Why I'm still feeling alright about the Brewers' season

Yeah, long time without a post; I have some things I've been meaning to throw up (including a predictions post--it's still valid a week in, right? :-P), but I thought I'd get this out of the way now. The team has had a rough first week; 2-4, including a couple of brutal losses to the Cubs and some terrible Suppan starts. That said, I think this team has a lot going for it, and I'll lay out some reasons why:

1. Most of the games have been fairly close. The Cubs games, in particular, were all fairly close and exciting, and even the one today (Sunday) was closer than it seemed; if Reed Johnson hadn't made an incredible play, it would've been a one-run game, rather than a three-run game. And on Saturday, if Soriano had been (properly) called out on the double-play, the Brewers could've won that. It really was some tough luck losses, and the Brewers could've won or even swept the series.

2. Other than Suppan, the starting pitching has been solid. Starting pitching was our big question mark coming in, and so far it's been pretty good. Gallardo was amazing, Looper put in a solid effort, and Parra and Bush basically kept up what they gave us last year. Unfortunately, Suppan also kept up what he gave us last year. That said, maybe this is wishful thinking on my part, but if he has another start or two like the last one, I really feel like there'll be some accountability this year, $40 million contract or no. I wouldn't be surprised if we see him taken out of the rotation. The bullpen hasn't been too bad so far; nothing great, but not terrible, and should get better once Hoffman's back.

3. The hitters have been getting on base. We haven't been scoring runs like we should, but that's mainly been a fairly of clutch hitting more than anything else. They've seemed to do a good job of working the count, and guys have been getting on base at a nice clip. If you keep getting guys on base like that, you're going to start knocking them in and scoring runs. Also worth keeping in mind is that we've held our own even though Hardy has been slumping, Kendall is doing even worse than usual, and we've faced a string of good starting pitching: seriously, Dempster is the worst starter we've faced so far, and we've still averaged over 4 runs a game.

So, it's a rough start to the season, but all things considered, I think it was more rough luck than anything else, and as the season starts rolling along, I fully expect this team to perform well and contend for the wild card.