Apr 18, 2013; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Cingrani stands on deck during the third inning at Great American Ball Park. And how about those high socks?!?! (Photo: David Kohl-USA TODAY Sports)

The homestand continues as the Milwaukee Brewers come to town for a weekend three-game series. The Brewers currently sit in fourth place in the National League Central with a record of 15-17 and sit 5.5 games behind the division-leading St. Louis Cardinals.

The Reds are coming off a series loss to the Atlanta Braves. They reside in second place in the NLC owning a record of 19-16 and 3 full games behind the Redbirds.

Starting Pitchers

Brewers – Yovani Gallardo
2013: 3-1, 4.50 ERA, 1.405 WHIP (7 games/starts)
@ GABP: 2-3, 3.81 ERA, 1.472 WHIP (9 games/starts)
v. Reds: 5-5, 4.75 ERA, 1.582 WHIP (15 games/starts)

While Gallardo’s “bottom line numbers” don’t look all that great, he has performed better as of late. Prior to his last outing where the Cardinals roughed him up for for 4 runs in six innings, Gallardo had won three straight decisions and allowed six runs (five earned) over 19.2 innings of work.

Gallardo v. Reds Batters

Some pretty gaudy numbers here…

Reds – Tony Cingrani
2013: 2-0, 2.63 ERA, 0.833 WHIP (4 games/starts)
@ GABP: 1-0, 2.40 ERA, 0.933 WHIP (3 games, 2 starts)
v. Brewers: 1st career start

The young lefty hopes to keep the momentum he has built over his first four starts. In his last outing in Wrigley against the Cubs, he was touched for a pair of home runs by Alfonso Soriano. After surrendering four runs over the first three innings, Cingrani retired the side in order over the final three innings of that outing.

Cingrani v. Brewers Batters

Um, none of the Brewers have faced Cingrani. Advantage: Reds?

Starting Lineups

Ryan Hanigan returns from his brief rehab stint in Louisville. You may have noticed that he’s not in the table above on how he’s fared against Gallardo. Here it is…

First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 PM ET.

GO REDS!!!

I’ve brought you up to speed on the hometown squad. Here are a few bullet points of other things happening in the Central:

• Cubs’ Opening Day Starter Jeff Semardzija had a solid outing yesterday, averaging a fastball speed between 93-96 mph. He stumbled in one particular inning when he walked the pitcher and immediately gave up a home run to the next hitter. He’s 3-1 this spring with an ERA of 5.59. Spring Training isn’t a revealing time, but with Semardzija’s first Opening Day start looming, the Cubs are probably wanting to see improvement. Garza won’t be back until May.
• Brandon Phillips isn’t having the best World Baseball Classic – he’s 4 of 18 at the plate and hitting .222. Ryan Braun is hitting .353 and leading the team in strikeouts with six. If it wasn’t for the 10 RBIs of David Wright (who also has USA’s lone homerun), Team USA would probably be watching from home.
• According to a recent article in the St. Louis Dispatch, Jon Jay is going to once again assume the lead-off role for the Cardinals. And why not? His OBP last year was .373 and .359 for his career. His .384 average was the best home batting average by any player in baseball in 2012. The NL Central’s best offense is going to have a professional table-setter.
• Shin-Soo Choo is a human torch right now. He’s hitting .421 with an OBP of .476. This was what we hoped for. If it carries into the season, as expected, this Reds offense that finished 21st in runs scored last year is a safe bet to finish in the top ten. An obscure but revealing stat (Runners In Front of Votto (RIFoV)) should be enhanced exponentially.
• Alex Gonzalez – remember him? He’s playing first base for the Brewers now.
• In case you missed it, the Cardinals’ Matt Carpenter is transitioning to second base. He played first and outfield last season.
• Need a Billy Hamilton update? 2/20 hitting .111, eight strikeouts, two walks. In 50 games with Pensacola at AA, he finished with a .286 batting average – it’s evident that he has some ways to go before making the show.

That’s all I’ve got for now; thanks for checking in. We’re getting closer.

Milwaukee also had a good, experienced and supposed deep starting rotation with the likes of Zack Greinke, Yovani Gallardo and Shaun Marcum as the 1-2-3 punch. The bullpen was one of the better ensembles in baseball.

Well, 2012 didn’t quite go that way. The bullpen faltered as it went from one of baseball’s best to one of baseball’s worst. Greinke was traded prior to the deadline. Marcum missed time. If you get the picture, the pitching was the culprit. It certainly wasn’t the bats as Milwaukee led the NL in runs scored.

February 21, 2013; Maryvale, AZ, USA; Milwaukee Brewers manager Ron Roenicke (10) watches during spring training at Maryvale Baseball Park. (Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports)

As skipper Ron Roenicke enters his third season at the helm of the Brew Crew, he sees, for one, a bullpen that has been revamped with the departures of Francisco Rodriguez (FA), Kameron Loe (SEA), Jose Veras (HOU) and Manny Parra (CIN). Enter Tom Gorzelanny (WAS), Mike Gonzalez (WAS) and Burke Badenhop (TB).

