Brew Crew Pub

Closing Up Shop

2008-08-20T09:15:00.002-05:00

Good morning every one. I thought I was done with my stint over at Bernie's Crew, but after a week of work, Jim was very pleased and made me an offer to join him. Considering the traffic over at SportsBubbler, and at Jim's blog specifically, it was an offer I could not refuse. So while the Brew Crew Pub is closed, it sort of remains open over at Bernie's Crew.

But don't fret, I have been given liberties to continue and write my ridiculous stat head articles often enough to keep me plenty satisfied. On a good note, I won't have to put all the work into game recaps, as Jim and I will be splitting those duties. That is an immense relief considering the amount of work that is put into each and every one of those posts.

Thank you to every one who has read and supported this blog. It was a pleasure entertaining you at this site, and I hope to hear from all of you over at SportsBubbler, which I am learning day by day is a fantastic site for all Wisconsin sports.

Slainte! Go Crew!

Check Me Out at Bernie's

2008-08-12T23:49:00.003-05:00

With Jim taking the week off over at Bernie's Crew, my recaps and analysis can be found there until Sunday. Should be a nice upgrade in the reading audience for a few days and perhaps will toss me a few extra hits. I'd love to hear from any and all of you over at the best blog in the Brewers Nation. Jim does great work, and I hope I can keep him afloat while he's gone.

Just for fun...

2008-08-12T09:43:00.003-05:00

There's a lot of people calling for Rickie's head, and it may be because of the media or because no matter what Rickie does the rest of the season, his numbers are going to look pretty rough. Nevertheless, I just wanted to compare Rickie's starts to Ray Durham's since his arrival, and here we go.

Ray Durham: 7 GS, .259/.333/.519, 1 HR, 4 2B, 3 BB, 4 K, 6 R, CS
Brewers record in those starts: 4-3
Rickie Weeks: 14 GS, .310/.388/.517, 2 HR, 2 3B, 2 2B, 7 BB, 1 HBP, 15 K, 10 R, SB, CS
Brewers record in those starts: 9-5

Rickie has had two fielding mistakes in those games which go unnoted here, but his production has been unbelievable. I'm beating a dead horse here as I always do, but it's hard to argue taking out Rickie when he's clearly producing at a very high level. Both of these guys have had a hard time getting around the bases, though, because JJ Hardy is slumping big time. Durham benefited from some Craig Counsell productive groundballs and scored three of those runs in one game. Rickie's scoring percentage isn't nearly as high as it was to start the year, which I would suggest is a direct result of a lack of aggressiveness on the base paths. Sad thing is, when he is aggressive, he gets burned, which hasn't been the case until the second half. Hopefully he can remedy that down the stretch.

6/11 Brewers Nationals Series Recap

2008-08-11T21:23:00.003-05:00

The Scores:
Milwaukee Brewers 5 Washington Nationals 0
Milwaukee Brewers 6 Washington Nationals 0
Milwaukee Brewers 5 Washington Nationals 4
Milwaukee Brewers 7 Washington Nationals 1

MVPs of the Series:
Brewers Starting Rotation: 31.1 IP, 21 H, 3 BB, 30 K, 2 ER, 3 Ws
Lastings Milledge: 7/17; HR, 2 RBIs, 2 SBs, R

The Brewers rotation took advantage of a powerless team that was aggressive early in the count. The results were astounding. Back to back complete game shutouts by the pocket aces, a seven inning one run performance by Manny Parra and a six and a third, one run performance from back end starter, Dave Bush. And the best part of it all is what these performances did for the bullpen. After a day off on Thursday last week, the Brewers started a 13 day 13 game stretch, where starting at home for three, then six on the west coast and three more back at home. The three days of rest for the bullpen via the off day and the two CGs, allows quite a bit of flexibility. Big nod to the rotation for taking advantage of a bad team.

Milledge continued his recent hot streak this week with a solid performance all around. The unfortunate thing for him is that it offered little to no production, as the rest of his teammates couldn't get a hit if their pay check was on the line. Milledge is hitting .409/.469/.795 in his eleven games in August. While this production is obviously going to come down quite a bit, this is the guy the Mets thought they had before he was traded. Unfortunately his character issues combined with disappointing performances pushed him out. Perhaps Lastings has found himself a little bit, and that could pay off for the Nationals as they try to produce a winning team after getting a new ballpark.

What was the Difference?:
In such a dominating performance, it's almost impossible to pin point one thing, but the Brewers long ball paid dividends yet again. Eight launches led to nine of the Brewers runs, all of which seemed to have come in pivotal situations. Gabe Kapler hit a walk off solo shot on Sunday. Rickie Weeks hit a solo shot to tie the game on Monday afternoon. Corey Hart hit a two-run go ahead blast to lead the Brewers to victory on the same day. The Nationals, on the other hand, did their best to use the long ball, but came up short with their two blasts on Sunday.

Causes for Concern:
That Nationals are just bad. Poor defense, no power, no bullpen and one solid starting pitcher. I understand the revenue boosts that come with new stadiums, and perhaps the team is simply building that revenue so they can build a team, but right now things in DC look pretty bleak with almost no light at the end of the tunnel. It may perhaps be a stretch to think of it them like the Brewers organization before they built Miller Park. But I've seen the type of people and the amount of hard work it takes to make a contender out of garbage, and I believe there's a rare breed of people that can make it happen. Unfortunately, I have trouble believing the Nats front office is that breed considering they've brought in guys like Dmitri Young, Ronnie Belliard and Cristian Guzman.

If there's anything the Brewers should have fear about, it's the fact that they continue to rely way way too much on the long ball. This weekend they were able to accumulate a ridiculous amount of walks, 30, in just four games. But this season has proven that we cannot rely on these to get us through, one because the Brewers will be facing better pitching and two because the Brewers offense does not really have the plate discipline they showed this weekend. It's a sick feeling to see a team that's so good, have a big Achilles' heel. You just have to hope that when the weakness exposes itself, the strengths of this team can overcome it, which for much of the season it has.

Causes for Excitement:
I tell you what, I've seen John Lannan pitch twice now, and I really like what he's brought to the table. While his walk total is still a red flag, Lannan has the composure on the mound to be a solid pitcher in this league for quite a long time. He's got a solid and deceiving change with great action and fastball that's just good enough to sneak by most hitters. Toss in Milledge perhaps living up to his offensive potential, and the Nationals have at least a few pieces in place. It may not be much, but it's a start.

Did I mention the Brewers took THIRTY walks this weekend? God that just makes me drool. The thing that befuddles me is that only one of those walks scored via the homeruns the Brewers smoked. Nevertheless, the Brewers anemic offense did show up this weekend, but the 30 walks allowed them to push through the top of their order over and over again. Eventually lightning struck. As a result, the Brewers picked up four wins, 1.5 games on the Cubs and two games on the Cardinals. Even better, the Brewers head to the west coast this week to take on another last place squad in the San Diego Padres. The Cubs have an excellent record, but don't forget they have played ten extra games against the weak NL West. It's about time the Brewers get their own piece.

Where are they now?

2008-08-08T11:25:00.003-05:00

I've been noticing something interesting lately. Former Brewers pitchers are turning into good pitchers. Here's some names you may have forgotten that once were in the farm system or in Brewers blue.

Grant Balfour (TB): 32.1 IP, 1.39 ERA, 49 K, 14 BB
Mike Adams (SD): 40.2 IP, 2.21 ERA, 46 K, 12 BB
Dennis Sarfate (BAL): 57.0 IP, 4.58 ERA, 58 K, 45 BB
Will Inman (AA-SD): 118.1 IP, 3.12 ERA, 126 K, 61 BB
Joe Thatcher (AAA-SD): 27.2 IP, 1.63 ERA, 30 K, 8 BB
Joe Thatcher (SD): 25.2 IP, 8.42 ERA, 17 K, 13 BB
Robert Allen Dickey (SEA): 88.2 IP, 4.36 ERA, 48 K, 38 BB
Greg Aquino (AAA-BAL): 25.2 IP, 2.45 ERA, 29 K, 6 BB
Greg Aquino (BAL): 9.1 IP, 12.54 ERA, 9 K, 9 BB

I wanted to see this basically because of Mike Adams, who I remember from about three years ago. He had two solid years in 2004 and 2005 and was traded to the Mets for Geremi Gonzalez. That one almost worked out. Now look at the kid.

Then there's Grant Balfour, who the Brewers fans couldn't stand, but good lord did that guy have nasty stuff. Nothing has changed since Balfour has left except for the shell shock of the big leagues is gone. Now he's a future elite closer in TB. If Percival wasn't there, his save numbers would be ridiculous.

Inman has changed his entire delivery, and has had success. Thatcher had it going in 2007, but just can't put it together in the bigs again. He's a straight up LOOGY and needs to be treated as such. Aquino = AAAA and RA Dickey has been waiting to show off his knuckleball on a regular basis for years. He is a poor man's Tim Wakefield, but hey, Wakefield has a ton of wins over the year for being just above average his entire career. And Sarfate is just a filler right now for the Orioles. Far, far too many walks.

Any one have any others?

8/8 Brewers Nationals Series Preview

2008-08-08T09:58:00.002-05:00

The Series:
Washington Nationals (44-71) @ Milwaukee Brewers (64-51)

Who's on Tap?:
August 8th: Collin Balester (2-3, 4.55 ERA) vs. CC Sabathia (11-8, 3.28 ERA)
August 9th: Tim Redding (8-6, 4.44 ERA) vs. Ben Sheets (10-5, 3.14 ERA)
August 10th: John Lannan (6-11, 3.55 ERA) vs. Manny Parra (9-5, 4.18 ERA)
August 11th: Garrett Mock (0-2, 5.27 ERA) vs. Dave Bush (6-9, 4.50 ERA)

Who Should You Watch?:
The Nationals come to town on one of their hottest streaks of the season, having swept Cincinnati at home and taking three of four from the Colorado Rockies in Denver. But don't be fooled. Prior to that the Nationals had lost nine straight and were looking like one of the worst teams in the league. But the addition of second baseman Emillo Bonifacio has been a blessing and his lit a fire under this team. Since arriving on August 1st, Bonifacio has hit .375 in his seven games. However, the biggest change this month has been Lastings Milledge, who has hit .407/.484/.926 in the month of August with four bombs already. This is a big jump from his season numbers of .254/.321/.405. On the mound, it's clear that John Lannan has gone overlooked as far as the league's concerned, but on the Nationals, he's clearly the best pitcher. In his last start against the Brewrs, the 23 year old Lannan tossed five innings of three run baseball with a solid 7-3 groundball rate. Six of his last seven starts have been solid ones, so look for him to be pretty good this weekend.

The Brewers are coming off a fight, an anemic offensive week and a 4-2 road trip. But the Brewers offensive woes may have been cured by some mediocre pitching in Cincy, where the bottom half of the order stopped being a black hole for production and is turning into a mediocre group, which is all this team really needs right now. But the two big producers this weekend are expected to be Prince Fielder and Rickie Weeks. After watching Rickie's approach on Wednesday, he may have found a way to eliminate that vicious black hole on the outside of the plate that was a guaranteed ground out to the left side. Prince has been looking like a beast lately, which can be attributed to his willingness to trust his hands and stay balanced at the plate. On the mound, look for Manny Parra to bounce back from the face smash this past week. Parra will have to make an adjustment to correct his command issues though. But there's not a better confidence booster than playing a team with a struggling offense.

Keys to Victory:
The Nationals need to keep hitting because their pitching staff has been known to have hiccups. Unfortunately for the Nats, they carry the NL's worst batting average (.245) and the third to worst OBP (.318). With only 83 HRs on the books, the Nationals can't afford to let this series become a pitchers duel, especially with Sabathia and Sheets on the mound. If they plan to take any games this weekend, it will have to be on the shoulders of Milledge and Cristian Guzman. If they don't show up, their offense will lull you to sleep.

The Brewers need to just play their game. I don't like saying this, but the Nationals give up a TON of HRs and the Brewers hit even more than that. While I would like to see some patience this weekend, I fully expect to see a barrage of power, that will only be overcome by a bad start by a Brewers pitcher. Look for the free swinging aggressors we've seen all season to rear their ugly faces. But let's hope they calm down a bit when they head to San Diego.

Predictions and Notes:
- Four game sweeps are a rarity, but I do believe the Brewers have the ability to take all four. Will they? I doubt it, but I fully expect three of four, with the only loss coming on Sunday's day game, when Yost will run out his 'B' squad to take on Lannan, including Jason Kendall on a day game after a night game. It's just a feeling that the Brewers will get 'Yosted' at least once this weekend, which I'm okay with because it would probably only be the third time all year. Look for Sabathia and Sheets to be lights out, and the offense to break out on Friday and Saturday in support of their pocket aces.

- Rickie Weeks hits two opposite field hits in three games he's played. Since arriving with the Brewers Ray Durham is hitting .185/.267/.296. Tom Haudricourt says, "BENCH RICKIE WEEKS." And Ned Yost responds, "There's a reason I'm so testy with the media. Tom, there's a reason you're a beat writer and not a coach."

8/6 Brewers Reds Series Recap

2008-08-06T15:51:00.002-05:00

The Scores:
Milwaukee Brewers 3 Cincinnati Reds 6
Milwaukee Brewers 8 Cincinnati Reds 1
Milwaukee Brewers 6 Cincinnati Reds 3

MVPs of the Series:
Corey Hart: 6/11; 2B, 3B, SB, 2 Rs, 4 RBIs
Jay Bruce: 4/10; 2 HRs, 2B, BB, 3 Rs, 5 RBIs

Corey Hart busted out of his slump to lead the bottom of the lineup out of mediocrity, at least for two games, and did it in almost every way possible. From sliding catches to a ton of bullets right up the chute and to the left center gap. That was probably the most interesting thing about Corey's week is that he didn't have a single one of those lean out over the plate fliners that lands short in right. Instead, Rickie Weeks took that opportunity and went opposite field for three of his four hits today.

In the home dugout, Jay Bruce has quietly continue to produce as a rookie. Adam Dunn did little to nothing, which was a surprise, but even if he did, Bruce easily would have outshined him. He did it in every way, just as Corey did, except he was able to show off an absolute cannon, resulting in two outfield assists this afternoon and holding runners at bay when turning bases. On top of that, Bruce handled the bat magnificently, going dead center for a game-tying two run shot in this afternoon's game and fighting off a Brewers rally in the sixth inning on Monday with another two run bomb to help the Reds pull away. To say the least, Brewers fans cannot be happy they'll be seeing him for at least four more seasons in a Cincy uniform.

What was the Difference?:
Nothing sticks out heavily in this series, except for the offense. The Brewers racked up a ton of hits, but the Reds only managed 17 hits in the three games, and won the first game of the series despite only throwing up four hits. The Brewers, on the other hand, batted a solid .312 (34/109) in the series. That'll do against the Reds, but you can't expect that to happen all the time, especially when facing good pitching. It's amazing what a good offense can do for the Brewers' starters.

Causes for Concern:
Inconsistency continues to plague the Brewers in ways unimaginable. Their approach is inconsistent, their defense is inconsistent and worst of all, their confidence is inconsistent. It just seems that the Brewers have very little ability to start from scratch, but when they get a little wave of momentum going, they can ride it into a huge stretch and look like a playoff team. This leads to ridiculous swings in their game and in their record. Other than that, I have a few concerns about Manny struggling down the stretch. Jim over at Bernie's Crew and I disagree over the fatigue of Manny down the stretch. He believes that because Manny's age, the risk of fatigue isn't all the big, but I disagree. Manny pitched 139 innings in 2003, but only reached 132 last season after coming off the DL from an elbow injury. Manny's command has been rough around the edges all season, and was particularly frayed late in the pitch count on Monday. I'm not terribly worried yet, but want to monitor it closely. If he's really struggling, give DiFelice a spot start in September to catch him a breather if needed.

As for the Reds, defense is always a big concern. The only two guys I trust out there are Brandon Phillips and Jay Bruce (okay, maybe Joey Votto). The biggest problem is definitely the left side of the infield, though I don't know a whole lot about Jolbert Cabrera. Other than that, there's a big problem in the bottom half of the order with Corey Patterson, Edwin Encarnacion and David Ross in the lineup. It's like a black hole that the power of the top half just can't make up for. It sounds a lot like the Brewers to be honest, but the Brewers make up a bit with pitching and a solid bullpen.

Causes for Excitement:
First of all, little things always go unnoticed, so I'm going to throw a few things out there that are worth keeping an eye on or just plain great for this team. Bullpen: 6 IP 0 ER, including two good looking performances from Eric Gagne and a much improved sinker by Salomon Torres, who has looked shaky since the break. Rickie Weeks went opposite field three times this afternoon and was rewarded all three times. God, imagine what this kid could do if he used the whole field. That will improve his BABIP immensely. Jason Kendall and Mike Cameron both had significantly better weeks considering their struggles, but you have to remember who was pitching. If they repeat these performances on the upcoming west coast road trip, excitement will be bellowing through me. And finally, Dave Bush had a solid performance on Tuesday, despite being on the road. Guess how. No home runs. Bush has given up 20 this year and in his last four victories, has given up not a one big ball. It's amazing how the numbers make sense doesn't it?

Yes, the Reds' manager is Dusty Baker, and somehow Corey Patterson still has a regular playing gig, but you have to be pleased with the direction the Reds are headed. There's a solid base there that oddly resembles the preamble the Brewers brought along four or five years ago. Joey Votto, Jay Bruce and Edinson Volquez offer hope to an organization that has had trouble obtaining success in recent years. But with a few prospects floating over via the trade of Ken Griffey Jr. and possibly one or two more in the likely trade of Adam Dunn, there's at least some light at the end of the tunnel. Jay Bruce looked phenomenal this weekend and Joey Votto is just solid over at first. Whether or not he offers up enough offense for his position remains to be seen, but at this point, I would be pleased with what he's offered in his first full time playing gig. Look for the Reds to keep gaining momentum from year to year, especially if they can grab some pitching on the way.

8/6 Brewers Reds Game Two Recap

2008-08-05T23:17:00.002-05:00

The Score:
Brewers 8 Reds 1

MVPs of the Game:
Dave Bush: 7 IP, 3 H, ER, 2 BB, 7 K (W)
Edwin Encarnacion: 1/4; RBI, quality defense

Game Recap:
One game after 'the fight', the Brewers bounced back and took advantage of the plentiful mistakes of rookie Edinson Volquez. The Brewers tagged Volquez with five runs in five innings of work, while striking out only two. A low K rate usually means trouble for a power pitcher like Volquez. But don't be fooled, Dave Bush bounced back a bit from his rough return after the ASB to toss a solid game, riding the wave of offense to his sixth victory of the year.

The Brewers looked flat during the first two batters of the game. Durham popped out on the first pitch and JJ Hardy flailed his way into a groundout to third. But the big producers of the team showed up in a big way. Ryan Braun doubled to the gap and Prince Fielder was unintentionally, intentionally walked to bring up the struggling Corey Hart. Hart jumped from that slump with a 2-RBI triple, starting the Brewers in the right direction.

Dave Bush did his best to make things interesting though, at least in the first inning. Jeff Keppinger led off the game with a solid single up the middle and was followed by Joey Votto, who walked on five pitches, none of which even challenged the young man. Bush settled in though, getting Jay Bruce to pop out and Brandon Phillips to ground into a fielder's choice that should have been a double play that JJ slightly bobbled. After hitting Adam Dunn with a pitch to load the bases, Edwin Encarnacion smoked a ball down the line, that I thought was going to score three runs for sure. But Craig Counsell some how ranged over and stopped the ball on the foul line about eight feet beyond third base. Counsell's throw was off target, and the run scored, but he saved at least one run, maybe two in the process as Corey Patterson flew out to end the big time threat.

Both pitchers found the groove after that, each plowing through the second and third innings unscathed. Bush was placing his pitches well and Volquez was taking advantage of an inconsistent strike zone, forcing the Brewers to swing at borderline pitches. But in the fourth inning, Volquez stopped hitting the corners and started making mistakes. He left a changeup over the plate on an 0-2 pitch to Corey, which he smoked into center for a double. After advancing to third on a ground out by Cousnell, Mike Cameron pushed Hart across with a single to left. After stealing second, Cameron would get pushed across on Jason Kendall's hardest and furthest hit of the season. No, it didn't make it over the fence, but it did hit it and Brewers took a 4-1 lead.

The Brewers would manufacture another run in the fifth as JJ Hardy and Ryan Braun led off the inning with singles. Hardy would advance to third on a fly ball to left center and would score on a sac fly by Corey Hart. It's amazing what situational hitting and not strikeouts do can do for a team. This fifth and final run, sent Volquez packing when the inning was finished after tossing 96 pitches in just five innings of work.

Dave Bush, on the other hand, was efficient, which was a change of pace after his last outing. Bush avoided the long ball in this one and only walked two batters, and was really only challenged in his first and final innings. Bush looked poised to give up the big inning in both instances, but was saved by defense in the first and a ground rule double combined with solid pitching the seventh.

Prince Fielder put the exclamation point on the game with a two run blast in the top half of that inning after getting a little chin music the two pitches before. Who was the first man to congratulate him in the dug out? None other than Manny Parra. To be honest, Manny looked like he was just doing it for the sake of the team. No smile, no excitement, just a little fiver. Prince gave him that five and gave him a little tap on the cheek, as the Brewers patted themselves on the back after splitting the first two games of the series.

Game Changing Play:
The Craig Counsell stop really stands out in my mind, but momentum really didn't shift then, it simply stalled it for both teams. As a result, I'm going to go with Mike Cameron's RBI single, stolen base and Kendall's double as a sequence that really changed the complexion of the game. These guys have floundered immensely considering their 'veteran' status. Veteran's are expected to produce and these guys just haven't, but tonight their contributions, specifically in the fourth inning, pushed the confidence meter back to the green.

Note:
- It's interesting to note that Ray Durham was pretty rough at the plate tonight. He popped out twice, once on the first pitch and once after only three pitches. He then singled on a quality AB in the third and flew out in the seventh on a ball right down the middle after only four pitches. Yet, the media and those over at the JS blog, think Rickie is awful for having these nights. The guy made it past the four pitch mark once and was rewarded for it. Otherwise he never hit the ball hard. But he gets some slack because he's not Rickie Weeks. Frustrating. And I'm done beating a dead horse, at least for tonight.

Who's on Tap?:
The Brewers and Reds square off in a morning rubber match tomorrow, pitting Mr. August Jeff Suppan against former top prospect Homer Bailey. It should be interesting considering Suppan's struggles with the Reds and their long balls and Homer Bailey's inconsistent approach on the mound. Thankfully the Brewers have seen him once before this season, so they shouldn't be completely embarrassed at the plate.

Thank You

2008-08-05T11:02:00.002-05:00

I received a couple of e-mails today from people who read the blog, and don't really comment. A lot of the time I feel like my work goes unnoticed, which it probably does, but when I do get feedback and any kind of response, it really motivates me to work harder on my writing and research skills.

Over the course of the season, I've gained a bigger audience, mostly because of the links Jim Breen sends my way over at Bernie's Crew. And I just want to say thank you to all of the readers out there who enjoy reading my stuff and take time out to listen to me babble on. In the words of the most overpaid AAA-Nashville ball player and his salad tong DLing buddy, 'Preesh!'.

8/5 Brewers Reds Game One Recap

2008-08-05T01:44:00.003-05:00

So perhaps my new schedule offers me a new breath of fresh air as far as recaps, analysis and previews go. My new workout schedule allows me to ride an exercise bike, read and type simultaneously. Before I know it, I'm going to turn into that super exercise freak. Anyways, let us recap Monday evening's game because things went awry.

The Score:
Brewers 3 Reds 6

MVPs of the Game:
Ryan Braun: 2/4; HR, 2B, 2 Rs, RBI, BB
Jay Bruce: 1/2; HR, 2 Rs, 2 RBIs, BB

Game Recap:
It all started out as a pitcher's duel, but things changed swiftly and turned into a blow out that may spell the end of a Brewers season or spark the beginning of a new one. Both Bronson Arroyo and Manny Parra pitched gems until the fifth inning. However, Arroyo was able to pitch out of one and hit his way out of the other. In the end, a bout ensued in the Brewers dugout, pitting the Brewers first baseman against it's starting pitcher. You can only imagine what 100lbs can do to a lanky pitcher.

Arroyo and Parra put on a show, Arroyo looking like the 'ace' of old and Parra taking advantage of a free swinging lineup. Things looked favorable for the Crew, as they always seemed to be threatening, but they couldn't offer up productive outs when they mattered. And then the fifth inning came and the pressure left Manny bound and broken. The first thing to go was the command. After striking out Adam Dunn, Parra gave up a single to AAA-fresh Jolbert Cabrera and walked Jay Bruce on four straight pitches that weren't even close to the zone. Five pitches later, he repeated the business to David Ross, who is batting .228 this season. After getting down in the count to the pitcher, Manny battled back before pushing a 2-2 fastball right down the middle, which Arroyo promptly sent to the left field corner, scoring two runs. After getting Keppinger to ground out, Joey Votto tossed in a 2-out 2-RBI single to make the game 4-0.

The Brewers responded in the top of the 6th with two walks and an RBI single from Corey Hart, but a two run bomb by rookie Jay Bruce in the bottom half extended the lead to five. Then things got messy. Parra and Fielder were walking side by side in the dugout when Fielder absolutely lost it and shoved Parra into the bench. He then continued the onslaught by taking both of his hands and shoving Parra's head back into the wall yet again. What was said, and how it came about is still pretty much unknown.

Reports say the fight ensued as a result of Manny wanting to go to the clubhouse to watch the rest of the game and Prince taking offense. But I have a feeling more was brought about. The poor defense and meager offense has to have had an effect on the Brewers staff. There's no doubt, Manny and Ben's records should be considerably better considering what they've done. But the defense and lack of offense have really made them look average if not, in Manny's case, a little below average. Manny's point at the field clearly indicates that more was implied.

But that didn't stop the game from continuing as the Brewers pushed two more runs across in hope of yet another come back victory. But with two on and one out in the ninth, JJ Hardy and Ryan Braun displayed the Brewers biggest weakness yet again... the inability to recognize a pitch. Hardy was called out on strikes and Braun flailed at four pitches, fouling off two potential balls in the process before finishing the game with an emphatic swinging strike three at the ankles.

Game Changing Play:
After Parra walked back to back batters and started Bronson Arroyo out with a 2-0 count, he battled back to 2-2. But instead of throwing his out pitch, he tossed a straight fastball instead of the splitter, which the PITCHER, Bronson Arroyo smoked down the left field line to score two. Parra managed to get the next batter to ground out, but the confidence was shot from the pitcher's double and Parra tossed up another meatball turning a 0-0 game into a 0-4 game and a meltdown of the Crew.

What's on Tap?:
The Brewers move on, despite a legitimate fight in the dug out, and take on Edinson Volquez, who has shown that he is more than capable to destroy the Brewers "powerful" offense, which basically means, no bombs = no runs. Dave Bush takes on the young righty and has about two weeks to show he deserves the job. Otherwise, he'll lose his job to Seth McClung and Yost will ruin both of their routines for a fourth time this year.

Look for the Brewers to come out angry and focused or a complete mess tomorrow. There won't be an in between. Fights like the Parra Fielder debauchery don't happen often, and happen even fewer times in Milwaukee. The Brewers don't win enough games for the players to care on most occasions. But things have obviously changed since 2002. Spark plug or kiss of death? These players offer the answer.

Brewers Reds Series Preview

2008-08-03T22:36:00.004-05:00

The Series:
Milwaukee Brewers (62-50) @ Cincinnati Reds (51-61)

Who's on Tap?:
August 4th: Manny Parra (9-4, 3.93 ERA) vs. Bronson Arroyo (9-8, 5.74 ERA)
August 5th: Dave Bush (5-9, 4.69 ERA) vs. Edinson Volquez (13-4, 2.71 ERA)
August 6th: Jeff Suppan (6-7, 4.75 ERA) vs. Homer Bailey (0-5, 7.55 ERA)

Who Should You Watch?:
The Brewers come off a relatively successful series against the Braves and head to Great American Ballpark, where they are 2-1 this season. They make their last trip there in September. One Brewer that will enjoy his time there is Prince Fielder. At GAB, Prince is hitting a stellar .329/.398/.570. Considering his current hot streak, Prince should enjoy his time in the spacious gaps. JJ Hardy has also had some success again the Reds with 10 HRs in 34 starts. Unfortunately for the Brewers, Corey Hart and Ryan Braun have struggled mightily against Reds hurlers, so these Prince and JJ may have to really overachieve to get some runs. On the mound, keep your on Dave Bush, who has been back to his old tricks since the break, that is walking batters and giving up bombs. Bush is making his first 'non-platoon' start after giving up 10 earnies in his last 12.1 innings.

In the home dugout, the Reds roll out a Griffeyless lineup, which may actually be better for them in the long run, though they have to send out Corey Patterson more often than usual. On the plus side of things, Jerry Hairston Jr. is back off the DL and can spare Reds' fans of Dusty Baker's favorite player. As far as people you should keep an eye on, the obvious one is Adam Dunn, who has been a Brewer killer since he entered the league. Dunn is a .276/.425/.583 hitter when he gets in the box against Milwaukee and absolutely destroys Jeff Suppan (.500/.657/.875). On the mound, the Brewers dodge Aaron Harang again, since he's still on the DL, but are forced to take on the only player who is challenging Geovany Soto for ROY, Edinson Volquez. In his only start against Milwaukee, Volquez went seven strong, giving up only one earned run while striking out ten. That will probably play out in a similar fashion on Tuesday.

Keys to Victory:
The Brewers should have little trouble taking two games from the Reds with Arroyo and Bailey on the mound, but they can't just expect the wins to come. They'll have to do exactly what they did on Friday to Chuck James. In just 2.2 innings of work, James gave up four walks. That's usually not the Brewers game, I know, but Reds pitchers walk A LOT of batters. Arroyo's propensity to give up the long ball is his problem, but Volquez has walked 62 batters in 133 innings and Bailey 14 in 31 IP. The Brewers failed to do this in the last series, losing two of three at Miller Park. They did walk three times each game, but it was always secluded to one specific player. Come on guys, learn something from that Cubs series.

The Reds, need to rare back and hit the ball out of the park. Other than Manny Parra, the Brewers pitching staff gives up the long ball all too often. The biggest culprit is Dave Bush, who has given up 20 long shots in his 119 innings of work. Patience will help in this endeavor, but the Reds have big time power and will have to use it to their advantage when given the opportunity. Short porches in left and right won't hurt that one bit (325 ft in right and 328 in left).

Predictions and Notes:
- It's hard to imagine the Brewers losing on Monday or Wednesday considering the success the Brewers have had against Arroyo and the flat out disappointment of Homer Bailey. Tuesday will be a tough one though. Volquez has only had two rough starts all season (after looking at his numbers, I'm not sure if his ROY eligible), and I don't expect the third to show up in this series, though a full season of pitching may be finally getting to him. I think the Brewers' offense shows up big time tomorrow, despite Arroyo's recent success. Tuesday will be that game where every one on the offensive end struggles and every one on their team catches the breaks. Bush will probably pitch pretty reasonable, but he'll get the Ben Sheets treatment. And Wednesday is that good ole toss up game. I can't imagine Homer Bailey succeeding yet again against the Brewers, so I'll say a 6-4 win on the shoulders of a couple of homeruns.

- Look for Adam Dunn to not play against Parra as Baker has been going out of his way to pull him against lefties. Though that may change as they try to move him in a waiver trade. Dunn is soaking up some serious cash for a team that's in last place in the Central.

- Another guy to look out for this week is Joey Votto. Votto has finally gotten the playing time he's deserved and has often gone overlooked with guys like Dunn, Phillips and Jay Bruce on the team. Votto has stuck around the .275ish mark all season and is a picture of consistency, though his power is down somewhat.

- With all of the up roar about Rickie Weeks in the last two weeks, mostly because of Tom Haudricourt and the riotous uninformed fans, who don't know about Rickie's recent success, it should be noted he will get two starts this week with Arroyo and Home Bailey. If this doesn't happen, there's going to be some chemistry problems brewing the club house. Rickie is Prince's right hand man and if Rickie has problems, they really could be cancerous.

Brewers Braves Series Recap

2008-08-03T21:47:00.002-05:00

The Scores:
Milwaukee Brewers 9 Atlanta Braves 0
Milwaukee Brewers 4 Atlanta Braves 2
Milwaukee Brewers 0 Atlanta Braves 5

MVPs of the Series:
Prince Fielder: 4/12; 3 HRs, 4 RBIs, 3 Rs
Jorge Campillo: 7 IP, 6 H, 6 K (W)

Prince Fielder has found his power stroke once again, and it comes in looking like that easy swing that I'm so used to checking out. It's really fun to watch Prince swing out of his shoes because of the power her conjure up with that big frame of his. But the fact of the matter is that those swings don't often make contact. This weekend's three homeruns were things of beauty. Simple, balanced and compact swings that sent the ball far far away. If Prince can stick to this type of swing, he may in fact get to that 40 HR plateau that I predicted this offseason.

Nobody was really impressive this weekend as far as the offense goes, so I'm going to go to the man who single handedly put the Brewers biggest weakness on display and gave the Braves their only victory in the series. The media has completely disregarded Campillo this season because of his soft 6-4 record, but let's be honest here. A 2.58 ERA in 108 IP is not something to be scoffed at. He's only started 15 games this year, which doesn't help his record any, and hasn't received nearly the amount of support most solid pitchers get. Nevertheless, his stuff is deceiving as hell and his propensity to throw strikes has gotten him the benefit of the doubt on a lot of pitches.

What was the Difference?:
The offense, more specifically the long ball. The Braves launched a total of zero homeruns this weekend, while the Brewers threw up four long balls, resulting in six runs, which was enough to win both Friday and Saturday. The lack of a long ball on Sunday and a game where manufacturing runs was a necessity, the Braves destroyed the Brewers. Go figure.

Causes for Concern:
It's hard to really be concerned about the Braves right now. They've given up on the season and for very good reason. Chipper Jones, Tom Glavine, John Smoltz and Tim Hudson are all on the DL. Toss in the trade of Mark Texeira before the deadline and the injury of Brian McCann, and the Braves have nothing to offer on the mound or at the plate. That's a concern in itself, but the real concern lies in the bullpen. The Braves are going to have a hard time next season unless they find a way to solidify that relief corps. The only reasonable guys in there are Will Ohman and Mike Gonzalez. But Ohman is out next season, leaving guys like Buddy Carlyle and Jeff Bennett to pick up the slack. Gag.

Sometimes it's just ridiculous to listen to Ned Yost from day to day. I'm not going to go after Yost here, maybe another post, but Yost basically states bluntly what's wrong with his team and then defends them. This weekend during the game on Fox, Yost promptly defended his team as a homerun team and says that, 'You can't teach power,'. And he's right, you can't. But does any one remember the Cubs series when he stated that this team just wasn't able to manufacture runs? Yost, WE KNOW! We've been saying it all season. No walks and zero situational hitting makes the Brewers a very inconsistent squad. When a guy like Campillo, who gives up very few dingers, toes the rubber, you have to make an adjustment. Either move up on the plate or sit dead on a changeup or curveball. The Brewers had plenty of opportunities to the narrow the margin on Sunday, but struck out every time a runner was on third base.

Causes for Excitement:
Obviously Jorge Campillo has to make the Braves happy campers, but I'm going to say the biggest surprise of the year for me is Gregor Blanco. In his first full season and only appearance in the big leagues this year, Blanco is hitting a solid .266/.370/.328. Obviously the slugging leaves a lot to be desired, but Blanco is clearly the lead off hitter of this team for a few years. He offers a ton of intangibles and will slowly improve on his base stealing abilities. Other than that, the Braves are in rough shape with all of their stars on the DL.

There was something very promising about Suppan's start on Friday. Twelve ground ball outs, and seven shutout innings makes you wonder if second half Soup is on yet again. I didn't get to watch a lot of the game, and I know the Braves' offense is running half empty, but the bite to Jeff's pitches was back and his command was pretty solid, with the exception of the fourth inning. Other than that, Prince Fielder is offering up another show. We knew that at some point he was start going on a tear. Fans couldn't wait though and have been going for his throat all season. I know I've said trade him in the off season, but not because of his play. More because he's a big contract next season and a liability at first base. But Prince has been solid all season and leads the team, as he has all season, in OBP and may single handedly will this team to a few more victories like he did on Saturday.

Tom Haudricourt Takes Personal Vendettas Too Far

2008-08-02T21:37:00.005-05:00

In the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel today you will see a 'MLB Beat' article which basically goes after the heads of second baseman Rickie Weeks and center fielder Mike Cameron, saying that their bats have been awful and they don't deserve their job. Tom Haurdricourt has been after these two guys for about two weeks now and is trying to force the hand of Ned Yost to basically get rid of both of them and let the subs come in and do some damage.

But that's bull shit. Why now Tom? Rickie has been struggling all season, but has been a constant OBP guy as far as this team is concerned. Let's look at the regulars on this team and see where Rickie matches up as far as OBP goes...

Prince Fielder .374
JJ Hardy .344
Ryan Braun .338
Rickie Weeks .332
Jason Kendall .330
Corey Hart .319
Mike Cameron .316
3B Platoon .305

And he goes after Rickie?! What the hell is wrong with this guy. First off all, Braun's OBP is pretty much all average. Kendall is actually slugging lower than his OBP and Corey Hart has Braun syndrome this year with an IsoP of a disgusting 39. But that's not what Tom sees. He sees Rickie make two bad plays on defense and nit picks on every single little blunder. He then thinks that he has enough pull to talk to Yost on behalf of the fans as if the fans deserve the change despite it not being warranted.

Don't get me wrong here though, I'm not a total idiot. Ray Durham's .378 OBP makes me a very happy man, and I think he should get some playing time down the road, but ONLY against tough righties. Durham does not bring speed to the base paths any more, and since this team is purely a homerun team, he's unlikely to advance to scoring position when reaching on a single or walk. This is a real problem because of the team's .254 average and .324 OBP. Rickie, on the other hand, often gives us the best opportunity to score runs as his 68 runs on 136 appearances on the base paths indicates. If you're wondering about Ray Durham this year he's at in 47 in 122 appearances. Mind you he was on the Giants for most of that time. Rickie's 16 SBs and heads up running often moves him into positions Durham is no longer capable of doing (I saw him tag from first a couple times this year. How about turning singles into doubles against the Astros?)

You play Durham against tough righties who rely on the soft stuff and that's it. So that basically gives Durham 2-3 games a week and Rickie 3-4, which I'm okay with. But don't go after a 26 year old kid, who, in terms of this team, isn't under achieving as much as people think.

My problem with Tom is that when he writes articles, he never offers up any argument to the other side. For instance, Yost called Rickie a 'late bloomer' this week referring to Rickie's second half tear. Tom simply shrugs it off and doesn't even offer up the numbers. Well here's Rickie's second half stats from last season...

