Fourth-Place Brewers In Good Shape

Here's the bad news: The Milwaukee Brewers have lost three straight games, and are currently in fourth place in a virtual tie with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Yes, those Pittsburgh Pirates.

The competition in the National League Central is not strong. Only the Cardinals are currently above .500, and they're trotting out a makeshift infield every day. For that matter, the entire National League is looking pretty soft, as only four teams in the whole league are currently sitting above .500. Even if the Cardinals run away with the division title, there aren't any obvious candidates to run away with the Wild Card.

Tonight, Zack Greinke makes his debut as a Brewer. Greinke looked fine in his three minor-league rehab starts, there's little reason to think he won't hit the ground running, and a running Zack Greinke is one of the best pitchers in the National League. It's always a nifty trick when you can replace a No. 5/6 starter like Chris Narveson with a recent Cy Young winner.

While we're on the subject of starting pitchers, it's true that Randy Wolf (2.39 ERA) and Shaun Marcum (2.21) are due for some regression. But it's also true that Yovani Gallardo, unless he's hiding an injury, is exceptionally unlikely to finish the season with his current 6.10 ERA. If Gallardo does right himself, the Brewers should boast the top 1-2-3 rotation punch in their division.

Despite fantastic performances from Ryan Braun, Prince Fielder and Rickie Weeks, Milwaukee ranks just 10th in the National League in scoring. This is somewhat bizarre, considering they also rank third in on-base percentage and fourth in slugging percentage. If they keep doing those things, the runs will come. And their chance of doing those things is improved with the recent returns from the Disabled List of outfielders Corey Hart and Nyjer Morgan, resulting in fewer wasted plate appearances from Mark Kotsay and Carlos Gomez. With the exception of shortstop (Yuniesky Betancourt), the Brewers have a good shot at entering June without a single weak spot in their lineup.