Last season, the Brewers finished with a record of 83-79. At one time. they put a fierce run together and had some thinking they may sneak into the second NL wild card. One thing that didn’t help them was their 6-9 record against the Reds and that would have been worse if not for a Brewers three-game sweep at Miller Park in early August.

1. Projected starting lineup

Pretty much the same as least season…except for that little issue of first base. At this point, 2013 has already gotten off to a bad start for the Brew Crew. Mat Gamel is once again done for the season with knee issues. He was supposed to get the chance to display his talents as Corey Hart recovered from surgery. It was thought Hart wouldn’t return until the end of May, but Hart is more optimistic.

And what makes that all the more confuzzled is there is no real option there. MLB Depth Charts has prospect Hunter Morris as the guy. The Brewers team site displays Hart as the #1 and Alex Gonzalez as the #2. There have been mentions that Gonzalez might be the one to fill the void in Hart’s absence.

The only other question I would have is Jean Segura. Might be more known as being in the trade that sent Greinke to Anaheim. His minor league numbers were pretty darn good (.313/.367/.439 with 139 SB), but he did not produce near that level in 2012. All things considered, he has never played a game at Triple-A, so maybe we see him take a step to reclaim what he had built in the minors. Then again, we know the guy that bats 8th in a National League lineup isn’t expected to produce extraordinary offensive numbers either. And the Brewers did have issues at short last season.

And be honest here. Did anyone honestly believe Ryan Braun would post the 2012 season he did? Even with all that talk? If that’s the case, what about for 2013? There’s the same chatter again…

Here’s a look at the lineup and what each player produced in 2012.

*-MiLB numbers

2. Projected starting rotation

Some changes here. I mentioned Greinke. Marcum is now a Met. The pleasant surprise last season was Mike Fiers. His name was mentioned as a potential NL Rookie of the Year candidate. And at other times, you might have thought he was the staff ace especially after the Greinke trade.

Manager Ron Roenicke may be forced to rely on a couple of guys with little MLB experience in Mark Rogers and Wily Peralta. Rogers, the #5 overall pick in 2004, does have 9 starts with 7 of those coming last season. Peralta is the Brewers top prospect and has 5 MLB starts to his name.

Of course, that holds true if Chris Narveson cannot be ready by the beginning of the season as he recovers from surgery. All signs currently say Narveson will be ready to go, leaving the question as Rogers or Peralta.

The starting staff with their 2012 numbers…

Feb 17, 2013; Maryvale, AZ, USA; Milwaukee Brewers second baseman Rickie Weeks (23) poses for a picture during photo day at Maryvale Baseball Park. (Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports)

3. Player to watch: Rickie Weeks

To say last season was a poor one for Weeks would be an understatement, but I think you have to look at his 2012 as two separate seasons: before and after the All-Star break. He was at a woeful .199 BA when the break arrived. Yes, below the Mendoza line. After the midsummer classic, Weeks found his swing and triple slashed his way to the tune of .261/.343/.457.

I’ll go to this step. Within the past two years, there had been a rumbling or two that Weeks might actually be the better offensive second baseman than Cincy’s beloved Brandon Phillips. We know that’s not the case from a defensive standpoint, but we also have to look at Weeks’ contribution with his bat. Weeks has been moderately successful at the very least.

4. Prospect watch: Wily Peralta

Peralta seems destined for a rotation spot this season. Exactly which spot is another matter (4 or 5, but it’s not a big deal).

Over the past two years, he’s been Milwaukee’s top rated prospect and has landed on Baseball America’s top 100 the past two years (#56 in 2012 and #69 in 2013). He did face minor issues in Triple-A last season (increase in walk and hit rates with decrease in whiff rate), but I doubt anyone would say this guy’s not ready.

5. Prediction

Any offensive concerns will partially revolve around Hart’s absence and the length of that absence. Even that may not completely slow them down. With legit leadoff guy in Aoki, that’s why I pegged Weeks as the guy to watch this season. A successful Weeks would greatly enhance Milwaukee’s probability for success as well…offensively.

Let’s not mince words here. The Brewers are not one of the better defensive teams in baseball. In using Baseball Reference’s stat called Defensive Efficiency, the Brewers were next to last in the NL for the 2012 season. A quick definition of that would be the conversion of balls in play into outs…and yes, there are other factors involved with this.

The starting staff may not pose the punch it did prior to last season, and I hardly believe the return of Narveson will strike fear into any opponents. This rotation can be solid, but with three guys (Estrada, Fiers and Peralta) having so limited experience in the starter’s role, there could be moves made during the season. Last season was Estrada’a first extended look as a starter and he did pitch well.

Is Milwaukee a sub-.500 team? It would seem that way, but whenever anyone wants to writes these guys off, the Brew Crew bounces back similar to the run they made last season whe nthey were pretty much forgotten until that run. One projection I saw had this for the NLC:

1. Cincinnati 84-78
2. Pittsburgh 82-80
3. St. Louis 81-81
4. Milwaukee 77-85
5. Chicago 71-91

I would give the Brewers around 80 wins, but do not be completely shocked if they win more than 80.