58 G .251/.422/.481 with 11 HR, 17 RBI, 16 SB, 0 CS and 48 R

Guess what guys, There's 51 games left. In Rickie's last seven complete games he is hitting:

.333/.406/.556 with 3 RBI, 4 R, 1 SB and 1 CS

Why would Tom ever write that in his column? It's one thing to go after a guy, it's another when you fail to offer up all the facts. Tom tells the public in print only what he thinks and not what's actually going on. Please refer to the Angel Salome suspension in which Tom printed he took steroids, when in fact it was ADD medication that had a banned stimulant in it. Tom never retracted the article or the statement.

I should be back this week if you were all looking for me. I needed a break after going to four games in that horrendous homestand. I believe more in silence than going after the throat of a team that really didn't play a single game of solid baseball for my 100 bucks worth of ticket sales.

Brewers Astros Series Preview

2008-07-25T11:06:00.003-05:00

The Series:
Houston Astros (46-55) @ Milwaukee Brewers (59-43)

Who's on Tap?:
July 25th: Wandy Rodriguez (5-3, 3.31 ERA) vs. Manny Parra (9-2, 3.68 ERA)
July 26th: Brandon Backe (6-10, 4.79 ERA) vs. Dave Bush (5-8, 4.39 ERA)
July 27th: Randy Wolf (6-10, 4.74 ERA) vs. Jeff Suppan (5-6, 4.65 ERA)

Who Should You Watch?:
The Astros come in last place in the NL Central and a game and half back behind Pittsburgh on top of that, which makes you wonder why they even considered trading for Randy Wolf. Nevertheless, the Astros aren't a team that can simply be over-looked, considering they are 4-5 against Milwaukee this season, including a series sweep in May. Those three victories had a lot to do with one of the best hitters in the NL this year, Lance Berkman. Lance is hitting .400/.447/.829 against the Crew this season with three homeruns and 12 RBIs in just nine games. Thankfully the Brewers aren't throwing out Ben Sheets this weekend, who Lance just destroys, but Bush, Parra and Soup are going to have to contain the big fella to continue their streak. On the mound you should keep your eye on Wandy Rodriguez. Wandy has had a very interesting career where he shows flashes of brilliance and then just turns falls apart. That is to be expected from an inexperienced pitcher. But he has yet to fall apart this year, mostly because he has limited his walks, and is coming off a solid start against the Cubs going 6.2 and only giving up one run.

The Brewers are undoubtedly the hottest team in baseball right now, riding an undefeated road trip and the hot bats of Ryan Braun and JJ Hardy. And while you should watch those guys too, play close attention the wiry fellow, Corey Hart. Corey is a career .342/.395/.664 hitter against the Astros in 165 PAs, which is a pretty reasonable sample size. He's 6/15 against Brandon Backe with three doubles and a homerun and 8/17 against Wandy. Corey had a rough rough series against the Cardinals, but he should hop back on the wagon after some home cooking gets in his stomach. On the mound, keep your eyes on Dave Bush and the bullpen. No one is quite sure how Ned Yost is going to run the platoon situation as Seth McClung turns in his long reliever for the next three days or so. As for the bullpen, it's fresh and ready to go as Carlos Villanueva, Dave Riske and Brian Shouse are all fresher than ever. Villa has only tossed 12 pitches since the ASB, and is due for a couple of innings with the back end of the rotation taking its turn. Shouse has only seen an inning and two thirds of work since the ASB and will need some work to get sharp again, though seven of his eight pitches were strikes on Tuesday was enough to get through three Cardinal batters.

Keys to Victory:
If you've looked at the box scores for the Astros lately, you'll notice that they have absolutely no problems scoring runs in bunches. But sometimes they just can't put it together all at once. And recently they're pitching hasn't been anything to call home about either, as they've lost a number games 8-7 or 7-6. After some thought, it's going to come down to patience. It's hard to believe that when you have a guy with a .437 OBP like Lance Berkman, it doesn't somewhat rub off on the rest of the team. Houston's team OBP is .321, which is absolutely atrocious especially considering they're only slugging .404 in the right handed hitter friendly Minute Maid Park. Patience should garner them some extra base runners with Soup and Parra on the mound. That should get them to the bullpen sooner rather than later and give them the best chance to take this series.

The Astros don't strike out a lot, and are second to last in SOs in the NL, just one above the St. Louis Cardinals. This means the Brewers defense has to show up. No more indecision. If you're going to go for the ball, go for it damnit. If there is any series where the Brewers difficulties in the infield could haunt them, it's this one. Their confidence is so high right now, they may overlook the little things that got them to this point. The biggest culprits are Rickie, Prince and the pitcher. Yes Hall has struggled too, but the right side of the infield is covered in the soot of mental errors. Provided these guys play well and we get the usual play from the outfield, the Brewers should be just fine.

Predictions and Notes:
- It's never easy to say the Brewers will sweep because baseball is such a funny game, but it's hard to argue against Manny Parra tonight with the Astros rolling out a lefty. The Brewers are 22-9 against lefties this year, while the Astros are 14-15. Brandon Backe is just downright awful, even if the Brewers are trying out the platoon experiment this week. And then Suppan rolls out at Miller Park looking just as good as he did early in the season. If the Brewers do lose a game, though, it will be Sunday, as the Brewers have had a hard time with Wolf and the Astros have had significant success against Suppan.

- If you haven't noticed yet, the arrival of Rickie Weeks and Bill Hall has put the Brewers well over the top in the last week. Weeks is batting .348/.467/.609 since the break with five walks, eight RBIs and only three Ks. Hall is batting a measly .190/.292/.476 in his five game, has two huge homeruns and has walked three times. Not bad for two guys who were getting hunted by Brewers fans all over the internet. I'm proud to say that I've always stuck behind Weeks and his talents. He's a top notch second baseman if he puts his talents to use, and is a big reason for this run by the Crew. Hall, on the other hand, isn't out of my doghouse just yet. The strike out rate is still way up and the defense is a still a worry, but he's showing flashes of the guy we'll need down the stretch if Yost opts out of the third base platoon for the rest of the season.

Brewers Cardinals Series Recap

2008-07-25T09:43:00.002-05:00

The Scores:
Milwaukee Brewers 6 St. Louis Cardinals 3
Milwaukee Brewers 4 St. Louis Cardinals 3
Milwaukee Brewers 3 St. Louis Cardinals 0
Milwaukee Brewers 4 St. Louis Cardinals 3

MVPs of the Series:
JJ Hardy: 11/20; 2B, HR, 3 RBI, 4 Rs
Brewers Starting Pitching: 23 IP, 6 ER, 19 Ks, 8 BB (2.35 ERA)

I want to give something to the Cardinals, but nobody and I mean nobody had a really solid series. They never hit the 10 hit plateau and in games 3 and 4 they had three and five hits respectively. These guys don't need a pitcher to get over the hump, they need another bat. Guys like Miles, Izturis and Adam Kennedy will not produce at such a high level on consistent basis. The unfortunate thing for the Cardinals is their pitching is actually going pretty good right now. With the exception of a little blow up in the top of the tenth on Monday, the St. Louis pitching staff should be pretty pleased. But the bat have just been off since the returning from the break, as shown by the fact that the Cardinal offense only walked twice a game, which is not what they usually do.

As for the Brewers, it the MVP could have gone to any of three players, JJ Hardy, Ryan Braun or Rickie Weeks. Braun ended the series 9/19 with two bombs and three RBIs. Weeks got the offense going with a 6/13 appearance with two doubles and a big three run bomb in game one. But JJ gets the nod for the simple reason that without him the Brewers offense would have fallen down, way down. Hardy had a mutli-hit showing every game this series and knocked in a big tying run on Tuesday. As a result, JJ's average has jumped all of the way up to .300 even, which is befuddling considering .242 in the middle of June. If JJ keeps this up and continues to play a solid shortstop, he could see a contract extension sent his way before teams notice he's in the top tier of shortstops.

What was the Difference?:
The ability to finish. The Cards kept taking out their nails and hammer, but could never drive that nail into the coffin. The Brewers were fueled by three late inning homeruns, a solo shot in the top of the tenth in game one by Bill Hall, another shot by Hall in the top of the ninth to break a tie in game two and then a go-ahead two run blast by Ryan Braun yesterday to finish the sweep. So perhaps it was the long ball, but one thing is for certain, the Brewers have gained an immense amount of swagger and finished the road trip 7-0.

Causes for Concern:
The Cardinals are a good team. There's no doubt about it. But they need an extra bat, either off the bench or in the starting lineup. There's nothing threatening about Brendan Ryan, Joe Mather or Adam Kennedy coming out there. They're not bad players, but they're inconsistent ones and when they falter, the team has little chance to score a ton of runs. The holes are clearly second and short where Aaron Miles is reverting to the mean, Cesar Izturis is as bad as advertised and Adam Kennedy doesn't even put the fear into me. If the Cardinals want to continue their Cinderella Story, they'll need to clean up that big big hole. Though they did play some pretty solid defense this weekend.

Speaking of defense, if there's anything that can tear the Brewers down it's their lack of concentration in the field. There was only one error in this series, but a trend of infield hits is starting to really hurt these guys. It's just like a walk when Prince Fielder makes an indecisive play at first or Rickie Weeks bobbles a ball or the pitcher deflects balls that are routine plays. Teams like a Minnesota or Arizona will be able to pick on the Brewers forever with their speed. A bunt is almost always a hit if you have reasonable speed against the Brewers. They'll have to work on this a lot over the next weeks before some one really takes advantage of it.

Causes for Excitement:
If anything, the Cardinals can take the fact that their rotation is pretty darn good or maybe it's just their pitching coach. I harp on them a lot because you never put names like Wellenmeyer or Lohse in an above average group, but they've managed to really impress me this year, Lohse especially. The Cards signed this guy to a damn cheap free agent contract and are reaping the benefits of the stupidity of the rest of the league. On top of that, the Cardinals play a very very solid defense. There were a couple of blunders this weekend, but I can't count how many extra base hits and extra bases were taken away from Brewers hitters this week. From Miles making back to the ball catches, to Ludwick snagging bloops in no man's land, the Cardinals made this a more respectable series for a four game sweep.

Come on, what isn't there to be excited about? The starting pitching has been fantastic, the bullpen just as well and finally, FINALLY, the Brewers started taking walks. The Crew managed 12 walks in this series, and it could have been more, but Kyle Lohse was dealing strikes all over the place and I can't blame the Brewers for being forced to swing at tough pitches. Nevertheless, last night's seven walk performance loomed huge because it allowed Ryan Braun to get that extra AB at the end of the game. That's the one thing I often overlook when we talk about walks, which is it has the potential of turning your lineup around one more time. And who wouldn't want their three best hitters to get an extra AB in a close game? This team has the pedal to the floor, and if they can take at least two out of three this weekend against the Astros, they may find themselves tied for the Central lead at the start of the big four game home series against the Chicago Cubs.

Brewers 2009 Salaries

2008-07-24T10:05:00.003-05:00

Can we really afford to sign CC Sabathia to a long term deal? It's all the Milwaukee Sports Radio station can talk about. It's possible if you give away some of your talent. Here's the numbers:

This season:
Ben Sheets: 12.125 million
Eric Gagne: 10.000 million
Craig Counsell: 2.800 million
Guillermo Mota: 3.2 - 4.2 million
Mike Cameron: about 5 million after incentives

33.125 million relieved off the salary cap with 700k in buy outs on Cameron and Counsell if you decide not to pick up their options.

Salary increases next season:
Jason Kendall: 2008 4.25M to 2009 4.6M
Jeff Suppan: 8M to 12.5M
David Riske: 4M to 4.25M
Chris Capuano: 3.75M should not receive a raise
Salmon Torres: 3.2M to 3.75M if he doesn't retire
JJ Hardy: 2.65M to about $4.5M (second year of arbitration J Reyes made $4M this season)
Dave Bush: 2.55M to about $4M (second year of arb)
Brian Shouse: 2M to about 2.5M (May retire)
Rickie Weeks: 1.057M to about 2.3M (first year arb)
Gabe Kapler: 800k to FA (probably will go elsewhere)
Seth McClung: 750k to 1.2M (2nd year arb)
Ryan Braun: .455M + 2.3M to .745M (signing bonus)
Prince Fielder: .67M to 7M (Shot in the dark)
Russell Branyan: 300k to FA
Corey Hart: 444k to 2.4M (First year arb)
Carlos Villanueva: 413k to 500k (last year before arb)
Yovani Gallardo: 404k to about 450k
Mike Rivera: 395k to 450k (last year before arb)
Manny Parra: 392k to 500k (still one more year after before arb)
Turns out to be about 15 million in raises

So the salary of the team should drop about $15 million from it's opening day salary which started at $80M based on raises and free agency. And remember, the Brewers can buy out Suppan's contract after next season for $2M saving $10.5M after next season.

One thing to note is the Brewers potential revenue gained during a post season run. If two series were played here, you're looking at serious cash flow and Attanasio's 'losses' won't be losses any more. Here's the thing though, the Brewers farm AA-Huntsville team has more than it's fair share of major league ready stars. While I love this team's roster a trade of JJ Hardy or Prince Fielder is not out of the question. Fielder leaving would give the Brewers an additional 7M to work with and his spot could be filled by Brad Nelson or Mat Gamel as a stop gap. This would leave your rotation with Sabathia/Parra/Gallardo/XX. Let's be honest, we can find someone to fill those gaps.

Now you give CC a 4-6 year deal, but you try and leave open the opportunity to trade him in the last two years of his contract for savings sake. Parra and Gallardo will both make very little money for the next two seasons because of their service time. Jeremy Jeffress should be ready in 3-4 years which could potentially fill a CC hole, not to mention the return on Sabathia in the form of prospects. Gallardo should pan out to be an ace in the hole as well.

We worry about long term effects of investing some $100 million Sabathia as far as the salary goes, but Alcides Escobar, Michael Brantley, Cole Gillespie, Tony Gwynn Jr, Angel Salome, Mat Gamel, Jonathon Lucroy, Tim Dillard, Mitch Stetter, Mark DiFelice and Brad Nelson come cheap for four years if at any time the Brewers decide to send off a Corey Hart, Jason Kendall, or JJ Hardy. It's the problem of a small market team. But for the Brewers it's not as difficult as others because of how Jack has put together the system. Hart, Fielder, Hardy and Weeks will all bring in solid prospects and will replenish the system as we use it in the bigs.

The conclusion: It is possible to sign CC Sabathia for the big bucks, and it should be done if you feel he can continue to perform at an extremely high level. Johan Santana proves that it's possible and I think that CC's big frame actually will help him in the long run because most of his power derives from his legs and his mechanics are quite clean. It doesn't hurt that he relies on a cutter and changeup. What do you think Brewers' fans?

Brewers Cardinals Game Three Recap

2008-07-24T08:30:00.002-05:00

The Score:
Brewers 3 Cardinals 0

MVPs of the Game:
CC Sabathia: CG, 3 H, 2 BB, 7 K (W)
No one stands out for the Cards.

Game Recap:
CC Sabathia showed up in a beastly fashion yet again last night, tossing his third consecutive complete game, this one in the form of a shut out in only 106 pitches. The Cardinals looked flustered and overpowered at the plate, likely a domino effect from the previous two evenings combined with the overall nasty stuff of the big guy. While the Brewers offense struggled a bit, the top of the lineup performed more than enough to send CC to his fourth victory since 'the trade'. Weeks, Hardy and Braun combined for nine of the Brewers eleven hits including Hardy and Braun's solo homeruns.

Wednesday night's game looked like it was finally going to start with momentum in the Brewers favor as Rickie Weeks was able to lead off with a bloop double down the right field line. It should have been a triple, but veteran Caesar Izturis played the phantom ball game and pretended to catch the ball from the outfield. That loomed huge for me as the game progressed, but JJ could not advance him and Looper was able to work around it without any damage done.

And then the CC show started. After walking the lead off man, LaRussa decided to waste an out in the first inning using one of his best hitters against left handed pitching, Ryan Ludwick, to bunt him into scoring position. That was a big concession to CC and he took off, getting Pujols to ground out in front of the mound and Glaus to fly out to left. Fast forward to the sixth and Cardinals hadn't had a baserunner, amounting to 17 batters mowed down in a row. Back to back two-out singles made CC look human, but back to the beast he went, getting Pujols to fly out.

An inning earlier JJ blasted his 14th homerun of the year and in the top half of the inning, Rickie knocked in Mike Cameron on a sacrifice fly to make the game 2-0. And that's all Sabathia would need. CC walked the lead off man in the 7th, but got some defensive help after inducing a double play ball to JJ Hardy. He put the finishing touches on the Cardinals by getting Albert Pujols to flail at strike three in the ninth, losing his bat down the third base line. It was basically a metaphor for the whole game. You don't see Pujols get off balance very often. It appears the Cardinals are teetering on coming back down to Earth.

Game Changing Play:
There wasn't one particular game changing play as CC pretty much dominated from the very start. If something had to be chosen, I would say it was the JJ Hardy's homerun or CC getting Pujols to fly out in the sixth with two outs and two on.

Notes:
- What most excited me about yesterday's game was not CC Sabathia. It was the fact that Brewers had a lot of very solid at bats. It may not show up in the box score, but Looper was forced to throw over 100 pitches in just five innings of work and the Brewers only had two walks and seven hits over that time frame. The result was getting into that St. Louis bullpen which is so fragile. It's a sign of good things to come.

- As for CC, it's hard not to be pumped about the guy. The battery of he and Jason Kendall is something to behold. To have a guy come in and adapt so well with his mate at the plate is astounding. CC said that he only had to shake off three pitches in his time with the Brewers. Combine the veteran game calling of Kendall and the nasty stuff of CC, you might find Sabathia fighting for at least a glimpse of Cy Young contention. So far he's 4-0 with a 1.36 ERA in 33.0 innings of work.

- The Cardinals are in dire need of some offense. A very aggravated Tony LaRussa could be seen going off on reporters after Tuesday night's game because they had only scored six runs in the first two games. And he has every right to after the media for not paying attention. Yes their bullpen has struggled, but giving up around three or four runs a game is what's expected from most major league teams. If your offense can't muster more than that, your offense is terrible. I'm not sure how the return of Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright can solve that problem.

- With the win on Wednesday, the Brewers take a two game lead in the NL Wild Card, but remain a game behind Cubs who beat up on Micah Owings in a relief last night. Next week's four game series against the Cubs at Miller Park looms big. The Brewers will have the benefit of tossing their two aces to start the series, but Sheets will have to face Zambrano on Tuesday. Should be a great game.

What's on Tap?:
The Brewers go for the rare four game sweep this afternoon, as Ben Sheets toes the rubber against Todd Wellenmeyer. Wellenmeyer pounded the Brewers for six innings the last time he faced them, giving up two unearned runs. But he's fallen off quite a bit in recent weeks and is carrying a 7+ ERA in his last four games. Sheets has struggled some in his last couple of outings, but it's hard to go against him with the Brewers carrying this much momentum.

Brewers Cardinals Game Two Recap

2008-07-22T22:29:00.003-05:00

The Score:
Brewers 4 Cardinals 3

MVPs of the Game:
JJ Hardy: 2/4; 2B, RBI, R
Kyle Lohse: 8 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 7 K (ND)

Game Recap:
I'm a bit befuddled. The pitching matchup for this game was clearly in the Cardinals favor and it showed from the start as Lohse started off with four perfect innings of baseball, while Suppan gave up three quick runs. But LaRussa stuck with his right handed savior for one inning two long and the Brewers chalked up their second come from behind victory at new Busch Stadium following a Bill Hall go ahead solo home run in the top of the ninth inning.

The game started out extremely brutal for the Brewers, despite Rickie Weeks' loud out to lead off the game. The Cardinals led the game early with a one out bomb by Ryan Ludwick, who took a first pitch BP fastball deep to left-center field. Pujols took took the next pitch to the gap for a double and all I could think to myself was, "Oh man, they brought Suppan back far too early." I was looking right as Rick Ankiel's infield single scored Pujols from first after a terrible indecisive play by Prince Fielder to go after the ball and then block the line to first base for Rickie to throw out Ankiel. Suppan would get out of the jam 2-0 despite another base hit from Yadier Molina.

But then things settled down a bit, Lohse even needed time to settle down. Lohse benefited from a huge strike zone from home plate umpire Joe West. But don't think I'm making excuses. Lohse recognized what he was getting and took advantage of it... well. His two seamer had life and I thought for sure there was no way the Brewers were going to get to him inning after inning. Before you could blink, Lohse had gone through six innings of baseball and given up only a single to Prince Fielder on a groundball up the middle. And in that time, the Cardinals tacked on an insurance run from a walk and a double by Troy Glaus and Yadier Molina, respectively, giving the Cards a 3-0 lead going into the seventh.

JJ Hardy stopped the bleeding in the top of the seventh by proving someone could find a gap, and promptly doubled to lead off the inning. A swinging bunt single by Ryan Braun moved Hardy to third with no one out, bringing up Prince Fielder, who got ahead in the count and poked a ball to the opposite field for a run-scoring single. Fortunately for the Cardinals, Gabe Kapler was protecting Fielder. Kapler responded with two strikeouts on pitches out of the zone and a GIDP in the 7th inning to destroy the momentum... for that inning.

After Suppan was able to work around a Pujols single in the bottom half, the Brewers went right back to hitting. Jason Kendall hit a solid one out single to left center and came around to score on a yanked outside pitch double from Rickie Weeks. JJ Hardy then got him around on a ground ball single to left to the tie the game. And all of a sudden the momentum had swung all the way to the Brewers. Brian Shouse pitched an excellent eighth inning to get the Brewers to the ninth against the struggling Cardinals bullpen.

And struggled they did, well at least for one pitch. After Ron Villone got Prince to look at strike three right down the middle of the plate, Kyle McClellan got Gabe Kapler to ground out to short. But McClellan's 0-1 fastball looked oddly like Ryan Franklin's slider from Monday night and Bill Hall repeated his home run stroke, giving the Brewers the lead and the victory after Salomon Torres pitched a perfect ninth to give him his 18th save of the year.

Game Changing Play:
You want to say Bill Hall's homerun, but I'm going to say JJ Hardy's RBI single to the tie the game in the eighth. Tony LaRussa was trying to hard to avoid using his bullpen, and even though Lohse had a gem going with just over 100 pitches, he wasn't locating as well and his pitches were flattening out quite a bit. The Brewers took advantage, which they'll have to do every chance they get as this run continues.

What's on Tap?:
The Brewers are winners of six straight and continue their series against the Cardinals at Busch Stadium behind the arms of their two aces. CC Sabathia takes the mound for the Brewers after back to back complete games and will be taking on the Cardinals often overlooked, Braden Looper. Looper is 4-6 with a 4.76 ERA against the Brewers in 31 games and five starts, so he's had mixed success to say the least. He'll need to have some more success to prevent the Brewers from taking a two game lead in the Wild Card.

Rickie Weeks Numbers

2008-07-22T09:21:00.003-05:00

In case you were wondering why Ned Yost won't move Rickie from the leadoff spot, consider the numbers going back to the Colorado series. Not including yesterday's game where he got on three times, had three RBIs and two runs...

9 G .286/.405/.400 4 RBIs 5 BB 13 K 2 HBP 3 SB 11 R in 42 PA

Ahem. Everybody get off the guy's back. He has talent and is the one guy on this team that will undoubtedly put the Brewers over the top if he performs reasonably well. Ray Durham is not the solution, he's a band aid to motivate Weeks and give the Brewers some reasonable options off the bench. Dillon performed very well, but Yost stacks his lineups with all the lefties or all the righties, leaving the matchup game pretty easy to figure out. Durham saves that. Rickie Weeks has not been traded and will not be replaced because he has talent. What he needs to figure out is how to use it more consistently, as he has in the last ten games.

Side note: Brewers are 8-2 in their last ten. A victory tonight could mean big things, but with Jeff Suppan on the mound, I am a bit nervous.

Brewers Giants Series Recap

2008-07-21T08:08:00.002-05:00

It's getting tougher and tougher to keep this thing going as work gets busier and busier. However, I promise I will keep knocking out series previews, recaps and different types of analysis.

Scores Recap:
Milwaukee Brewers 9 San Francisco Giants 1
Milwaukee Brewers 8 San Francisco Giants 5
Milwaukee Brewers 7 San Francisco Giants 4

MVPs of the Series:
Ryan Braun: 6/13; 2 2Bs, 2 3Bs, HR, 5 RBIs, SB, BB, 3 Rs
Jose Castillo: 4/12; 2B, 2 Rs, 3 RBIs, SB

Ryan Braun did a whole lot of everything this weekend. He hit for power, he stole a base, he took a walk and even played a pretty good left field. The beautiful thing is he didn't do it alone. Prince Fielder pretty much matched Ryan with a 5/13 line, two HRs, 5 RBIs and two runs of his own. This is what Brewers fans like to see: their two big bats showing their ability to single handedly carry this team. However, their performances have been a little over-shadowed by the big three. That's right THREE. Manny Parra has actually outpitched Ben Sheets over the last month or so and you that's not very disputable. Nevertheless, the NL Central has a lot to be afraid of if both Braun and Fielder are on over the next few weeks.

The Giants were marred by the flu-bug this weekend, and it clearly showed, but you have to wonder how much of a difference it really made. Surprisingly, Jose Castillo was the only real bright spot for the Giants in this three game set, as Aaron Rowand and Randy Winn were pretty much kept silent. You would have fully expected someone like Matt Cain or Tim Lincecum to pick up the nod, but while both were impressive at times, they were a bit vulnerable. Castillo was easily the most productive, though, as he seemed to be the only Giant trying to keep them in the game.

What Was the Difference?:
Defense. Let's be honest here, neither team impressed with their leather, combining for nine errors. But San Francisco committed six of those errors and gave the Brewers far too many opportunities. These mishaps only led to one extra run, but also at least 15-20 extra pitches for Matt Cain and Tim Lincecum. Both of these guys were dealing, but were forced into far too many precarious positions as a result of some really awful misplays. In the end, the pitch count and number opportunities caught up to them. I'm not really sure why they pushed Lincecum so hard considering his health issues, but his last pitch put the game out of reach and gave the Brewers the sweep.

Causes for Concern:
The Giants are clearly out of it as far as the playoffs go, but you have to wonder if the team is playing like it. There were quite a few careless mistakes this weekend, and unfortunately they all came in front of some sell out crowds. First of all, props to the San Fran market for putting fans in the stands when your team is 18 games under .500. But shame on the Giants for not showing up, and for the most part embarrassing themselves in the field, especially with their three best pitchers on the mound. The biggest culprit, though, was Kellchi Yabu, who up until this series was pretty solid out of the pen. This time around he threw a wild pitch that scored two runs, hit two batters, walked one an gave up two runs of his own in just one third of an inning.

The Brewers blunders on the defensive end of things conjure up memories of a year ago. Until about two weeks ago, the defense had been somewhat of a strength of this squad, but the past ten games have been an adventure. It's a bit difficult to swallow because the starting pitching of this team has been going deep and saving this bullpen for the home stretch. We cannot afford to continue to give free outs and hurt the starters' chances of going deep. The fewer the innings for the bullpen, the less likely they'll be to blow up, and the more confidence they'll gain.

Causes for Excitement:
Despite their struggles this weekend, Matt Cain and Tim Lincecum are clearly the mainstays of this organization and they have not disappointed. Cain looked phenomenal, but errors and a mistake or two really hurt him in the long run. Lincecum's line isn't impressive, but he struck out eight in his six innings of work, which is pretty damn good. You may even be able to throw Jonathon Sanchez into that group, who has nasty stuff and was able to strike out just as many in 5.1 innings. If somehow the Giants could find some offense, they could be a force to be reckoned with.

When Doug Melvin made the big move to bring CC Sabathia to the Brewers, I'm sure he imagined this weekend was going to happen over and over and over again. With their three aces on the mound, the Brewers found themselves ahead to start every game, got spectacular performances from two of them, and saved the other with an offensive storm. This could be a preview of what teams will have to see in the playoffs.

Brewers Giants Series Preview

2008-07-18T09:11:00.002-05:00

The Series:
Milwaukee Brewers (52-43) @ San Francisco Giants (40-55)

Who's on Tap?:
July 18th: CC Sabathia (8-8, 3.67 ERA) vs. Matt Cain (5-7, 4.06 ERA)
July 19th: Ben Sheets (10-3, 2.85 ERA) vs. Jonathon Sanchez (8-5, 3.97 ERA)
July 20th: Manny Parra (8-2, 3.78 ERA) vs. Tim Lincecum (11-2, 2.57 ERA)

Who Should You Watch?:
If you didn't know already, the Giants aren't that good of team. As a result, guys like Matt Cain and Tim Lincecum get more than overlooked as absolute studs. Throw in Jonathon Sanchez, who is quietly becoming a pretty good number three, and the Giants seem to have a nice core in their starting rotation. At the plate, the Brewers need to keep an eye on Fred Lewis, the Giants speedy left handed lead off hitter. If there's something that the Brewers have trouble with, it's their ability to defend the bunt. With Sheets and Sabathia toeing the rubber in the first two games, we may see a healthy bit of bunts this series. The same can be said for Randy Winn.

The Brewers need to counter with some offense, and I suspect the break is going to help out the 'struggling' Prince Fielder. There are a lot of teams out there that would love to have a guy hitting .270/.350 with 18 home runs, but that just isn't enough for Prince. In four games at AT&T Park, Prince is .500/.529/.571. On top of that, he's hitting .284/.395/.418 against the Giants in 19 games. On the mound, keep your eye on Manny Parra. As the Brewers move into the second half, they're going to need Parra, Sabathia and Sheets to all be lights out and make up for any offensive blunders that may come their way down the stretch. Parra does carry a 3.38 ERA against Giants in his 10.2 innings of work. We'll see if he continue that success.

Keys to Victory:
There are far too many holes in the Giants lineup for any one to expect them to score a lot of runs against quality pitching, as shown by the fact that the Giants rank 14th in the NL in runs scored. With the Brewers walking in with their three top pitchers, the Giants are going to have to rely on their starting pitching to keep them in the game and knock out the Brewers starters early to go after the vulnerable bullpen. But if they get down early, they'll find themselves in a real tight spot.

The Brewers are going to have to do exactly what I just said SF has to try and avoid. They'll need to jump on the Giants' starters early. I'm not talking about scoring runs in bunches, but manufacturing a few runs to put the pressure on their offense. This puts the manager in a position to consider pulling their starter, and San Fran's bullpen can't be relied on for too many innings. Rickie Weeks will be important in this regard. He needs to get on and advance without wasting outs.

Predictions and Notes:
- It's a bit nerve wracking to see Matt Cain and Tim Lincecum face the Brewers to start the second half, considering they combined for 15 innings of two run baseball against the Cubs last week. Nevertheless, I have a good feeling the second half slump Brewers' fans are so accustomed to won't be there this season; not with Sabathia and Sheets in the rotation. Here's some wishful thinking, the Brewers win Friday and Sunday, but struggle against the hard throwing, rejuvenated Jonathon Sanchez.

- With all the BS talk about the HR Derby screwing up your swing, maybe it'll turn Ryan Braun into a patient hitter. Not likely, but it's always fun to see how All-Stars respond to playing in the middle of the week when others do not. Guys like Braun and Hamilton always deserve a little more attention as far as looking to see if anything changes in their game.

What is this team's strength?

2008-07-17T08:45:00.004-05:00

I'm really sick of reading that the Brewers are an offensive team. Let's be honest here, while the Brewers have a ton of power in nearly every spot in the lineup, that does not necessarily mean a lot of runs. This team's strength is pitching. Here's the numbers:

The Brewers rank:
22nd in Batting Average (.254 Leader Rangers .283) out of 30 teams in the Major Leagues
21st in OBP (.323 Leader Cubs .360)
7th in SLG (.436 Leader Rangers .461)
12th in Runs Scored (440 Leader Rangers 538 Cubs 507)

13th in ERA (4.09 Leader A's 3.39 WOW)
13th in SO (645 Leader Giants 741)
12th in BB (332 Leader Rangers 395)

So basically these guys hit for power and that's about it. No average, no OBP, leading to an average amount of runs. They've played 95 games this year meaning they score 4.6 runs per game. That's not exactly above or below the league average. Because of this team's slugging, it has the ability to score runs in bunches, but the runs scored stat indicates their inconsistency. Until inconsistency turns to consistency, I believe this team is a pitching team that has a lot of work to do on the offensive end. Pitchers aren't that scared of the Brewers ::insert Nelson Figueroa::

Brewers Report Cards: Fielders Edition

2008-07-14T21:08:00.005-05:00

Man, I rarely watch the Home Run Derby, but I wanted to see if Braun would show up. Instead Josh Hamilton did and put every one in his shadow. Absolutely ridiculous. On with today's report cards.

Prince Fielder:
Last Year: .284/.376/.620 29 HR 70 RBI 72 K 41 BB
This Year: .270/.357/.488 18 HR 52 RBI 71 K 44 BB

Prince has actually been more consistent this year than years past, but not with his power. As a result, his average has dropped a bit because balls that went out last year are staying in the ball park. That, unfortunately, has Prince more frustrated than he should be. I'm pleased with his production though, even if he has the ability to be considerably better at the plate. Why am I pleased? If you haven't watch Brewers baseball before, you'll know that not many Brewers take walks and that when Prince Fielder is hot, he hits in bunches and can singlehandedly win games for you. Prince has yet to really get hot, so we'll see if that means anything.

The biggest knock against Prince though is his shoddy defense. Despite going vegan and perhaps cutting a few pounds, Prince's range seems to have decrease. So has his ability to scoop balls in the dirt or field bunts to the right side. It suddenly has become a huge liability at first. Just ask Yovani Gallardo or Brian Shouse. Shouse was lucky enough to come out unscathed. Gallardo tore his ACL. Those things don't show up on the box score, but weigh heavy on my grade for him.

Grade: B-

Rickie Weeks:
Last Year: .221/.328/.392 5 HR 19 RBI 58 K 31 BB 9 SB
This Year: .217/.320/.367 8 HR 24 RBI 70 K 36 BB 13 SB

Rickie is having essentially the same year he had last year. Low average, low power low and low on base. Unfortunately for Rickie his K-rate is up a bit, but he managed to get a few more games in, 17 more than he got in last year before the All-Star Break. But Rickie has scored quite a few more runs (58) than he did last year (39) even with the difference in playing time. Even so, Rickie's offense leaves much to be desired, obviously. He ended up with a .374 OBP at the end of last season, so if he can manage to anything similarly, the middle of the order will be very grateful.

The biggest bright spot for Rickie this year has been his defense. A lot of people don't really agree with me on this one, but his range and arm are big pluses and he's utilized both this season. He has seven errors this season, which is a slight improvement from last season (.980 to a .976 FPct). There's still a lot of people going after Rickie's defense, but by the end of the year, they'll be pleasantly surprised by what he's done. With this improved skill, Rickie has the physical talents to be the best second baseman in the league. Whether or not he can utilize that talent is up to him, but if he doesn't get moving fast, you might see Alcides Escobar or JJ Hardy move to second very quickly.

Grade: C-

JJ Hardy:
Last Year: .280/.338/.495 18 HR 54 RBI 48 K 28 BB
This Year: .283/.352/.476 13 HR 40 RBI 48 K 33 BB

About three weeks ago JJ was hitting .242/.319/.343, but he he erupted all of a sudden after a few weeks of batting second in the lineup. And to be totally honest, I'm happier with his numbers this year than last year. The power is still there as is the average, but JJ is taking more walks and turning into a solid number two hitter. JJ struggled a bit a month into the season as a result of strained rotator cuff in his non throwing arm. That basically meant he was fine in the field and hurt at the plate, considering his left arm is his lead arm. But Ned Yost did an excellent job finding days here and there to get JJ out of the lineup, and at one point pulled him for a whole week.

JJ also has displayed a slick glove as well this year, leading most shortstops in FPct for most of the season. But he has had trouble in the field at times and his range, though not terrible, still leaves something to be desired. Even with these so-called 'down-sides' JJ and Hart have shown that they are more deserving of long-term contracts than a Prince Fielder because they are more capable of sustaining the defense for more years to come.

Grade: B+

Bill Hall:
Last Year: .271/.336/.448 9 HR 38 RBI 75 K 29 BB
This Year: .234/.294/.431 12 HR 39 RBI 74 K 20 BB

Billy has been a big disappointment this season to say the very least. His KRate is bit up while is BBRate is down. Most of these problems, however, revolve around right handed pitching where Billy is hitting a dismal .167/.223/.311 in 180 ABs. That's rough, but another move by the Brewers may have saved Billy from a completely miserable season as his numbers have climbed considerably as a right of only seeing left-handed pitching. As a result, the Brewers third base position may be one of the most productive in the league.

On the field Billy reverting back to third has been a bit of an adventure. He's carrying the second worst fielding percentage of any one in the league, and has made far too many ninth innings nail biters. What the problem is, is beyond me. Hall was never particularly sure-handed at any time during his career. He's always made the web gems and struggled with the routine plays, and today is no different making me think it's a mental thing, but I can't be sure. Nevertheless, every part of Billy's game needs to be improved, but if they manage to stick strictly to left-handed pitching, Hall will be serviceable the remainder of the season.

Grade: F

Russell Branyan:
Last Year: .206/.344/.449 7 HR 18 RBI 42 K 21 BB
This Year: .245/.331/.604 11 HR 19 RBI 37 K 14 BB

Branyan signed a minor league contract with the Brewers because his family lived in Nashville, but he absolutely raked down there and was brought up at the end of May. Surprisingly he's been very productive, though nobody expected it to continue for very long. Though that has been the case, Branyan provided just enough spark in the lineup to get the Brewers through a tough stretch and help out the guys around him. The big improvement from Branyan has been the change in his swing. He now sets up in a more ready situation and can keep his bat in the zone longer. With his strength, almost everything he hits in the air has the chance to go out and this year it has.

Russell has had some problems the past few weeks though. With a handful of lefties starting the for Arizona and Colorado, Branyan hasn't receive regular playing time and his swing looks out of sync. Not to mention his defense has floundered as well. How much longer he spends with the team is solely dependent upon his success at the plate If he somehow finds a way to get back his hot bat, he'll be around, but Brad Nelson may get his first call up if he falls apart.

Grade: C

Jason Kendall:
Last Year: .227/.263/.280 2 HR 21 RBI 26 K 12 BB
This Year: .258/.339/.333 1 HR 26 RBI 25 K 28 BB

Jason hasn't been that fun to watch at the plate this year. I'm more impressed that he has one homerun more than anything. But his OBP is healthy enough, healthier than Johnny Estrada's ever will be, and carried the Brewers for the first month of baseball. The important thing is that Jason has finally got back to taking walks. At one point in his career he was a .400 OBP guy, but those days are long gone.

Jason really isn't here to hit though. He's here to catch and run this pithing staff, which he's done magnificently. After every game Brewers starters win, their first words are Jason Kendall. It's the first time I've ever seen a guy have this much of an effect on a pitching staff. On top of this Jason has played 86 of the Brewers 95 games behind the plate. That is unheard of these days, especially from a 33 year old man. Apparently he has bionic knees. Did I mention he's been tossing guys out at a record pace as well? Something like 42%. It's been ridiculous. Jason's offensive production warrants him a below average grade, but the whole package earns him a...

