[Loeffle]

November 2008 - Milwaukee Brewers - Playoffs
Manager and GM Fritsche

2008 individual review:

#95 SP Dave Bush
18-8, 3.10 ERA, 31 GS, 229.2 IP, 207 H, 52 BB, 147 K, 1.13 WHIP, 8 CG, 2 SH
Bush had a career year and did way better than expected. He pitched like a true ace and will also be on the staff next season.

#18 SP Brandon Webb
16-11, 3.31 ERA, 32 GS, 228.1 IP, 220 H, 63 BB, 162 K, 1.24 WHIP, 4 CG, 2 SH
Webb was in shock when I got traded to Milwaukee. As a result he was rather inconsistent and sometimes not very reliable. We hope though that he will develop into our ace next season.

#57 SP Chris Capuano
18-7, 4.08 ERA, 31 GS, 222.2 IP, 213 H, 62 BB, 147 K, 1.24 WHIP, 4 CG, 1 SH
He did a lot to earn his 18 victories, as he was a very dangerous batter as well. Not on a level with Webb or Bush, but usually reliable against teams with many left handed batters.

#44 SP Chris Volstad
9-11, 3.93 ERA, 28 GS, 194.2 IP, 204 H, 49 BB, 127 K, 1.30 WHIP, 5 CG, 2 SH
Pitched only once for us after we claimed him off waivers from the Yankees. We don't know yet what to do with him next season. He's young, but our starters did well this season.

#46 SP Yovani Gallardo
12-9, 3.85 ERA, 27 GS, 175.1 IP, 181 H, 71 BB, 129 K, 1.44 WHIP, 1 CG, 1 SH
A fan favourite who was more than once "just one game" away from getting demoted. Our scouts say he's already over the peak of his career at the age of 22. We will see what happens as he did better than Villanueva.

#11 SP Carlos Villanueva
5-7, 4.17 ERA, 17 GS, 121.0 IP, 118 H, 32 BB, 94 K, 1.24 WHIP
Regarded as our top starter prospect, he was called in July and did ok for being Nr. 5 starter. But is he good enough for more?

#51 SP Manny Parra (on the DL until the start of 2009 season)
6-2, 2.84 ERA, 14 GS, 82.1 IP, 74 H, 27 BB, 66 K, 1.23 WHIP
Parra did very well until he went down with a season ending injury in June. If he recovers completely, he will take a spot on the starting rotation, but whom will he replace?

#35 SP Freddy Garcia
5-5, 4.98 ERA, 18 G, 6 GS, 65.0 IP, 71 H, 9 BB, 57 K, 1.23 WHIP
Garcia was unlucky that our rotation did rather well this season. He would be perfect as backup if someone on the rotation goes down, but he wouldn't accept that role. Free agent next week?

#91 MR Elmer 'Victoria' Dessens
3-1-1, 5.19 ERA, 50 G, 60.2 IP, 70 H, 22 BB, 47 K, 1.55 WHIP
Elmer did ok this season even if he was not as effective as last year. He's 37 and its unclear if he will come back for another season with us.

#55 MR Jeremy Accardo
4-2-4, 3.58 ERA, 62 G, 60.1 IP, 57 H, 17 BB, 55 K, 1.23 WHIP
Struggled when he arrived from Arizona during the season, but developed into a right handed rock in our bullpen. Welcome back in 2009!

#14 CL Soichi Fujita
1-3-25, 2.00 ERA, 48 G, 36.0 IP, 31 H, 9 BB, 26 K, 1.11 WHIP, 92,6 % SV
Did fine as our closer after having a cold spring. His minus is his very low stamina and that he is not a big strikeout pitcher.

#27 SP Aaron Cook
1-2, 4.91 ERA, 4 GS, 33.0 IP, 36 H, 12 BB, 14 K, 1.45 WHIP, 1 CG
Was picked up as free agent when it looked as Gallardo and Villanueva couldn't get the job done. As they improoved, Cook began to struggle. Will he be back next season?

#94 MR Jose Capellan
1-3-2, 5.91 ERA, 33 G, 32.0 IP, 36 H, 10 BB, 24 K, 1.44 WHIP
Struggled badly when he was called up to repeat his 2007 performance. Next year might be his make it or break it season.

#76 MR Akinori Otsuka
3-4-1, 5.58 ERA, 40 G, 30.2 IP, 37 H, 19 BB, 24 K, 1.83 WHIP
Was simply awful after coming over from Philadelphia. At the of 36 it's not sure if he can bounce back. With Wise and Accardo two spots for righties are already occupied in the 2009 bullpen.

#5 MR Brian Shouse
3-1-1, 4.21 ERA, 47 G, 25.2 IP, 29 H, 5 BB, 14 K, 1.32 WHIP
Brian did well against lefties, but struggled when asked to face righties. Would be happy if he accepted a minor league contract to act as emergency backup for next season. He's 40 now.

#27 MR Mitch Stetter
0-1-0, 5.57 ERA, 34 G, 21.0 IP, 22 H, 8 BB, 12 K, 1.43 WHIP
More or less the same problem as Shouse. He's much younger, but has much less potential. Free agent or AAA next year?