All Brewers team, pitchers

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The Brewers have had some good pitchers over the years, but nobody that really jumps out at you. Even the Brewers career leader in wins, Jim Slayton, doesn't make this list. Slayton wasn't bad, going 117-121 in his 7 seasons with the Brewers with an ERA of 3.86. That's okay, it's just that you expect more from a franchise's career leader in wins. After getting that out of the way, here are my choices for best Brewers pitchers in franchise history.

Starting pitcher: Ted Higuera Ted had a nice 9 year career, all with the Brewers. His best season was 1986 when Ted went 20-11 with an ERA of 2.79. He finished second in the Cy Young Award voting that season. From 1985-88 Higuera was 69-38. His combined WAR for those seasons was 26.5. After that, injuries started to take their toll. In all pitched 9 seasons for the Brewers and finished at 94-64 with an ERA of 3.61 and a WAR of 30.6. Ted's 4 season run from 1985-88 was the best in Brewers history, and propels Higuera to the top spot in the Brewers rotation.

Starting pitcher: Ben Sheets When Ben was healthy, he could be overpowering, he just wasn't healthy that much. In eight seasons with the Brewers, Ben was an all star four times. He finished at 83-63 with an ERA of 3.72 and a WAR of 25.6. In 2004 Sheets went 12-14 with an ERA of 2.70. Even more impressive, Sheets averaged 10 strikeouts per 9 innings. Despite a losing record, Ben's WAR was 7.2. His WHIP was 0.983. In 2008 Sheets had another strong season, going 13-9 with an ERA of 3.09. That was his last season with the Brewers. Ben is another case of a pitcher who was very good, but could have been even better if not limited by injuries.

Starting pitcher: Mike Caldwell From 1978-83 Mike had a run similar to that of Ted Huguera. Mike went 91-59. His best season was 1978 when he went 22-9 with an ERA of 2.36. He also led the NL in complete games with 23. He was second in Cy Young voting that season. His WAR for 1978 was 8.1. Caldwell had success despite not striking out a lot of hitters. Mike averaged only 3 strikeouts per 9 innings in his time with the Brewers. Mike pitched 8 seasons for the Brewers and wound up with a record of 102-80 with an ERA of 3.74.

Starting pitcher: Yovani Gallardo Yet another guy who was good for about half a decade. In Yovani's case, it was from 2009-13. During that time, Yovani was 72-49. He was striking out about 9 hitters per 9 innings in during that period. Yovani had 5 sesons when his WAR was between 2.0 and 3.0. I thought it might would have been higher. Gallardo was also a good hitting pitcher, hitting .195 with 12 home runs while with the Brewers. A workmanlike performer, Gallardo comes in as the Brewers fourth starter.

Starting pitcher: Lary Sorensen Okay, I'm running out of depth here. I chose Sorenson over some other guys with similar stats. Larry had a really nice season in 1978 when he went 18-12 with an ERA 3.21. He was named an NL all star that season. In all, he pitched four seasons for the Brewers, going 52-46 with an ERA of 3.72. Like Mike Caldwell, Sorenson struck few hitters, only 2.7 per 9 innings. By the way, it really is Lary, with one R.

Relief pitcher: John Axford In 2011 John was the Rolaids Relief Award winner. That season he led the NL with 46 saves. Axford spent 5 seasons with the Brewers and while his control was an issue, his ability to strike hitters out more than compensated for it. A walk rate of 4.1 per 9 innings is bad, but a strikeout rate of 10.9 per 9 innings is very, very good. Axford gets the top slot in the Brewers bullpen and is second in career saves with the Brewers. The Brewers all time saves leader, Dan Plesac, doesn't get a slot due to the number of saves he blew.

Relief pitcher: Francisco Rodriguez Rodriguez had had two stints with the Brewers. It was in the second one that he enjoyed most of his success. In 2014 Frankie had 44 saves. He followed that up in 2015 with 38 saves. Rodriguez averaged almost 10 strikeouts per 9 innings during that period. His WHIPs in both of those seasons was under 1.0. Rodriguez has recorded 437 saves in his career. It seems like that fact is obscured by the fact Rodriguez has pitched for five teams thus far in his career.

Relief pitcher: Rollie Fingers While Rollie's on field performance didn't match his mustache, he was still pretty good. Rollie racked up 97 saves in his four seasons with the Brewers. Rollie struck out 6.8 hitters per 9 innings, but allowed only 7.7 hits per 9 innings. Rollie led the AL with 28 saves and won the MVP Award that same season. His ERA was 1.04. Unfortunately for Rollie, that was the strike year and nobody remembers it. Fingers was an all star in both 1981 and 1982. In his big 1981 season, Rollie appeared in 47 games and pitched and pitched 78 innings. He was more than just a one inning guy.

So there are my picks for the Brewers pitching staff. Let me know your thoughts on the subject.

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