Grade: B+ (Get that OBP up over .350 and it's an easy A)

Ryan Braun:
Last Year: .350/.391/.663 11 HR 32 RBI 37 K 11 BB
This Year: .286/.324/.549 23 HR 66 RBI 78 K 20 BB

At this point last year, Braun was only into his 40th game as a big leaguer, but somehow his walk rate has dropped quite a bit (11/179 vs 20/401). However, Braun's power has jumped considerably, his KRate has dropped some and his willingness to go up the middle has improved as well. All this and he's changed positions. Take that Bill Hall! It's considerably hard to improve upon what Braun did last year, and Braun has proven that. You can't bat .330 forever without making adjustments, and Braun hasn't made too many just yet. He still strikes out far too often on pitches off the plate and has taken his fair share of backwards K's. He'll need to make more and more adjustments as the season goes if he wants to earn his contract.

Braun's move to the outfield is proving to be the right one. It's clear that a considerable amount of improvement has been made there, but Braun's routes are off nearly every time. As a result he rarely puts himself in a throwing position coming out of the catch. Yes, he has six outfield assists, but there was room for at least three more if he carried some momentum into the ball. Corey Hart has this same problem. Another problem Braun has had is his 'aggressiveness,' perhaps 'selfishness' when these assist opportunities show up. We all know Braun has a cannon for an arm, but he never throws the ball to home in a way where it can be cut off. Though it's on led to a few baserunners advancing thus far, this needs to be remedied immediately because the run expectancy shoots up a ton when a runner is at third versus a player at second.

Grade: B+ (Borderline A-)

Mike Cameron:
Last Year: .262/.325/.446 11 HR 43 RBI 84 K 28 BB
This Year: .231/.320/.481 14 HR 35 RBI 71 K 28 BB

Cameron missed the first 25 games of the season this year because he was busted on a drug test last season for a banned stimulant. But that hasn't stopped him from having the highest KRate on the team. He'll be the leader in strikeouts within a month or so which is frustrating, but he does have eight more walks than Braun in 150 fewer plate appearances. But that's just my frustrations with Braun's high strikeout total and low OBP. Not that Cameron has been any better. Mike has been coming around though, batting .306/.432/.583 in June. It has pretty much gone unnoticed though because fans were too caught up in the Sabthia trade and the All-Star vote for Hart, Braun and Sheets.

In the field Cameron has been what he has been for years. He has top notch range and takes some of the best routes in baseball. I can't count how many extra base hits he's saved our pitching staff from. Yes, he's made a few mistakes, but those come with the territory of being a professional baseball player. For Brewers' fans it's like poker. You always remember the bad beats, but never the big wins, which Cameron has been this year in the field.

Grade: C

Corey Hart:
Last Year: .298/.368/.508 11 HR 33 RBI 46 K 23 BB
This Year: .289/.327/.504 15 HR 58 RBI 66 K 17 BB

Last year Corey wasn't given the starting job right off the bat. It was a bit frustrating as a fan at first because we knew Corey could hit, but because he wasn't proving it, Ned went to his veterans. That didn't last for long though as Corey exploded on to the seen. This season Hart has finally received the recognition he deserves earning him a spot on this year's All-Star Final Vote. Leave it to Brewers fans to be a little obsessed and get him in there. But they didn't do it just because he was from Milwaukee (well at least not all of them). A lot of them simply understood that Corey has been the only really consistent hitter in this lineup. He has never really slumped this year, unless you count a power deficiency to start the year a slump. While Corey's power numbers jumped this year in the homerun department, his walk numbers have dropped considerably, which is a cause for concern.

In the field, Hart brings pretty good range and reasonable routes to the ball, but he often finds his footwork a little off when he needs to get a throw off. There are far far too many times where he simply sits under the ball and waits for it instead of gathering some momentum and using his wiry frame to throw the ball in. On top of that he often hesitates and watches the runner before throwing. Corey was moved to the outfield only four years ago, so he obviously still has a lot to learn there, but this is an obvious problem that should have been worked on right away.

Grade: A-

Gabe Kapler:
Last Year: Was Coaching
This Year: .315/.352/.517 5 HR 27 RBI 23 K 8 BB

It was the Gabe Kapler and Jason Kendall show in April, and there's not a Brewer fan out there who expected it. While Kendall turned down the noise a little, Kapler has kept chugging along, stealing starts from Mike Cameron every now and then. This is easily the best comeback story of the year (OK second, Josh Hamilton), as Gabe has turned himself into the Brewers best bench player in quite some time. Kapler surprised a lot of people in the first half by hitting a ton of homeruns and coming up big in the clutch and in the pinch hitting role. This is just another pick up by Melvin that has gone under-rated because of guys like Mota and Gagne.

Grade: A

Craig Counsell:
Last Year: .239/.346/.330 2 HR 15 RBI 27 K 28 BB
This Year: .248/.348/.338 1 HR 9 RBI 21 K 19 BB

I still can't stand Counsell, but he's been very important this year for the Brewers with Hardy and Weeks being hurt this year. Craig was rocking a .220 average for much of the year and was hitting nearly every ball on the ground to the first baseman. But from June 11th to June 21st, Craig found himself on in nearly every game and saving the Brewers from a very rough start to the interleague homestand. In the end Cousell has been serviceable, but far from great. It's just unfortunate he doesn't have anything else to offer.

Grade: B-

Alright, I'm tapping. This thing is getting far too agonizing to continue to write with only Joe Dillon and Mike Rivera left. Both have fewer than 70 ABs (65 for Joe, 47 for Mike), so it's hard to offer any analysis, but both deserve A's in my book for their contribution off the bench. Mike only plays every seven days and is batting .319, while Joe is carrying a .359 OBP despite a .209 average. These guys have been big to say the very least and are important to the team.

That's it. Maybe I'll go over the coaches tomorrow, but I doubt it. I want an All-Star Break too! Cheers!

Brewers Report Cards: Pitchers Edition

2008-07-14T08:41:00.004-05:00

I didn't want to do this to be honest, but after listening to the radio this morning, and hearing every one say that Ryan Braun deserves an A for his contribution to the team and Prince Fielder deserves a C+, I've gotten a little riled up. But I don't want my emotions to get a hold of me, so after a bit of thought, I want to go over each individual player, show you what they did last year up tot his point, what they've done this year and then explain what they've improved or wavered on. But I have a to offer you all a bit of a disclaimer. I'm a notoriously tough grader. My standard and expectations are those of a top playoff caliber team, and if I think any one is pulling the team away from that goal, I'm going to go for the throat. On with the show.

We'll start with the rotation:

Ben Sheets:
Last Year: 87 IP 7-3 Record 3.31 ERA 61 Ks 19 BB
This Year: 123 IP 10-3 Record 2.85 ERA 108 Ks 28 BB

It's amazing what a contract year and a new catcher can do for you. Sheets has been phenomenal this year, tossing gem after gem. And interestingly, he's given a lot of that credit to Jason Kendall, who perhaps is the reason that Sheets K/Rate is back up to 0.87 K's per inning. This could be a selling point at the end of the year should the Brewers make a big pitch for the rightie. Last year Sheets didn't see himself on the DL to start the season either, though he did skip a couple of starts, which would account for the fewer innings pitched in the first half last season. But a lot of those starts only went six innings, while this year he is going through the seventh on a much more consistent basis.

A lot of the success he's having reall appears to be a result of comfort and health. If you remember, in years past, Sheets would often do that back bend before each pitch, even after he had surgery to repair the problem. Then there was the torn muscle in his upper back that altered his mechanics for much of the 2006 and 2007 seasons. But now, nothing seems to be holding Sheets back, and a healthy summer not dedicated to rehab, but strength seems to have paid off considerably, allowing him to exceed some expectations. Look for Sheets' ERA to climb just a bit, but the success will be there, as it always is when he pitches.

Grade: A

Jeff Suppan:
Last Year: 117 IP 8-8 Record 5.00 ERA 61 K 41 BB
This Year: 101.1 IP 5-6 Record 4.71 ERA 55 K 44 BB

Soup has had a rough year and is notoriously known for coming on strong in the second half. That really didn't appear to be the case this season and Soup carried a 3.93 ERA heading into June this year, but an injured elbow perhaps causes his downslide. Or perhaps its just his walks. Nevertheless, Jeff has done what the Brewers have needed and expected him to do. Stabilize the rotation with a .500 record and a carry a 4.50 ERA. Last year, Soup was doing exactly that and was probably the only successful pitcher the Brewers in August and September, where he lowered his ERA in nearly every outing.

I'm not really sure what this savvy vet will end up doing the rest of the season. I'm sure he'll get his innings in, but he's never had an elbow injury before. Even though it isn't a pitching related injury, it could do a lot to screw up Jeff's mechanics. Time will only tell on this one. Nevertheless, the Brewers will need Jeff to be a solid contributer in the second half.

Grade: B-

Manny Parra:
Last Year: Minors, 106.2 IP 10-4 Record 2.45 ER 106 K 33 BB
This Year: 100 IP 8-2 Record 3.78 ERA 78 K 50 BB

Last years numbers are pretty close to the All-Star break. I don't have a game log so I can't be totally accurate here, but his late July call-up tells me those numbers are pretty close to what he did in 13 starts for Huntsville and just four for Nashville. As for this year Manny has been inconsistent for much of the year, at least as far as command goes. The success hasn't been all that inconsistent though, especially recently. Since really struggling in Washington at the end of May, Manny has turned the corner significantly as far as limiting the long balls and working around his walks. At this point in the season, he is the sole reason the Brewers haven't been terribly hurt by the loss of Yovani Gallardo. The walk numbers are extremely scary though, and you have to ask your self how much longer he can get away with walking 4-6 batters every outing.

But Manny has shown considerable composure and is being molded into a solid number two or three starter. It's really fun to watch. Toss in a pretty good bat to boot and Manny might be another one of those guys you try to lock up long term for cheap. But there's still a few concerns, but not as far as his talent goes. Manny only pitched 132 innings last year and is on pace for well over 200 to finish this year. Yes, Manny missed a considerable amount of time by breaking his finger last year and probably would have hit the 180 inning plateau, but there's always fear regarding shoulder health and pitchers. I hope he can handle the strain, or at the very least Ned can skip a few of his starts down the road if the team gets any sort of healthy lead. If the Brewers make the playoffs, it's hard not to start Manny, but you have be a little concerned about the youngster's future.

Grade: B+

Dave Bush:
Last Year: 107.1 IP 7-7 Record 4.86 ERA 80 Ks 24 BB
This Year: 106.2 IP 5-8 Record 4.39 ERA 66 K 26 BB

Bush is a tale of two halves this season, or perhaps of just home and away. Bush was particularly difficult to watch to start, giving up 15 HRs in his first 11 starts, but has flourished since. He has yet to give up a homerun in his last six starts and has avoided walks like the plague, saving his season and my grumblings for another post. As you can see by looking at the numbers, Dave was essentially the same pitcher this year, but found himself getting lit up a lot more to start this season because of a dramatically lowered K/Rate. Interestingly that K/Rate is astonishingly lower if you take out the 20 strikeouts he's had in his last 16 innings of work. It goes from 0.51 to 0.62. But the splits are pretty scary for Dave, who carries a 2.49 ERA at home and a 6.95 ERA on the road, largely due to the change in his pitch movement, which Brew Crew Ball showed a week ago or so.

What will Bush do in the second half? I haven't a freaking clue. Yost continues to talk about a platoon for he and McClung, but it doesn't make much sense to do considering the numbers Dave has put up in his last six starts. That sickens me to say, but it's true. McClung has earned his right to pitch as well though, so I'm not too sure how this going to work out. He won't be happy about not being in the rotation, but it might be in the Brewers interest no to platoon them, but simply have them pitch on the five days no matter what happens and flip flop who starts the game based on where they are pitching. Bush may be better suited for a few innings of relief on the road and another gem at home.

Grade: B-

Seth McClung:
Last Year: (AAA) 77.2 IP 3-5 Record 1.85 ERA 93 K 48 BB
This Year: 75.2 IP 5-5 Record 4.16 ERA 64 Ks 36 BB

Seth has been the biggest surprise for the Brewers this year. Since altering his mechanics slightly, McClung has gone from a 97-100 MPH pitcher to a 92-95 MPH pitcher with significantly better command. He started off in the bullpen and looked particularly good in his long relief role. This success allowed him to take over the starting role for the then struggling Carlos Villanueva. The results have been mixed, but mostly good. In nine starts Seth has a 4-3 record with a 4.41 ERA, mostly due to his rough outing against Atlanta. But the problem for Seth has been control. When he doesn't give up charity baserunners, he's lights out, giving up only 48 hits in his 49 innings of work.

But Seth looks like he's going to be the odd man out when Suppan returns from the DL. I imagine Melvin and Attanassio may put the kabash on the platoon idea, but you never know. I would have no problem saying that every fifth game is a tag team between Seth and Bush. Nevertheless, look for Seth to continue his inconsistencies until next season. The off season and Spring Training will give him time to really get used to his new mechanics and work out his command issues.

Grade: B+

Overall Rotation Grade: B

The bullpen has been pretty interesting all year. It's had it's huge huge highs and it's lowest lows, but all in all, they've been reliable when the game has been on the line. We always remember the lows though, never the highs. Let's look at the numbers.

Carlos Villanueva:
Last Year: 60.1 IP 6-0 Record 2.83 ERA 55 Ks 24 BB
This Year: 76 IP 3-5 Record 4.97 ERA 60K 21 BB

Carlos, my favorite Brewer, struggled pretty badly this season in the starting rotation, going 2-5 with a 6.43 ERA in his 49 innings of work. But since then, he's been a picture of consistency, going 1-0 with a 2.33 ERA in his last 16 appearances and 27 innings. Not bad for a second year player. The big difference has been the strike outss and similarly to Bush, avoiding the long ball. Carlos has given up only three homeruns in relief and 12 when he was starting. He's struck out 29 in relief and 31 as starter. Pretty drastic splits if you ask me, considering he started almost double the innings. A lot of it has to do with Carlos keeping the ball down, which he wasn't doing at all to start the season. Whether or not that had to do with large pitch counts or his mental state, he's obviously changed something and it's worked.

The Brewers really to figure something out for this guy. Last year he was effective for all but a month and a half of the year. That's damn good. Unfortunately for him, that time may have been the time he was in the rotation, which killed his numbers. This year, though he's been sort of relegated to the long relief role regardless of the situation. That means if we're down five in the fifth, Carlos comes in and saves the bullpen. That's not where he belongs, but the Brewers have no choice because they wanted to keep Mitch Stetter around. As a result, Carlos is the only pitcher who can go more than two innings at a time. That needs to change and fast because Carlos is more than capable of being a 7th and 8th inning set up man every other day. That may actually more beneficial to this bullpen than eating innings on a rough night. Until then, his talents are being wasted a bit.

Grade: C+

Brian Shouse:
Last Year: 21.1 IP 1-1 Record 2.95 ERA 9 K 8 BB
This Year: 33.0 IP 3-1 Record 1.91 ERA 21 Ks 8 BB

At this time last year, Shouse was pretty much relegated to left handed hitters, as shown by the fact that he only pitched 21 innings in 35 appearances. But as the year grew on, Yost realized his slightly altered approach was effective against both sides of the plate. This year Shouse has seen considerably more time, like 40 more appearances and 26 more innings in less time. So that worries me a bit, but Shouse has been a savior for the Brewers the last two years. Though people need to stop talking about his inherited runners streaks. Every time he gets one, somebody opens their mouth and it gets busted wide open. But for good measure, since I already ruined JJ Hardy's streak by mentioning him last year, only 16 of his 42 inherited runners have cored. That's not bad.

It's hard to say what Shouse will do this year because his workload has been pretty heavy. But the thing is that Yost isn't using him on back to back days nearly as he did last season, so it could pay off in the long run. As the most under-rated member of this staff, Shouse is the glue that keeps this bullpen together and he is just as important to the Brewers run than anyone else.

Grade: A+

David Riske:
Last Year: 40.2 IP 1-2 Record 2.21 ERA 32 K 16 BB
This Year: 29 IP 1-1 Record 4.66 ERA 18 K 14 BB

Riske was a solid Brewers free agent pick up in the offseason that has yet to pan out. I still believe Riske has a lot of talent and will get to see some of it in the second half, but he disappointed in the first half. As you can see by the numbers, David's biggest problem to start the season has been command, a common trend among Brewers pitchers. As a result, he's found himself not getting out of jams that he normally would have last year for KC. To top it off, he found himself on the disabled list for more than a month with an elbow problem. Since then, he's been quite successful giving up only two runs in his last eight innings.

If Mota continues to struggle, David is going to be the go to guy down the stretch in the seventh alongside Carlos Villanueva, leaving the eighth for Eric Gagne and Brian Shouse. As long as he continues to get sustained work, the Brewers will get a lot better numbers from him down the stretch. How good is up to David's work ethic on improving his walk rate, which is pitiful.

Grade: C-

Guillermo Mota:
Last Year: 21.2 IP 0-0 Record 6.65 ERA 19 Ks 6 BBs
This Year: 34.1 IP 2-5 Record 5.77 ERA 31 Ks 17 BB

Mota's recent struggles have been command related, but not really on the walk side of things, but rather hangers. As a result, he's carrying a 10.80 ERA over his last 11 .1 innings, which is awful. As a result, nobody seems to remember the first two months of the season, when he carried a 3.18 ERA and was carrying more than his share of the load with Turnbow gone. Nevertheless, the lack of movement on his pitches recently is a huge cause for concern, which Ned thinks he can fix. Unfortunately, Mota's psyche appears to be more than just fragile and it's going to take quite a few successful mop up innings for him and every one else to gain some confidence in him.

I doubt Mota will ever get back to his three ERA over the last few months of baseball, nor will he even pitch near it, but he'll have to be at least respectable and keep that ERA around five or so and take all of those nasty innings eater outings. If it's a blowout, he can keep it that way.

Grade: D

Eric Gagne:
Last Year: 27.1 IP 2-0 Record 12 SV 1.32 ERA 23 Ks 11 BB
This Year: 23.1 IP 2-2 Record 10 SV 7.33 ERA 21 Ks 16 BB

It's amazing what a year can do. Thus far the Brewers have all but wasted their $10 million investment on a washed up closer, who perhaps won't play for any one next year. Gagne has shown flashes of good stuff, but the command (I'm sick of writing that) has absolutely destroyed him. He has yet to learn how to pitch without trying to over power hitters, and it appears that's what he constantly relied in when he was a beast back in the day. As a result, even Jason Kendall behind the plate can't help him, considering he only has three pitches.

Eric has looked good recently though, Saturday's game excluded. He had the ball down, the changeup was biting and he was working ahead in the count constantly. Saturday's performance shows what happens when he doesn't get ahead. Look for Eric to be a little more reliable down the stretch. No one expects him to be utterly dominant, but he's our eighth inning guy with Villanueva pushed to more of a long relief role. A four ERA the rest of the way wouldn't help his numbers much, but it would be a breath of fresh, and would be worth at least a fifth of the money we gave him.

Grade: F

Salomon Torres:
Last Year: 28 IP 0-3 Record 12 SV 5.14 ERA 25 K 10 BB
This Year: 49.1 IP 4-2 Record 15 SV 2.74 ERA 33 Ks 20 BB

Torres has garnered tons of fan support since arriving this spring. Milwaukee fans were initially very skeptical about the veteran ball player after his retirement threat, but Torres has been as professional as you can be. Much of this success he attributes to the Brewers strength and conditioning coaches, who have him on an altered throwing plan. For those who don't know, they basically just didn't throw him in Spring Training. Torres must have been thrilled and has rewarded the Brewers by taking over the closer role from Eric Gagne. Torres has struggled at times this year, but things should have been a lot better since the defense has been his biggest pain. Nevertheless, when he has struggled, he's fought back and prevented the worst from happening.

Salomon's numbers are significantly different because of his mental health though. He has a lot of camaraderie with Jason Kendally and enjoys the organization a lot more than Pittsburgh, who burned him in the end. I think this has made him considerably more consistent this season, and will continue to push him forward this season. He's over achieved quite a bit this year, but I doubt that will change and he will have continued success for the remainder of the season, hopefully garnering him his first playoff appearance.

Grade: A

No comments on Stetter, DiFelice, Dillard or Jackson, but the replacements have been solid and deserve an A for their solid appearances. Stetter and DiFelice get huge nods for the success. Dillard will be here in the near future.

Position players tomorrow. This is a lot more work than I thought it would be.

Brewers Reds Series Preview

2008-07-11T10:13:00.002-05:00

First and foremost, congratulations go to newly crowned All-Star rightfielder, Corey Hart. I did my fair share of voting and I'm happy to see that it paid off. David Wright may have been more deserving, but Corey has been just so solid all year, and it's always fun to see the little markets do some damage. On to the preview!

The Series:
Cincinnati Reds (44-49) @ Milwaukee Brewers (51-41)

Who's on Tap?:
July 11th: Josh Fogg (1-2, 8.39 ERA) vs. Manny Parra (8-2, 3.65 ERA)
July 12th: Edinson Volquez (11-3, 2.36 ERA) vs. Seth McClung (5-4, 4.15 ERA)
July 13th: Homer Bailey (0-3, 8.76 ERA) vs. CC Sabathia (7-8, 3.79 ERA)

Who Should You Watch?:
Remember when Homer Bailey was the one of the most tauted pitching prospects in baseball? That's kind of dissipated... completely. Instead the surprise of the year is Edinson Volquez, who has the Cy Young lead at the half way point this season, at least in my book. Prior to this season, Volquez had only pitched in 20 games as a big leaguer and the results weren't all that impressive. As a result, he was shipped from the Rangers to the Reds for Josh Hamilton. After further review, a change of scenery does work for a player. Just ask Brad Lidge. As for Volquez, he's been tearing up opposing teams, and is the one true bright spot on this Reds squad. Unfortunately, he's pitching the one game I will not be at, but that's what television is for. In the box, the Reds are filled with tons of pop, but I marred with the same inconsistencies as the Brewers, carrying a team OBP Of .325 as well and striking out 60 more times than the Crew. The two big trouble bats for the Brewers are going to be Joey Votto and Brandon Phillips. Phillips has been a Brewer killer for years, batting .348/.390/.512 against them in 40 games. Joey Votto, on the other hand, hasn't received a lot of playing time over the years because of his Dusty Baker infection. But Baker finally gave the youngster a shot after a couple of weeks and it's paid off. Votto is hitting .284/.354/.475 for the Reds with 13 bombs and a 40 RBIs. Not bad for only 300 ABs.

The Brewers offense is heating up, and with Harang going on to the DL last night, they have the opportunity to keep it up. Unfortunately, the Brewers take on another soft tossing location pitcher. Look for Russell Branyan to pick up some of that slack. He hasn't gotten a lot of playing time recently as a result of an overwhelmingly amount of lefty pitchers. As a result, he hasn't look that sharp, but three games of starts at third should help him get back into the swing of things. Keep your eye on Ryan Braun as well, who is slowly heating up after chilling out at home for a while. It's almost like these guys are partying too hard on the road and just get bored at home and focus on baseball. Who knows? Toeing the rubber tonight is Manny Parra, who is pitching basically on eight days rest, though he did pitch an inning of relief as a way to stay sharp. Manny is on his way to pitching more innings than the Brewers ever expected him to, so a few days may help him. But the question is did that bullpen keep him sharp or will he fall off a bit? I have feeling with the lefty heavy Reds in town, he'll be just two. Speaking of lefty and heavy, the CC excitement has calmed down a bit, especially after the Cubs trade for Harden. But with 43,000 people showing up to see Dave Bush pitch yesterday's game, there's obviously still a lot of buzz. CC will have to calm his emotions and pitch his game if he wants to be successful, so monitor that closely.

Keys to Victory:
If the Reds plan on stealing a win this series, they're going to have to stay patient and pound out some offense. Volquez gives them the best shot for winning a game, but he's been tailing off a bit as of late, and may be vulnerable. Nevertheless, the Brewers are making a big move to try and catch the Cubs and Fogg and Bailey will likely give up their fair share of runs. It's not like the Reds are a harmless bunch at the plate. They carry five regulars with double digit home runs and Dunn has a whopping 24. The lefty lefty match up won't be an easy one for the Reds, but they'll have to work it out somehow.

The Brewers are going to need to rely on something other than the long ball to score some runs this weekend. Volquez has given up only four homeruns in 111 innings this year. Fogg won't give up many either unless he leaves a ball up. I really think the most important thing this weekend will be the defense, but to win this series and perhaps sweep it, the Brewers will need to think like Gabe Kapler did yesterday: Gap to Gap. Kapler had three doubles yesterday, one to straight left, one to left center and one to right center. He was willing to go with the pitch, which will be important with Bailey and Fogg on the mound. When Volquez gets up their, they'll need to keep that mentality and be willing to take a few pitches. Volquez will walk you (54 in 110 innings), so don't be afraid to get caught looking at strike three. That may not seem conventional, but they'll need to get him out of the game as quickly as possible.

Predictions and Notes:
- After the Gledon Rusch game, I think the Brewers may have been a little disheartened and then insulted. They showed they're very very vulnerable against breaking ball pitchers and then came back and destroyed Jorge De La Rosa. The Brewers are going to break that trend tonight, at least for now, and really put Fogg on the ropes. Look for Parra to have a lot of success against the lefty heavy Reds (Dunn, Votto, Bruce, Griffey) and finally get his ninth win. Game two should be very interesting. McClung has struggled mightily and the Brewers have yet to see Volquez pitch. I want to say the Brewers will win, but if they do they'll have to do it against the bullpen. McClung is going to struggle again with his command, but this time it'll bite him harder, and the Reds won't need many runs to take the victory. And finally, look for CC to be dominant on Sunday and get standing O after standing O. I'll be there field level and will be the first one to stand up every time. Should be a blast.

- If you didn't hear about it, Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel went off his rocker at Ned Yost yesterday. I don't know what Tom was trying to do, but he went for the throat yesterday and printed the reactionary quotes rather than what he said to instigate Yost's tirade. In the end Ned said, "Look Tom, I'm not going to argue with you about this." It was unprofessional and pretty disappointing. I was proud of Ned for standing his ground and even prouder to find out that Mota and Maddux were watching tape together for two hours yesterday before warm-ups. Ned was right to defend Mota in this one because Tom went after him and said, "He's lost us three game." The fact of the matter is that Mota gave up two infield singles and a walk in the loss in Arizona. The 4-1 blow up against the Rockies in Colorado was the only really awful one. And then Wednesday's struggles can be attributed to more than just Mota, and you can't blame a loss on a guy when he came in with a one run deficit in the eighth. Sure he took away the opportunity to win, but the Brewers should have never been in the position anyways. Ned's quotes are often pretty hideous and clearly baited by McCalvey and Haudricourt. I'm happy to hear him take the bait and put it in their ear for once.

- With the Cubs and Cardinals losing yesterday, the Brewers have taken a half game lead in the NL Wild Card race and are back to four games behind the NL Central leading Cubs. But before you get too excited, don't forget about the New York Mets and Florida Marlins. They're only three games back of the Brewers in the Wild Card. This isn't a two team race like we all thought. There's plenty of folks nipping at their heels, making every win more and more important.

Brewers Rockies Series Recap

2008-07-10T23:11:00.002-05:00

The Scores:
Milwaukee Brewers 3 Colorado Rockies 4
Milwaukee Brewers 7 Colorado Rockies 3
Milwaukee Brewers 3 Colorado Rockies 8
Milwaukee Brewers 11 Colorado Rockies 1

MVPs of the Series:
Ryan Braun: 6/16; 2B, HR, BB, 6 RBIs, 2 Rs
Garrett Atkins: 5/12; 2 HRs, 2 BBs, 4 RBIs, 4 Rs

Braun played pretty solid baseball all series, but he will most be remembered this series for starting the CC era off right with a three run blast in the first inning. Bill Hall also played remarkably well, but Braun was the most consistent of the bunch.

Garrett Atkins and Matt Holiday are the only reason the Rockies split this series. The two combined to score or knock in nine of the Rockies 16 runs this series. Atkins single handedly won game three for the Rox, hitting both of his bombs in that game, all while playing a solid third base.

What was the Difference?:
Defense. Every game seemed to have a very pivotal and important play. In game one it was Braun's two double plays. In game two it was CC's catch on the mound with no one out and runners on the corners. Game three was riddled with Jason Kendall catching baserunners to keep the Brewers in it. And then Brad Hawpe's bad throw in the third on Thursday got Rickie to second and started the Brewers' offensive barrage. Neither team played great defense though, as this series was marred by a number of errors.

Causes for Concern:
I'm not really sure how Clint Hurdle can keep trotting Jorge De La Rosa and Mark Redman out there week after week. Anything is better than letting those two guys ruin your team's momentum every few days. I understand Jason Hirsch and Kip Wells are on the DL, but there has to be a better option. Neither of those guys deserve a job. While the NL West is super awful, the Rockies don't stand a chance if they don't do something quick. A lot of people think that the Rox are about two seconds from shipping out Brian Fuentes, but don't be so quick to think he'll be wearing a different uniform by the trade deadline. Teams won't be willing to give up a lot for a mid-level reliever and the Rockies may be better off with him.

The Brewers should be a little concerned about one thing, and nervous as hell about another. The little concern is Guillermo Mota. Yes, he's struggled and Tom Haudricourt wants his head on a platter, but the fact of the matter is that his pitches just don't look the same. In his first 19 outings, Mota carried a 3.08 ERA, and was a solid contributor to this bullpen. But Brewers fans smell blood. Funny, they smelled blood with Gagne a month ago, but that's changing as well. It's not time for Mota to go yet, but he'll need to fix the flaw in his delivery if he thinks the Brewers fans won't let him have it. The big concern is the struggles at the plate. It was feast or famine this week, and when you famine against Glendon Rusch, a red flag pops up. These gimme games have to be won, but until they do that, they'll always be vulnerable and never way ahead.

Causes for Excitement:
Ubaldo Jimenez started the year off with high expectations. He has a live arm, throwing a nasty slider combined with a 95-98 MPH fastball. But Jimenez just couldn't deliver. His starts were inconsistent at best. In his first 11 starts, Jimenez was carring a 1-5 record and a 5.37 ERA. However, things are turning around, and fast. Jimenez's start on Monday was impressive, as was his last start against San Diego, allowing the hard throwing right hander to win three of his last four decisions. His strikeout numbers have turned him into a very serviceable pitcher for the injury prone Rockies.

The easy route for the Brewers is CC Sabathia, but I'm going to say Eric Gagne. Yes, CC is the news of the week, but hidden in all of it is Eric Gagne's three outings since returning from the DL. Eric has been as efficient as ever, needing only nine pitches in his first outing, 15 in his second and 14 in Tuesday's affair. His change-up has been downright nasty and the fastball has been down and on the corners. With the blow up of Mota, the Brewers should be thankful this $10 million set up man, may actually come through for us in a big spot. I don't think the Brewers need another reliever. I'm okay with who we have, except for Mota as of now. Nothing a Tim Dillard can't fix. Nevertheless, pitching is the strong suit of this team, and I'm going to stick to it.

Something's Missing

2008-07-10T10:11:00.005-05:00

I wasn't going to do a recap today because I was so frustrated with last night's game, and I really didn't want to whine for an hour today while sitting at work. But 'the believer' commented this morning on the game and I've kind of changed my mind. I still won't be doing a recap, and least not the usual anyways, but I want to delve into the big problems the Brewers have, and why there's not guarantees in the second half.

CC Sabathia is a stud and there's few rotations that can rival the punch of Sheets, Sabathia and Parra. But Brewers fans need to remember the average age of our starters on this team is about 26. Furthermore, with the exception of Kendall and Cameron, not one of these guys has more than three full seasons of ABs under their belt.

Last night, they showed their age. Glendon Rusch is a career 5.04 ERA pitcher with a WHIP of 1.48. He has an 88 MPH fastball, throws junkballs and makes a lot of mistakes. He pitches to a lot of contact and really relies on his defense to get him through. He's basically a band aid pitcher. But the Brewers made him look like an ace last night. And it's not the first time they've done that. Remember Jorge Campillo? Josh Fogg? Nelson Figueroa? Greg Reynolds? Not one of these guys is very good. In fact, they're all number four, number five or spot starters, but they each pitched at least six innings and gave up two runs or fewer. The Brewers made them look like aces.

We've all heard the phrase, 'These are the games you're supposed to win.' These are the games when the opposing team throws their innings eater on to the mound and are basically conceding they're going to give up three to five runs, guaranteed. They just hope that they can score more and have the bullpen do the rest. The problem for the Brewers is if you throw that band aid out there, especially if they haven't seen that band aid before, the offense gets super amped up and goes for the long ball. Guys who don't throw very hard like Rusch and Campillo don't give up a lot of homeruns. The teams that have success against them are teams that are willing to take walks, go opposite field and stay patient.

The Brewers are NOT patient. There's nothing that's more unsexy than a walk to this team. We are 90 games through the season and the Brewers have 289 walks. Sounds reasonable I guess, but for a good comparison, the Cubs have 365. That's 76 more baserunners this season that were freebies. These guys just had to walk up there, look at 4-7 pitches and start trotting. And it's not surprising to find out that the Cubs also have 108 more hits than the Brewers. The reason? They see more pitches.

So great, the Brewers have one of the best rotations in baseball, perhaps THE best. But if they can only offer eight runs one night and two the next, they will never be able to make an overly tremendous run. It will simply be what it is now, a hot month or two. The pitchers have picked up the offense far too often this year. We rarely see this team win games if the other team gets five or more. CC Sabathia can't be perfect. He adds confidence, swagger and great pitching, but great pitching needs some help.

This team needs another asset. Someone who understands this obvious theory and is going to convince every one else of the same thing. Kenny Lofton is known as one of the best club house guys in the business and is a career .299/.372 hitter. Not to mention he's 41 years old and has had a very solid career. If he came in here and produced at about 80% of what he did last year for the Indians in the second half, his presence alone could improve this team. It's another lefty bat, but one that is willing to teach a bunch of young guy, who clearly aren't learning much from below average hitters like Jim Skaalen or Butch Wynegar. Kenny Lofton will have the immediate respect of this team and may be able to push them over the top.

Until then, the Brewers are riding the seesaw. They'll be up and down all year until they find some sort of consistency at the plate. Melvin wants to get over the top, and a move is definitely necessary. If you're going to go for it, go for it.

I'll leave you with one question. If Alcides Escobar can play second base, would you try and trade Rickie Weeks? Weeks is a solid trade chip this off season or right now if the Brewers can find a high OBP guy somewhere. Just a thought I haven't given too much consideration.

Brewers Rockies Game Two Recap

2008-07-09T09:29:00.003-05:00

The Score:
Milwaukee Brewers 7 Colorado Rockies 3

MVPs of the Game:
Rickie Weeks: 3/5; 2B, 3 Rs
Garrett Atkins: 2/2; 2 BBs, 2 Rs

Game Recap:
Miller Park sold out for the 16th time this year, all in response to the trade for reigning AL Cy Young Award winner, CC Sabathia. Sabathia was not sharp at all and was clearly trying to over throw, but the Brewers offense took advantage of four walks and a very good night from Rickie Weeks to take an early three run lead that they would never relinquish. The thunder and lightning still surrounds CC, though. He received his fair share of standing ovations, from the announcement of the starting lineups to his final strike out in the sixth.

The excitement in the ball park was palpable to say the very least. When Sabathia came out of the dugout, the crowd erupted and as they rose tho their feet, you couldn't find a section that wasn't littered with CC signs or the newly printed CC t-shirt jersey (Which I will not buy to have for three months. If he signs, I'll buy it in a heartbeat). Unfortunately, when CC started pitching, the results weren't very pretty, but they weren't ugly either. Taveras led the game off with a seven pitch walk, which was followed by a Clint Barmes sacrifice bunt. I was immediately confused here. Clint Hurdle, the Rockies manager, was scared of CC in the FIRST inning. After eight pitches, CC as clearly not going to be that overwhelming. There's situations to bunt and there ones where you don't, but I digress. After a soft ground out to second CC walked another batter before getting Spilborghs to strike out.

And then the real question about whether or not this team can be successful came up. Is this offense good enough to get the job done even if the pitching is elite. Last night it was. The inning started it off with two solid back to back singles by Weeks and JJ Hardy to bring up Ryan Braun. Did I ever say that Mark Redman is bad? Well he's bad and after battling Braun for a few pitches, he challenged Braun with a slider low and in. It didn't move much and Braun destroyed it for a three run bomb, giving CC his first lead as a Brewer.

Sabathia would calm down for a few innings, giving up only one hit over the next two innings, and the Brewers tacked on an insurance run after a Rickie Weeks double. Weeks was moved to third by a Hardy groundout and Braun was intentionally walked to bring up Fielder, who delivered again. Fielder hit a soft chopper to the hole at third. Barmes picked it up and tried to go for two, but his flip was off the bag. The turn to get Prince wasn't in time either, meaning no outs and another run scored.

The Rockies would get to the newly acquired ace in the fourth though, reaching on two solid singles and a tough error by JJ Hardy, who couldn't get the ball out of his glove. With the bases loaded, rookie Jayson Nix came to the plate an smoked a ball. Unfortunately for the Rockies, he smoked it on the ground to JJ Hardy flipped to Rickie and turned the double play, limiting the damage to just one run.

They would challenge Sabathia again in the sixth, loading the bases with no one out. This time, though, Torrealba would hit a double down the line that plated two. It could have plated three, but Spilborghs strained his oblique rounding second and couldn't turn to home. That turned out to hurt a lot as the next pitch was lined right back at Sabathia, who caught it and tossed to third for an easy double play. After another walk, Sabathia struck out Brad Hawpe to end his first outing as a Brewer (6 IP, 5 H, 5 BB, 5 K: W)

The Brewers' bullpen would hang on the rest of the way, and the Brewers offense added three insurance runs in the bottom of the seventh with an RBI walk from Corey Hart and a 2-RBI double from Bill Hall. It was a fun game to be at, and if the fans continue to show this much excitement, they may be able to pick up this team when they start to go flat.

Game Changing Play:
With nobody out and runners at first and third in the sixth, the Brewers one run lead looked like it was in real trouble. But Jayson Nix's tough night struck again as he lined to Sabathia, which turned into double play a third. There was nothing the runner could do, and that's baseball.

Notes:
- Both Riske and Gagne looked very very solid last night. Riske came in a one run game and didn't allow a base runner. Gagne gave up a soft line drive hit that Weeks almost came up with, but induced a cake job double to get out of his inning unscathed as well. If the Brewers can get these guys to live up to their potential, their bullpen gets really really scary. Any and all trade rumors would be shifted to getting a high OBP centerfielder.

