Bill Castro’s title is different this season.

But the Milwaukee Brewers’ first-year pitching coach doesn’t feel like his approach has changed.

"I just do what I do," said Castro, a former Brewers pitcher who spent the previous 17 seasons working as the team’s bullpen coach. "I feel like I’ve always been a pitching coach in the bullpen all those years that I was there."

Milwaukee’s pitching staff underwent heavy turnover in the offseason, with top of the rotation starters CC Sabathia and Ben Sheets and relievers Brian Shouse, Salomon Torres, Eric Gagne and Guillermo Mota leaving a group that ranked second in the National League with a 3.85 ERA. The departures didn’t stop there, either, with pitching coach Mike Maddux taking a lucrative contract to join the Texas Rangers in the same capacity.

That prompted the Brewers to promote Castro, and the results thus far have been encouraging.

After Saturday night’s 6-2 loss to the Minnesota Twins, Milwaukee’s team ERA stood at 4.05, a number that ranked eighth in the majors and fifth in the NL — surprising given the Brewers’ personnel losses. The starting rotation, viewed by most observers as a question mark entering the season, had a less impressive combined ERA of 4.46, but was tied for third in the major leagues in quality starts with 25, one behind with Toronto and Pittsburgh.

"It’s a credit to Billy for doing what he’s done so far," Milwaukee manager Ken Macha said.

And improved starting pitching has been a key factor behind the Brewers’ surge after a 4-9 start to the season. Milwaukee starters had a 5.87 ERA in the first 13 games of the season; that number was down to 3.92 in the 30 since. The group has pitched deeper into games and its walks have dropped significantly after the shaky start.

"The beginning was a kind of a little bit off, but I think everybody was just getting to know each other a little bit and feel comfortable and getting in the comfort zone that they’re in right now," Castro said recently. "They’ve got it pretty good right now."

Castro said his new role is "more work than I had before, but I like it this way."

"So, so far so good, and hopefully we’ll keep it going that way," he said.

And Castro is still involved with the bullpen, which has been a major bright spot for the Brewers — particularly since the return of closer Trevor Hoffman from the disabled list April 26 — under new bullpen coach Stan Kyles. Reliever Seth McClung pointed to Castro’s work with the bullpen as a change from Maddux, who spent most of his time with the starters.

"Bill’s doing great. He’s obviously been around for a while, so he knows how everything is," McClung said. "He was a pitching coach in the bullpen last year. Most people discount a bullpen coach as just somebody who just kind of baby-sits the bullpen out there. …

"But Stan’s a pitching coach, and Bill was a pitcher and pitching coach forever, so that’s what he did. And now he’s just doing it in the dugout as opposed to the bullpen. He handles everything the same way he did in the bullpen, just a different location."