One of the strengths of the Milwaukee Brewers to start the year this season was their bullpen. They have a group of arms that could be very deadly. Corey Knebel goes down with an injury, and all hell breaks loose with this team. Jacob Barnes is 0-for-2 in trying to shut the door. Matt Albers couldn’t do it last night, and JJ Hoover followed suit tonight. Thursday’s day off should be seen as a major reset for this bullpen.

JJ Hoover isn’t a big leaguer
I hate to rag on a guy who is trying to make on honest living, but if JJ Hoover can’t hit the strike zone, he doesn’t deserve to be up here. Hopefully, he’s the one that goes down to Colorado Springs as Junior Guerra steps to the mound today. But I doubt it given Milwaukee’s lack of arms. Hoover did not look lik a big leaguer out there, and that’s very concerning. No need to have Hoover give up multiple games.

Taylor Williams showed a little something
Here’s the bitch of the beast. Taylor Williams made his season debut, and he looked awesome. A hardthrower that dominated Cardinals’ bats striking out three batters. Craig Counsell decided to leave him in for the ninth only to pull him for Barnes who threw multiple wild pitches. Williams and Josh Hader could be a very scary one-two punch. So you aks yourself is this bullpen bad or do they just need assigned roles at this point? I know that’s not 2018 baseball, but you have to wonder what it might take for guys to know they have the eighth or the ninth in a close game.

Cardinals aren’t very good
I know this St. Louis team beat the Brewers three out of five times already this season, but they’re not going to be a contender in the long run. They have too many missing pieces to their puzzle. The offense isn’t really there. Bullpen is actually in worse shape than Milwaukee’s. Dilly errors on the basepaths with decent starting pitching. Brewers fans might worry about results but it’s not much.

Next up
This afternoon on Facebook -> Junior Guerra vs. Adam Waiwright.