- Who could that CFer be? How about Kenny Lofton? Look, I love Tony Gwynn Jr. Love him! But the thing is, Lofton in a Brewers uniform could be a phenomenal platoon. I'm not saying we should do it just yet, but it's something to consider down the line. Last year he batting .313/.386/.452 against righties. Yes, he's 41, but he stole 23 bases when he was 40. Cameron is a career .265/.364/.480 hitter against lefties. Wowsa... fans keep calling for Rickie to get moved back in the lineup. Well the arrival of a Kenny Lofton could do that against righties. Just a thought folks.

- My apologies for not getting an analysis out yet on the CC trade. No excuses this time. I've just been lazy. I might be upset with the trade if they lost Brantley as well. The Cubs practically gave up nothing to get Harden and Gaudin. Murton, Patterson and Gallagher were not even considered thoughts in their plans for the next four seasons. LaPorta and Brantley would have been.

- Jeff Suppan was placed on the DL yesterday with elbow irritation that happened on a swing almost a month ago. A lot of people keep saying he's just faking it, but think about it folks. If Suppan were to go on the DL, Shapiro and the Indians would have had a lot more leverage as far as the CC trade went because the Brewers would have went from interested to desperate.

- I failed to mention yesterday that Manny Parra's spot was skipped in the rotation this week to make room for Sabathia, so he will pitch Friday and Bush will pitch tomorrow afternoon. The thought is that the Brewers will get two aces in each series. This is why Parra pitched an inning of relief in Monday night's game. It was essentially an in between bullpen session to keep Parra sharp. Look for the rotation to be Sabathia, Sheets, Parra, McClung Bush when the All-Star break is over. This will split the lefties. Not to mention Sheets will be pitching in the All-Star game an should get an extra day of rest.

What's on Tap?:
With the series tied, Ben Sheets will take the mound to face off against Greg Reynolds. In in his last outing against the Rox, Reynolds pitched very well, giving up only two runs on four hits in six innings. But he did not strike out a batter, which means thing to get interesting if the Crew stays patient.

Brewers Rockies Game One Recap

2008-07-08T08:45:00.003-05:00

The Score:
Milwaukee Brewers 3 Colorado Rockies 4

MVPs of the Game:
Prince Fielder: 1/3; HR, 2 RBIs, BB
Ubaldo Jimenez: 7 IP, 3 H, 5 BB, 7 Ks, 0 R (W)

Game Recap:
Perhaps the Brewers thought the acquisition of CC Sabathia yesterday meant they were just going to be handed baseball games as they come. Or perhaps they simply used up all of their hits on Sunday. Or maybe, just maybe, they got outplayed. Last night's game was a bit of a debauchery for both teams, as both teams struggled in the field and at the plate. Together they combined for only thirteen hits and two errors (well, three, but that's baseball). In the end, the Brewers couldn't would be hit by some hard luck, despite given every opportunity by the Rockies.

Seth McClung toed the rubber Monday night and was lights out for the first three innings, but then a spurt of wildness hit him in the fourth. It didn't help that he was being squeezed big time by home plate umpire, Tim McClelland. But it's your job to pitch around those problems, and for the most part McClung did. In the fourth he loaded the bases on a double and two walks, but induced a sac fly from Garrett Atkins, struck out Joe Koshansky and got Jeff Baker to fly out to limit the damage. He would walk two more to lead off the fifth, one of which was the pitcher. This time, however, he lost some composure. After a sac bunt and a pop out, Matt Holliday singled in Chris Ianetta. Ned Yost couldn't take any more after he walked Brad Hawpe for his third of the inning and fifth in less than six outs.

Carlos Villanueva would take the ball and pitch extremely well even if his defense didn't show up. After giving up a one out single to Jeff Baker, Baker took off to second and was called safe on a bang bang play that could have went either way. This could be said about a number of calls all night, but maybe I'll get into that later. After Chris Iannetta struck out, Ubaldo Jimenez grounded to third softly, but Russell Branyan gave it the old ole, allowing Baker to score making it 3-0.

A mistake pitch to Matt Holliday moved that lead to four, which seemed pretty insurmountable considering the Brewers weren't hitting the ball hard at all. Even worse, they had two base running blunders, in which Corey Hart and Ryan Braun were picked off at first base with fewer than two out. But the Rockies would do their best to try and hand the Brewers the game in eighth. Kapler would start the rally by hitting a cue blooper just shy of the first base bag. First baseman Joe Koshansky's only play was to tag Kapler, but when he went to grab the ball with his glove it caromed a bit off the line of the grass and slipped by him. Craig Counsell was the next batter and he popped right up the elevator in front of the plate, but neither Chris Iannetta or Garrett Atkins could decide who deserved it more and the ball fell, putting two on with nobody out. A walk by JJ Hardy loaded the bases for Ryan Braun, who up to that point was the only person who was hitting the ball hard. Unfortunately, it had been on the ground all night.

Braun promptly drilled a ball right up the middle that looked like a for sure base hit, but it clipped the mound and the loose dirt angled it about two to three feet to the left side of the infield, turning it into a routine double play. This proved to be huge as Prince Fielder hit his 17th homerun right after to bring the game within one. Brian Fuentes would keep the Brewers quiet in the ninth, and ended the Brewers CC high.

Game Changing Play:
The error by Branyan was huge. At the time the game was only a 2-0 game, and was easily within reach considering Jimenez wasn't very spot on. He did walk five Brewers after all. Instead the lead was extended to three and the Villanueva's momentum was destroyed.

Notes:
- McClelland's strike zone was a joke yesterday, and for the most part favored Jimenez when calls did waver. McClung had great stuff, but this ump was just completely fooled by his outside corner curveball, and would NEVER give him the benefit of the doubt on close calls with two strikes. The same could be said for Jimenez most of the night, but as he got further into the game, the more he was given, hence Braun saying a few things when he struck out looking in the sixth.

- Don't get too down on McClung. He has the stuff and he's proved it to me every time he's been out there. I think his biggest problem is the mental aspect of the game. He gets too emotional and you can see it. After every walk he's talking to himself and he gets angry after every hit. I like that and all. You should be upset when these things happen, but you can't let it spiral out of control. Walking the pitcher in the fifth was an example where it did.

- Prince finally looked good at the plate and didn't try to over swing every time at the plate. The same can be said for Braun, even if he did GIDP twice. Both of them were bullets and are base hits if no one is on base, or if the mound wasn't there.

- Two more pickoffs makes me wonder what the hell is wrong with Ed Sedar and his coaching. This has been happening all year. With a low OBP team, you cannot sacrifice outs or base runners. Perhaps they'll have a little clinic the day before the second half because something needs to be done immediately.

What's on Tap?:
The Brewers put their new acquisition, CC Sabathia, on the mound against veteran Mark Redman. If the Brewers don't give CC a ton of run support, I will be severely disappointed. Redman has never been good. If Sabathia is simply average tonight, I will be pleased. All we need out of him is six to seven innings of two to three run baseball and he should get his victory and the Brewers fans more behind him than they already are.

Brewers Rockies Series Preview

2008-07-07T08:51:00.002-05:00

The Series:
Colorado Rockies (37-52) @ Milwaukee Brewers (49-39)

Who's on Tap?:
July 7th: Ubaldo Jimenez (3-8, 4.50 ERA) vs. Seth McClung (5-3, 4.18 ERA)
July 8th: Mark Redman (2-3, 7.05 ERA) vs. C.C. Sabathia (6-8, 3.83 ERA)
July 9th: Greg Reynolds (2-6, 6.71 ERA) vs. Manny Parra (8-2, 3.69 ERA)
July 10th: Jorge De La Rosa (3-4, 6.58 ERA) vs. Ben Sheets (10-2, 2.77 ERA)

Who Should You Watch?:
The Rockies can just not get healthy as they have placed at least nine different players on the DL and most recently had to place Troy Tulowitzki, Todd Helton and Jeff Francis on the list within the last week. This really hogties the Rockies, who still managed to score 35 runs in their last three games. Matt Holliday has a lot to do with that. Holliday is batting .343/.424/.566 this season and has recorded a hit in 21 of his last 22 games. A lot of those games were at home though, so the Rockies are hoping he can do the same outside of hitter-friendly Coors Field. On the mound, Brian Fuentes continues to be the talk of the town, as he may be able to be traded and offer some support for the ailing Rockies. Fuentes has struggled recently, so it's important he gets back on track. Elsewhere, Taylor Bucholz is well worth your time to check out if he takes the mound. He's carrying a 1.73 ERA in 41.2 innings this year and you wonder why he hasn't been moved to the rotation considering how awful it's been.

For the Brewers, it's C.C. Sabathia time. Sabathia will be announced as the Brewers new starting pitcher this morning in just a few house. Sabathia has only seen Miller Park twice in his career, one of which was last year's make up game against the Angels when Brewers fans paid ten dollars for general admission tickets. Sabathia went seven innings in that game and got to see Brewers' fans do the wave in slow mo, fast forward and split down the middle. The fans are a bit crazy to say the least. At the plate, it's time for Corey Hart to make his last pitch to be an All Star. I've done my fair share of voting for him already. I think he's way way under rated as far as his skills go. Look for Corey to try and do it all this weekend, stealing bases, hitting the ball hard and showing off his incredible range in right.

Keys to Victory:
The Rockies are going to give up a lot of runs... A LOT. Their ERAs are a bit bloated because of Coors Field, but Coors isn't that awful to pitchers, especially since the humidor was installed. Anyways, the poor starting pitching really forces the hurting Rockies to try and tack on runs in bunches. If the Rockies plan on being successful, Holliday will need Clint Barnes, Ryan Spilborghs and Garret Atkins to continue deliver. If just one of these guys falls off the wagon, the Rockies could fall just as well.

The Brewers need to show patience following yesterday's game. They had 12 extra-base hits in yesterday's game, but if they try to repeat it against these guys, they'll find themselves striking out more than they would like to. Jimenez has walked 52 in 100 innings and Reynolds 24 in just 57.2 innings. Redman only has one good year under his belt as far as success goes and De La Rosa is just not a good pitcher, as Brewers fans remember. The mistakes will be there to hit, but you'll have to wait on one and not get greedy. The excitement of Sabathia's arrival could make things a little testy and we'll have to see how the young squad will respond.

Predictions and Notes:
- With one move the Brewers have struck fear into the NL Central leading Cubs and Wild Card leading Cardinals. No team is particularly interested in facing Ben Sheets, Manny Parra and C.C. Sabathia in one series. The Rockies get the first look of what this could mean for the surging Brewers.

- Tonight's game will be interesting because the excitement at Miller Park will start early and the fans will no doubt be electric. But I think the more interesting thing is the pitching match up. Jimenez gave up four runs in in six innings of work in his last outing against the Brewers, but was saved by Guillermo Mota's blow up in the eighth. McClung has struggled in his last two outings and benefited from some phenomenal defense in his last start. He continues to show flashes of a consistent starter though, settling down in his last three innings and keeping the Brewers in the game, which they eventually won. Look for the Brewers offense to pick it up again tonight and all series and roll over the streaking Rockies.

- As for the remaining three games, one of these guys is gonna be vulnerable and I'm going to say it's Ben Sheets. Now vulnerable doesn't mean he's going to get rocked, but it does mean that the Brewers offense will handcuff themselves for a game and make another bad pitcher look like an ace. Look for Sheets to have a quality start, but the offense can't pick him up. Sabathia will be lights out in his first performance. His arrival almost guarantees a sell out and the crowd in Milwaukee will be all over every pitch and strike out. Parra deserves props in his own right. I can't imagine what this team would look like if he hadn't shown up and became a solid two starter. Look for him to have continued success this weekend and pick up his ninth win.

- I should be back this afternoon to discuss the ramifications of today's trade. For the current details, check out my last article that lays out the deal.

Sabathia to the Brewers for LaPorta and Prospects

2008-07-06T17:54:00.003-05:00

It's all but official. Tom Haudricourt, of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, has it from an inside the source that the Brewers and Indians have exchanged former Cy Young Award winner, C.C. Sabathia for the Brewers top prospect, Matt LaPorta, and two low level minor leaguers, which is likely to include 2007 Milwaukee Minor League Player of the Year, Taylor Green. More information and analysis to come when the deal gets finalized.

Update: The second prospect will not be OFer Lorenzo Cain, who has been mentioned as another candidate earlier. Cain was told to report to Huntsville, the Brewers AA affiliate, in order to take LaPorta's spot on their roster. It has been made perfectly clear that Gamel, Escobar and Salome are still with the team. Look for a press conference to be held tomorrow.

Update 2: It appears that the Brewers have included AAA LHP Zach Jackson and A-ball Rob Bryson. Neither of these two players were even considered to be in the plans of the Brewers for the years to come. Bryson is currently 3-2 with a 4.25 ERA in West Virginia and Jackson is 1-5 with a 7.85 ERA for Nashville. Another player is involved in the deal and is referred to as being a player to be named later. Bryson's numbers are a bit deceiving, but he does carry a 1.15 WHIP and a 73/20 K/BB ratio. Rumblings continue to suggest the Indians want to look at Taylor Green some more and are considering moving him from third to second. I'll let you know what I find out, but at this point the Brewers appear to have made a steal as far as which prospects they have given up after LaPorta.

Brewers Pirates Series Recap

2008-07-06T17:12:00.002-05:00

The Scores:
Milwaukee Brewers 9 Pittsburgh Pirates 1
Milwaukee Brewers 2 Pittsburgh Pirates 2
Milwaukee Brewers 11 Pittsburgh Pirates 6

MVPs of the Series:
JJ Hardy: 7/12; 3 HRs, 2B, 3 Rs, 6 RBIs, BB
Jason Bay: 4/11; HR, 2 BBs, R, RBI

JJ has been hot, I mean really hot. I fear ruining that because I'm a superstitious baseball man at heart , but I'll just throw out his numbers over the last ten games: .500/.533/1.000 with five homeruns, six doubles and 11 RBIs. And that doesn't include today's 3/4, two home run affair. That's enough jinxing, but I do want to give JJ props for sacrificing his 16 game hit streak to move Rickie Weeks to second in Saturday's one run walk off.

No Pirate really stuck out this series. With the exception of this afternoon's game, there wasn't much offense coming out of the visitor's dugout, but Jason Bay was the most consistent of the bunch. I'm not sure how much longer Jason will be willing to stick in Pittsburgh. He won't be a superstar on any other team, but he could really contribute somewhere in the league if given the opportunity.

What Was the Difference?:
This is kind of hard to be completely honest. The Brewers completely dominated the Pirates as the score shows, but the numbers are very odd. For instance, nine hits and four walks resulted in only one run including no GIDPs or pickoffs. And then there was today's affair where both teams gave up six runs in the first three innings, so it wasn't the starting pitching either. In the end, I'm just going to give it to the Brewers bullpen. After giving up six runs without recording an out on Thursday, they bounced back by pitching 10.1 innings of scoreless baseball. The Pirates on the other hand gave up seven runs in their 9.1 innings.

Causes for Excitement:
There weren't too many positives this week for the Pirates as they were swept clean out of Milwaukee after coming down from four runs today, but something good can be taken from today. A year ago baseball experts had tossed Paul Maholm on to their radar as an up and coming star. He was said to have the potential to be an ace this year, but up until his last few starts, Maholm has been quite disappointing. Maholm has given up six runs in his last 22 innings and has had a quality start in six of his last seven appearances.

C.C. Sabathia. This team did what it was supposed to this weekend, which was sweep a very poor team at home. With that being said, the addition of Sabathia could turn this mediocre rotation into a top notch one with one single arm. And to top it off, the Brewers don't have to change their current roster at all. All they'll have to do is move Mitch Stetter back to the minors or trade McClung or Bush to a team that needs more pitching depth. Keep your eyes open since it is likely the trade, if it does happen, will be finalized this evening or tomorrow morning, leaving the afternoon open for a press conference during the Indians off day.

Causes for Concern:
The Pirates defense this weekend was atrocious. If your stuck with mediocre talent at the plate and a particularly below average pitching staff, you need to have the defense to cut them some slack every now and then. The Pirates didn't do that at all committing five errors this series. Be prepared for the sale of Xavier Nady to gain some depth in their system. That may help, but a lot of work needs to be done by the Pirates organization to get this team any where near competitive.

Base running blunders are starting to become all too common for the Crew, and it's about time they did something about it. The Brewers were caught stealing twice and picked off once this inning and every time I turn my head, they're making outs on the bases. But I guess if this is my biggest nit pick about the team, they're doing pretty well at home.

The Brewers Vying for C.C. Sabathia

2008-07-05T12:27:00.002-05:00

If you're not up to date on your trade rumors, the Brewers have reportedly been in talks with the Cleveland Indians for about four or five days now. The rumors started flying on Wednesday when Brewers' scouts were spotted watching C.C. Sabathia's last start against the Chicago White Sox. Sabathia went eight innings in that game giving up five runs (four earned) while striking out five in a no decision. At the same time, Indians scouts were being distributed to different Brewers' minor leagues affiliates. Reports had them in Brevard County and Huntsville watching Brewers' Minor League Player of the Year, third baseman, Taylor Green and top prospects Matt Laporta, Mat Gamel and Alcides Escobar.

Ken Rosenthal was the first reporter to suggest a deal that were already on the table, suggesting Escobar and LaPorta were offered for Sabathia. But as usual, Rosenthal got whiff of a deal and just spewed out a few names, hoping to hit at least one. Chances are he's right about one of them, but Tom Haudricourt of the Milwakee Journal Sentinal immediately shot down the idea that Melvin would be willing to give up two of the Huntsville five. Buster Olney then threw in JJ Hardy into the bunch. Another farce. Do these guys ever go on true knowledge? Or are they just looking for readers? Anyways, Haurdricout was able to dispel this one as well, since he has more inside opportunities than these guys.

Finally, late last night, Haudricourt spelled out the deal that he believes has been offered. The deal includes Matt LaPorta, Taylor Green and an additional prospect, which he suggests is Lorenzo Cain. This is a pretty good deal for the Indians, though it may or may not be the best off they will receive. The Dodgers, who have a pretty good farm system themselves, are also pursuing Sabathia, and may have a bit more to offer including third baseman, Josh Bell, shortstop, Ivan DeJesus and pitchers James McDonald, Scott Elbert and Jon Meloan. But if this deal does, in fact, go through for the Brewers, what are they really losing.

I suggest not that much. Let's consider the Brewers' current roster situation. In the outfield, they have just signed Ryan Braun to a seven year deal beyond this season. Corey Hart is arbitration eligible after this season, meaning the Brewers have control of him for at least three seasons, and you can fully expect the Brewers to do their best to sign him to a long term deal if at all possible. It probably won't be Ryan Braun numbers, but it will be significant enough. That leaves center field, which at this point is being roamed by Mike Cameron. At 35 and with a $10 million option for next season, you know he'll be gone. This could open the door for Tony Gwynn Jr., but you can only speculate what the organization has in store for center field.

As for the infield, the Brewers appear to be dedicated to JJ Hardy and Rickie Weeks for quite some time. Even though Rickie has underperformed considerably, he still shows the physical attributes to be one of the best second basemen in the league, and I have a feeling the Brewers are willing to stick with him for years to come since no one in the system could replace him in a pinch. Hardy is slowly but surely becoming a fan favorite, and if he can continue to produce with average everything, he's the perfect fit for this team. He won't make a ton of money and he'll fill one of the toughest voids to get in baseball. That's what the Brewers like.

The corners are a little sketchy. Bill Hall is under control for four more years, but he's not particularly good and is making a considerable amount of cash. Prince Fielder is under control for three more years and has made it clear that he will not sign a long term deal. But let's be honest, Prince probably only has about 2-3 years left in the NL. His defense is already sketchy and as his body continues to change as a result of his genetics, it will not be getting any better. With that being said, the Brewers will likely keep him around for two more years.

In the minor league system, the Brewers are stacked in the outfield with Michael Brantley, Tony Gwynn Jr., Matt LaPorta, Lorenzo Cain, Caleb Gindl and Cole Gillespie. LaPorta is really the only big time prospect, so getting rid of him seems like a risky situation. But the Brewers infield prospects often have a problem with defense. Their top infielders consist of third baseman Mat Gamel, shortstop Alcides Escobar and 2B Hernan Iribarren. Iribarren really isn't worth talking about. He's clearly a future back-up in the league if he makes it at all.

Gamel has been improving consistently at the hot corner, but his footwork causes him to struggle with his throws to first. While the Brewers roving infield instructor thinks he has the ability to become average with his defense, many believe he'll have to move to first or the outfield if he plans on making it in the bigs. Alcides Escobar has a plus arm to go with plus range. His error total is pretty large, but that goes along with the plus range. There were concerns about his ability at the plate at the beginning of the season, but those have been erradicated since, batting .331/.359/.446. As you can see, he still needs time to understand the strikezone, but he's got talent. Elsewhere, Taylor Green is batting .297/.381/.452 at the hot corner for the A+ Brevard County squad. Green shows an ability to take a walk, which is great and could be a big loss, but he struggles on the defensive end as well. Ultimately the knowledge of the strike zone puts Green one up on Escobar and may be the reason for the Indians inquiry.

If this move goes through the Brewers lose their top prospect in the outfield, a mid-level prospect in the outfield as well and a third base prospect who is at least three years away from the bigs. Interestingly, these moves may help the log jam in the farm system. The Brewers can now move Mat Gamel to the outfield or first base without blocking Matt LaPorta. Furthermore, guys like Michael Brantley and Tony Gwynn Jr. get a little more confidence that they have a future with the big league ball club. On top of that, the Brewers get a top-notch starter who, if he decides to not sign with the team, will net two first round picks. That would likely give Jack and Doug four first round picks (if Sheets left as well), which is hardly a sacrifice in my book, considering Parra and Gallardo have showed enough talent to anchor the rotation.

This move just makes sense. If the Brewers think they're going to trade Fielder in two years, they can move Gamel over to first and play him in Nashville next season after shipping Brad Nelson somewhere. If they sign Hardy long term, they'll get something good in return the following season for a big league-ready Alcides Escobar. In the end, it's a win win for the Crew and the Indians. The Brewers gain flexibility and start to seriously look like a playoff contender, while the Indians build considerable depth into their system and have a major league ready first baseman/outfielder/DH to come up in a pinch. Unless the Dodgers really blow them away, I would not be surprised to see the Brewers get Sabathia in the next week or two. They may have to up the ante a little bit on Lorenzo Cain, but any other outfield prospect may go just fine because Cleveland cannot deal with Delucci and Guitierrez in their outfield for much longer.

Should be fun to see how it plays out.

Belated Brewers Pirates Series Preview

2008-07-05T11:05:00.003-05:00

My apologies for a lack of a D'Backs and Brewers Series recap. It is the holiday weekend afterall, and it just so happens to be my brother's birthday as well. As for the Conor Jackson blogger who stopped by, my apologies for not giving a Game Four recap, but I often don't recap the last game, and do a series recap and series preview instead. As for the game itself, it was incredibly well played by the Brewers for eight innings and the same can be said for the D'Backs the last three. The last inning paid off. On to the series preview.

The Series:
Pittsburgh Pirates (40-44) @ Milwaukee Brewers (46-39)

Who's on Tap?:
July 4th: Ben Sheets (9-3, 2.83 ERA) vs. Tom Gorzelanny (5-7, 6.18 ERA)
July 5th: Dave Bush (4-8, 5.06 ERA) vs. Paul Maholm (5-5, 4.28 ERA)
July 6th: Jeff Suppan (5-6, 4.30 ERA) vs. Zach Duke (4-5, 3.88 ERA)

Who Should You Watch?:
Since game is already in the books in favor of the Brewers, I put up the numbers for Sheets and Gorzelanny that existed prior to the game. As a result, I'll have to focus on the last two games with regard to who you should watch. For the Pirates, the first thing you should recognize is Zach Duke may have stopped being a disappointment. After showing how good he could be in 2005 with a 1.81 ERA, Duke struggled with a 4.41 and 5.53 ERA the last two years. But Duke has been coming around and has looked pretty solid in his last seven outings, lowering his ERA .60 runs in the process. He's had mixed results against the Brewers, so it'll be interesting to see which Duke shows up on Sunday. At the plate, the Brewers should watch out for catcher, Ryan Doumit, who is batting .337/.384/.594. He makes the middle of this lineup a little more threatening than usual. Brewers pitchers cannot take a batter off in this lineup any more.

For the Brewers, I'm not going to say the shortstop. Refer to my comments at the BrewersNation to understand why. Instead, I'm going to point to Bill Hall. Yeah, Billy had three hits yesterday and I sound like I'm jumping on the bandwagon, but the fact of the matter is the Brewers are facing all left-handers this weekend. Hall is hitting .360/.417/.640 against south paws. While these numbers are above and beyond his career, Hall is going to have to rely on this big split to ensure him regular playing time. On the mound, you have to watch Dave Bush again. With the all the rumors about C.C. Sabathia going to the Brewers in the coming weeks, Bush has to wonder how much longer he'll be standing in that rotation. I'll look at all the those rumors later this afternoon.

Keys to Victory:
The Pirates are going to need to take advantage of a Brewers struggling bullpen. They had their shot yesterday by getting Sheets out in just 5.2 innings, but Villanueva took advantage of an opportunity and saved the bullpen following their debauchery on Thursday. If the Pirates are able to do something similar to that tonight, which they should, they'll get a shot at some of the relief pitchers who aren't on their game. So I guess the key is to work the count, be patient and get that starter out of there, even if you don't necessarily have success against him.

In the first base dugout, the Brewers will need the middle of their lineup to start producing and stop killing rallies. Fielder and Braun combined for four hits during the road trip, not to mention their fair share of double plays and strikeouts. They won't have to carry the Brewers, but they need to be more productive and patient at the plate to allow the Brewers a final run before the All-Star break. Prince should struggle a bit more because of the all lefty rotation, but Braun should come back strong this series and take adantage of all of the opportunities he gets.

Predictions and Notes:
- I would have picked the Brewers in yesteday's game in a heartbeat with Sheets and Gorzelanny on the mound. I just didn't think it would be that big of a blow out considering what happened Thursday. Tonight's game should be the hardest for the Brewers considering Suppan has had quite a bit of success against the Pirates in his career. Bush is going to struggle a bit, but I'm guessing he'll make it six and give up four, which will hopefully be good enough for the Brewers offense. Look for Gagne and Riske to take the 7th and 8th innings if it comes down to it. Gagne was quite impressive in his first outing back. His changeup finally had some life and he was locating his fastball. If they can get him to be useful, the Brewers could be a serious force to be reckconed with.

- As long as the Brewers win, they gain ground on someone since the Cubs are in St. Louis this weekend. As a result, every game is an opportunity and every win gets them a little bit closer to the opportunities they have been looking for.

- Keep your eyes open this afternoon, as I'm going to look at the Sabathia trade rumors and their ramifications for the future of this team.

Brewers Diamondbacks Game Three Recap

2008-07-03T08:55:00.004-05:00

The Score:
Milwaukee Brewers 4 Arizona D'Backs 3

MVPs of the Game:
Mike Cameron: 2/4; 2B, 2 RBIs (Tying and Go-Ahead)
Yusmeiro Petit: 6 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 4 Ks (ND)

Game Recap:
The Arizona Diamondbacks were given chance after chance after chance to blow out the Brewers, but found themselves getting two significant outs on the bases that would prove important in the end. Yusmeiro Petit was made to look like an ace all night by a Brewer squad whose known for this kind of thing, while Seth McClung fought himself, the strike zone and a lot of Diamondbacks on the way to 5.1 IP, but only two runs. While the Brewers were quiet the first five innings of the night, they managed to score once in each of the last four innings, taking advantage of a huge error in the top of the ninth. Despite a little threat in the bottom half of the inning, Salomon Torres induced a 5-3 double play to take game three of this series and secure a .500 road trip for the Brewers.

I didn't get to watch too much of the game, but from what I did see, Yusmeiro Petit isn't that great, but the free swinging or perhaps flailing made him look like he was. Don't get me wrong. Petit made some excellent pitches, but the Brewers were neither selective or smart when it came to the stuff Petit was throwing. As a result he would only need 77 pitches to get through six innings. Seth McClung, on the other hand, was a picture of inconsistency, giving up 10 baserunners in his 5.1 innings. But Seth got a little lucky and on top of it has really good stuff.

The luck started early with a rip by Stephen Drew to the right center gap. Drew tried to extend the hit to a triple, but was gunned down by Craig Counsell and Mike Cameron at third. Orlando Hudson followed up with a bunt single, which would have moved Drew to third and brought up Conor Jackson with two on and one out. Instead, McClung would get Jackson to look at a third strike to leave the inning unharmed. An inning later, it would happen again. McClung loaded the bases after giving up two singles and hitting Justin Upton to bring up Miguel Montero. Montero would line somewhat sharply to Craig Counsell, who misread the ball and deflected it to center field, allowing Chad Tracy to score. But the D'Backs got greedy as Chris Young tried to go home as well with no one out at the bases loaded. Counsell would toss him out at the plate to save a run. McClung would get out of the inning without any further harm.

The Diamondbacks would tack on another in the third following Orlando Hudson's second of four hits on the night. He would score on a Chris Young single two batters later to make the game 2-0. Thankfully for the Brewers, McClung would settle down after this only give up one more hit the rest of the night, while Petit kept the Brewers at bay. That was, at least, until the sixth inning. Petit started the inning by hitting Jason Kendall on the shoulder. Nothing like free base runners when you only have one hit on the night. After a sac bunt and a ground out that moved Kendall to third, JJ Hardy singled him in to shrink the lead to one.

The Brewers would do more damage with two outs in the seventh on a Gabe Kapler triple, followed by a Mike Cameron double to tie things up. Things got a little interesting in the bottom half of the inning, however, when Drew and Hudson led off the inning with singles and were sacrificed over by Conor Jackson. The Brewers commentators whined about the sac bunt, but I thought it was an impressive selfless move by Jackson. Melvin trusts his bullpen and for good reason. If they can get just one more run, you have to think you're going to get the victory. Unfortunately, it didn't work out for the D'Backs. Ned Yost ran Brian Shouse out there to replace Villanueva, who promptly induced a sharp ground ball right at Russell Branyan, who threw out Stephen Drew at the plate for the second out. Another ground out to Branyan ended the inning and the threat.

Three pitches later, on an 0-2 count, Rickie Weeks smoked a line drive down the left field line that was just high enough to get over the fence. Fans will cheer for him now I guess. D'Backs' fans, on the other hand, were cheering for Justin Upton, who promptly took the first pitch he saw from David Riske in the bottom half of the inning to the same exact spot as Rickie to tie it up yet again. Riske looked really good, but just found a guy who was looking dead red and drilled it.

Going into the ninth 3-3, the Brewers looked extremely tense. The D'Backs had the benefit of putting their closer on the mound, while the Brewers were stuck with Mota or Gagne if they went to the bottom of the ninth without a lead. Russell Branyan lead off the inning and was thinking homerun the whole time. It proved worthless, as he pulled a ball to first base. But worthless it was not. Mark Reynolds promptly booted the ball to right field and Branyan made it to first safely on the error. After a sacrifice bunt by Gabe Kapler, Mike Cameron worked ahead 2-0 and fouled off three pitches before hitting a ball to the gap in left center, which scored Branyan easily.

After a shallow fly out by Kendall Joe Dillon absolutely destroyed a mistake 412 feet to dead center. Unfortunately, the wall in Arizona is 413 feet and Chris Young made a jumping catch against the wall to save an insurance run. Salomon Torres wouldn't need the run though. He worked around a lead off single and good baserunning by Orlando Hudson to get into scoring position on the fly out from Conor Jackson. After walking Mark Reynolds, Torres got Young to ground to Russell Branyan who touched third and tossed to Prince to end the game.

Game Changing Play:
It's an easy one, Mark Reynolds error. Lyon was pitching well, but Reynolds defense, which has been pretty rough all series, pinned a loss on the closer's lapel.

Notes:
- The strike zone last night was big, small and everything in between. The consistency of Jeff Nelson's calls was incredibly awful. To his credit though, it wasn't one sided and both teams received their fair share of calls.

- My friends over at BrewersNation mentioned the Stephen Drew play at home in the seventh in which Drew tried to kick the ball from Jason Kendall's glove, which at that point was almost chest high. It was a Bush League play to say the least and I'm surprised there wasn't any barking afterwards. I don't care who it is, you never do something as dangerous as that. Those spikes aren't forgiving at all.

- Brian Shouse has gone unnoticed for this Brewers team for a long time and has been the most consistent reliever for the Crew since arriving two years ago. Yet, somehow, nobody notices. Let's be honest, a 1.84 ERA in 29.1 innings is impressive no matter how many times the splits favor you. Brewers fans need to give this guy some more support and cheers. He's been pretty much lights out and has been pivotal with inherited runners.

- Both the Cubs and Cards struggled last night, so the Brewers simply stayed on pace. And that's all you can really hope for. Just keep winning, so you don't lose ground. At some point you'll be able to leap frog someone. Zambrano comes back on Friday for the Cubs, so perhaps their struggles will be quelled with their ace's return. The Brewers know full well what it's like to lose an ace and fall off the wagon.

- There's discussion going on over in Arizona about the Brewers making a trade with them sometime soon. Eric Byrnes is likely done for the season with a torn hamstring, which he did on Monday after trying to steal third, so the D'Backs will need an outfielder badly. That's something Brewers have plenty of and I wouldn't be surprised to see a trade for someone like Gwynn for a Pena, Qualls or Juan Cruz. If the Brewers were serious about getting a starter, there's a slim chance the Brewers could pry away a Max Scherzer or a Dan Haren away with some of their big time prospects. However, this is big time speculation and using Darron Sutton's television gossip doesn't necessarily mean anything is in the works. Any speculations from the folks around here?

- Ryan Braun got the night off like I suggested, and surprisingly Yost is likely to bench him again this afternoon, which I suggested yesterday as well. God, I love it when I suggest something and it comes true. It doesn't boost my ego, but it's always nice to get something you ask for. Maybe Robin Yount, who was chilling out during BP yesterday, can have a talk with Braunie and teach him how to take an outside slider.

What's on Tap?:
The Brewers finally get to take on an ace this afternoon. I can't remember the last time that has happened, but Brandon Webb is toeing the rubber against Manny Parra. It should be an incredible pitching match up if Parra can avoid the free passes. The series is currently 5-1 in favor of the Brewers since the sweep of AZ in Milwaukee, so the D'Backs may be hell bent on making this season series not too overwhelmingly awful. The game is at 2 CST, so try and keep and eye on it if you get the chance.

Reviewing My Projections.

2008-07-02T10:43:00.002-05:00

It's incredible to think that I started this in January and it's now July and I haven't stalled once. Yes, trying to write every day can be treacherous, but I've realized that I have plenty of readers, as quiet as they may be, who like to see the numbers and appreciate what I've been doing during the season. I love this team, and though I complain considerably about them, they get my full fledged support at all costs. I mean come on, I'm from Green Bay and I've had season tickets since 1991. You know you're loyal when you go watch games where Lindy Infante was your coach.

Anyways, I wanted to do something fun. A lot of you weren't around in January and February when I first started this blog. But at that time, to make things go quickly, I went through every position on the field, reviewed their 2007 season and made some projections on the fly. So today, I want to look at all of those that I projected and compare them to their mid-season numbers. We'll see how dead on/off I was. Projections, unfortunately, fall victim to problems such as health or position changes, so I'm going to be off on a number of them regardless. Here it goes... (If you're looking for these posts, they're all labeled Position Analysis and can be found in the side bar under the month of February.)

I began with Starting Pitching during the projections.
Ben Sheets: 30 GS, 16-8, 3.92 ERA, 195.2 IP
Jeff Suppan: 32 GS, 14-12, 4.78 ERA, 202 IP
Yovani Gallardo: 30 GS, 17-7, 3.20 ERA, 195 IP
Carlos Villanueva: 32 GS, 10-12, 4.42 ERA, 175 IP
Chris Bushuano: I said it was a toss up and didn't project, but I did project Bush to pitch in relief for 52 G, 5-7, 4.90 ERA

Their actual stats:
Ben Sheets: 16 GS, 9-2, 2.83 ERA, 111.1 IP
Jeff Suppan: 17 GS, 5-6, 4.30 ERA, 98.1 IP
Dave Bush: 15 GS, 4-8, 5.06 ERA, 90.2 IP
Carlos Villanueva: 21 G, 3-5, 5.40 ERA, 68.1 IP
Yovani Gallardo: 3 GS, 0-0, 1.80 ERA, 20 IP

Unfortunately, at the time of writing this, Capuano wasn't about to get Tommy John and Parra was a long shot in the rotation before Gallardo showed up. I think my ERAs are going to be pretty spot on. Suppan has been reverting to the mean the last few starts and has a considerable amount of unearned runs under his belt. Gallardo is going to be an ace, which is awesome. If that knee is healthy, we might be able to get away with Sheets being gone and possibly picking up a cheaper two or three starter to make up for it. Unfortunately, Villanueva is doing what I expected him to do, which is have a real rough year. But who would have thought Sheets would be pitching this well? He's blowing a lot of people's projections out of the water. If he sustains this and Parra continues his success, the Brewers' would be in great great shape. Imagine a rotation with Sheets, Gallardo and Parra where Parra and Gallardo are making less than a million bucks for at least two more years.

Relief Pitching Projections:
Guillermo Mota: 47 G, 2-4, 5.12 ERA
Salomon Torres: 65 G, 6-2, 3.88 ERA
David Riske: 65 G, 2.45 ERA (I didn't project, but I did say he was going to stay the same, Oops)
Brian Shouse: 74 G, 2-1, 3.50 ERA
Derrick Turnbow: I'm too ashamed to reprint these, you can look it up.
Eric Gagne: 62 G, 42/50 S, 2.99 ERA

Their Actual Stats:
Guillermo Mota: 30 G, 2-5, 4.22 ERA
Salomon Torres: 39 G, 4-1, 2.56 ERA, 14/16 S
David Riske: 22 G, 0-1, 4.88 ERA
Brian Shouse: 37 G, 3-0, 1.88 ERA
Eric Gagne: 20 G, 1-2, 6.98 ERA

I think I'll ultimately be right about Mota. Torres and Shouse have been phenomenal, and again, just looking at Shouse's numbers have to excite you. The guys has just been unbelievable for the Brewers since his arrival and I think many of us just take it for granted. Props to you Mr. Shouse. On my projection of Gagne I said I was going to completely nail it or get completely rocked because that's what the Gagne signing was. As for Riske, something is not right as pointed out at BrewersNation. I think elbow problems are causing him some serious struggles, though he is very streaky and that could pay off for the Brewers in teh end.

Catcher Predictions:
I didn't make them. I spent an an entire day writing a full biography of Jason Kendall. I didn't want to talk about him any more, but suggested about a .350 OBP, which is pretty much exactly where he's hovering. He was a great pick up, and that's all I'll say.

