Milwaukee Brewers Tickets

The Milwaukee Brewers have been in the process of building a contender for several years now, and it looks like they have finally reached their goal.

The Brewers are a well balanced team outside of a bullpen that has been nothing less than a complete disaster.

First baseman Prince Fielder got off to a sluggish start this year that was being blamed by many for his switch to a vegetarian during the offseason. While he isn't going to finish with the monster numbers of 2007, he has picked up the pace in the second half and is still going to have a solid year.

Outfielder Ryan Braun is having a solid follow-up to his rookie campaign, but his back injury is a major concern. He has been unable to shake the chronic pain for over a month now, and the Brewers can't afford to lose their best offensive player.

The middle of the infield has been disappointing, with second baseman Rickie Weeks really struggling with at the plate and shortstop J.J. Hardy's numbers down considerably from a year ago.

The starting pitching is the name of the game for the Brew Crew right now. The Brewers always had an ace in Ben Sheets, although he never seemed to be able to stay healthy until this year.

However, they gave the starting rotation a huge boost by acquiring former Cleveland Indians pitcher C.C. Sabathia via trade in early July. Sabathia, a top pitcher in the American League, has been an unstoppable force in the weaker National League. He has been so dominant that he has thrown himself into consideration for the Cy Young award despite pitching in the N.L. for just half the season.

Manny Parra, Jeff Suppan and Dave Bush have all pitched well at one time or another this year, making up for the loss of Yovani Gallardo to a season-ending knee injury during the first month.

Getting back to the bullpen, it's been a mess but has improved slightly. Former closer Eric Gagne has settled into a late inning role while new closer Solomon Torres is doing a respectable job.

It's unlikely Milwaukee will be able to catch the Chicago Cubs for the National League Central crown, but it would be surprising if they weren't able to make the playoffs by clinching the wild card.