some serious baggage.

Following an incident in September in which Papelbon grabbed his crotch after a blown save, he was suspended for seven games. A potential attitude problem isn’t the biggest concern for the Brewers, though.

Despite posting a good ERA last year, it has been noted that Papelbon has been struggling, with his average fastball speeds decreasing and his strikeout rate declining. He also posted incredibly low numbers in batting average and home runs compared to his career numbers, so odds are those will go back up.

As I mentioned earlier in the piece, Papelbon is 34 years old. Although players can sometimes extend their careers into their 40s, especially closers, Papelbon is unlikely to improve. Things can only go downhill.

Papelbon is heading into his 10th season as a closer, and he reached his peak as an athlete several years ago. If his two seasons in Philadelphia are any sign of things to come, it will be a slow, steady, decline for the closer.

If this trade is to go through, though, what really decides where the Brewers come out is what they give up for Papelbon. If some money and a minor leaguer are the price for the closer, then the deal wouldn’t be too detrimental.

But if Milwaukee gives up a starter or quality prospect, it wouldn’t appear to be worth it.

Papelbon seems to be nothing more than a short-term fix for the Brewers to get over the hump and into the postseason, and they shouldn’t spend too much on someone who isn’t even sure to improve their roster.

At the end of the day, the trade for Papelbon could be nothing more than noise for the franchise as they try to move up in the NL Central.

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Milwaukee Brewers third baseman Aramis Ramirez has accepted the mutual option on his contract and will remain with the franchise for the 2015 MLB season.     

The Brewers’ official Twitter account announced the news Monday:

According to Bill Baer of HardballTalk, the one-year option is worth $14 million.

Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com broke down why it was a smart move for Ramirez:

Ramirez will be 37 years old in June and is coming off his worst offensive season since 2010. His .285 batting average, 66 RBI and 15 home runs would be considered solid output from an ordinary third baseman, but Ramirez has the talent to contribute more to the offense.

During his career, Ramirez has hit at least 25 home runs in 10 different seasons and has racked up 100 or more RBI seven times. There is no question that he has slowed as he has gotten older, but Milwaukee expects more offensive production from the veteran.

Prior to the announcement of Ramirez remaining with the team, principal owner Mark Attanasio spoke on the Brewers’ plans heading into free agency, courtesy of Adam McCalvy of MLB.com:

I wouldn’t say we’re quite at a crossroads, but we’re at [the point] where you can take a path in the woods, and you take one direction or the other. We do have a lot of talent, we have experienced players. We need to identify what’s missing.

With the Brewers locking up Ramirez early in the offseason, the franchise can now focus on filling other needs at the middle-infield positions and in the starting rotation.

Stats via MLB.com.

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Pop quiz, hotshot: Which Major League Baseball team has spent the most days in first place during the course of the 2014 season?

Here’s a hint: Check the picture up top.

Yep, it’s the Milwaukee Brewers, who surprisingly sat atop the National League Central with at least a share of the lead from April 5 until Sept. 1.

That amounts to 159 total days in which the Brewers led their division. The same Brewers who have since imploded to the point where they’ve gone from longtime leader to out of the playoffs entirely if the season ended Tuesday.

As that table shows, Milwaukee (74-70) isn’t the only former division front-runner that has fallen out of first. The Detroit Tigers and Oakland Athletics also have hit hard times, but the Brewers are in much worse shape going forward.

For one thing, the NL Central once again features three teams pushing and shoving against each other to get to October. After the St. Louis Cardinals, Pittsburgh Pirates and Cincinnati Reds became the first trio to make it to the playoffs from the same division in 2013, the Cardinals and Pirates are both in the thick of things—and ahead of Milwaukee—again this year.

That only makes the Brewers’ path more challenging.

Secondly, well, there’s this rather discouraging tidbit from the club’s play-by-play man Joe Block:

Note that Block’s tweet came from Sept. 5, at which point Milwaukee actually was in postseason position. Obviously, that’s no longer the case, which goes to show just how bad things have gotten.

It’s gotten so bad that the players called a closed-door team meeting Sunday, as Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes:

A sloppily played 9-1 loss to St Louis at Miller Park left manager Ron Roenicke disappointed and the players apparently alarmed enough to finally talk it over. The Brewers have lost 14 of 17 games to go from first place in the NL Central to third place and also out of the two wild-card spots.

“You know what, a sense of urgency is something that we need to get ahold of, as a team, as a unit,” said Jonathan Lucroy. “Something like that kind of wakes you up. We got punched in the mouth today. It’s about time we woke up from our little trance we’ve been in and get moving forward.”

If the meeting had an impact, it hasn’t happened yet: Milwaukee dropped Monday’s game to the Miami Marlins, 6-4, to extend what has been a season-altering poor stretch.

What has gone so, so wrong for the Brewers after everything was going so, so right for much of the season?

For starters, there’s that brutal nine-game losing streak from Aug. 26 through Sept. 4, during which they lost the final two games (and the series) to the lowly San Diego Padres and were swept in another three-game set by the Chicago Cubs, who remain in last place in the Central.