Infielder Projections:
Prince Fielder: .298/.409/.599, 47 HRs, 136 RBIs
Rickie Weeks: .274/.391/.480, 22 HRs, 68 RBIs, 24 SBs, 12 Es
Bill Hall: .265/.333/.440, 16 HRs, 70 RBIs
JJ Hardy: .270/.331/.400, 18-20 HRs

Actual Stats:
Prince Fielder: .272/.360/.487, 14 HRs, 52 RBIs
Rickie Weeks: .215/.325/.364, 7 HRs, 22 RBIs, 11 SBs, 5 Es
Bill Hall: .208/.271/.379, 10 HRs, 28 RBIs
JJ Hardy: .269/.341/.427, 8 HRs, 30 RBIs

Nobody expected Fielder's power numbers to drop this far down, but there's still plenty of time in the season for him to get his numbers back up. Prince has lost a lot of patience at the plate the last few weeks, which is why he was benched last night. Braun will be doing the same some time soon as well i imagine. Weeks has been a disappointment, but his IsoP continues to be phenomenal. Those numbers should improve and if he just gets to a BA of .250, perhaps fans won't be so upset with the guy. On the upside, his error total and stolen bases have been very very good, though go unnoticed. Hall definitely has time to revert to the numbers I expected from him, especially since he'll only be facing lefties for a while. I don't think many people expected him to drop off this bad, but I knew he wasn't going to be bashing the ball all over the field like he did in 2005. I have JJ hardy pegged right on. He's straight average at the plate with average power. This recent streak of his has been phenomenal, but he will ultimately continue to bring these sorts of consistent numbers to the game at shortstop, which is fine by me.

Outfield Projections:
Corey Hart: .287/.370/.490, 31 HRs, 95 RBIs, 32 SBs
Ryan Braun: .288/.370/.620, 40 HRs, 119 RBIs, 27 SBs
Mike Cameron: .249/.347/.514, 20 HRs, Gold Glove Leadership

Actual Stats:
Corey Hart: .293/.335/.516, 14 HRs, 52 RBIs, 12 SB
Ryan Braun: .278/.313/.536, 20 HRs, 58 RBIs, 8 SB
Mike Cameron: .215/.294/.459, 12 HRs, 28 RBIs, 6 SB

You can see why I thought this team was going to be awesome this year based what i thought they would do as far as OBP stands, but these guys have regressed rather than progressed in their young age and the results have been variable. Hart's power is there as is his average. If he took a few more walks, his slugging would improve just as much because it would lower his ABs considerably. The same can be said about Ryan Bruan. I thought Braun would start to realize that pitchers aren't going to pitch him the same and will tend to nit pick. Instead, Braun has been putty in their hands. When he gets a hold of it, it goes a long way, but a 35 IsoP is awful for this team. Cameron has been amazing in center field, but awful at the plate, though his 79 OBP cuts him some slack. I didn't expect too much out of the guy, just walks, homeruns and plenty of defense, but he needs to get that BA up to .240 for him to keep his job.

The Bench Projections:
Craig Counsell: .235/.317/.310
Gabe Gross: .255/.360/.440
Joe Dillon: .240/.330/.412
Tony Gwynn Jr. .270/.340/.390
Gabe Kapler: .260/.329/.450

Actual Stats:
Craig Counsell: .240/.338/.339
Joe Dillon: .230/.356/.328
Gabe Gross: .209/.352/.279
Tony Gwynn Jr.: .200/.293/.229
Gabe Kapler: .307/.350/.496

These numbers are always tough simply because of samples sizes, but the biggest surprise is obviously Gabe Kapler. Though his IsoP has been pretty terrible, Kapler's power, defense and grittiness has been a blessing to this team. When he and Dillon are placed in the lineup, we're not losing too much and often times we gain something in return. Gabe Gross' power was awful here, but he got on base A LOT and has been pretty darn good for TB in clutch situations. On the year he's batting .234/.342/.404. Not bad for adjusting to the AL. Counsell is doing what he does every year: below average BA, average OBP. And that's fine I guess. He came up big for the Crew this year when Rickie and JJ went down, which I appreciate. I just think there's better utility players out there who we could pay just as much with a better up side.

Well that's it. I think it's interesting how close I was on some and how incredibly off I was on others. Afterall, all you can do is go on intuition and my intuition was right on some, awful on others. There's still more than enough time to give my numbers some sort of validity, but I'd rather just worry about the game and enjoy it rather than think about my own ego.

Brewers Diamondbacks Game Two Recap

2008-07-02T08:37:00.003-05:00

The Score:
Milwaukee Brewers 8 Arizona D'Backs 6

MVPs of the Game:
JJ Hardy: 2/4; 2 HRs, BB, 3 Rs, 3 RBIs
Conor Jackson: 3/4; HR 2 Rs, 3 RBIs

Game Recap:
It seems like every time Ned Yost tosses out his 'B' sqaud, the Brewers score its fair share of runs. Tuesday night proved to be no different. Joe Dillon, who was in for Rickie Weeks who had a stomach virus, hit his second career homerun and Mike Rivera, who gave Prince Fielder the night off, had two hits and two RBIs in played phenomenal defense at first considering it was the first start of his career. But the story of the night was the pitching, or lack there of. Both Randy Johnson and Jeff Suppan were tossed around for their fair share of runs, but the Big Unit had a considerably hard time, giving up seven runs in 3.2 IP. The Diamondbacks would do their best to rally, but the Brewers defense and bullpen would not yield.

The Brewers offense started early yet again, getting a leadoff walk and two-run homerun from JJ Hardy before an out was even recorded. Corey Hart would single two batters later and steal second and third base before Mike Rivera knocked him in with his first RBI of the night, giving the Brewers the early 3-0 lead. But the Diamondbacks looked poised to repeat Monday nights antics and repay the favor in the bottom half. After a long long out by Stephen Drew, Justin Upton singled to bring up Orlando Hudson who grounded somewhat sharply down the third base line. Hall would set the trend in the game by ranging over and making a jump throw to barely get Hudson. This play would prove to be important as Conor Jackson singled home Upton, followed by another Mark Reynolds single, which would have scored Hudson. But Suppan would get Tracy to pop out to stifle the attack.

Stifling attacks wasn't Randy Johnson's MO On this night though as he allowed three more runs in the second via Joe Dillon's two-run blast, his first of the year, and JJ Hardy's second of the night. Bob Melvin finally saw enough in the fourth when Corey Hart took advantage of a JJ Hardy walk and stolen base and knocked him home.

But the Diamondbacks wouldn't be stifled either. Conor Jackson, Mark Reynolds, Chad Tracy and Chris Young all had multi-hit games, and most of them came in the fourth and fifth innings. The D'Backs would score two in the fourth on a couple of singles and a walk, and would get two more back in the fifth on a Justin Upton walk and a Conor Jackson two-run blast, making the score 7-5, putting the fear into Brewers fans all over. Mitch Stetter and David Riske, however, would quell those fears by pitching two scoreless innings and allowing the Brewers to tack on an insurance run on Mike Rivera's second RBI of the night.

Guillermo Mota would make things interesting though, seeing four batters of his own, all of which hit the ball right on the nose. But a spectacular play by Mike Rivera at first to snag a tailing liner on a diving stop and touch first for a double play, saved Mota from having to get pulled for Torres yet again. Torres would come in, nevertheless, but in the ninth inning and would work around a leadoff HBP to get his 14th save.

Game Changing Play:
Mike Rivera's double play was huge. If he doesn't make the catch, it's a double, possibly a triple down the line, and Chris Young scores while putting the tying run on second or third with only one out. This would have forced Mota out of the game. Instead, the two run lead was preserved for Torres who would work a relatively clean ninth inning.

Notes:
- In a three run game in the 8th, I thought for sure Yost was going to put Gagne in there and let him have his shot at the eighth inning role, especially because of Mota's recent command issues. Since Shouse has had a few days off, it was probably a good spot for him. If he gets in a pinch the first two batters, you bring in Shouse to fix things. But that wasn't the case. I'm not really sure when Yost is going to use the guy. We saw what happened to Dillard when he wasn't give work and it will be worse for Gagne who has only pitched in a live game twice in about a month. He needs to get in there and quick if there's any chance of him having any value.

- Mitch Stetter has found the strike zone! I'm so happy to see this kid's mental state return to the professional notch. He was so lights out when he got up here the first time an then slid off the deep end. That seems to be what's happening with Carlos Marmol in Chicago right now. Marmol trusts his stuff, but sometimes it's just too lively and he doesn't know where it's going. Stetter's problem is more of an arm slot issue because of how he follows through across the plate rather than on top of it. Nevertheless, another scoreless inning last night thanks to a spectacular catch by Billy Hall. You guys should check it out if you have the chance.

- Matt Cain blanked the Cubs over eight innings last night, allowing only two hits before Brian Wilson almost gave the game away in the top of the ninth. Instead the Brewers took the game back they lost on Monday from the Cubs and the Cardinals, who also lost. The Brewers need to take at least one more to get to .500 on the road trip before heading home to finish up the first half. It's been a wild run so far and as a grade, I would probably give them a C+. Yes the record is there, but the inconsistencies and high expectations make it difficult to grade them any better.

- Props to Mike Rivera, who plays about once every ten days. Jason Kendall is a rare breed as a catcher, and probably a dying breed at that. He has no problem working every day behind the plate and would prefer not to take any days off. As a result Rivera hasn't gotten much playing time, but he's made the most of the time he's had. Rivera was/is not that much of a threat at the plate. Even his AAA numbers are astoundingly awful the last few years, but perhaps the fresh eyes and knees allow him to be pretty reasonable. It's been a good story for me this year.

What's on Tap?:
The Brewers send Seth McClung to the mound tonight, trying to guarantee a series split before taking on Brandon Webb tomorrow afternoon. McClung struggled with his own head and command in his last outing. Let's see if he can bounce back. That's the most important thing for a young starter. The Diamondbacks are countering with Micah Owings who got rocked by the Crew and Manny Parra in his last outing at Miller Park. That day, at least, Owings looked like a pitcher at the plate. We'll see if he does that again and if Mark Reynolds can continue his run this series. He's 5/7 with a walk. Somebody has to stop that guy, or at least slow he and Conor Jackson down.

Brewers Diamondbacks Game One Recap

2008-07-01T10:14:00.003-05:00

The Score:
Milwaukee Brewers 3 Arizona D'Backs 6

MVPs of the Game:
JJ Hardy: 3/5; 2 2Bs, RBI, R
Mark Reynolds: 3/3; HR, 2 2Bs, 3 RBIs, R, BB

Game Recap:
Dave Bush reverted to the mean and the Brewers' offense fell quiet to Doug Davis and the Arizona bullpen, sending game one of the four game series to the home team. The first inning made this game look like it was going to be a high scoring affair, as both teams took advantage of mistake pitches and scored twice. But both pitchers would settle down until the fifth when Dave Bush, who pitched from behind all night, finally broke and tossed in a mental error for good measure allowing the D'backs to score three. Their bullpen, as it has all year, refused to break and Brandon Lyon finished the game with his 17th save of the year.

The game started in dramatic fashion, with Rickie Weeks battling Doug Davis and being rewarded with an eight pitch walk. Three pitches later he would score on a JJ Hardy double to dead center. After Ryan Braun, who really has me questioning his superstar talent, grounded out, Prince Fielder singled to score JJ. Unfortunately for the Brewers, Dave Bush would struggle just as badly, and get knocked around just as hard. After working the count full, Augie Ojeda tripled over Mike Cameron's head. It should have been a double with an error because Cameron bobbled the bounce off the wall, but I digress. Upton would drive in Ojeda with an RBI groundout. Stephen Drew would then double immediately after and score on a Mark Reynolds double, tying the game up at 2-2.

Things would quiet down then, as both pitchers settled in and pitched their game for three innings. However, the Dave Bush big inning struck again. On his third time through the lineup, Bush's pitches straightened out, and the top of the lineup attacked again. Augie Ojeda, who has been an incredible fill in this year for Orlando Hudson, led off with a single. After a harmless fly out, Stephen Drew would double to left on a little blooper over Bill Hall, leaving runners at second and third for Conor Jackson. Jackson would follow suit and bloop one one to right. Corey Hart played it perfectly, making a phantom catch to hold the runners and charging the blooper. The play at the plate was a close one, but was a foot down the third base line, which prevented Kendall from handling it. But things got worse. Dave Bush, who clearly is just not mentally there and gets down on himself, was still standing on the mound watching the play progress. As a result, there was no back up behind Kendall, allowing Drew to score and sending Jackson to second. Mark Reynolds would double in Jackson, making the score 5-2.

The Brewers were given only one more chance to make a come back and it followed in the very next inning. Interestingly the Brewers would do it without a hit. Fielder was hit by a pitch and Cameron and Kendall would walk, bringing up Gabe Kapler with the bases loaded and two outs. Kapler would take the count full and walk himself to make it a two run game. But Weeks was fooled by a nasty sinker to end the threat. Reynolds would get that run back an inning later and the game would finish 6-3.

Game Changing Play:
Dave Bush has a propensity for giving up flyballs, with a .90 GO/AO ratio this season. As a result, the two bloop hits, which my friends and I refer to as Cardinals' hits because of David Eckstein, in the fifth happen more often for him than other pitchers. The big one, however, was Jackson's. Corey should have had the guy easily. He was only 15-20 feet beyond the dirt of the infield and could have easily put the ball on a line to home. Instead he tossed a one hopper that tailed away and Dave Bush's laziness (But he's a 'competitor') allowed another run to cross.

Notes:
- I don't know if Eric Byrnes should stick around much longer. After a solid double down the left field line, Byrnes tried to steal third. Byrnes got a great jump, no matter what the unintelligible Bill Schroeder may think, but slowed down considerably and ultimately tried to jump slide way too early. He got up limping considerably, obviously destroying his hamstrings yet again. Shut it down Eric. The West is so awful this year, you can wait till September and actually be of use to your squad. Note: Byrnes was just placed on the DL. I caught it upon finishing this.

- Speaking of Bill Schroeder. I'm fully convinced this guy has very little legitimate baseball knowledge or he's just terrible on the fly. Ultimately, I think he just really isn't watching the game. He keeps telling me balls are catching too much of the plate, but are of or that balls are up and they're at the knees. Sinkers are four seamers and cutters and sliders. The guy just angers me. The kicker was when he told me that Dave Bush threw two pitches that were pretty good on the outside corner, but both were cock shots right down the middle of the plate. If it wasn't for the fact that Uecker has a 10 second delay on the radio, I would mute those two idiots. At least Brian Anderson has gotten a little more tolerable, but sometimes I think Trenni has a better concept of the game than either of them.

- People need to stop harping on Rickie Weeks considering he's had a better OBP than Ryan Braun practically all season. All these people at JS just whine about the guy, but they won't go after the prodigal son who took a discount so he could get paid now. Braun's OBP has dropped to .317. Now that's a rally killer. Somebody get the Cardinals batting coach in here to teach this kid about the strike zone. He and Bill Hall really gave the D'Backs nine free outs last night. You won't win many games if you only get 18 outs.

What's on Tap?:
Jeff Suppan toes the rubber tonight, taking on future HOFer Randy Johnson. Johnson has been pretty darn good this year, but struggled in the late innings against the Brewers at Miller Park on June 3rd. Soup was typical Soup against the D'Backs at Miller Park, going seven innings and giving up three despite seven hits and two walks. Thank God Doug Davis is off the mound though. That guy is just as deliberate as Steve Trachsel. West coast games are a struggle as it is when you're in a different time zone, but when they go three hours, it's hard to stay interested. Things should be a little different tonight.

Brewers Diamonbacks Series Preview

2008-06-30T08:49:00.003-05:00

After a few days off on this guy, it's back on the horse. Work has been incredibly busy and I'm fixing the house for a fourth roommate to save some cash. On with the show...

The Series:
Milwaukee Brewers (44-37) @ Arizona Diamondbacks (41-41)

Who's on Tap?:
June 30th: Dave Bush (4-7, 4.94 ERA) vs. Doug Davis (2-3, 3.68 ERA)
July 1st: Jeff Suppan (4-6, 4.05 ERA) vs. Randy Johnson (4-6, 4.94 ERA)
July 2nd: Seth McClung (5-3, 4.25 ERA) vs. Micah Owings (6-7, 5.18 ERA)
July 3rd: Manny Parra (8-2, 3.95 ERA) vs. Brandon Webb (12-4, 3.21 ERA)

Who Should You Watch?:
If you didn't know already, Arizona is finally 'healthy', as Eric Byrnes returned from the DL early last week. Unfortunately for the D'Backs, it hasn't been all that rewarding. Byrnes is 2 for 22 since coming back up and is struggling mightily at the plate. Brewer fans beware, though. Byrnes has five-tool talent and could shake the rust at any time. Elsewhere, keep an eye out for Conor Jackson, who is having a break-out year to keep his team afloat in the dismal NL West. Conor is batting .309/.402/.482 this season, up from his .286/.370/.449 career numbers. As a result, he's far and away the most consistent player on the team. Pitching-wise, the Brewers dodge Dan Haren, but this is a four game series so you're bound to see the ace. Brandon Webb is a sinker-baller who gets a considerable amount of ground balls. To top it off he can strike you out. Webb is a Brewers nightmare. In seven starts against Milwaukee, Webb has tossed 44 innings and given up only 13 earnies, while striking out 42 and walking 16. But the big stat is he has only given up four bombs. That's a recipe for disaster for a team that relies heavily on the long ball.

On the opposite side of the field, the Brewers come in needing to split this series to salvage a road trip of missed opportunities. The Cubs have lost four straight and opened the door, but neither St. Louis or Milwaukee could do a thing about it. If they plan on turning things around Prince Fielder is going to have to start playing. With each strikeout this week, he's losing dollars in arbitration. Prince is 1/24 in the last six games and has only walked once. And to top it off, he hasn't played very good defense in the last month. It's gut-wrenching for Brewers' fans, who saw Prince slug .618 last year, only to see it drop all the way back down to .488. The interesting thing is that it's not like Prince isn't getting anything to hit. With the ever so consistent Corey Hart behind him, he's getting plenty of fastballs and just swinging right through them. On the mound, it's time to really watch Dave Bush and Seth McClung. The trade deadline is not too far out and the market is finally starting to push to the buyer rather than the seller. Bush has had two solid outings since struggling A LOT to open the season, but limiting the free baserunners and the long ball has saved him considerably. I'm still not sure how his ERA is under five. Seth McClung has been pretty solid since entering the rotation and his upside is immeasurable when compared to Bush's. Seth struggled in his last start against the Twins, leaving far too many pitches over the plate after getting down in the count. Seth clearly didn't have the stuff that night. In any case, both need to show the organization something if they plan on staying in the rotation if a Sabathia, Greinke or Lee arrive in Milwaukee.

Keys to Victory:
The D'backs are struggling bad, going 3-7 in their last ten and 8-13 since getting swept in Milwaukee, and the problem is clearly still the offense. Their pitching staff has been okay, but not amazing. If they can manage four runs, they usually win. As a result, they'll need ot just be patient and take the baserunners they're given. Parra, Bush, McClung and Suppan have all had considerable command issues. They often get behind and find themselves, more often than not, in a fastball situation. McClung, at times, can get away with this because his ball has filthy movement, but Bush and Suppan cannot. Parra is kind of in between. As a result, the D'Backs will have to do their best to work the count and capitalize on those situations.

For the Brewers, walk... walk... walk... WALK! God, I can't take it anymore. These guys just do not like to walk, and really struggle with two strikes, which is proof that they don't have a very good concept of the strike zone. At this point, only Jason Kendall, Rickie Weeks and JJ Hardy are the only three guys who are more than happy to take their walks. Fielder, Braun, Cameron and Corey Hart, could give a crap. They'd rather swing at a 3-1 pitch out of the zone. Grow up guys. A .321 OBP this season is not going to score you runs on a regular basis. It's okay to rely on the long ball every now and then, and free runners will help you there, but games like Friday's or the first game in the Baltimore series, really get under my skin. They have walked just 13 times in their last six games, which is not very good. But it's pretty bad when you realize they've struck out 43 times during that period. Unproductive outs on bad pitches. It looks like the homestand was the anomaly, not the norm.

Predictions and Notes:
- First of all, props to Kevin Slowey. The guy was just nasty yesterday. After the Braves game against Campillo, Yost was talking up Jorge as if he was awesome that day. Yeah, the guy hit his spots, but the Brewers got themselves out more so that Campillo getting them out. Slowey, on the other hand, was sick nasty. His two seam fastball fooled me half the time. The late tail was practically unhittable. I know a good pitching game when I see one and Slowey really impressed me. The Twins always seem to have great young arms in their system. The Brewers should steal one of their scouts. Though, I am hoping to see what Jake Odorizzi and Jeremy Jeffress put together.

- The D'Backs are struggling so bad, that I'm convinced the Brewers have a shot at taking three games in Arizona. Will I actually predict that? Um, no. I can't see the Brewers taking down Webb or Doug Davis, who owned the Brewers in his last outing. The Brewers are just so inconsistent and Arizona has more than enough talent to capitalize on it. Arizona will have an excellent night tonight and on Thursday, but the Brewers offense will take advantage of Owings and Randy Johnson just as they did in Milwaukee. Webb will finish it off and send the Brewers packing with a split in the series and a split on the stand.

- The Brewers have a chance to make a big run if they split this road trip 5-5. Starting on Friday, they get three games against Pittsburgh (38-43), four games against Colorado (32-50) and three games against Cincinnati (38-45) at Miller Park (All but two of those games are in HD!). While the Cubs only real challenge is playing in St. Louis this weekend, the Brewers can simply put the pressure on them by continuing to win ball games at home. It's not too much to ask for the Crew to go 7-3 or 8-2 to finish up the first half.

- Eric Gagne returns to the Brewers bullpen this afternoon. I don't expect to see him out there unless there's at least a 2-3 run lead in the 7th or 8th inning. Yost, I suspect, doesn't really trust the guy. Unless Mota is clearly unable to pitch, he will take the 8th and Villa will continue in the 7th. To make room for him, the Brewers demoted Mark DiFelice, who was told to stretch out and work on his breaking pitches. DiFelice has the command and stamina to be in the bigs as a #4 or a #5 in this league. Unfortunately, it leaves the Brewers without a mop up or long innings guy. You can say Villanueva if you want, but that's a waste of talent.

- Since returning from the DL, Rickie Weeks is 7/28 with three walks. Not really good, but the ball is really jumping off his bat. The Brewers really need him to start producing, or a move for a guy like Brian Roberts might be too good to pass up for Doug Melvin if the price is cheap enough. Though, you have to imagine Rickie's numbers don't really suggest he'll get a lot in arbitration, so his potential upside is still going to be SUPER cheap for two years.

Brewers Braves Series Recap

2008-06-25T14:47:00.002-05:00

The Scores:
Milwaukee Brewers 4 Atlanta Braves 1
Milwaukee Brewers 4 Atlanta Braves 3
Milwaukee Brewers 2 Atlanta Braves 4

MVPs of the Series:
Rickie Weeks: 5/12; 2 2Bs, 3B, 2 Rs, 2 RBIs, SB, BB
Kelly Johnson: 4/12; 2B, 2 Rs, 3 RBIs, BB

Rickie has come off the DL with a vengeance. Despite a poor game on Tuesday, Rickie has hit the ball hard almost every time up. In today's game, he was the only Brewer to really look (ok sound) good at the plate, taking pitches and driving balls to the gaps. The result was a close game despite another awful game by the Brewers.

Kelly Johnson was in some way responsible for five of the Braves eight runs this series. That alone gives him the honor. Johnson did absolutely everything series to give his team a shot without Chipper in the lineup. He worked the count, found holes, played excellent defense and ran the bases excellently. They'll need him to continue doing this if Chipper cannot get back any time soon. Every pinch hit means they can't put him on the DL retroactively.

What Was the Difference?:
The Braves defense. Nothing really sticks out this series as far as the difference between these two squads. Both teams played two terrible games, the Brewers on Tuesday and Wednesday and the Braves on Monday and Tuesday. But the difference was the four errors, well five on Tuesday, which turned out to be the decisive game in the series.

Causes for Concern:
The Braves need Chipper Jones back and fast. This offense struggled terribly with him out of the lineup. The Braves managed 21 hits in the three game series, but only eleven in the first two games. It seems like the protection Chipper brings and his almost .500 OBP is absolutely essential for this group to have any success. Reuben Gotay just won't cut it and Omar Infante came up limping on Wednesday afternoon. The infielder situation is starting to look bleak. It might be in the best interest of the Braves to just put Chipper on the DL and let him get healthy because the they're going to need the extra help, especially if Infante is limited in any fashion.

The Brewers may have taken this series, but it wasn't pretty. After game one the patience and plate discipline practically disappeared. I couldn't even watch the game on Tuesday without screaming every couple of seconds at the idiotic moves by both teams. Baseball like that makes me sick and really question the ability of the players. It's like this team is a two headed monster. Which one goes to battle depends on whether or not they're on the road or particularly confident that day. This means they could make a huge run for a long period of time, and at the other end fumble for just as long. That's scary, but the Rockies did it last year. They just fumbled at the wrong time.

Causes for Excitement:
The Braves have something in Charlie Morton and Jorge Campillo. I was impressed with both of these guys, though I didn't get to watch yesterday afternoon's game. I did get to see him on my birthday. Both of these pitchers showed excellent control of their stuff even if their stuff isn't phenomenal. The Braves organization always seems to find these very serviceable guys, who just do the work they're asked to do. I know Campillo impressed a lot of folks yesterday, even if it was the free swinging, poor disciplined Brewers he made look silly. It should be fun to see how long he can sustain this immense success considering this is he is 29 and this is first full season in the bigs.

Rickie Weeks was incredible this series. He struggled at the plate on Tuesday, but he more than made up for it in the field and at the plate the other two games. Rickie, who recently just came off the DL, simply shortened up his swing. He's got lightening quick hands and if he simply lets his ability takeover and tries not to do too much, he's got as much talent as any one on this team. I'm a bit of a Weeks apologist. The guy deserves the leadoff role because he has the best concept of the strike zone on the team. But it's such a mental thing with him. He always seems to be pressing to hard. It's when he goes in there and just lets things happen, this kind of series happens. Hopefully he's got things completely figured out and we'll see sustained success the rest of the season.

Brewers Braves Game Two Recap

2008-06-24T21:31:00.006-05:00

The Score:
Milwaukee Brewers 4 Atlanta Braves 3

MVPs of the Game:
Jason Kendall: 2/3; BB, SB, 2 Rs
Mark Teixeira: 2/4; HR, 2B, 2 RBIs, 2 Rs

Game Recap:
The Atlanta Braves lost this game. And I won't say any more than that because, in my opinion, the Brewers sure didn't win it, despite Dave Bush's quality outing. Bobby Cox's team committed three errors in the first inning and set the tone for the entire game until the bottom of the ninth. Mark Teixeira's heroics wouldn't be enough though, only blemishing Salomon Torres' ERA, not his current save streak.

With ground ball pitcher Charlie Morton taking the mound, it was clear the Braves would need some sure handed defense if they wanted to keep the Brewers off the board. Two pitches into the game, it was pretty clear that wasn't going to happen. Rickie Weeks followed up his stellar game yesterday with a pitiful performance of trying to pull outside pitches. In the first inning, though, there was a vast nothingness at the shortstop position, where the usually sure-handed Yuniel Escobar often stands. After Rickie reached on Escobar's error, JJ Hardy singled to left, bringing up Ryan Braun. Braun would promptly single to the right side allowing Rickie to score, but an error by Jeff Francouer allowed JJ to advance to third. This would turn out to be a big moment for the Crew. After a harmless flyout by Prince, Corey Hart hit a soft dribbler to the left side for a fielder's choice, which under normal circumstances would have left runners at the corners. Instead, JJ Hardy would score, leaving the game at 2-0.

The Brewers would play a little small ball to get their third run in the second inning. After a Jason Kendall single, Dave Bush would bunt him to second. This again turned out to be important as Rickie ripped a routine double play ball to short, that turned out to be only one out. This allowed JJ Hardy an AB with RISP, which he took an advantage by promptly doubling over the head of Brandon Jones, who COMPLETELY misplayed the ball. Outfielders get the benefit of not being called for errors on routine balls, as long as they don't touch them.

Jason Kendall would start this process all over again in the fourth with a walk, stolen base, sac bunt and sac fly to make the game 4-0 for Dave Bush who did well tonight. Bush avoided the long ball and the free pass, which have been his Achilles' heal on the road, en route to a fantastic outing. When the game was complete, his line read 7 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, BB and 5 K, which is a nice follow up to his near no-hit outing last week.

But that line makes it seem like this one was a no brainer, which was not the case at all. After picking up a run on an RBI groundout in the seventh, the Braves took on the Brewers lights out closer, Salomon Torres in the ninth. Since taking the ninth inning role, Torres has been almost perfect, but tonight, he faltered and just could not find the strike zone. He started the ninth with a walk to Kelly Johnson, starting him out 3-0. This mistake was seen by Mark Teixeira who sat dead red on a first pitch fastball and took it to the opposite field for a two run blast. This turned a comfortable three run lead into a one run nail biter with nobody out.

To make things worse, Brian McCann would follow this up with a single, putting the tying run on first with nobody out. After a sac bunt by Omar Infante to put the runner in scoring position, Torres would bare down and get Jeff Fracouer to ground out. And this is where the excellent call came in by Ned Yost. After Yuniel Escobar was tossed from the game in the fourth inning and Cox using two pinch hitters and two pinch runners, only one batter is left on his bench. That man is back-up catcher Corky Miller, who is batting .100 on the season. As a result, Ned would walk Brandon Jones, who is batting over .300 on the season, and put the go-ahead run at first. That's risky business, but come on! Corky Miller? After battling the strike zone again, Torres got Corky to line out softly to short to preserve a 4-3 victory.

Game Changing Play:
After Prince Fielder was too slow to bend over on a ball by Gregor Blanco, Yuniel Escobar would single to put runners on first and second with nobody out in the fourth inning. Kelly Johnson then lined out to Prince Fielder who dove for Yuniel Escobar in a bang bang play that went the Brewers way. Bobby Cox did his best to get out there to prevent his shortstop from getting tossed, but he was too late and Escobar was gone. The play could have gone either way, but Escobar getting tossed put Cox in a bind. With Chipper Jones limited to pinch hitting and not allowed run the bases, Cox would be forced to use a pinch runner if he gets on, which he did later. In the end, he ran out of subs and Escobar getting tossed put him there.

Notes:
- The Brewers played a terrible game tonight and got away with another victory. That seems to have a happened a lot this year. It makes me wonder how long they'll be able to get away with it or if they'll start playing a good baseball like they have over the last week or so.

- Interestingly, every team in the NL East is on a two game losing streak and the Brewers are a game ahead of the division leading Phillies.

- The Cubs got their first look at the future without Carlos Zambrano. They lost 7-5, breaking a 14 game home winning-streak. This puts the Brewers only 5.0 GB from the NL leaders, though St. Louis won, keeping that gap at 1.5 GB.

- Eric Gagne through a scoreless inning in his rehab assignment on Tuesday night. He's probably one or two outings away from coming back into the 'pen. Say goodbye to Mitch Stetter until the next injury.

What's on Tap?:
I can't believe I'm saying this, but the Brewers are going for a series sweep against Braves tomorrow afternoon. It would be a fantastic way to start the road-trip, but is it going to happen? Jeff Suppan will need to get it done against Jorge Campillo if it is so.

Are the Brewers Really That Good?

2008-06-24T09:20:00.002-05:00

It's time to really ask that question. Since getting swept in insulting fashion in Boston, the Brewers are 22-10, turning Ned Yost's red hot manager's seat into a comfortable recliner. But have the Brewers been playing different baseball since leaving the not-so friendly confines of Fenway Park? I'm not sure, but does feel like it, especially after the last eight games or so.

Before Fenway and the debauchery that followed them the rest of the homestand, the Brewers were a 20-24 team on the border of destruction. Just two weeks before they were riding the reigns of ace Ben Sheets and future ace Yovani Gallardo into the mix of all things playoff talk, when Gallardo was taken out by Prince Fielder in a freak play that ended Yo's season. Brewers' fans called for the season, myself included, and for good reason. Up to that point, the Brewers were batting a measely .242/.317/.396. They couldn't hit a homerun for the life of them and couldn't take a walk even if it was handed to them. The pitching, which struggled before YoGo arrived was tossing a 4.70 ERA up on the board, walking betters regularly and giving up lots of homeruns. It looked like there was no light at the end of the tunnel.

But then something happened. Ryan Braun signed a seven year deal, Ned Yost stopped caring about feelings and Ryan Braun called his teammates out.

All of it was pretty unexpected.

It all started on the 14th of May. Brewers' fans who are constantly checking boards and the news heard the deal was coming and that a press conference was to be held the following morning to announce a record contract. And a record contract it was. Ryan Braun signed a 7 year deal worth $45 million, locking him up until 2015. It was a sign. A sign that the Brewers 1. were finally willing to open their pockets, 2. were dedicated to their young players and 3. were dedicated to winning. But it didn't translate right away. Following the signing the Brewers went lost four straight games, three of which were a sweep in Boston.

Ryan Braun took the money to heart and called out his teammates. Braun said, "I don't think we ever expected to win. It was kind of like we were just content to be there and compete, but I don't think we ever necessarily expected to win. Obviously, [the Red Sox] are a great team. It's a good gauge of where we're at when we can go out and compete with those guys, but for us as a team, our goal can't be to compete, our goal has to win. To come in here and win the series would have been extremely difficult, but it's real disappointing to come in here and get swept." Some fans couldn't believe it. How could this guy, who has less than a full season under his belt, have the audacity to call his teammates out on a public forum?

A week later, it didn't matter. Braun and his teammates responded to the sweep and perhaps the comment by winning the series in Pittsburgh and splitting a four game series against the Nationals. While they should have expected more, it was a start. There was still plenty to shake up.

When Yost and Melvin agreed to call up some muscle in Russell Branyan on May 25th, they forced Bill Hall from the hot corner when righties toed the mound. After a miserable sub-.170 BA against them, I was pleased with Billy leaving, but not thrilled with the arrival of Branyan. Not many people remember Russell was a Brewer from 2004-2005. While here, he struck out a ton, hit long bombs and hit for low average and OBP. Could he really have changed that much? Apparently so. Since arriving, Branyan is hitting .300/.390/.800 with 10 bombs and 17 RBIs, not to mention, 11 walks and 25 Ks. The eruption of power was contagious. Since the Boston series the Brewers are hitting .270/.337/.485 with 54 HRs in 32 games and over 1200 PAs.

But the changes didn't stop there. With both Carlos Villanueva and Dave Bush struggling in the rotation, something had to be done to stabilize the back end of the rotation and on May 24th, Seth McClung was allowed to start his first big league game in two years. The results have been positive to say the very least. Seth is sporting a 3.79 ERA and has won four of the six games he has started, and probably could have taken another if he didn't face a spot on Roy Oswalt. Just like hitting, pitching can be contagious and since Seth's arrival, just a series after Boston, the Brewers staff has tossed 287.1 innings and is sporting a 3.32 ERA and have avoided the long ball, while allowing teams to hit only .238/.301/.384. That's a huge improvement from the first 394 innings, when teams were hitting .273/.352/.440.

Can the Brewers keep it up? I'm not so sure about the pitching, but the bats have the potential to have continued success. In their last 8 games the Brewers have walked 35 times and are hitting .272/.351/.526. If they continue to walk and hit for average, this offense is more than capable of making up for a few falters through the rotation. NL foes beware. This team is poised to make a move and are already in the midst of it.

Brewers Braves Game One Recap

2008-06-23T22:15:00.002-05:00

The Score:
Milwaukee Brewers 4 Atlanta Braves 1

MVPs of the Game:
Ben Sheets: CG, 4 H, 1 ER, 7 Ks
Buddy Carlyle: 4.1 IP, 2 H, 1 BB, 4 K

Game Recap:
Ben Sheets pitched his third complete game in the season en route to a huge Brewers victory that starts their 10-gam road-trip. This made him the story all night, working fast and tossing strikes. It took him only 106 pitches, 73 for strikes, to get through 31 batters all while not allowing a single Brave to get an RBI. This performance gave him his ninth win of the season and lowered his ERA to 2.59.

The Brewers offense showed up for a little bit, doing all of their work in the second and third innings. Corey Hart led off the second with an impressive at bat that was rewarded by a single, bringing up Mike Cameron. Cameron would work his way ahead of Braves pitcher Jo-Jo Reyes, and then turned on a ball and sent it to the left field bleachers, giving the Brewers yet another homerun. In the third, a red hot Rickie Weeks stepped up to the plate and ripped a ball to the gap for a double. JJ Hardy would follow suit with a double of his own, and so would Ryan Braun for three consecutive doubles and a 4-0 lead.

Soon after, things really quieted down. After getting Fielder to fly out, Reyes walked Hart and Cameron prompting Bobby Cox to pull the lever and bring in Buddy Carlyle. Carlyle induced a line-out from Billy Hall and fly out from Jason Kendall to end the bases loaded threat. And that was the story for the Brewers offense the rest of the night. The Brewers blew a big opportunity and really wouldn't get one the rest of the night as Carlyle saved his team from a blow up game that could have stuck with them the rest of the series. Carlyle ended up pitching 4.1 solid innings of baseball, saving the Braves bullpen, all while keeping them in the game, even if it didn't seem like it with Sheets on the mound.

Game Changing Play:
In the fourth inning the Braves were threatening for the first, and really the only time all night. The had runners on first and third with no one out with their stud catcher, Brian McCann up to bat. Ahead 2-1 and with the curveball really not working, the Braves were sitting on fastballs, but McCann couldn't get around on it and grounded into an easy double play. The run scored, but it really deflated the Braves and amped up Ben Sheets, who praised Jason Kendall yet again after the victory.

Notes:
- With this win the Brewers are only 1.5 GB from the wild card, 5.5 GB from the division leading Cubs, and are eight games above .500, which is a season best. Interestingly they're doing it with good defense, plate discipline and quality pitching: signs of good teams. Yes the homerun ball is still the pillar to their success, but they haven't pushed that too far yet.

- Sheets is leading the National League in CGs and is second only to Roy Halladay in the entire league. And with less than half of the season done, it's interesting to note Sheets is on pace to pitch over 200 innings for the first time since 2004, when he finished with 237 IP and a 2.70 ERA. That kind of season could really put the Brewers over the top.

- The Brewers dodged a huge bullet as Chipper Jones wasn't in the lineup for the second day in a row, as he rested his quad, which he slightly tore a few days ago. The Braves desperately need Jones' bat after mustering only four hits tonight. The question is, do he Braves want to risk it? That's not up to me, but I hope not. The Brewers could use two more victories.

Who's on Tap?:
The Brewers ride a three game winning streak into game two with Dave Bush on the mound taking on Charlie Morton, who has never faced the Brewers. The Braves will need to play with a little more confidence if they want to keep up that home record and stop a streaking Milwaukee squad.

Brewers Braves Series Preview

2008-06-23T14:00:00.002-05:00

Well, somehow I've found time to sit down for 20 minutes here and there. This could be a bit scatter brained, but I'll do my best to be type swiftly so as to stay in the moment with each section.

