Cautiously optimistic. That’s been my answer for about the past three or four years whenever I’m asked ‘”Do you think the Brewers will finish above .500 this season?” This preseason I was once again confronted with this question. And once again I answered with my preprogrammed answer, “I’m cautiously optimistic.”

But I must admit, I’m starting feel like throwing caution to the wind. This may seem like an odd time to admit this, especially after the crew just dropped a pair to the Cubs at Wrigley Field. It also may seem an inopportune time considering the season is all of one week old and just because the Brewers currently have a better record than three of the four teams that participated in last year’s league championship games (the Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees and the St. Louis Cardinals are all currently posting worse records than the Brewers) doesn’t mean anything.

I agree. Entirely. I do not expect the Brewers to have better records than the Red Sox, Yankees or Cardinals at the end of the year. Yet something about this year’s squad excites me, and no it’s not the prospects waiting in the wings. I’m talking about this year’s squad, the 25 guys currently on their roster, not the guys waiting in the minors who will find their way up for September call-ups.

For years, I, along with numerous other Brewer fans, have had to endure and embrace the ‘There’s always next year, mentality,” and I’ve still yet to see a Brewer victory at Miller Park in person (the Brewers are 0-8 when I attend). But this year I won’t accept that there’s always next, I refuse to accept it. This year is the year.

After watching the first few Brewers games of the season, I must say, I like what I see. The offense, as a whole seems to be leaps and bounds better than last season. I know Ben Sheets got touched up in his last start against the Cubs, but I guarantee he’ll do just fine as the season rolls on. It’s nice to see a healthy Junior Spivey playing to the level he displayed early last season, and Russell Branyan has been a pleasant surprise at the plate as well as in the field thus far into the year.

Obviously not everything is rosy, Milwaukee’s relief pitching has looked suspect in their last two outings, and long-time Brewer Geoff Jenkins has gotten off to a slow start.

But still, there’s something about this team.

After years of ho-humming about the Brewers play, I saw flashes of a solid ball club last year. The Brewers were nowhere near being considered a great ball club, but they were fighting, something that couldn’t always be said in previous seasons. And this year looks no different. In only six games this season, Milwaukee has already seen two extra inning contests. Though the Brewers are 1-1 in those contests, extra innings play is a step in the right direction for a team the lost numerous one- and two-run games last season.

Patience also seems to have wriggled its way into the lineup. On a team that was once a home for strikeout kings like Jeromy Burnitz, José Hernandez and even Richie Sexson to an extent, patience in the batters box was something rarely found in a Brewers’ uniform. But give hitting coach Butch Wynegar credit — he has his players, including the free-swinging Branyan, forcing pitchers deep into the pitch count. And let’s be honest, as a general rule, the sooner you can get to the bullpen the better.

In their six games this season, four of the opponents starting pitchers didn’t survive long enough to pitch into the sixth inning. Only Chicago’s Carlos Zambrono and Pittsburgh’s Kip Wells — who each threw 7.1 innings with decisively different results — made it past the sixth-inning mark.

I know it’s only six games, but I’m going to go out on a limb here. I’m going to say the Brewers will finish this season above .500. I know this may not seem like much of a prediction to the Twins and Cubs fans out there, but when a team has not posted a winning record in 13 years, a .500 record does become a limb.

I may come to regret my words here, and I may regret even more that I’ve put them in print and that I can’t blame it on intoxication. But I’m prepared to live with the consequences. I’m not saying the Brewers are a pennant club, but a respectable team hovering around .500 that’s fun to watch — that they can definitely be.