When the Brewers finally won, beating the rival—and now NL Central-leading—Cardinals last Friday, Sept. 5, they stopped the bleeding only temporarily. The Cards took the final two games and the series to put Milwaukee a season-high five games back.

The nine-game skid got most of the attention, but it was really only the nadir of a stretch in which Milwaukee has lost 15 of its last 18 games since Aug. 20, dropping them now six behind St. Louis in the Central and 1.5 in back of the Pirates for the second wild-card spot.

In that time, the Brewers have been outscored by a tally of—get this—111 to 56. In other words, they have been giving up twice as many runs as they’ve scored for nearly three full weeks.

With things that bad, the Brewers were lucky to win the three games they have.

That also goes to show that the team has been struggling in just about every facet of the game lately.

The once-potent offense, sparked by Carlos Gomez, pushed by Ryan Braun, Aramis Ramirez and Lucroy, and propped up by Khris Davis and Scooter Gennett, has fizzled. While Gomez spent a week nursing his way through a sprained wrist, Braun has been battling his own various ailments.

But no one on the team has hit much over the past month, as the club ranks in the bottom half in the sport in everything from runs scored to batting average to on-base percentage.

On the pitching side, the rotation that was so consistent for four-plus months has been anything but. Kyle Lohse (8.20 ERA in his past four starts), Wily Peralta (7.20) and Yovani Gallardo (5.95) have fallen off. Matt Garza made it back from an oblique injury that cost him a month—only to put up a three-inning, six-run stinker his first time out. Top prospect Jimmy Nelson hasn’t provided a lift either, with a 4.81 ERA since being inserted into the five-man rotation midseason.

If not for Mike Fiers, who has been a revelation since being brought back up in early August, things would be (gasp) even uglier.

Even the bullpen has been shaky, too, after being among the best in the game early on. Each of closer Francisco Rodriguez (2.58 ERA versus 4.02 ERA) and key left-handers Will Smith (3.09 versus 6.48) and Zach Duke (1.18 versus 5.65) have pitched significantly worse in the second half than they did in the first.

Make no mistake—there’s talent on the Brewers, and that could be enough to get themselves up off the floor and back to the playoffs for the first time since 2011.

What they don’t have, however, is much in the way of depth. The organization’s minor league system is among the worst in baseball, having rated as either the worst or second-worst in all of baseball entering 2014 by each of Baseball America, Baseball Prospectus and ESPN (subscription required).

Beyond that, rather than bring in some reinforcements, general manager Doug Melvin chose to stand pat at the trade deadline, aside from the minor move to acquire veteran outfielder Gerardo Parra. Then again, perhaps Melvin would have done more had he not been hamstrung by a lack of coveted prospects.

The Brewers, however, are not done, even if it’s felt like it as they’ve gone 21-27 since the All-Star break. On the contrary, they’re still very much in the hunt, but each loss carries more weight and more impact at this stage because of how the season has been spiraling.

Given the Cardinals’ six-game lead in the Central and how poorly Milwaukee has been playing, it’s just about impossible to see a scenario where the Brewers regain first place with only three weeks left. The focus, then, has to be on the more reachable wild card.

If they fall short there too once the season is over, it’ll be amazing to think the Brewers spent the longest amount of time in first place in all of baseball—159 days and no longer counting—but that, in the end, it wasn’t long enough.

Statistics are accurate as of Sept. 8 and come from MLB.com, Baseball-Reference.com and FanGraphs.com, except where otherwise noted.

To talk baseball or fantasy baseball, check in with me on Twitter: @JayCat11

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Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Yovani Gallardo had one highlight in an otherwise unimpressive outing against the Miami Marlins on Monday, breaking the all-time franchise record for strikeouts with his lone K of the night, per MLB Milestones.

After matching Ben Sheets’ team record of 1,206 strikeouts in his last outing, Gallardo recorded No. 1,207 with no outs in the second inning when he caught Marlins catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia looking on a low slider. The 28-year-old right can be excused for a lack of jubilance, as the previous two batters had both hit solo home runs.

Ultimately, Gallardo lasted just 3.2 innings, giving up six runs (five earned) on nine hits and two walks in a game the Brewers would eventually lose 6-4. The loss, Milwaukee’s third in a row and 12th in its past 13 games, dropped the Brew Crew six games back of the NL Central-leading St. Louis Cardinals.

Having allowed 10 earned runs in his last two outings, Gallardo has played his part in the stretch of futility, though he did toss six scoreless frames in an Aug. 27 loss to the San Diego Padres.

Long known for his ability to pile up punchouts, Gallardo has turned into more of a pitch-to-contact guy the past two seasons. After posting a K/9 of at least 8.99 in each of the previous four seasons, the Mexican righty saw that mark fall to just 7.17 last year. He’s taken another step back this season, with his K/9 sitting at just 6.56 after Monday’s outing.

The Brewers have a $13 million team option on Gallardo for 2015, and while that once looked like a sure thing to be picked up, the team may now give some thought to the $600,000 buyout.

One way or the other, Gallardo will hold the title of Brewers all-time strikeout king for quite some time, as no other pitcher currently with the franchise has more than 484 strikeouts in a Milwaukee uniform, with that mark held by Marco Estrada, who was demoted to the bullpen in July.

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