The Series:
Milwaukee Brewers (41-34) @ Atlanta Braves (38-39)

Who's on Tap?:
June 23rd: Ben Sheets (8-1, 2.74 ERA) vs. Jo-Jo Reyes (3-4, 4.05 ERA)
June 24th: Dave Bush (3-7 5.26 ERA) vs. Charlie Morton (1-0 4.91 ERA)
June 25th: Jeff Suppan (4-5, 3.92 ERA) vs. Jorge Campillo (2-2, 2.54 ERA)

Who Should You Watch?:
In case you haven't noticed, Prince Fielder is on fire right now, and when he's hot, he hits them in bunches. This weekend was no exception, as he knocked three homeruns against the Orioles, sending the Brewers to a 6-3 homestand following their previous 8-1 homestand. As a result, Fielder has improved his numbers to .292/.380/.528. On the mound, keep your eye on Dave Bush and Ben Sheets. Obviously, Sheets is the ace of this staff and it's fun to watch a guy who works so quickly take the mound. Don't blink, you may miss an entire inning. As for Dave Bush, I'm not saying watch him because he's good. We all know my feelings about this guy, but after his last start, you give him his props and ask him a question: 'Can you do it again?'. I have my doubts, as far as a good start goes anyways, but it's not impossible.

The Braves are 27-12 at home this year and a lot of that has to do with their offense. And the biggest threat on their offense at home is none other than Chipper Jones, who is batting .456/.536/.720 in 125 ABs this year with nine homeruns and 29 RBIs. That is really something to behold. Chipper is having a rough month though, batting just .321/.441/.554. I know guys on the Brewers who would kill to have that line. Unfortunately for Chipper, this has caused his BA to drop 27 points in just 11 days. The problem appears to be he's only played seven games at home this month. He has a hit in every single one of those games. On the mound, the Brewers dodge yet another bullet, avoiding Jurrjens and Tim Hudson. Unfortunately, they do have to take on Mr. Campillo, who has been nothing but impressive since joining the rotation. This is Campillo's first full season in the majors and he's taking advantage of it. IN his seven starts Campillo has given up 14 runs in 38.2 innings (3.29 ERA). In his last start against Milwaukee he was only allowed to toss 73 pitches, but gave up only one run in five while striking out six. The Brewers will need a much better performance against the up and coming righty.

Keys to Victory:
The last time these two teams squared off, hitting was at a minimum. The Brewers scored five runs the entire series and took two victories. That won't happen again. As a result, they're going to need to score runs, lots and lots of runs. That means production out of the 3-4-5 hole. The Brewers will not be able to rely a JJ Hardy or a Jason Kendall this week, but they better hope that those guys get on base. Braun, Fielder, Hall and Branyan will need to be patient as guys like Reyes and Morton will pitch around or just flat out walk guys. But there's a glitch, these guys don't give up a lot of homeruns, so the Brewers will have to concede to putting the ball into the gaps and riding the merry-go-round.

The Braves are going to need their starters to go deep into games if they plan on returning the favor of taking a series. The Braves bullpen has been an adventure. Case and point: Manny Acosta and Rafael Soriano are tied for the team-lead in saves at just three, and the team itself only carries a total of 12 saves. When the Braves win, they don't do it by small margins. The problem is, the Brewers can score runs, lots of them, so they'll need the starters to keep the ball from the bullpen and do the work themselves.

Predictions and Notes:
- You have a team who's terrible on the road and a team that's great at home, should be a no-brainer right. I'm not quite sure, but the baseball mind says this one, at the very least, will be the funnest of the three road series the Brewers have in the next two weeks. Sheets is 8-3 with a 4.80 ERA against Atlanta, which is a plus, but the last time I actually watched Sheets pitch in Atlanta, he left with that torn latimus muscle (I think that's what it's called), and the fear got put into me a bit. Sheets had one of his worst starts last week, as did Suppan, but I think the Brewers will get to Reyes and not Campillo, making the series a toss-up based on tomorrow's game with Bush and Morton on the mound. The Brewers have never faced Charlie Morton, so I'm assuming he'll look like an ace, no matter how well or poor Dave Bush may pitch, giving the Braves the series.

- The Brewers start a 11-day, 10-game road trip today against the Braves, Twins and D'Backs before going home to finish the first half. Only two games out of the Wild Card, these last 20 games will be vitally important. Somebody will have to step up big for the Brewers and anything less that 6-4 on this trip will make the ride home hard to swallow.

- Banterings about C.C. Sabathia continue to show up, but the Brewers can't afford to get him. While giving away some prospects isn't a bad idea at all, what the organization would have to give up for a two month rental doesn't make much sense. There's plenty this team can do with those prospects in the future once their true potential is understood. Trading guys like Prince, JJ, Gwynn or Weeks will garner more trade value 2-3 years from now, and allow the Brewers to stay competitive longer if any prospect can take their place. The Brewers do need a starting pitcher to put them over the top, but I doubt they'd be particularly successful in the playoffs, making the future stars more important in the years to come. I would have problem if the Brewers simply stood pat and let the problems work themselves out a little longer.

Brewers Orioles Series Recap

2008-06-23T08:31:00.002-05:00

Things continue to be very hectic at work. Again, I'll try to get a preview out for the Braves series that starts tonight in Atlanta, but no promises. There's lots of reading and sample prep to be completed. On to the recap.

Scores Recap:
Milwaukee Brewers 5 Baltimore Orioles 8
Milwaukee Brewers 3 Baltimore Orioles 2
Milwaukee Brewers 7 Baltimore Orioles 3

MVPs of the Series:
Prince Fielder: 5/11; 3 HRs, 2B, 6 RBIs, 5 Rs, 2 BBs
Brian Roberts: 5/11; 3 2Bs, 3 BBs, 3 Rs

Prince Fielder was off his rocker this weekend, and especially on Sunday, when he single handedly willed the Brewers to victory. I missed most of Friday's game, but it appears he did his best to try and keep them in that as well, but hitting a two run blast and getting on two more times. I guess I was a series too late on the call that he was about to carry this squad. The Brewers will need more like this from him as they head to Atlanta and Minnesota this week.

Brian Roberts displayed why fans were intrigued by Ken Rosenthal's article about a straight up trade for Rickie Weeks. This switch hitting second baseman put on a show in the field and at the plate. Ultimately, he set the table for guys like Huff and Markakis and scored all three runs for the Orioles on Sunday. He may be over 30, but the guy can play and continues to have a good career ahead of him.

What Was the Difference?:
No surprise here, the long ball. The Brewers never snagged ten hits this series, but when they did hit it, they made it count. In three game the Brewers knocked seven balls out of the park, amounting to 12 of there 15 runs. The Orioles, on the other hand, only hit three. While they walked a considerable amount, seventeen times, they just could not get them to the plate. The Brewers walked nineteen times and got over the hump by putting it over the wall.

Causes for Concern:
The Baltimore Orioles have to wonder how they let this series slip away. After an 8-5 victory on Friday, their bats practically fell out of their hands, as they only managed 10 hits in the final two games after accumulating 13 in the first game. The problem? The bottom of their order. After the clean-up hitter, the Orioles went 9/46 (.196 BA). While they walked seven times, they also made the mistake of grounding into three double plays and scored only three runs the entire series. I was impressed with most of the Orioles squad, but if they plan on continuing to stay afloat, they better get some help at the back end of their line-up.

The bullpen, which has been fantastic for almost two months now, looks to be in a bit of trouble. David Riske and Guillermo Mota, who have been pretty darn good in their play, have struggled mightily. Unfortunately, this means struggles are to come in the 7th and 8th innings when it's their turn to take the ball. Villanueva, DiFelice and Shouse have really stepped up their game to pick up these two guys, but that can only last for so long. Sooner or later these guys are going to need to find it again, and I have no doubt they will. Riske needs to dust off some rust from that elbow and Mota needs a couple of days off, since Yost has used him nearly as much as he's used Salomon Torres.

Causes for Excitement:
If the Orioles bottom half of the lineup was a cause for concern, their 1-4 part of the lineup is something worth cheering about. Nick Markakis and Brian Roberts are straight ball players. These guys have an exceptional awareness of the strike zone, can steal bases and can hit for power. It's the recipe for consistency, and why the Orioles will have no trouble moving these guys if they ever wanted to. Roberts might get the heave-ho, but Markakis will get himself another three years of Orioles baseball and is not a bad guy to start building around. Though it's pretty difficult to build a monster that's good enough to take on teams like the Yankees and Red Sox on a regular basis.

The Brewers took walks! Oh my! I could not have been happier with Friday's and Saturday's game. The Brewers took five walks on Saturday and 11 on Friday. While both games were tight and the Brewers did lose one of those, there was no doubt they wouldn't even have been in that game if it wasn't for some plate discipline. The Brewers scored five runs on seven hits Friday. Three of the runs that scored, reached via the walk. If the Brewers have found some way to improve their plate discipline, they may have ventured on to something big and could start to levy an attack on the NL Central leading Cubs. After their ten game road trip, the Brewers finish the first half with a ten game homestand against the Pirates, Rockies and Reds and then go to San Francisco to start the second half. It could be a very interesting four weeks.

Notes:
- Mark DiFelice has been outstanding his last couple of outings and has done an incredible job eating up innings. From June 17th to June 22nd, DiFelice tossed 5.1 innings an gave up one run on four hits, while striking out seven and walking no one. In fact, DiFelice has net to walk a batter this season and has struck out 14 in his 13.2 innings.

- Rickie Weeks returned to the line-up in yesterday's game and went 0 for 3 with a walk. Unfortunately, bloop hits look like line drives in the box score and line drive outs look like lazy fly balls. Weeks turned on a pitch in the first that was right at the left fielder and then put one in the gap with bases loaded that was barely run down. I've said this elsewhere, but if this guy can get a few breaks and work that BABIP up, Fielder and Braun may have career years yet again.

- Props to Carlos Villanueva for completely saving the bullpen this weekend after Suppan went just 1.2 innings on Friday. After DiFelice tossed 2.1 innings, Villanueva pitched four solid, only giving up a homerun to the hot hot hot Aubrey Huff. Carlos pounded the strike zone and allowed Ned to have a fresh bullpen for Saturday and Sunday.

- Seth McClung is about one start away from getting my full confidence. He's been ahead of Bush for quite some time, but I always get nervous when he's on the mound because he gets away with a lot of mistakes. The more I watch him, however, the more I understand why he can get away with it. His ball is just alive and has some real nasty sink. The only worry is that as his pitch count gets higher, these balls will straighten out, and with his velocity, solid contact goes a long way. He'll get his shot this week against the Twins in Minnesota. Let's see what the hostile environment does to the guy. It will be well worth the watch.

Brewers Blue Jays Series Recap

2008-06-20T08:33:00.002-05:00

I will do my best to get out a series preview for tonight's series against the Orioles, but the boss is on a mission to get an abstract out and the data just isn't there. As a result, I may have to sacrifice a few days of writing for some hardcore sample preparation and data collection. It doesn't help that I'm the process of renovating my basement so I can move in down there in a few weeks. But we'll make it work because it appears I have some loyal readers despite the quiet comments sections at time.

Scores Recap:
Milwaukee Brewers 7 Toronto Blue Jays 0
Milwaukee Brewers 5 Toronto Blue Jays 4
Milwaukee Brewers 8 Toronto Blue Jays 7

MVPs of the Series:
Russell Branyan: 3/9; 3 HRs, 6 RBIs, BB
Lyle Overbay: 3/9; HR, 3B, 2 RBIs, 2 Rs, 3 BBs, 0 Ks

There were a lot of people you could have picked for the Brewers MVP this week. I really was leaning towards Salomon Torres because of his two innings were real important ones. You could have even gone with Braun or Fielder who both had good series, but Russell 'The Muscle' has been the catalyst of this team since his arrival. Yesterday's game was the case and point. I whine about walks all day and every day. Hart and Fielder led off the third inning with walks, which is a feat in itself, to bring up Branyan. Branyan promptly took a few balls and smoked a ball to the right center field bleachers for a three run bomb. Good things happen when you take free baserunners.

The Blue Jays didn't play very good baseball this week, but Lyle Overbay did a very good job getting on base and being patient at the plate. Overbay has struggled since breaking his hand last year, but has been making up for his low average by taking a lot of pitches and walking. That's exactly what Overbay did this week, getting on at .500 clip during the series. Unfortunately for him, nobody could get him all the way around the bases and his patience practically went for naught. Nevertheless, his return to Milwaukee was a successful one, showing us that he's the same old 'O' in the field and at the plate. He will always be a fan favorite here.

What Was the Difference?:
Starting pitching. The Brewers swept the Blue Jays because in 21 innings of work, the starters only gave up three runs (1.28 ERA). The Jays starters, who up to this point have been some of the best in the league, weren't nearly as good, giving up 16 runs in just 15 innings of work (9.6 ERA). You could have said the long ball if you wanted to, but the Blue Jays practically stole a game on Thursday because of the long ball.

Causes for Concern:
The Brewers can't really be happy with the bullpen this week, which struggled pretty hard on Wednesday and Thursday, but the offense and Salomon Torres picked up the pieces. Bullpens are allowed down times. Perhaps the offense can carry them long enough to get them back on tract. Other than that, I personally was not happy seeing only two walks total in the first two games of the series and heavy reliance on the long ball. However, they did quell some of my worries by walking six times in yesterday's game. Of those six free baserunners, three scored. All of these turned out to be huge runs. I can still hope they'll keep doing this right?

If I were a Jays fan I would be really worried about AJ Burnett, who made comments that made it sound like he was ready to leave an then promptly gets his ass handed to him in his next start. Let him go to the Blue Jays. If Milwaukee can rock him this bad now, imagine what they can do after they've seen him a couple of times. Other than that the Jays have to wonder what the hell is going on with their offense. With Rios and Wells in your lineup, you should expect a lot more. They showed up a little late on Thursday, but more consistency would do wonders. Why Matt Stairs is ever batting clean up is beyond me. That is perhaps why the Jays coach is on the hot seat.

Causes for Excitement:
Brewers starters have been extremely impressive over the past month or so, McClung and Parra especially. Though McClung didn't pitch in this series, his start against the Twins was a huge pick me up for this team and Parra followed it up by tossing seven shutout innings. Even when Sheets is off, he's an ace. And finally Dave Bush flirted with a no-no, though I was screaming for it to end in the sixth because now whenever Bush is terrible, Yost will be able to defend it with, "You know, he's good enough to almost get a no hitter. He was just missing tonight." AHH! I'm not going to be able to handle that. Anyways, 18 of the last 22 starts for the Brewers have been 'quality starts', which is more than making up for the Brewers inconsistent offense and low OBP.

It looks like Vernon Wells is back on his horse. While the numbers weren't overwhelming this series, Wells looked healthy and smooth at the plate. That's a big must for the Jays who really need a boost of confidence. Elsewhere, I'd say that Marcum and McGowan, though they struggled still looked pretty good. McGowan struck out five in four innings and Marcum six in six. The Brewers just had hot sticks this week. Every time they got wood on it, it was elevated and carrying. Looking at their homerun numbers prior to this week, this was the worst case scenario for both and they'll come back better than ever in their next few starts.

Notes:
- Julian Tavarez was DFA'd this week to make room for David Riske, who gave up a grand slam yesterday in his return. The Brewers want Tavarez to go to AAA and get some innings to sharpen up again, as if he was that sharp the last five years.

- Yost finally conceded that Salomon Torres is the Brewers official closer despite Eric Gagne scheduled to return from the DL next week. This was a no brainer. It just took Gagne getting close for this to be said. Gagne will probably be a 7th or 8th inning option after a few innings of mop up work. If he can avoid the walks, he has the potential to be effective.

- Dillard got raped again yesterday, but I'll blame it on Yost refusing to use him yet again. Prior to this huge blow ups, Dillard was getting work every other or every two days. His last two outings were separated by five days. How do you stay sharp? It's frustrating to see a manager waste a talent like Dillard.

Brewers Blue Jays Game Two Recap

2008-06-19T08:55:00.003-05:00

The Score:
Brewers 5 Blue Jays 4

MVPs of the Game:
Mike Cameron: 1/4; HR, SB, 2 Rs, 2 RBIs
Greg Zaun: 2/3; HR, 2B, BB, R, 3 RBIs

Game Recap:
The Brewers stroked two more solo homeruns and scored two big runs on good baserunning from third base to take game two of this interleague series. Ben Sheets struggled with his command because his stuff had a little too much movement, but he managed just fine, going six innings and givin up only two runs. Shaun Marcum didn't live up to his numbers, giving up four in six innings, though he did strikeout six and walked only one. The Brewers just had his number. The game came down to the wire though as the Brewers bullpen bent, but didn't break as a result of Torres' four out save, his ninth of the year.

The scoring started with the long ball, which is the usual for the Brewers and their new third baseman, Russell Branyan. Branyan crushed a ball to left center and hit the scoreboard for a 445-foot bomb in the second inning. The Blue Jays tied it up with some small ball with two outs in the fourth. After a Vernon Wells single, Lyle Overbay walked, bringing up Greg Zaun. After fighting off a few pitches, Zaun promptly drilled an opposite field double down the left field line, scoring Wells and tying the game.

The Brewers answered immediately. Corey Hart led off the inning with a ground-rule double. Hart advanced to third on a shallow fly ball to right that Matt Stairs played all too non-chalantly, bringing up Mike Cameron. A swinging bunt and the immediate break for home by Hart brought the run in, despite Marcum's best attempt, giving the Brewers a 2-1 lead that they would never relinquish. Cameron would advance to third on a single by Jason Kendall one batter later, when Ben Sheets came up.

For those of you who don't know. Sheets looks like a minor leaguer at the plate, but his recent trend of just swinging hard has paid huge dividends. Nevertheless, he didn't have to swing this time. Sheets dropped a bunt down right in front of home plate. Scott Rolen broke half way to home as catcher Greg Zaun tried looking back Cameron at third. Cameron simply followed Rolen wherever he went, until Zaun tossed the ball to first. The second the ball was released, Cameron broke for home as he was about a quarter of the way up the path already. Cameron ran right through the plate despite a perfect throw from Overbay and gave the Brewers a 3-1 lead.

The Blue Jays didn't budge however, scoring runs in the 6th, 7th and 8th, all coming from the bottom half of the order. Vernon Wells doubled and scored in the 6th. Scutaro, pinch hitting for the pitcher singled and scored in the seventh and Zaun smoked a first pitch fastball from Mota into the stands in the eighth. But the Brewers would just keep answering back, scoring one of their own in the sixth and seventh innings on Mike Cameron's homerun and an RBI single by Corey Hart in the 7th.

Things got a little interesting in the 8th though. After Greg Zaun's homerun, David Eckstein stroked a two out double to the gap and Marco Scutaro walked. That was enough of Mota for Yost, who brought in Torres. After walking Brad Wilkerson, Torres induced a groundball from Inglett to end the bases loaded threat and pitched a harmless ninth to finish the game.

Game Changing Play:
The Brewers were awarded an extra baserunner in the fourth when Cameron had the swinging bunt and Marcum was unable to get Hart at home. Cameron would end up scoring two batters later. Instead of conceding the run, the Jays gave up a second which was the difference in this one run affair.

Notes:
- Branyan has nine homeruns already in just 59 ABs and 18 hits. Of those 18 hits, 13 of them are for extra bases, giving him an .831 slugging so far. That's absurd, even for the sample size. Interestingly, he's walked 10 times in that span. Ryan Braun has walked 12 in 289 ABs. He could learn something from the guy.

- The Brewers are lucky to have a guy like Torres right now. Their bullpen has been lights out for a while, and it's about time they come back to earth. Torres has been asked to pitch a lot of innings, and has had some pivotal 4-5 out performances to save the struggling Mota. When Gagne gets back, he should immediately be moved to the 7th or 8th inning role along with Riske, who returns today.

- The Brewers are the only team in the NL Central to have won the last two nights. As a result they've gained two games on the Cubs and Cardinals, who have been struggling against the Rays and Royals. The Cubs could be in big trouble since Zambrano left the game yesterday with a right shoulder injury. He's hoping it's shoulder tendinitis, but that's wishful thinking. If he's hurt for a long period of time, the Cubs are going to have a lot of work ahead of them.

Who's on Tap?:
The Brewers go for the sweep this afternoon as Dave Bush takes the hill to try and not ruin a good run of pitching. AJ Burnett will be taking the helm for the Jays, trying to build off a short but good outing against the Cubs last week.

Why On-Base Matters

2008-06-18T11:58:00.002-05:00

After reading a number of comments and doing some serious thinking, I've realized that my rant an obsession with OBP has not really been proven as a valid theory. That is, OBP and good pitching leads to winning. So today I've got a bit of time, so I'll go through the last 3-4 years or so, since this is the so-called 'modern era of baseball' and see where the playoff teams and WS champs stand.

Let's start with 2007. We're looking at ascending order of OBP in the regular season. The star indicates division champion.

1. New York Yankees (94-68): .290/.366/.463
2. Boston Red Sox (96-66): .279/.362/.444 *
3. Colorado Rockies (90-73): .280/.354/.437
4. Philadelphia Phillies (89-73): .274/.354/.458 *
5. Detroit Tigers (88-74): .287/.345/.417
6. Los Angeles Angels (94-68): .284/.345/.417 *
7. Cleveland Indians (96-66): .268/.343/.428 *
18. Chicago Cubs (85-77): .271/.333/.422 *
21. Milwaukee Brewers (83-79): .262/.329/.456
29. Arizona Diamondbacks (90-72): .250/.321/.413*

Interestingly, six of the top seven teams made the playoffs and two of top three went to the World Series. The Cubs were in an extremely week division and got bounced in the first round. The Diamondbacks were quite the anomaly though, but they had the 7th best ERA in baseball at the time.

2006 Numbers

1. New York Yankees (97-65): .290/.366/.463 *
2. Boston Red Sox (86-76) .279/.362/.444
3. Cleveland Indians (78-84): .280/.354/.437
4. Los Angeles Dodgers (88-74): .274/.354/.458 *
5. Toronto Blue Jays (87-75): .287/.345/.417
6. Minnesota Twins (96-66): .284/.345/.417 *
7. Philadelphia Phillies (85-77): .268/.343/.428
10. Oakland Athletics (93-69): .250/.340/.412 *
15. St. Louis Cardinals (83-78): .269/.337/.431 *
18. New York Mets (97-65): .264/.334/.445 *
24. Detroit Tigers (95-67): .274/.329/.449
25. Milwaukee Brewers (75-87): .258/.327/.420

This one isn't as apparent as 2007. Nevertheless, all but two of divisional champions fall in the top ten. The Cardinals are a big time change-up considering they had a team ERA of 4.51, but you can see their division was weak once again considering 83 wins took it and they carried the best on-base in th division. The Mets carried a 4.15 ERA, which was 6th best in the league but their slugging paid off. Then they ran into the Cardinals, who beat the Tigers, who had the league's best ERA. But that pitching failed in the end.

2005 Numbers.

1. Boston Red Sox (95-67): .281/.357/.454 *
2. New York Yankees (95-67): .276/.355/.450
3. Philadelphia Phillies (88-74): .270/.348/.423
4. Cincinnati Reds (73-89): .261/.339/.446
5. Florida Marlins (83-79): .272/.339/.409
6. St. Louis Cardinals (100-62): .270/.339/.423 *
7. Cleveland Indians (93-69): .271/.334/.453
8. Atlanta Braves (90-72): .265/.333/435 *
10. San Diego Padres (82-80): 257/.333/.391 *
12. Milwaukee Brewers (81-81) : .259/331/.423
19. Los Angeles Angels (95-67): .270/.325/.409 *
22. Chicago White Sox (99-63): .262/.322/.425 *
23. Houston Astros (89-73): .256/.322/.408

2005 was an interesting year of baseball with the arrival of Jose Guillen. I don't remember if it was his first year but he definitely made a splash. While the White Sox only managed a .322 OBP, they did manage a 3.61 ERA, tied for best in the AL. Houston looks like they kill the OBP theory too, but then you look at their 3.51 ERA and an 89 win season. That's not exactly what you expect from a NL Champion. The Angels? Fifth in pitching with a 3.68 ERA. But why in the world are the Reds there with their 73 win season? How about a 5.15 ERA, which was worst in the NL?

So what did we learn? OBP isn't everything, but it's half of everything. It's pretty clear that the other half is pitching. If you look at 20065 you'll see that the Cardinals carried the 6th best OBP and the best ERA in baseball. As a result, they took home a 100 win season, even though they fumbled against the Astros in the NL Championship. The numbers are sort of up there, but it's pretty clear that slugging doesn't matter all that much. In fact, NL teams easily made the playoffs with slugging under .420.

The Brewers haven't been able to put together high on-base numbers for a very long time. When you combine that with poor pitching, you've got a really bad couple of decades of teams. Their pitching has improved quite a bit the last two years, though, even if their OBP hasn't. This year they're carrying a 4.16 ERA, but a sub .320 OBP and a .426 slugging has put them well below teams with much higher OBPs. If the Brewers found some more guys who weren't just homerun hitters, but rather are disciplined hitters who go gap to gap, they might be able to get over that hump. It looks like the pitching is there and likely there into the future, so where will they find the final ingredient in their recipe?

Brewers Blue Jays Game One Recap

2008-06-17T22:07:00.002-05:00

The Score:
Brewers 7 Blue Jays 0

MVPs of the Game:
Manny Parra: 7 IP, 4 H, 4 BB, 5 K, 0 R
Lyle Overbay: 1/3, BB

Honorable Mention: Ryan Braun, 3/4; 2 HRs, 2B, 3 RBIs, 3 Rs

Game Recap:
The Brewers rallied behind Manny Parra's seven innings of shutout baseball by scoring seven runs on five long balls. Parra struggled with his command early, but was able to overcome two two out walks in the second inning. From there the Brewers let the five long balls do the talking.

Fielder started it with a huge first pitch center field bomb that was probably half way up the batters' eye. An inning later Craig Counsell told me to piss off and hit one of his own, his first of the year. An inning after that, Russell Branyan joined the fun and hit a two-run blast to deep right field for his eight bomb in just 56 ABs. The fun continued in the 6th when Braun hit his 19th dinger of the year, and then he hit his 20th with a two-run shot in the 8th. Interestingly, the Brewers had seven hits. Five of them were homeruns. The other two were a single by Parra and double by Braun. I guess that's one way to skin a cat.

The Blue Jays, on the other hand, struggled mightily, managing only four hits, none of which went for extra bases. In my series preview I said that the Jays would have to be patient. Well they did that, but I guess you have to hit the ball a little harder to get those guys around. They just could not get things going. The lead off hitter got on base only twice all game and one of those occasions was ruined by a double play ball. From what I've read all day, that seems to have been the Jays problem all year. This time though, they could blame both sides of their game. Dustin McGown only made it four innings. He only gave up four hits, but three of them were homeruns, and that was enough for him.

Game Changing Play:
Ryan Braun led off the fourth inning with blistering double down the right field line, bringing up Corey Hart and Prince Fielder. Fielder would waive at a pitch way out of the zone and Corey would pop out on three pitches for two very unproductive outs. It seemed like McGowan was going to do what it seems like every pitcher this year is doing to the Brewers, and that's prevent them from manufacturing runs. But he made a mistake. Two innings earlier he had blown a chest high fastball past Branyan for a strikeout. This time he didn't elevate it enough and Branyan drove a no doubter to right making it a 4-0 game and completely deflating the Jays.

Notes:
- The Brewers managed to walk only once this game, meaning they only managed eight baserunners all game. Luckily every ball that got elevated, went a long ways. I know it's knitpicky, but while it's fun to watch this many long balls and it's fun to cheer for, a team like this can never make the playoffs. Case an point, (I seem to always use the Cubs on these things, but...) the Cubs knocked out Scott Kazmir tonight in 4.2 innings, but not because Scott was bad. Rather Kazmir was phenomenal, giving up only three hits, one run and seven K's. The difference? He walked four and was up to 110 pitches. The Cubs weren't hitting the ball for anything, but they still had opportunities and almost made them count.

- Joe Dillon happened to be the only Brewer who picked up that walk. In fact, he probably saw more pitches than any Brewer in the game despite taking the collar. Just thought I'd toss that out there for good measure considering he, not Craigy Craig should top that order if Hart doesn't. I expect Dillon to get most of the playing time with righties up there and Weeks on the DL.

- JJ Hardy didn't play again today. How long before they just give up, and put him on the DL retroactive to last week? I hate this dilly dally BS. We're lucky the pitching has done so well that we didn't need to make any pivotal moves. After discussion at BrewersNation, I guess I would be okay to let Escobar come up and here and try and do some work if he does get DL'd, especially considering how well Branyan has done. I'm just so used to the guy being horribly unproductive when he was here years ago.

- David Riske was phenomenal in his rehab assignment today in AAA-Nashville, striking out all three batters he faced. Honestly, I would prefer the Brewers just release Tavarez instead of sending down DiFelice or Dillard. DiFelice has a long arm for mop up work and Dillard has shown that he belongs here.

Who's on Tap?:
In game two of this series, the Brewers' staff ace, Ben Sheets, will go for his eighth victory of the year as he takes on Shaun Marcum. Should be a damn good pitching duel based on the numbers, but if the Jays swing the sticks like they did tonight, Marcum is going to have to be perfect just to get a no decision. Hopefully the Brewers will be smart enough to expect another five long balls. Perhaps some walks and manufactured runs will rear their 'ugly' head and the Brewers can keep on keepin' on.

Who's Batting Leadoff? WHAT!?

2008-06-17T18:19:00.003-05:00

I'm usually not one to quip about the batting order, but this evening's lineup is a blatant atrocity and a clear lack of knowledge of baseball. At least the first two batters are. With Rickie Weeks and JJ Hardy both out against a right handed pitcher, Joe Dillon and Craig Counsell are getting the nod. I have no problem with that, but I do have a problem with Counsell leading fof. Here are their numbers:

Craig Counsell: .235/.312/.327 in 98 ABs
Joe Dillon: .283/.411/.348 in 46 ABs

Interestingly, both have taken nine walks this season, though Dillon has seen the plate less than half of the times. So let's think about this for a second. Ned Yost said he was a numbers guy at the beginning of the season, right? Remember the Kendall batting ninth experiment? Ned Yost said, "You've had a lot of smart people looking at it and crunching numbers and seeing if, numbers-wise, it made sense," so clearly he's got people telling him what's a good idea. Apparently he didn't listen to them today.

It's pretty clear you put your best on-base guy first and your worst on-base guy last unless he's got crazy power and average. When looking at today's lineup I see that Craig Counsell is batting lead-off with his below average OBP and Dillon batting behind him. You gotta be out of your damn mind! The worst on-base in this line-up falls to Mike Cameron, but his power more than acclimates him to somewhere other than the eight spot. Then there's Braun, but the power, high average and need for protection relegates him to the three hole. Then there's Craig Counsell. Zero power, average speed, low on-base and clearly beyond his prime in years. Go ahead, put him at the top of the line-up where he'll get more ABs than your best hitters and turn around the line-up like an eight hitter instead of a lead-off guy.

Look, I've said this a million times. Baseball isn't rocket science when it comes to putting your team in the best position to win. Ask yourself how many ABs a game Craig Counsell will get and then how many ABs Corey Hart or Russell Branyan will get tonight. There's no doubt in my mind, they will only differ by one, but every AB matters. Think about what that one AB could mean. Perhaps it's the ninth inning and you're down two with two outs and the lineup turns over. Would you rather a .312 OBP or a .411 OBP guy up there in front of your big hitters? Obviously you're going with the .411 guy because he gives you the best shot to get the tying runner to the plate.

Ned Yost doesn't look at it that way. He looks at Craig Counsell and he doesn't see that he's underperforming. He sees a 'gritty competitor' who 'battles' all the time. Listen, battling itself doesn't make you a good player. It gets you some respect and makes up for some of your talent, but the fact remains that you are not good. Joe Dillon isn't that good either, but he's shown the ability to take the walk and make contact regularly. His numbers pretty clearly show that he belongs in the one hole. Zero power, lots of contact and high on-base. After that, Corey Hart or Russell Branyan are perfect candidates for the two hole base on their average and on-base. One of them has to protect Fielder, but the other should be reaping the benefits in front of Braun and Fielder. You're looking a line-up that consists of a two above average on-base guys in front of two above average power guys. I wonder if that would lead to runs in the long run.

I guess Ned doesn't think so.

Brewers Blue Jays Series Preview

2008-06-17T10:55:00.002-05:00

The Series:
Toronto Blue Jays (35-36) @ Milwaukee Brewers (36-33)

Who's on Tap?:
June 17th: Dustin McGowan (5-4, 3.92 ERA) vs Manny Parra (5-2, 4.66 ERA)
June 18th: Shaun Marcum (5-3, 2.43 ERA) vs Ben Sheets (7-1, 2.72 ERA)
June 19th: A.J. Burnett (6-6, 4.90 ERA) vs Dave Bush (2-7, 5.73 ERA)

Who Should You Watch?:
He may not be having a very good season, but Lyle Overbay makes his long awaited return to Milwaukee. I have no doubt the fans will have their hands over their heads forming an 'O' to show their appreciation for the former first baseman. Overbay made a career of doubles with the Brewers and has done well with the Blue Jays since making room for Prince Fielder. Overbay is only hitting .260 this year, but he's as consistent as always. Elsewhere in the lineup you'll notice the Blue Jays are average all over the place. Not one of their every day players is hitting better than .286 and all seem to be hitting for below average power. This makes it difficult to pick any one in particular. Nevertheless, you have to watch out for Alex Rios. The guy is just flat out fun to watch. His power numbers are significantly down from last year, but he's making people scared when he gets on the bases. Last year he stole 17 bases in 161 games. This year, he's already swiped 15 in just 68. What he's figured out, I don't know, but the Brewers need to keep him off the bases, regardless of how well Kendall has done this year behind the plate. On the mound, the Brewers find themselves facing the Jays top three of four pitchers. While Halladay is the ace, Shaun Marcum has been absolutely stupendous this year, mostly because of a low BABIP, but his stuff is good enough to give the free swinging Brewers the snide. (Did anyone else see Scott Baker call out the Brewers for swinging at pitches he was purposefully spiking? We knew it wasn't a secret to the league, but perhaps the Crew should take it to heart.)

On the Brewers side of things, stay focused on JJ Hardy and Prince Fielder. JJ is supposedly in good enough shape to play this series after resting his strained non-throwing rotator cuff. I have a hard time believing he's in good shape at all, but I will take him every day over Craig Counsell at SS. Craig has such a poor arm, and I get scared every time he gets a routine play that it's not so routine any more. Anyways, I'm not so concerned about JJ in the field, but JJ at the plate. Luckily he has a two handed follow through on his swing, limiting his ability to tweak the problem some more. As for Prince Fielder, I'm just taking a blind guess that it's time. Corey Hart's carried the team. Ryan Braun's carried the team. Hell, Gabe Kapler's carried the team. It's about time the big earns his arbitration contract next year and shows us why he was upset about his contract this season. Prince has a five game hitting streak going, three of which were multi-hit games. Now, if only he can stop getting thrown out on the bases. On the mound, I've already made it a forgone conclusion that Dave Bush is going to get rocked. I can't watch it any more. Thank God it's a days game. As a result, stay focused on Manny Parra instead of Ben Sheets, and also Carlos Villanueva. Both of these guys had suddenly become lights out and then just as quickly fell off the wagon in their last outing. The Brewers will need both of them to win this series. Final Note: Ben Sheets deserves to be in the all-star game. He's only 7-1, but left games with the lead in at least three of them, only to have the bullpen blow them. 10-1 with a sub three ERA is deserving alongside Haren, Webb, Volquez and Zambrano.

Keys to Victory:
The Blue Jays need to be patient, especially on Tuesday and Thursday. Both Manny Parra and Dave Bush have struggled with their command and are walking a significant amount of batters. Furthermore, so has the bullpen even if you take out Julian Tavarez. Therefore, the more selective they are, the better off they will be. They'll get better pitches to hit and find themselves more able to predict pitches as the count moves further in their favor. This is especially the case with Dave Bush, who has a propensity to through cob balls when he's behind in the count, hoping they won't get raked.

The Brewers, on the other hand, need to play good defense. It has been apparent that a number of the recent losses are a direct result of giving teams 28 or 29 outs. Unfortunately for Brewers fans, this pitching staff has a bit of a psychological problem and have a hard time picking up their teammates on most occasions (Torres and Villanueva excluded). As a result, they'll need a clean series to make things fall their way. And just for good measure, they should walk some more for fun because it's sexy.

Predictions and Notes:
These predictions aren't getting any easier. The Brewers have been playing so poorly the past few games, it's hard to get excited about another big homestand like the last one. After falling 1-2 against the Twins, you know they won't be able to duplicate their 8-1 run. However, a day off at home often does the Brewers wonders. I suspect Manny will be back tonight with a vengeance and will pitch well enough to get into the sixth. Sheets will be Sheets yet again, and with his extra day off, will be better than usual, allowing the Brewers to take the first two, but Bush will be the rally killer again, whether it be the defense behind him or his own blunderings. The team just never seems to be up to the task when he's up there. Doesn't surprise me. I'm not up for the task to watch it when he's pitching.

Why isn't Tim Dillard being used more often in closed games? Yes, Dillard struggled on Friday this past week, but Yost opted not to use him in six days! Prior to that, he was getting regular work every other or every three days. This is a young guy who has pitched well for the Brewers and yet Yost has more confidence in a guy who hasn't thrown well in three years in Julian Tavarez. Dillard should not be relegated to clean up work. That's why you're paying Tavarez and DiFelice so little money. While, Dillard isn't making much either, he's only 24, not 31 or 36 like those other two. Use him damnit!

Expect to see big crowds this week. It looks like school is finally out and the kids and parents are starting to flock. After Saturday's sellout, and Sunday's 41k plus, the Brewers are on their way to a record season in attendance, as long as they can stay in contention. That's going to take some work.

The Battle at Third and Center?

2008-06-15T10:50:00.002-05:00

A few days ago one my loyalest readers made an interesting suggestion for a post. He asked if I could go over the Tony Gwynn Jr. situation. Initially I kind of found it uninteresting because I've already discussed this very early in the season, prior to the signing of Cameron. At the time, I said that if the Brewers sign Cameron, they should sign Kenny Lofton to platoon because the splits with those two players are absolutely terrific. I also suggested that the Brewers leave Braun at third and just deal with the growing pains. Nevertheless, I would have been more than okay to let Gwynn do his thing this year in center.

As you can see, I made a lot of suggestions, but the reason I'm intrigued now is because of what just happened at third base. The Brewers weren't willing to wait any longer to give Bill Hall a shot to improve his numbers. Instead they called up a guy who was absolutely raking in AAA. That, my friends, is Russel Branyan. So today, I'm going to look at each position and ask a few questions. I really don't have anything particular to say, but perhaps as I write this, something will fall out.

Third Base:
On May 25th of this year Bill Hall was hitting .220/.292/.418 with nine homeruns and 22 RBIs. For those not in the know, that's not particularly good. Furthermore, his strikeout to walk ratio was 31/16 and he was tied for the league lead in errors. This is quite a long time to wait for a guy to come around, especially when a guy in AAA is hitting .359/.453/.693.

