Picked to finish in the mid-80s in wins by many experts, the Milwaukee Brewers got off to a rough start, losing their first four in a row, including the season opener by way of a walk-off home run. They’re playing under-.500 so far and have already put themselves in a hole. While the season is still young, there are already a few disappointments making this difficult for the Brew Crew. First of all, Zack Greinke has yet to make an appearance (and likely won’t until May) and secondly, Shaun Marcum has been anything but Marcum-esque.

Marcum was acquired from the Toronto Blue Jays in the offseason, but he’s yet to show the stuff that made him Toronto’s Opening Day starter in 2010. Marcum only went 4 2/3 innings in his Brewers debut against the Cincinnati Reds and gave up five walks to tie his career high, and took the loss. He was better on Thursday against the Atlanta Braves, but still hasn’t been able to show the finesse that has made him successful at the major league level.

In all has only thrown 10 2/3 innings with the Brewers and given up five earned runs for a 4.22 ERA, all on nine hits with an uncharacteristic seven walks. On the plus side, he’s struck out 11 batters, which rates higher than is expected from him. Another plus for Marcum in general is the fact that he’s never committed an error in 138 career chances. Marcum fields his position very well for a pitcher.

Marcum’s going to get his act together and he’ll become a key part in any future success the Brewers have. When Greinke returns, the two of them and Yovani Gallardo will make up Milwaukee’s top-three starters among the best three in baseball. But that’s then, this is now. The Brewers have played in a lot of close games already this season. They’re going to need Carlos Gomez, Casey McGehee and Yuniesky Betancourt to pick up their games and give the pitching staff some help.