Since his promotion to the Bigs, Branyan is hitting .300/.400/.800 with seven homeruns in 10 RBIs in 50 ABs. Even better, he's walked nine times while striking out. Interestingly, he's hit almost the same number of HRs and half the RBIs as Hall did in over 170 ABs. Even better, he's on pace to walk double what Hall did in his time at third base, yet Hall feels he's deserving of his job.

Things have changed a little since then. Both JJ Hardy and Rickie Weeks are hurt and Bill Hall has been able to get every day work over at 2B, no matter how bad he's been. But this bears some questions. How long do you wait for a guy before you give away his job? What are you willing to sacrifice to make that move? Is making the move going to be worth it?

Center Field:
I bring this up because of what Mike Cameron has brought, or perhaps hasn't brought to this team. Cameron is currently batting .216/.289/.446 in 148 ABs with nine homeruns and 22 RBIs. Those look oddly like Bill Hall's numbers, don't they? But the stark difference is the 52/16 K to BB number. Perhaps Cameron is being even less productive? I would say no. Cameron's defense is still Gold Glove caliber and has made up for much of his blunderings at the plate. Nevertheless, the similarities are striking.

Tony Gwynn Jr. struggled while in the bigs to start the year. Whether or not you can blame this on injuries or just plain lack of talent is beyond me. In 35 ABs Gwynn was batting .200/.293/.302 with only one extra base hit. Not exactly what you want to hear when you think about replacing a Gold Glover. However, since returning to .346/.441/.372 with six stolen bases. As you can see the slugging is a bit off, but 14 BBs and 10 Ks makes a big difference, especially since if you combine his numbers, Gwynn has more walks in 2/3 of the ABs.

So why doesn't Gwynn get the call? Hall is actually making more money than Cameron this year, which is interesting in itself, so it can't be the money. Right now circumstances are a little off. With Hardy and Weeks hurt, the Brewers badly need all the infield help they can get. Right now there is no way the Brewers can afford to move Joe Dillon down. He's been too vital off the bench and is far too versatile, since he can play the infield and outfield. When Weeks comes back, Iribarren will return to the minors, leaving Gabe Kapler as the only back up outfielder. Kapler doesn't have any options left and he's been almost unstoppable when he gets the nod.

Other options may be sending a pitcher down and dealing with just 11, but the fact of the matter is Ned Yost can't not over work 12 with this starting rotation, so how is going to handle 11? Furthermore, what are you really gaining with Gwynn? You lose pop. You gain on-base. You keep the defense pretty much the same. It's a disappointing situation for Gwynn. He's still projected as a fourth outfielder because he has so little pop, but at the same time, his on-base and speed could really project him as a lead off hitter similar to Kenny Lofton.

But the fact remains, Tony Gwynn has no place on this Brewers squad with Mike Cameron here. He's done more than enough to deserve a shot, but Melvin, Yost and Attanasio believe too much in Cameron's ability, and almost not at all in Gwynn's. But it's quite ridiculous considering the Hall and Branyan situation. Melvin had no problem pulling the trigger then. Perhaps Cameron needs 40 more PAs so the situation can be identical.

Until then, here's hoping Gwynn continues to do well in AAA-Nashville and either adds helium to his trade value or gets his shot some time soon. He deserves to be somewhere in the bigs. I just wish it was here. I'd love to watch him play, especially if the Brewers continue to play so poorly they have no shot at the playoffs.

Brewers Twins Game One Recap

2008-06-14T10:28:00.002-05:00

The Score:
Milwaukee Brewers 2 Minnesota Twins 10

MVPs of the Game:
Prince Fielder: 2/3; 2B, BB, R
Kevin Slowey: 8 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 5 K

Honorable Mentions: Bill Hall for the Minnesota Twins; 2 errors leading to six unearned runs, no hits and a failure to hustle the entire game.

Game Recap:
I don't walk out on games very often. I would even call it a rare occurrence. But Friday was the exception. It's impossible to get into a game when your favorite team is playing like a bunch of little leaguers. With the exception for Braun, Fielder and Branyan, that's what the Brewers were during last night's game. Kevin Slowey came into this game with a 2-6 record and an ERA above five, but that didn't stop the Brewers from making him look like the staff ace. Slowey gave up only two hits over his first six innings of baseball, and that's not because he was lights out. It was because the Brewers were the bad at the plate, waiving at strikes out of the zone, trying to pull balls that are outside and swinging for the fences with nearly every swing.

But it wasn't just the bats fault. The defense could be labeled as nothing better than sickening. It started in the first inning with a routine groundball by Alexi Casilla to second baseman Bill Hall, who is currently replacing the man he claims should have been the odd man out to get a lefty put in his place. But I digress... wait, no I don't. Bill Hall biffed that ball, allowing a run to score on a ground out two batters later, which, under normal circumstances, would have been the third out.

The Brewers then proceeded to avoid a few near misses until the fifth, when Bill showed us why he will forever be a cancer to this team. The inning started off with back to back bunt singles to the right side. Prince fielded the first one perfectly, but there was a problem. Nobody was covering first base. Why? To be honest, I'm not really sure. Gomez showed his bunt very early, and if you watch the play closely, you'll notice Bill Hall doesn't even take a step towards first base to help. In fact, by the time Prince turns to first, Billy is standing straight up, just patting his glove. The very next batter does the same thing. This time Prince stayed home, realizing Hall isn't going to do him any favors. Bush goes to field the ball and then gives up, thinking he's going to run into Fielder. Two batters later, Morneau hits a triple off of the center field wall. He would score on a single by Kubel, making the score 4-0.

But Bill Hall didn't stop. I wonder why he didn't talk to the media last night? In the seventh inning, the Brewers brought in young Tim Dillard, who has been fantastic this year in his few appearances. Last night, that wasn't the case. But there's hope, even though he didn't have his good stuff, he would have gotten out of it under normal circumstances. Unfortunately for him, Bill Hall doesn't stand for normal circumstances. The inning started with a harmless fly out and a single from Delmon Young on a solid stop from Russell Branyan. Then Jason Kubel came to the plate, one of the slower outfielders in the league. He promptly hits another routine groundball to Bill Hall, who will have plenty of time to get the out at first since Young was on the go. Instead, Hall boots it almost exactly how he booted the ball in the first inning and Kubel reaches. Brendan Harris would follow with a ground out to the catcher, and then the wheels came off. After an intentional walk to Mike Lamb, Dillard got behind 3-1 against the pitcher and was forced to throw some meatballs up there. Slowey hit a jam job ball to left to score two. This was followed by a single and a double, officially putting the game out of reach on FIVE, count 'em, FIVE unearned runs. Talk about stealing the confidence from a kid who was pitching very well.

The Brewers would manage two in the seventh, but that wasn't enough to make me watch the rest of that hideous display of baseball. Fielder and Branyan looked pretty good at the plate, but nobody else did. If Counsell and Hall are going to be in the every day lineup, consider the season over. Every time the Cubs and the Cards lose, the Brewers hand games away. You only get so many opportunities. And while I understand that this is a long season and we're not half way there, games like these don't happen to good teams. When they do, they're still at least in the game. That isn't the case for these Brewers, especially when half of their infield is unable to play.

Game Changing Play:
Prince Fielder led off the second inning with a scorching double. On the following play Russell Branyan crushed a ball to the wall in left center, that almost got out but was caught. Fielder, not sure if he was going to run or not, got out of the gate slow and motored to third. Carlos Gomez's throw was a bit off and Lamb and to reach for Fielder, who the ump called safe. He sure looked safe from my angle, but you never know. The Brewers would only get one more hit until the 7th, sealing the game for the Twins.

Notes:
If Bill Hall is in the lineup tonight, I'd be hard pressed. Ned Yost is making excuse after excuse for him and it's really getting on my nerves. It feels like he's not even trying. He's lackadaisical and looks even more hideous at the plate now than when he had the every day job. The fact of the matter is, I'm ready to DFA the guy. If he wants to forfeit his contract, let him. I'm not sure how waivers works, but I'm assuming they have to take on a good portion of his contract if he is claimed. But the fact of the matter is, Bill Hall is first in errors in the league with 15 and he has fewer than 100 attempts. Furthermore, he's batting under .220 with an OBP lower than .300. No playoff team has this guy on his team. He can't hit, he can't field and he doesn't deserve to play. Hell, I'd rather see Calix Crabbe up here right now.

The Twins outfield is fast. I mean really fast, with the exception of Jason Kubel. Gomez may not have discipline at the plate, but can that guy fly. There were two balls in last night's game that are doubles, maybe even triples, with almost any one else in the league out there. The best run down was Braun's sac fly, when Gomez took two steps in and then took off to the center field wall, making a catch over his shoulder.

Iribarren has looked awful in his few ABs since returning to the bigs. Give the guy some playing time and see what he can really do. This every other day thing isn't going to work out.

Dave Bush would have never pitched the sixth inning if I was the manager. When he came back out, I looked at my friend and said, "Bill Hall is giving this game away. He was the last out, double switch him and Bush out for Joe Dillon and Mark DiFelice." Well, that's not how Yost thinks. He trusts all of his guys. The thing is, no one trusts Bill Hall anymore, and he's ruining the delicate confidence of this team. Get him out of there.

Five Things the Brewers Need to Do to Make the Playoffs

2008-06-12T10:31:00.002-05:00

I love the movie 'High Fidelity'. John Cusack is absolutely amazing in it and the rest of the supporting cast kills, especially Jack Black and Todd Louiso. In the movie Cusack runs a record store and is constantly spewing off his Top Five everything, albums, front sides, B sides and break ups. I tend to use this Top Five game quite often, especially with new people who have a hard time opening up. It breaks the ice and you get to find out what kind of interests and taste the other person has. I got into this game not to long ago and it quickly delved into sports. Since I haven't been able to watch any games lately, I wanted to do something different, and perhaps I can make this a more common occurrence.

Today's Top Five revolves around what the Brewers need to do if they plan on making the playoffs this year. They are currently 7.5 behind the NL Central leading Cubs and five games behind the Wild Card leading Cardinals (two games behind second place Florida). So how does tap this deficit?

1. Stop relying on the homerun.

Yesterday's victory over the Houston Astros took five homeruns, and practically every single one was needed. With guys like Jason Kendall and JJ Hardy in your lineup, you're not going to get long ball production from a third of your lineup. Even worse, these guys' OBP isn't healthy enough to support the idea of multi-run shots. The Brewers are currently sixth in the bigs with 76 dingers this year, which is what you would expect from them. But last night was a clear indication of the problem they have. Of the five shots, three of them were of the solo variety. It's almost as if the team is trying to go long with runners on and over swinging, especially Prince Fielder. RBI opportunities are great and all, but staying within yourself will give you a better shot at taking advantage of them. The Brewers squad needs to spray to all fields and work on improving their lowly .252 average if they want to make a real run.

2. Play better on the road.

This is old news, but stats don't lie. The Brewers are 19-10 at home and 15-21 on the road. While this isn't as bad as years past, it's hardly something to be proud of. Every time the team goes on the road, the offense starts falling flat. As a result, the pitchers start pushing, trying to get more zeros and be too fine. It's a domino effect, and I'm sick of seeing it from a young team that should have figured it out last season, when they did the same exact thing. The best teams in baseball are often times .500 on the road, usually a little better than that. If the Brewers plan on playing October baseball, they'll need to finish the year at the mark. Ten games above will likely get the that Wild Card spot.

3. Trade for a solid, young starting pitcher.

For a lot of Brewers fans, this too is a no brainer, but people don't seem to understand that they can't just get an average guy and expect things to be fine and dandy. Jeff Weaver is not and never was the answer. Doug Melvin just wanted the veteran to help out his young guys down in AAA-Nashville. If you think anything else, you're sadly mistaken. The way Dave Bush has pitched, it doesn't matter how bad Weaver was in AAA, he would have been given the shot. Baseball is a funny sport. They give guys with experience shot after shot no matter how bad they are. Weaver was never given that shot and for a reason. If he got signed and nobody's picked up Kenny Lofton, you know something funky was going on.

But I digress. If the Brewers plan on winning at a .600 clip the rest of the season, they'll need more consistency out of Dave Bush and Seth McClung. I believe that Manny Parra has gotten things figured out. While his start last night wasn't particularly good, he's shown better command of his pitches as well ass significantly better stuff than the other two back end starters. In the end, Dave Bush has to go and a young starter with actual talent should take his place. While McClung isn't particularly good, he's got much better stuff and doesn't let up with two outs. You never know what you're going to get from Bush and their really isn't and in between. It's a good start or a really awful one. Most times that awful start completely takes the team out of the game and destroys the team's confidence.

4. Trade Bill Hall and bring up Mat Gamel.

This is a risk... a big big big risk, but the fact remains that we need an every day third baseman. Russell 'The Muscle' won't be able to keep up this tear for much longer and his strikeout totals are killing rallies with runners on. Gamel has a professional approach and his defense has improved quite a bit, though it is still an adventure. Nevertheless, his bat should more than make up for his blunders in the field. The team seems pretty hell bent on keeping Gamel down, but Hall is a cancer that doesn't hit or walk any more. As a result he becomes a pivotal trading chip alongside Dave Bush and Tony Gwynn Jr., which gives the Brewers the opportunity to get two birds with one stone. The Brewers will have to bite the bullet as far his contract goes, but I think eating the money is actually a positive as far as the team's future goes.

5. Learn to take walks without sacrificing average.

If you haven't noticed yet, the Brewers have gotten a lot more hits lately, leading to more runs. But since that has started, the strikeouts have increased dramatically and the walks have all but disappeared. The Brewers are currently sporting a .323 team on-base. That gives them an isopatience of 71. Where does the best team lie? The Cubs have a 78 and the Red Sox 76. You may not think that's a difference, but it makes a big one. The Cardinals are rocking an 83, but their pitching has finally come back down to earth. If the Brewers can make this jump and continue to push their average up (Around 12 points in the last three weeks), they will score a ton more runs and quell the pressure put on the starting pitcher. More baserunners = more stolen bases = more opportunities with RISP = more runs = more wins. Leave it to the science guy to make an equation out of it.

Brewers Astros Series Preview (2)

2008-06-10T12:33:00.002-05:00

The Series:
Milwaukee Brewers (33-30) @ Houston Astros (32-32)

Who's on Tap?:
June 10th: Seth McClung (3-2, 4.25 ERA) vs. Roy Oswalt (4-6, 5.38 ERA)
June 11th: Manny Parra (4-2, 4.33 ERA) vs. Brandon Backe (4-7, 4.66 ERA)
June 12th: Ben Sheets (6-1, 2.62 ERA) vs. Brian Moehler (3-2, 3.76 ERA)

Who Should You Watch?:
Lance Berkman flat out owns the Brewers. In the last series at Minute Maid Park, Berkman went 7/13 with two bombs and six RBIs, leading the Astros to a big time sweep. Berkman hasn't cooled off much either, having a hit in 15 of his last 16 games. Even better, he's still sporting a .372/.458/.723 line. .723?! Good lord. On the mound, beware of Brian Moehler. I'm still not convinced by this guy and for good reason. He doesn't strike out a lot of guys, but doesn't walk that many either. He's a groundball pitcher who works the outside of the plate well, which is the Brewers' Achilles' heel. His last start against the Brewers lasted only five innings, but was only spoiled by a 2-run blast from Prince Fielder and an ace like performance from Sheets.

On the Brewers side, I have some questions that will or won't be answered when I see the lineup as a result of Rickie Weeks being place on the DL. I'm in favor of a strict platoon at second with Joe Dillon and Hernan Iribarren. Iribarren is a lefty with a lot of speed and has earned some playing time. On the other side, so has Joe Dillon. I've come to really like Dillon, who has the propensity to walk and hit the ball hard on a consistent basis. With that being said, he is so vital to have on the bench during pinch hit opportunities and lacks range at 2B. Keep an eye on this development. Elsewhere, be very cautious of the Brewers first two starters, Manny Parra and McClung. McClung keeps showing he has the stuff to get it done, but struggles at times. Parra is a little more consistent, but has similar problems. Sheets will no doubt anchor on Thursday, but these first two games are very important and will likely revolve around the success of the two youngsters.

Keys to Victory:
The Astros will need their starters to get through six as the bullpen has been unbelievable lately. Geary, Brocail and Byrdak have really done well for themselves lately, but you don't want to over use them in the series. If they can rotate through the 7th and 8th innings with leads and get to Valverde, who has been serviceable, the Astros will be in good shape.

The Brewers goals go hand in hand with this one. While the back end of the Astros bullpen has been practically lights out, it's middle relievers have been absolutely terrible. By working the count and getting baserunners, the Brewers will have to knock out the starting pitcher early, even if they don't pick up a lot of runs. Wesley Wright and Chris Sampson have not been particularly good for most of the year, Sampson especially who was relegated to the bullpen after a terrible run and Wandy Rodriguez returning from the DL.

Predictions and Notes:
This is a bit of a tough one. With the Brewers struggling on the road and the Astros falling apart after getting swept at Miller Park, which struggle is favored. I'll be a bit of a pessimist and say the Brewers will probably struggle more, but they'll somehow take this series 2-1. Oswalt hasn't been sharp enough to give him the credit he deserves and the Brewers showed him that they didn't fear him in the least during his last shot. I have a feeling McClung is going to show a little more promise this week and do just enough to steal a victory tonight. Manny Parra, however, will not stay on the horse and will struggle with his command. The Astros have the ability to go right hand heavy and the short porch in left is not going to help Parra. While Backe isn't particularly great either, I think he'll get the better of Parra and take a victory or will at least leave the game with a no decision, leading to an Astros victory. Game three is not going to be a repeat of Sheeter's last two performances, but he'll get a quality start and rely on the bullpen to keep the lead again. This time, though, the lead will be big enough as Moehler will finally come back to earth.

This is an important series for both teams as they're both heading into inter-league play this weekend, with the Astros facing the Yankees at home and the Brewers hosting the Twins. Both will need some serious momentum if they think they can handle both of those powerful offenses, especially since neither team will get the chance to toss their aces against the AL squads.

It's been a tale of two cities so far as both teams have swept at their respective ballparks. The question is, 'Who will give in first?'. The Brewers are very young, but could be just aggressive enough to get over the hump. Game one is an important confidence meter, and if they take it, it will likely carry them through the series. The Astros veteran squad may be able to pull all the pieces together, looking for redemption after the sweep and a day off. It won't be easy though, especially after the heartbreaking loss on Sunday, in which they gave up five, all of which were unearned, in the 7th to blow the game.

Brewers Rockies Series Recap

2008-06-10T09:09:00.002-05:00

The Scores:
Milwaukee Brewers 4 Colorado Rockies 6
Milwaukee Brewers 2 Colorado Rockies 7
Milwaukee Brewers 3 Colorado Rockies 2

MVPs of the Series:
Corey Hart: 5/12; 2 2B, R
Brad Hawpe: 4/9; 2 HRs, 6 RBIs, 3 BBs

No Brewer really stuck out this weekend as being overly productive, which is a good thing, but at the same time, only Corey Hart has been consistent this year. I could stand to see a few more walks with his .340 OBP, but other than that Corey has been solid. Even his defense, which I have complained about in the past has made some strides.

Brad Hawpe came off the DL on Friday and persisted to mangle the Brewers this weekend, especially on Friday, when his go ahead two run shot ended a six-game winning streak. But I like Brad Hawpe. Why? He may have finally waken up Ned Yost to the fact that being gritty and competitive does not make you a good major league talent. And Dave Bush I'm talking to you. Hawpe's two-out grand slam in the first inning on Saturday put the game out of reach almost immediately.

What was the Difference?:
The long ball, but a specific long ball. While the Rockies may have hit more long balls, and that alone could be the difference, but it was the fact that they were able to hit the big ones with runners on. Hawpe hit a 2-run and grand slam, which represents the margin of victory in the series.

Causes for Concern:
I said it in the preview, the Brewers need to take their walks, and yet they refuse to. In the first inning of Friday's game the Brewers gave up two big outs and still scored two runs. Gabe Kapler tried going first to third with no one out and was easily punched out and then Prince Fielder struck out on a ball four way out of the zone. And right before that, Rickie Weeks walked, stole a base and then scored on a base hit. So wait... walks pay off. Unfortunately, the walk isn't sexy enough for this crew. This is where the consistency is lacking. Notice the one game they won, they gathered six walks, THREE from Joe Dillon. Perhaps we should take note.

On the Rockies side of the ball, there isn't much to be concerned about, especially with Holliday and Tulowitzki coming back shortly. But there's always something to quell about your team and for the Rockies, it's their starting pitching. While they were phenomenal this weekend, there were definitely some chinks in the armor. Both Jiminez and Reynolds showed flashes of brilliance, Jiminez especially, but they were hardly consistent. If Colorado expects to return to the playoffs, they're going to need a huge run, and they'll need these guys to stop showing flashes and just bee good.

Causes for Excitement:
Besides Ben Sheets, the Brewers have been cheering for the two heroes of Sunday, Carlos Villanueva and Salomon Torres... and they should be. The Brewers gave the Rockies an extra out and an extra base with two big errors, but these guys stuck to their guns and earned their pay check. Villanueva has not given up a run since returning to the bullpen and looks like a completely different pitcher out there. Torres hasn't blown a save since taking over and is showing that it doesn't take $10 million to make a closer.

The Rockies have a lot to be excited for. Brad Hawpe came back from the disabled list with a vengeance. Matt Holliday is poised to return tonight (I think) and Troy Tulowitzki is on his way back later this month. If either of these guys make the kind of impact Hawpe had, the Rockies wont' have a problem continuing to fill the stands like they did this weekend. Furthermore, it doesn't hurt to see their starters finally put it together. Considering how awful their pitching has been, it was nice to see these guys show the kind of the success they had in the minors.

Brewers Rockies Series Preview

2008-06-06T10:06:00.003-05:00

The Series:
Milwaukee Brewers (32-28) @ Colorado Rockies (22-38)

Who's on Tap?:
June 6th: Ben Sheets (6-1, 2.71 ERA) vs. Ubaldo Jimenez (1-6, 5.37 ERA)
June 7th: Dave Bush (2-5, 5.49 ERA) vs. Greg Reynolds (0-3, 5.72 ERA)
June 8th: Jeff Suppan (3-4, 3.93 ERA) vs. Jeff Francis (2-5, 5.53 ERA)

Who Should You Watch?:
Ben Sheets wants some money, and damnit, it's contract year. Sheets has been phenomenal thus far and should have at least three more wins to his record. Nevertheless, he's doing what Brewer fans have been wanting for three years, and that's actually pitching. It's unfortunate too because the Brewers are going to be in it long enough to not be able to send him off, and as a result will only get two compensatory picks for him in next year's drat (unless somehow Mark finds more money in his wallet). Sheets got an extra day of rest this week after his 8.2 inning performance against the Astros. I have no doubt it helped and Sheets will probably match his performance against a struggling Rockies squad. On the offensive side of things, Prince Fielder is heating up. If I've learned anything about watching nearly every game last year, it's that Prince does it in bunches. Jimenez doesn't give up too many homeruns, but Greg Reynolds and Jeff Francis sure do (8 in just 28 innings and 12 in 71.2 innging of work, respectively). Look for Prince to continue his onslaught and finally stop the media from talking garbage about him being upset.

On the mile high home side, keep your eye on Brian Fuentes, who is turning into big time trade bait as the Rockies fall further and further away from the playoffs. The hole they're digging now is perhaps too big to pull out of like last year's incredible run, and Brian Fuentes has a lot of followers, especially on the east coast. Fuentes pretty much fell into the closer's role since Manny Corpas has floundered, very similarly to Eric Gagne. Though I suspect, Gagne's has a lot more to do with substances than Manny's. Anyways, Fuentes has been solid, saving eight games while striking out 22 and walking only eight while accumulating a 2.55 ERA in 24.2 innings of work. A lot of people would appreciate his work, even if it is only for a couple of months. At the plate, things haven't changed much for the Rockies. With Tulowitzki still out, Matt Holliday continues to be the guy to watch, but guess what, he's on the DL too. Clint Barnes, who's batting .343 this year in place of Tulowitzki? DL. Brad Hawpe? DL. It's been a pretty tough year. But I have to find somebody and that somebody is Todd Helton. Helton is having a great year, as usual. If you're a career .330/.430/.578 hitters, you'll be just fine. Helton's numbers are down a bit this year (.292/.418/.426), but he'll play an important role for the Rockies if they plan on winning a game this series.

Keys to Victory:
The Brewers need need NEED to take their walks this series. Ubaldo Jimenez has walked 36 batters in 63.2 innings this year. Jeff Francis has walked 28 in 71 and Reynolds 18 in just 28.1. The Brewers are relying far too much on getting multiple hits in an inning to score runs. Why not take the free ride boys? Guess how many more multi-run homers you could have if you just knew what a strike was! Braun, in my opinion, is the biggest culprit. Braun is batting .299, but he's only walked 11 times in 257 PAs. That's not very good and has led to an league average .331 OBP. Anyone else take note of Todd Helton's 100 point isopatience (OBP-BA)? Can you imagine what the Brewers could do if their best hitter walked at that kind of clip? And then toss in the fact that he's swinging at better pitches more often. It's not rocket science.

The Rockies need their young starting pitchers to show some progress, but the offense is going to struggle mightily with that many guys on the DL. Spilborghs, Helton and Atkins are the only three guys to fear in the lineup and if the Brewers are smart enough to pitch around Helton, runs are going to be hard to come by for the Rox. As a result, they'll need some solid pitching that's not from Aaron Cook. Yes, the Brewers dodge another team's number one guy. Jimenez has shown flashes of good stuff, but is far from consistent. Francis has never been overwhelmingly good and Reynolds is simply taking up space and denying Taylor Bucholz another opportunity as a starting pitcher. Give the Rockies' fans a reason to be excited for the second half and make this a good series.

Predictions and Notes:
There's one thing that makes me really uncomfortable about this weekend. The Brewers suck terribly against pitchers they've never seen before and the Brewers have never seen Jimenez or Reynolds. With that being said, the Rockies are in really bad shape at the dish. With so many guys on the DL, it's really hard to believe they have a shot against a team as hot as the Brewers. As a result, I'm going to say the Brewers take two out of three. I want to say sweep, but that would be fantastic, but realistically, the Brewers will need to have the Rockies give the game away like Arizona did on Monday to take all three. Brewers 6-1 tonight, Rox 2-1 on Saturday and 5-4 Brewers on Sunday.

I won't be around this weekend, as it's my niece's baptism, but I'll do my best to get out a few recaps. The procedure went well on Tuesday, and it looks like they've finally got things diagnosed properly, but man are doctors frustrating. I'll try to do a little bit of an analysis of the draft after today's picks, but at this point, I've been pretty pleased. The Lawrie pick could be a good one in the long run, though he's really ambitious to think he'll be in the bigs as quick as Braun was. Nevertheless, he's got the makings of a solid catcher. If Angel Salome pans out, we could get a lot for the kid or vice versa. I really liked the pickup of the shortstop Jose Duran, who I believe was the Big 12 player of the year since replacing Brandon Hicks who was a third round draft pick last year. I'm a little worried about his glove, but I think he could be a solid back up or utility player of the future.

Brewers D'Backs Series Recap

2008-06-06T08:50:00.002-05:00

The Scores:
Milwaukee Brewers 4 Arizona Diamondbacks 3
Milwaukee Brewers 7 Arizona Diamondbacks 1
Milwaukee Brewers 10 Arizona Diamondbacks 1

MVPs of the Series:
Prince Fielder: 5/11, 2 HRs, 3 RBIs, BB, SB, 5 Rs
Mark Reynolds: 5/11, 2B, 3 RBIs, BB

Prince Fielder flat out produced. It wasn't always impressive, but his play was key to the victory on Monday and set the tone for the following two games. It's time for this guy to find his power stroke and carry the team for a few weeks because Hart and Braun have done it for far too long this year. With the Cubs still streaking and facing miserable teams on the West Coast, Prince and the offense will need to continue to hit on all cylinders... especially because they didn't walk much this series.

Mark Reynolds was really the only D'Back who had a reasonable series. Unfortunately, five hits really didn't produce all that much, and the D'Backs have fallin' into oblivion, having been swept by both the Cubs and the Brewers this year. Pitching can't carry you every where and with Byrnes and Jackson out for some time, the D'Backs need to do something to stop the bleeding.

What was the Difference?:
Power and ultimately offense. The D'Backs only had one home run this series, while the Brewers picked up six of them. In the end, the Brewers just exerted their will on AZ with incredible play from almost every position on the field. Even with Weeks and Cameron still not producing, the 3-4-5-6 spots in the lineup are not messing around. I can't imagine what would happen if Weeks and Cameron did their job.

While it wasn't really the difference in the series in my book, something is to be said for the Brewers pitching staff, who in this six game winning streak having only given up eight runs. And the important thing about this series sweep is that Ben Sheets was not a part of it. Furthermore, Sheets got an extra day of rest yesterday to give him a better shot at keeping this run going. The bullpen continues to be practically perfect, and Salomon Torres has established himself as the closer, no matter how much Attanasio is paying Eric Gagne.

Causes for Concern:
The Diamondbacks have to be utterly frightened. Their offense has fallen apart, their defense looked atrocious and to top it all off, the move to the bullpen for Max Scherzer has not really been a good one. I still don't think letting Davis right back in was a good move, but that's just me. The biggest concern is obviously on the offensive side of the field. Arizona only managed 20 hits in three games and really gave up at the plate during Wednesday's game. I know it's tough getting things going after losing two of your top offensive guys, but somebody needs to step up. Thus far, nobody truly has.

In the home team dugout, you can't help but think that everything is hunky dory. Truth be told, it's not, at least not for me. While the Brewers have scored a lot of runs the past week, they've relied far too much on the long ball and were essentially given the game on Monday by the errors committed by the Diamondbacks. The on-base percentage continues to be far too low to score this many runs and until those even out, I will have doubts about this team. Don't get me wrong, I'm excited to be winning, and happy about this run out of the basement, but there is still a ton of work to be done.

Causes for Excitement:
The Diamondbacks really don't have much to be happy about, but for me, I can't help but say something about Doug Davis and Randy Johnson, who both pitched particularly well this week, despite the scoreboard. Davis was the victim of two really big errors and Randy Johnson simply ran out of gas in the 7th, but both look good, which could be a big plus when the offense gets back on their feet. Everything else was pretty much atrocious and a bit disappointing since I attended the two blow out games. The Brewers needed them, but competitive baseball games are much more fun for me to watch.

The Brewers continue to have faith in their bullpen and couldn't be happier about a strict platoon at third base. Branyan's power has been phenomenal, and his inability to ground into double plays is even better. The starting rotation has rolled through one more time without a hitch and the team is playing their next six games against teams they are clearly better than. This was a big homestand that sends them on the road with a ton of momentum that should carry them to nine straight after winning three against a really awful Colorado team. But you never know. You can only watch, enjoy and cheer.

Brewers D'Backs Game 2 Recap

2008-06-04T09:32:00.002-05:00

The Score:
Brewers 7 D'Backs 1

MVPs of the Game:
JJ Hardy: 2/4; HR, 2 RBIs, 2 R
Mark Reynolds: 2/3; 2B, RBI, BB

Game Recap:
Seth McClung pitching six innings of one run ball and almost garnered himself a nod as player of the game in my book, especially because had the first two hits of his career, both against future Hall of Famer, Randy Johnson. The Brewers offense struggled badly early in the game as always, but McClung was able to keep them close by locating his fast ball and getting a big double play to stop a vital threat in the third. Ryan Braun rewarded him by smoking an 0-1 hanging slider deep into the left field bleachers giving the Brewers a lead that they would never relinquish.

Tuesday's game only lasted two hours and twenty minutes, and that had a lot to do with Randy Johnson, who struck out eight over 6.1. His first K against Mike Cameron pushed him into second place for all-time strikeouts, moving ahead of Roger Clemens... thank God. Johnson continued to mow down the Brewers batters, embarrassing him with the slider I'm so used to seeing and it was just as nice live, even as sedated as I was. But Seth McClung was just as lights out in clearly his best start of the year. McClung went six innings, giving up only one run and six hits while striking out four. But the key... the key, as it is for all Brewers starters, was Seth did not walk a batter and pounded the strike zone, throwing 53 of his 79 pitches for strikes.

When McClung walked off in the 6th, he probably didn't think he was going to get a victory over Randy Johnson, but he would have been wrong. The first sign was Johnson walking Mike Cameron on four straight pitches, which for me, showed Johnson was floundering. Ryan Braun made him pay with his two run shot, giving the Brewers a 2-1 in the sixth. The Brewers weren't done yet and Bob Melvin wasn't smart enough to pull his pitcher whose stuff was clearly not biting as hard and not hitting the spots he wanted.

After a scoreless inning from Tim Dillard in the 7th, JJ Hardy lead off with a single to the opposite field. After a soft fly by Jason Kendall, Joe Dillon walked to the plate for yet another pinch hit. Dillon's double down the right field line would barely score Hardy from first. The throw to the plate would allow Dillon to move to third, and score on a sac fly by Rickie Weeks giving the Brewers a 4-1 lead. Prince Fielder would tack on a solo shot in the eighth off of Max Scherzer and JJ would follow up with a 2-run shot of his own. This allowed Brian Shouse to pitch two perfect innings of relief and pick up his second save of the year.

Game Changing Play:
The four pitch walk of Mike Cameron really sticks out in my head. Randy Johnson just didn't look the same after that and taking advantage of that was important, making Ryan Braun's two-run blast last night's GCP.

Notes:
I'm going to admit the predictions analysis from now on and just do a notes section. I'll continue to make my predictions in the series preview, but I've realized that it's just not necessary to go through each one and tell you if I was right or not. Instead, I'll just throw up some notes from the game that I couldn't cover in the game recap or perhaps discuss some of the problems the teams has been having.

- If you think the Brewers are playing great baseball, you're only partially right. Their offense may be scoring runs, but they're not going to win consistently unless they start believing in the walk. The Brewers only walked once against Randy Johnson and twice against Doug Davis. I will keep ranting and raving about on-base until I see it. Just ask the Cubs how they score millions of runs. It's not just because they hit the ball hard, but because every single guy on that team has an OBP higher than the league average.

- Bill Hall got booed loudly last night. If there's anything you should gather from this, it's that Milwaukee is a blue-collar town and doesn't put up with whiney players who demand trades when they play like shit and aren't willing to live up to it.

Who's on Tap?:
I'll be attending today's day game pitting Manny Parra against Micah Owings. Should be a good one. Let's see if the Brewers can finish the home stand 8-1.

Where do the Brewers go in the Draft?

2008-06-03T08:15:00.003-05:00

The Brewers hold the 16th draft pick in Thursday's First-Year Player Draft, and there are speculations flying all over the internet. Why? Mostly because the FYPD is the most unpredictable draft, but I would also suggest that everyone is trying to find out where their organization is going. For the first time in a long time the Brewers have the opportunity to have a big impact in the first two rounds of the draft. In the past they were limited to a couple of picks, but this year, with the losses of free agents like Francisco Cordero and Scott Linebrink, the Brewers have accumulated six picks in the first 62 selections. What should they do?

I'm not particularly familiar with the prospects that are out there, except for what I've read at BrewerFan and Baseball America, but I do know there are some glaring holes in our system that could use some assurance. First of all, the pitching depth is atrocious. If you look at the numbers of Nashville and Brevard County pitchers, there's a lot to be desired, specifically on the starters front. With the exception of guys like Jeremy Jeffress and maybe Lindsay Gulin, there isn't a prospect at any level that has shown legitimate promise and should be considered for a call-up. As a result, Jack Zduriencik needs to seriously consider finding a legitimate starter out of college, not high school. The Brewers already made that mistake twice with Mike Jones and Jeremy Jeffress. Conceivably a guy out of college can be groomed within three years and tossed out on the mound. I would even be ok with two legitimate starters with those first six.

But that's only two picks. Jack's got four more to work with. At some point you just go with the best player on the board, ala Ted Thompson, and you have to consider signability as well. All things withstanding, Jack will have to work on suring up the 2B spot in the minors with either a college or high school player. The current situation is pretty bleak, with Callix Crabbe, Brent Brewer and Mike Bell not showing a terrible amount of promise. Jemile Weeks, Rickie's brother, will not be available at 16, but if he was, I'd pick him up in a heartbeat considering his speed and glove project him as a leadoff hitter and he would be only three years away from the bigs. Not sure who else is available, but the position needs to be filled.

Beyond that, I'd really have to consider finding a solid left handed pitcher. Zach Jackson has officially proven his worth, or lack there of. He's shown incredible improvement and the move to relief has been a positive one, but he just hasn't been able to pull it all the way together and is on the change of scenery track. With the trades of Dana Eveland and Joe Thatcher, the Brewers have zero major league ready lefties with the exception, maybe, of Chris Narveson, who is struggling in Nashville. Again, I would stick to the college ranks if at all possible because the high school experiment that Jack has done over the last few years has not paid off and there is no way to determine the potential injury risk of high school ball players.

But there is one position I would have no problem with the Brewers going high school, and that's third base. With Gamel likely getting a call up around the trade deadline and the imminent trade of Bill Hall, the Brewers have to develop some more hot corner prospects just in case Gamel's defense completely falters. I doubt Gamel is a fake. Everything I've read and heard, the kid is legit at the plate and the improvement is real as well. As a result, you can afford to delve into the talent of the high school ranks and work on his development in a system that has really proved its worth.

When push comes to shove, this is the MLB draft and there's not a person out there who can predict the first two rounds because it's such a mental thing for GMs and scouts. They have to ask if he's signable, if he's injury prone, if his mechanics will lead to bigger problems, if he faltered as the season progressed, if he controls three or four pitches and so on and son on. In the end, the positions that we need to sure up may or may not make sense at that pick considering the class of prospects coming in. The most important holes are at second and starting pitching. Anything beyond that, I'll trust Jack.

Brewers D'Backs Series Preview

2008-06-02T10:44:00.005-05:00

Edit: Ignore anything about Eric Byrnes. He's on the DL and it sounds like Conor Jackson is headed there as well. I guess being out of the loop for the last week has ruined my ability to be terribly credible. Sorry. Time to get back on the horse.

The Series:
Arizona D'Backs (32-25) @ Milwaukee Brewers (29-28)

Who's on Tap?:
June 2nd: Jeff Suppan (3-4, 3.93 ERA) vs. Doug Davis (2-2, 4.57 ERA)
June 3rd: Seth McClung (2-2, 4.80 ERA) vs. Randy Johnson (4-1, 3.83 ERA)
June 4th: Manny Parra (3-2, 4.72 ERA) vs. Micah Owings (6-3, 4.17 ERA)

Who Should You Watch?:
If you don't know who Conor Jackson is, maybe you should. Jackson impressed a lot of people in April by hitting five bombs and hitting .348/.427/.640. Since then, he's calmed down a bit, hitting only one dinger, but his on-base remains a healthy .400. Jackson and Mark Reynolds will need to do some damage this week if they plan on slowing down the Brewers. On the mound, Doug Davis will be making his third start since returning for his highly publicized bout with thyroid cancer. Doug is only two months removed from his treatment, so the Brewers will have to be patient at the plate and rely on Davis' tendency to try and nibble the corners. If Doug gets a wide zone, he'll be solid, if it's tight, he could be lights out.

While the Brewer are riding high since winning 7 of 9, the D'Backs have struggled mightily the last two weeks going 4-9, mostly because of a lack of offense, but poor pitching was scattered in there as well. As a result, keep an eye on Jeff Suppan tonight. Soup has really frustrating stuff. We know he doesn't strike a lot of guys out, but groundballs that stop rallies could really frustrate this team, especially considering the problems they've had lately. The Brewers need to put them on the hook immediately and let Soup stay aggressive with runners on. Tonight's matchup is going to be slow and boring and therefore not that fun to watch, but it's a big game for both teams and will be an important indicator of the days to come. At the plate, watch out for Billy Hall, who will get starts tonight and tomorrow night against the Big Unit. Hall has an agenda and will hopefully make his case as a quality trading chip. If you didn't know already, Hall is hitting a ridiculous .404/.481/.681 this year against south paws. Often Hall's success is contagious. Mike Cameron's career splits against lefties could come in handy this week as well, as he went .294/.404/.510 against them last year.

Predictions and Notes:
This is going to be a tough series and it's about time the Brewers got to see a team that was on a downward skid without their two best pitchers throwing (Dan Haren and Brandon Webb). I'm pretty excited to see how this one turns out since the D'Backs, despite their struggles the last two weeks, are one of the top three teams in the NL right now. As I said, tonight will be a long drawn out AL game with walks galore and a few dingers. Hopefully Jeff Suppan will continue his recent success, and I believe he will. I think the one guy who has garnered the most help from Jason Kendall catching has been Suppan. Because Soup's stuff isn't spectacular, pitch selection is extremely important, making Kendall's brain a hefty asset.

I think the Brewers bats will continue to sparkle tonight, especially with a lefty on the mound, who will need a couple of starts before he's really right. I think you really can't count his first start back just yet because you have to think the adrenaline in that game had to have been quite the help. Game two is a big question mark. Randy Johnson is having a really good year back in AZ and the Brewers are still trying the McClung experiment. McClung struggled pretty badly in his last start, and may have lasted a little longer if Weeks hadn't floundered when he gave up the first run of the game. Johnson will tie up the Brewers who are still striking out way too often because they keep going for the long ball. Yet Ned Yost isn't concerned. What a nobody. Anyways, the rubber match is a bit of a toss up. Micah Owings is an incredible young pitcher that makes NL lineups look like AL ones with his bat. Nevertheless, Manny Parra is starting to find his groove. If he avoids the extra baserunners with walks, he can be pretty damn dominant. In the end, the Brewers will continue to roll and win the series in a close one on Wednesday afternoon. I have tickets for all three games, but will only be able to attend Tuesday's and Wednesday's games because of my health concerns. Should be a good one.

Brewers Astros Series Recap

2008-06-02T09:39:00.002-05:00

So I won't be able to write tomorrow at all since I'll be going under some sedation for a procedure to figure out the problems I've been having lately. As a result I have to stay home all day in preparation for it. This means plenty of writing in this blog an ready of articles around the web. If there's anything you'd like to hear about on the Brewers front, even minor league news, feel free to get back to me early this morning or this afternoon and I'll jump all over it. Trust me, I have plenty of time on my hands today. On to the recap.

Score Recap:
Milwaukee Brewers 5 Houston Astros 1
Milwaukee Brewers 4 Houston Astros 1
Milwaukee Brewers 10 Houston Astros 1

MVPs of the Series:
Ryan Braun: 6/12; 2 HRs, 5 RBIs, SB, HBP, 5 Rs
Ty Wigginton: 3/7; 2B, R, 3 BB

Ryan Braun single handedly won game one of this series going 4/4 for a homerun and a couple of runs, but he followed those up with pretty solid games on Saturday and Sunday, though he struggled a bit on his routes in left. Braun continues to rake at home, going .358/.387/.755 with 10 HRs and 21 RBIs. This may or may not be interesting, but Braun has both of his SBs at home. I wish Davey Nelson would come in and do some work with these guys like he did when Scott Posednik was here and stealing bases. These guys, especially Braun, have the speed to steal more bases and teams are scared to walk Prince the way Hart has been hitting. The stolen base by Braun on Saturday was big, and I hope he continues to go for it, even if he his 2/5 this year.

Ty Wigginton is having a pretty good season thus far in a small sample size going .268/.260/.440. He's shown incredible plate discipline so far, and it should have been rewarding for his team but they just couldn't get him over. It wasn't particularly easy to pick the Astros MVP because they just couldn't put it all together in any given day. They had their opportunities on Friday, but Parra found ways out of jams and Villanueva looked pretty solid again out of the 'pen. I would have given the MVP to Berkman because he did go 4/10, but no runs and no RBIs. Why is that? The leadoff guys went 7/38 this weekend, got caught stealing
twice and were only on base once when Berkman got to the plate. That has to be frustrating for a guy who is right now the runner up for the MVP in the NL (Insert Chipper Jones).

What Was The Difference?:
The proof is in the pudding, or th score. When your team scores three runs the entire series, you have to hope it was three in one game. That wasn't the case for the Astros, meaning they showed that wins often come behind great pitching, which was the case this weekend. Each Brewers starter gave up only one run in their turn in the rotation and the bullpen put together 5.1 scoreless innings to hold the lead in every game and give the Brewers a sweep. Even Mark DiFelice looked pretty good, despite the Astros giving up on Sunday.

Causes for Concern?:
The Astros are built on offense, no doubt about it, so you have to question how they only managed three runs in three games and six in their last five. The stat that sticks out the most is the part where they didn't take a walk off of the usually wild Dave Bush. The biggest problem right now (ie this series) appears to be an aging Carlos Lee, who continues to do what he normally does and that's pretty good, but doesn't look as confident at the plate as he used to be as shown by his 2/12 series with no walks and two K's. I'm sure it didn't make Astros fans happy to hear he was hanging out with Brewers fans at Fiesta Girabaldi's after the loss on Saturday. Nevertheless, you have to ask yourself how much more the guy has in the tank and when you should trade him to an AL team and get some real defense in left field. Other than that, the Astros just need to keep working and hope that their pitching will do just enough to keep them in games because the trio of Pence, Tejada and Berkman will be able to produce runs all the time.

The Brewers looked pretty good this weekend, but I'm still not convinced their plate discipline is what it needs to be. While they walked and got hit by a pitch on nine occasions on Sunday, they only managed that four times combined on Friday and Saturday. This may be too much to ask, but I would like our team to hit for average and walk on a more consistent basis. These are the things that make championship and league leading teams. The Brewers may be over that hump, but I'll believe it if they win the series against the D'Backs starting today. Walks will be key, especially against former Brewer Doug Davis. If the game lasts three hours tonight, I expect it's because the Brewers did their job and took their walks.

Causes for Excitement:
This is a tough situation for the Astros who played poor defense, didn't pitch particularly well though not bad and clearly were unable to get anything going. They can always be excited about Lance Berkman. The guy is hitting the ball well on both sides of the plate and continues to show good plate discipline. Furthermore, I felt that Cecil Cooper did a good job handling his bullpen yesterday in a blowout game. The Astros have a day off today and instead of wasting a number of guys, Cooper rolled out four pitchers after Chacon went only an inning. A lot of times a coach hands the game over and rolls one of his pitchers and just says, "It's you for four innings, deal with it." But Cooper realizes he has a young team and is doing his best to keep his team balanced.

The Brewers have to be happy with their bullpen. A lot of people have been going off about the acquisition of Eric Gagne and Mike Cameron this season, but they neglect the acquisitions of Guillermo Mota and Salomon Torres, who have been solid all season long. When Riske comes back and DiFelice gets sent down, this bullpen could turn into one of the top five in baseball, if they aren't already. Imagine what would happen if you took out Derrick Turnbow's numbers. Nevertheless, if the starting pitching stays in tact and does not falter and force long innings for these guys, the Brewers have a chance to make a big time run at the wild card, not the division. The Cubs will have to have a disaster happen to stop them from playing good ball, specifically an injury to Zambrano or Lee. Three games against AZ starting today should be a good sign of how the Brewers match up with the Cubs since they swept them at Wrigley.

Brewers Astros Game One Recap

2008-05-31T08:50:00.002-05:00

The Score:
Milwaukee Brewers 5 Houston Astros 1

MVPs of the Game:
Ryan Braun: 4/4; HR, 2 RBIs, 2 Rs
Lance Berkman: 2/4; 2B

Game Recap:
The Brewers finally pulled together a well rounded baseball game together last night, beating the Astros in game one of a three game series. Riding back to back homeruns by Ryan Braun and Mike Cameron in the first inning, Manny Parra bounced back from his last start by pitching one run baseball over six innings. Brandon Backe and the Astros didn't ride much, missing the train from Minute Maid Park. Backe only made it through five giving up five and his team could only must seven hits the entire night, two of which went for extra bases.

The Brewers looked good at nearly all ends of the field. Manny Parra walked four batters, but made up for it by locating his fastball well enabling him to strikeout six and yield only four hits. The offense finally helped early, which has been hard to come by, scoring two quick ones in the first, allowing their young arm to play with a little more aggressiveness. The Astros answered back quickly, scoring one of their on in the second on an RBI single from JR Towles. The Brewers responded with an RBI single of their own in the third and Fielder put the game out of reach in the fifth with a two run shot in the 5th.

The Brewers bullpen would take it from there. Parra was pulled from the game after the sixth despite an 87 pitch count, in favor of Carlos Villanueva, whose move to the bullpen has been a pleasant one. He would toss two scoreless innings before Mota finished the game with a scoreless inning of his own to seal the victory. The only worry now is the Brewers inability to understand the strike zone as they were only able to walk once against some pitchers who struggle with command.

Game Changing Play:
In the top of the fourth inning, Manny Parra walked the eight and nine hitters with one out, bringing up Brandon Backe and Michael Bourn. Backe, who swings the bat very well, and Bourn both struck out, ending the threat and saving Parra from having to face the big bats with runners on.

Predictions and Notes:
I didn't make any predictions this game so I can't be right or wrong, but I can say that it was nice to finally have the roof open. It's a hell of a lot nicer in that place when the air circulates, and the ball carries. The Brewers looked good through and through for once. That's the first time I've said that all year. The biggest question is whether they can continue to do it. Watch out for Lance Berkman tonight against Ben Sheets who is 14/42 in his career against Sheets.

Who's on Tap?:
As I just said, Ben Sheets takes the mound today, trying to follow up his last two quality outings with a solid showing at his home park. The Astros counter with Brian Moehler, whom the Brewers have yet to see this year, though they did get to see him last year in a relief role. He gave up three runs in 6.1 innings during those appearances, and all three of those runs were a result of his in inability to throw strikes. Brewers win game two and start to get hot in a 5-4 victory tonight.

The Brewers Should Make the Move

2008-05-29T10:01:00.002-05:00

As a Brewers fan, I constantly hear things that are meant to get the public motivated about a baseball team. The most common one is, "We are in a win now mentality. This isn't about just trying to get to .500 anymore. This is about making the playoffs and trying to win championships." And I'll be honest, I love hearing that. It's breath of fresh air considering the last 7-10 years of the Bud Selig ride. But it's to the point now where the fans have to ask the question, 'Do they really mean it?'.

At times it's really hard to say because the moves the Brewers have to make are high risk ones, but they give you the highest ceiling and the most potential to get over the proverbial hump. Last year Doug Melvin did everything in his power to improve an awful bullpen without sacrificing too much of his future. He was partially successful in that endeavor, but ultimately wasn't willing to move the big chips and buy high. Instead he brought in guys like Scott Linebrink and Ray King instead of looking for a starter to sure up the five spot and put less pressure on the bullpen. Even worse, Melvin ended up mortgaging a bit of his future by failing to sign Linebrink or Cordero at season's end. It was a problem.

But this year things are different. The bullpen has been solid through and through with the exception of Eric Gagne who has 'rotator cuff tendinitis', or 'mental break for an aging non HGH having Hall of Fame closer.' With the cheap acquisition of veteran reliever Julian Tavarez, the potential emergence of rookie Tim Dillard, the return of aggressive Carlos Villanueva and the imminent return of David Riske, the Brewers have nothing to worry about innings 7-9. Unfortunately, there's a lot more things that can go wrong in baseball.

The starting rotation is never just mediocre especially with the loss of Yovani Gallardo for the season. They're really good or really bad, mostly because of the 3-4-5 positions in the rotation. Manny Parra has shown flashes of why people think he'll be a upper level three starter, but his command issues have kept him from really getting the confidence of his team. Dave Bush has had two good starts out of the nine he's tossed, but his overwhelming walk rate makes him look a big questionable, and in my book expendable, but we'll get that soon. Finally, Seth McClung has just recently taken over the five spot from Carlos Villanueva, and did well in his first start, but until he can prove he's more than just a one start guy against a better team not named the Nationals, the problem still remains.

On the offensive side of things, the Brewers have floundered in ways unimaginable at the season's beginning. Prince Fielder is under achieving more than most, and people can call it meat, anger with the organization, or his weight, but the people who know baseball can see it's how he's getting pitched and his failure to adjust. Braun is also under achieving. While his power numbers are still there, he has stuck out far too many times and taken very few walks, leaving his OBP under the league average. And we can go on and on, from Weeks to Hardy in this regard, withholding only two Brewers, Jason Kendall and Corey Hart. The thing is, every single one of those guys who are really struggling (I'm not counting Mike Cameron because he doesn't even have 130 PA) has fewer than three full seasons under their belt. Who can't say that? Billy Hall.

Hall struggled last year after he was moved to CF upon the arrival of Ryan Braun. He took it in stride and was turning into a pretty good outfielder by mid-season, but his offense took a hit. In 2007, he only mustered a .254/.315/.425 season with 14 homeruns, down from .270/.345/.553 with 35 dingers the year before. It was upsetting to Brewers fans, who had expected big things for him, but blamed the move to center for the blunder. If he had repeated those numbers, the question is would the Brewers have held off the Cubs, but we'll ignore that for now because the bigger question is, was 2006 simply an anomaly in the career of Bill Hall. His career numbers would suggest such, .261/.318/.463. And this year specifically screams it, .227/.296/.420. Even worse, Bill Hall is tied for the lead in errors so far this year with 12 along with Julio Lugo. This, ultimately, makes Billy quite expendable.

Who's on the farm? Who could possibly save this team? In AAA-Nashville, there are very few prospects how are major league ready. Tony Gwynn Jr. is a lefty bat with above average defense and speed who might start on a couple of teams, but not in Milwaukee with Braun, Hart and Cameron. Even worse, Gwynn is being blocked by AA prospect Matt LaPorta, and a plethora of lower level prospects who could fill the pinch hitting role with more power. This, unfortunately, makes Gwynn acceptable. But there are a few more down there, including Brad Nelson at 1B, but Prince blocks him for another three years. Nelson is hitting .328/.435/.552 this year and has quietly hit eight homeruns and knocked in 36. Interestingly, Nelson has played some third base but has struggled mightily in the few games he got the call, so 1B is really only where he can go. Calix Crabbe is a solid 2B, but he has yet to prove himself at the major league level and while Rickie has struggled, the BABIP numbers suggest he can only improve his numbers.

In AA things are a bit more promising, and represent a solid two years of drafting by Jack Zduriencik and company. The two big stars are OF Matt LaPorta and 3B Mat Gamel. LaPorta was the highly tauted first round draft pick last year who has been raking. This year he is hitting .285/.392/.575 with 13 HRs and 46 RBIs, while striking out 38 times and walking 27 times. LaPorta has been pretty solid defensively as well, having committed only two errors in 52 games. Recently, though, he has shown signs of cooling down, unlike his bash brother Mat Gamel.

Gamel is hitting a ridiculous .383/.444/.659 this year with 11 HRs and 44 RBIs, all while striking out 35 times and walking 23. Obviously Gamel's bat is major league ready, regardless of the AA pitching level, but Gamel's biggest flas is his defense. Gamel has committed 11 errors this year in his 52 games and committed 53 last year in 111 games. Interestingly, you can already see the help that HOFer Don Money, the coach of the AA team, has given Gamel.

Elsewhere in AA, you can find Angel Salome, the Brewers top catching prospect as well as Alcides Escobar, the Brewers impressive prospect at shortstop. But these guys are far from ready, especially Escobar, who has struggled this year in the field, and has only recently figured out AA pitching. This leaves 3B Gamel, OF LaPorta, OF, Gwynn, 2B Crabbe and 1B Nelson the only four major league ready ball players in the farm system.

The Brewers need the most help at third base and in the rotation. Bill Hall has already expressed his unhappiness for the team after Branyan received a call up last week. Furthermore, Billy is locked up for another season after this at a reasonable price, making his sale a solid one for any team that believes in his talent. Gamel could easily fill his role and would likely bring similar defense if he continues to work at it. Furthermore, it would give the Brewers another left handed power bat. Dave Bush or Seth McClung will have to be replaced by the end of the season if the Brewers have a chance to stabilize the rotation. Dave Bush has the most value, despite my own apprehensions, since he has one more year left of arbitration and has shown durability as far as innings go. This makes him just as good of a bargaining chip as Bill Hall.

But the Brewers can go further. Brad Nelson and Tony Gwynn are very respected prospects that have no place in the organization because they are blocked by the likes of Prince Fielder, Ryan Braun, Corey Hart and Matt LaPorta. As a result, they can be packaged in a deal with Bush and/or Hall.

What do the Brewers need? They have their 3B if Hall gets sent away, and if his defense is really dragging the team down, they can let Branyan and Joe Dillon fill the role and send him down for a bit. But ultimately the Brewers should make a trade with some or all of these four guys to pick up a number two starter who is locked up for at least two more years after this season as well as some minor league pitching prospects. This would stabilize that rotation for this year, give the Brewers a solid starter to start with after Sheets leaves next year and save the Brewers bullpen arms from completely falling off. Even better, with Sheets and Gagne both gone, the Brewers have $20 million to work with the younger players and or sign free agents. If they somehow make the playoffs, they'll have even more money to work with.

So who do they go after? It's hard to say. A lot of people want the Brewers to pick up Paul Byrd. Unfortunately, Byrd is walking on his last legs and doesn't really smell of the future for any team beyond this year. The Brewers should look to teams who are about to have a fire sale, especially the Giants. Tim Lincecum is probably an untouchable. The kid has nasty stuff and is as durable as ever, but it wouldn't be hard to imagine the Giants willingness to get a young 3B, SP and and OF to help stabilize their downward spin. Hell, I'd even throw in Brad Nelson if they wanted it. Peter Gammons seems to think that Rich Harden is available from the Oakland A's. Harden is a stud, but has had considerable amounts of injuries in his career, making him a questionable pickup, but I believe he is locked up for two more seasons beyond this and, if healthy, would make for an unbelievable 1-2 punch the rest of the year.

So just do it already. The Brewers need a starting pitcher and have four reasonable chips to move with money in the bank to take on a sizable contract.

Brewers Braves Game Two Recap

2008-05-28T22:10:00.003-05:00

The Score:
Milwaukee Brewers 1 Atlanta Braves 0

MVPs of the Game:
Jeff Suppan: 8 IP, 4 H, 5 BB, 7 K (W)
JoJo Reyes: 7 IP, 2 H, 3 BB, 9 K (L)

Game Recap:
In a stunning pitches duel, the Brewers out lasted the Braves with a little help from the umpires and Rickie Weeks. Jeff Suppan dealt eight shut out innings with probably his best start of the year. The thing is, the Brewers don't know how to win without some drama. Young JoJo Reyes pitched better than Suppan only to be slapped with the loss. Both teams got caught looking a ridiculous amount of times, but the difference was ultimately the double play ball. The Brewers turned two big double plays in the game, one on a bunt by the pitcher, in order to keep Chipper Jones at bay. In the end Reyes would walk the first batter in the eight and was replaced by Blaine Boyer. After a sac bunt and a strike out, Rickie Weeks ripped a groundball down the left field line to score JJ Hardy from second. Torres would pitch a flawless ninth for his fourth save of the year.

This was a crazy game, but not in the 'haha' sort of way, at least not until the eighth inning. The Brewers and Braves only combined for seven hits tonight, mostly because of good defensive placement and well located pitches. As a result, things moved fast and furious with the veteran and 'rookie' going pitch for pitch. The game only lasted two hours and fifteen minutes, and let's be honest, it wasn't interesting until hour two.

Kelly Johnson started out the eighth inning with a lead off walk, which scared the crap out of me since Chipper Jones was on deck. Soup then promptly dropped a wasted high to Jones who crushed it to left center. But it wasn't high enough and Cameron brought it down. But then things got interesting. Mark Teixeira would strike out on three straight pitches that were essentially in the same spot. The problem? Those three pitches weren't strikes all night. Home plate umpire, Mark Wegner's strike zone did not include the bottom of the knees in the first seven innings of baseball, but for some reason, that changed in the eighth, prompting Texeireira to give him a bit of a look after the second strike. The very next pitch was probably three inches off the black and Wegner wrung him up. Up comes Brian McCann. The first pitch is a fastball at the bottom of the knees, and McCann had a conniption. He immediately stepped out of the box and expressed his displeasure. Wegner then told him to get into the box two times. McCann steps in for about a half a second, then puts the time sign up. Wegner points at the box and says get in there and points at Suppan. McCann looks him down some more and Wegner repeats the gesture. Kendall made the call and Jeff Suppan quickly tossed a change-up right down the middle while McCann sat half in the box with his bat on his shoulder. McCann's body language was something to behold and the Brewers' fans erupted like it was Game 7. Two pitches later McCann struck out swinging at a pitch in the dirt two tosses later and the crowd erupted.

In the bottom half of the inning, JJ Hardy walked on four straight pitches, which weren't even close, prompting Cox to take the young Reyes out and bring in the usually reliable Blaine Boylan. But Boylan couldn't get it done as Rickie Weeks ripped an 0-1 pitch past Chipper Jones for the game winner. Salomon Torres continues his success with the Brewers this season with his fourth save and perhaps has solidified his role in the bullpen even when Eric Gagne returns.

Game Changing Play:
It should be the McCann free strike to be honest, but I'm going to go much earlier than that. In the second inning the Braves were threatening bit time. Gregor Blanco started the threat with a single. Omar Infante would reach on Bill Hall's 12th error, which leads the majors (Did I mention he K'd twice and had a broken bat single against a lefty?), bringing up pitcher JoJo Reyes. Reyes would make the mistake of bunting towards third base. Kendall would snap out of his crouch pick up the ball bare handed and toss the ball to third. Hall would not hesitate and tossed the ball to first to get Reyes for a double play, setting the tone for the rest of the game.

Predictions and Notes:
It's rare to see umps have agendas. But tonight, Wegner did, and I won't complain, but I don't condone it. That's not to say this game would have ended any differently, but when you're struggling and you feel like you have the umps visibly out to get you, it's difficult to keep fighting. I don't know what else to say. I guess the ramifications of something like this haven't really settled with the beer from the tailgate.

Well, I failed yesterday's predictions, but I'll predict Bush will lose his job every start because his command has been atrocious. Jo-Jo delivered though, making me look like a genius for four seconds, but I was humbled by Prince Fielder looking like a little girl against the lefty. Both Cameron and Hart were hitless, but both hit lasers that were right at guys or were snagged on good defensive plays (insert Omar Infante). And Chipper, well, Chipper is good. 'Nough said.

What's on Tap?:
The Brewers go for the sweep tomorrow afternoon with Seth McClung taking the mound for his second start and an 85-90 pitch limit. Look for him to struggle with his command a bit. The Brewers will need more than three hits off of Jorge Campillo to win tomorrow like they did tonight. I'm liking JJ Hardy right now, whose two walks tonight have really gone over looked. If he could jump 20 more points on that average, I would be more than happy to see him finish out his final pre-free agency years here. Hall better be on the bench tomorrow if Yost claims to be committed to winning instead of just competing.

Bill Hall: Shut Your Mouth

2008-05-28T01:26:00.002-05:00

I know I should be writing a recap about tonight's game, which I attended, but I have a bit of a bone to pick and it holds bearing over a quality walk-off win from the Brewers.

In recent days the Brewers have called up left-handed power hitter, Russell Branyan from AAA-Nashville and have inserted him into a pretty strict platoon role alongside struggling Bill Hall. Hall is hitting a woeful .220/.292/.418 this year with nine dingers and 22 RBIs. Hall is clearly upset about the move, especially because he's been moved around like a little punk for the last three to five years, mostly because he used to be a utility infielder. In 2006 he was able to respond by hitting .270/.315/.425, jacking 35 home runs and knocking in 85 RBIs while replacing JJ Hardy who was on the DL. The Brewers responded by giving him a multi-year contract and told him he would be an every day player, which he has been. That was kind of an odd deal though. Hall was moved to center field last season to make way for Ryan Braun and was then moved back to third this season as they moved Braun to left and signed Mike Cameron. But that apparently hasn't been the problem.

Unfortunately for the Brewers, Bill Hall has apparently taken a mental break from baseball for a little while. Since Branyan has been called up, Hall has not started a game. Tonight, he was able to get in with a double switch. He got a little luck in the bottom of the 9th by breaking his back in a jam job lazy fly ball that found the right field grass. Hall would move to second on a sac bunt by Rickie Weeks, steal third and score the game-winning run on a walk-off sac-fly by Mike Cameron.

After the game Bill Hall said, "It was a lot of emotions. I want to play and I guess I'll go out and do the things I used to do with the emotions I used to have."

Are you kidding me?! Are you trying to tell me that you stopped playing with the emotion that made you a good player? That you changed things because you got moved to the outfield and back to infielder or perhaps because you got a new contract? No offense Billy, but are you a major league ball player? That is the worst thing I have ever heard a professional player say about themselves. Even worse, Billy is too ignorant to realize he doesn't deserve to play against righties.

Later in the interview, he spewed off that he he has six home runs against righties and 16 RBIs and even hinted that he shouldn't have been the one to get ousted. Guess what Billy, you should have two more homeruns and about 20 more RBIs based on your plate appearances against right handers, especially considering the number of runners on base and the money you're getting. The funniest thing is that you're still slugging a whopping .323 against those right handed throwers, even with those six bombs. I'm sorry man but in 145 PAs, you are batting .158/.222/.323 with 42 Ks and 10 BBs. Against lefties? .409/.490/.705 with 7 Ks and 6 BB. WOW! CAN YOU SAY PLATOON!? This is utterly ridiculous. Did I forget to mention you've GIPD'd four times against rights and zero times against lefties?

What good are you when a RHP is on the mound? You can be upset all you want, but in the end, the best you can do is revert to your mean, and hope for your career numbers against righties which are .253/.303/.450. Even those are below the league average. If you want to win a championship as a player, you should at some point concede the fact that you are not that good or do the work to right the train. On WSSP Hall said he had 400 more PAs to work things out. Guess what? You don't deserve those PAs and if you disagree, enjoy being traded to a team that's willing to lose consistently. If any team does that they'll have black hole over at third. Branyan is the left handed version of Bill Hall. Platoon them and you're looking at a .290 hitter with a .350 on-base and about 25-30 HRs. If you don't: In all likely hood, .240/.310 and 11 errors in just a 1/4 of a season equals 44 errors.

Sit down, shut up and appreciate that some one was nice enough to pay you the money you're getting because you've been respectful and important to this team. Don't whine because your ego is hurt by the reality of your numbers which reflect your talent, and the fact that you are being paid far too much to be a below average third baseman in an organization that has a guy that is major league ready now (Insert Mat Gamel. Yes his defense sucks but guess what? He has 11 errors as well this year, but 21 more attempts.).

::End Rant::

Brewers Brave Series Preview

2008-05-27T08:05:00.002-05:00

The Series:
Atlanta Braves (28-23) at Milwaukee Brewers (24-27)

Who's on Tap?:
Dave Bush (1-5, 6.56 ERA) vs. Tim Hudson (7-3, 2.97 ERA)
Jeff Suppan (2-4, 4.47 ERA) vs. Jo-Jo Reyes (2-2, 5.84 ERA)
Joge Campillo (1-0, 0.86 ERA) vs. Seth McClung (2-1, 3.55 ERA)

Who Should You Watch?:
The Braves lineup is stacked this year with Chipper Jones hitting .416/.490/.674 in his first 200 plate appearances. That's absurd. It's one thing to hit .416. It's another to do while slugging .650+ and walking 27 times while striking out only 17. But there's more to the Braves than Chipper Jones. Keep your eye on Brian McCann this weekend. McCann is batting .333 this year and is also walking at an impressive clip. His success, as well as Mark Texeira's, is an important factor in Chipper's success. Don't be surprised to see Yost pitch around him this weekend. On the pitching side of things, watch out for Jo-Jo Reyes. He hasn't been as good as advertised, but shows flashes of being a future two-starter. He could really stifle the Brewers on Wednesday.

In the home plate dugout, look for Prince to have a bit of a break-out series. It's pretty clear he won't be matching his numbers from last year, but that was to be expected. At least it earns the Brewers some cash in arbitration. Prince hit the ball extremely hard the last few days and looks locked-in against right handed pitching. Corey Hart continues to roll, so don't be surprised to see him to still be the most consistent of the Brewers. And finally, Mike Cameron is putting everything together after reaching the 100 AB plateau. Now Brewers fans can get off his back for being 'terrible' all season. Sorry guys, but it's not easy to jump back on the horse as cold as Cameron was. I'm pleased with his walks this year, and the K's were to be expected. On the mound, try to catch the game on Thursday afternoon to see how Seth McClung does after his victory this past weekend.

Keys to Victory:
The Braves just need to keep doing what they've been doing, which is avoid walks and let the 3-4-5 hitters do the work. Chipper, Teixeira and McCann have combined for 98 RBIs and 26 HRs so far this year and don't look to be stopped any time soon. If the Braves can prevent the big inning this week, the should be able to handle the Brewers starters quite easily.

The Brewers need some quality pitching to come out of their starters. This is probably Dave Bush's last shot at the rotation. If he flails, don't be surprised to see yet another move by Ned Yost or perhaps even Doug Melvin with Gwynn and Hall being dangled out there as trade bait. Suppan needs to continue to do he has done all year which is rely on the double play ball and avoid the big guys from being up with runners on. It'll be hard to double up guys like Yuniel Escobar and Kelly Johnson. A big start from McClung could really motivate the Brewers and give them some confidence that they possibly have a rotation to work with after Bush gets thrown out.

Predictions:
Unfortunately the Brewers haven't been playing particularly good baseball lately. The upside, though, is that they're finally coming home and they seem to play well to start every home stand. As a result, I expect the Brewers to take games two and three of the series, getting a quality start from Suppan and a quality combined start between McClung on Villanueva on Thursday afternoon. Bush will lose his job in the rotation and possibly on the team since the Brewers will announce the signing of Julian Tavarez this afternoon (post physical). Look for Chipper to stay hot. He has far too much patience to get beat by questionable Brewers pitching. The bullpen continues to impress for the Brewers. Especially Tim Dillard, who should make Brewers fans happy over the next couple of months.

Brewers Nationals Series Recap

2008-05-26T15:53:00.002-05:00

The Scores:
Milwaukee Brewers 1 Washington Nationals 5
Milwaukee Brewers 5 Washington Nationals 2
Milwaukee Brewers 6 Washington Nationals 7
Milwaukee Brewers 4 Washington Nationals 3

MVPs of the Series:
Mike Cameron: 6/17; HR, 3 2B, 4 R, BB, SB, 3 RBIs
Lastings Milledge: 4/16; HR, 2 2B, BB, 3 RBIs

Mike Cameron quietly had a damn good series for the Brewers, taking over for Ryan Braun who quieted down a bit since leaving Pittsburgh. On top of that, he played some phenomenal defense. There's not too many guys who can track down the balls Cameron did this weekend, taking extra bases away from the Nationals on a regular basis. Instead, the Brewers stayed in every single game and were able to squeeze out a split, despite the umpires attempts to prevent that this afternoon.

Milledge wasn't particularly effective, but not a single National really stuck his head out as being the most effective player. Instead, the Nationals completed a valiant team effort getting big hits from Pena, Young, Boone and Guzman at different times. The Nationals are a young team and look like they could be a threat sometime down the line. They're definitely not the scariest of teams, but I imagine that when they get hot, they can put on a show.

What was the Difference?:
Double Plays. The Brewers may have lost two games, but things may have been a little different if they didn't shoot themselves in the foot over and over again. The Nationals turned six double plays in the series. The Brewers, on the other hand, were only able to turn two. As a result, the Nationals were able to fend off big rallies from the Brewers when it seemed like momentum began to swing. You can probably toss coaching in on this one as well. Manny Acta doesn't really have an easy job with all of these guys out there, but he puts them in positions to win and isn't scared to make moves before things hit the fan (Pulling Bergmann in the 6th today in favor of a lefty after Prince hit the ball hard twice before). Conversely, Ned Yost tends to keep pitchers out for longer than they should. Mota was clearly missing over the plate, but Ned let him continue. The result was back to back hits and a walk off wild pitch.

Causes for Concern:
Consistency is lacking for the Brewers. One day they look like a quality potential playoff team and the next they look like a 10-15 game under .500 squad. With Atlanta coming to Milwaukee tomorrow, you're not really sure if the big guys or the little guys will come out. The odd thing is that it's not just a couple of guys. It's every single person on this team. One day Prince will look locked and drill every pitch hard and the next he'll appear to be overmatched. Weeks looks poised to jump from that slump and then strikes out seven times in two days. Manny Parra has two solid starts, then turns around and explodes with an awful start. It's scary and exciting, but it makes for a frustrated author.

The Nationals aren't particularly a good team, and it showed throughout the series. My biggest concern is their starting pitching. Their numbers, by any means, are bad. Redding has been solid most of the year, Bergmann is turning it around and Perez was locating all of his pitches, but no starter made it through the sixth inning. In fact, only Bergmann made it into the sixth. This could be a big problem as the season progresses and the bullpen begins to accumulate innings. Cordero is no where near coming back to the bullpen and Rauch looks like the only legit arm that could be lights out. It's going to be more tough than usual if they can't get that worked out.

Causes for Excitement:
How can you not be stoked about Corey Hart, who is showing no signs of slowing down? Hart has five home runs since May 17th is batting .302/.348/.523 in May. A lot of people were on his case in April for not bringing the power numbers. Patience is king in baseball. Remember when you were worried Prince would never hit another homerun? But it gets a little better for the Crew. Seth McClung earned himself quite a few fans' support with his start on Saturday. You can't get too excited just yet though. Give him a few starts before you start believing. But the new mechanics and his big stature make McClung a pretty interesting development.

The Nationals have to be proud of their young catchers doing some damage at the plate and behind it. Will Nieves and Jesus Flores are hitting the ball extremely well, and have surprisingly looked even better behind the plate, Flores especially. You may not believe it considering the number of stolen bases this weekend, but every ball got out quickly and was right on the bag, and I mean ON the bag. Flores got hosed on a call today on another perfect toss and every other SB was stolen on the pitcher, not their young catchers.

Brewers Pirates Series Recap

2008-05-23T09:47:00.003-05:00

Score Recap:
Milwaukee Brewers 7 Pittsburgh Pirates 2
Milwaukee Brewers 4 Pittsburgh Pirates 1
Milwaukee Brewers 4 Pittsburgh Pirates 8

MVPs of the Series:
Corey Hart: 5/14; 2 HRs, 4 R, 3 RBI, SB, BB
Xavier Nady: 6/11; 2 HRs, 3 R, 2 RBIs

Corey Hart has been phenomenal lately and shows no signs of slowing up. It's reminiscent of his 21-game hit streak last year in which he was able to get on in any fashion. I'm most proud of the unselfishness that goes with his bunts for hits. The guys on FOX went off on him when he tried to do it on Saturday, but I can't complain about a guy doing whatever it takes to help his team out. Even better, he's gone year three times in the last six games, which is also reminiscent of his slow power start last year before the finally let him play every day.

Pirates fans have to be happy about Nady who looked like he was a perpetual fourth outfielder. His power numbers have been impressive all while maintaining his average. It's beating a dead horse, which I'm pretty well known for now, to say that this squad is poised to explode if Freddy Sanchez would just show up. If Nady would just get the opportunity to hit more often with RISP, he would have some really impressive numbers.

What Was The Difference?:
In every game, it seemed to be starting pitching. Manny Parra and Ben Sheets combined to pitch 14.1 innings of one run baseball in games one and two. Ian Snell and Paul Maholm, on the other hand, gave up eight runs over 12.1 innings. It's not surprising that the Brewers took those two games. It's even less surprising to find out that the Pirates won game three since Dave Bush gave up six runs in five, while Gorzelanny only gave up two. If the Brewers had any sort of reasonable game from Dave Bush, they would have swept this series. Unfortunately Ned Yost plays favorites. When Villanueva pitches bad, he gets on his case and says he's not attacking or he's missing his spots. When Bush pitches poorly, he works real hard, he's just not getting the success. It's a double standard I'm sick of hearing because Yost is partial to his boys.

Causes for Concern:
The Brewers have to have some serious concerns about the starting rotation. Even by inserting McClung in for Villanueva, they are just as vulnerable since McClung is still unproven and Bush is clearly incapable of consistency (refer to last year as well if you don't believe me). There is an absurd amount of talk right now surrounding the Brewers regarding trades for guys like Randy Wolfe and perhaps Paul Byrd. Randy Wolfe is definitely a no go in my book, but the opportunity to get Paul Byrd is an intriguing one. Byrd is making $7.5 mil this year, but has supported it with a 4.10 ERA and a 1.3 WHIP this season in a very competitive division. I would be okay with this possible trade as long as the Crew doesn't sacrifice it's future. It's pretty obvious that Gwynn has been give no opportunity become an every day player especially because LaPorta will probably be ready by September. This makes him good trade bait, as well as Dave Bush who has a much lighter contract than Byrd and a lot more innings in him. It's still concerning though. Perhaps a few weeks in the bullpen will work Villanueva's problems out.

The Pirates have to be a little worried about their starting pitching as well. Gorzelanny continues to walk batters left and right, but got away with it yesterday by getting some big ground balls and strikeouts. Maholm looks extremely vulnerable and Snell is no where near what he was in 2007. While the bullpen doesn't look spectacular either, the Pirates need to right the ship in the first six innings first. It looks like Grabow and Capps can handle most of the load after that, since the offense has more than enough in it to tack on insurance runs. If Snell can get back to form and Duke can keep his walk total down, the Pirates may be able to hover around .500 for most of the year.

Causes for Excitement:
Every week it's Corey Hart, and this week is no different, but let's be honest here, Rickie Weeks is on the horse. Both Weeks and Hart hit two solo shots in the series and were able to get on base at around a .400 clip. Weeks improved his average by 15 points and his on-base by 16, pushing him over the Mendoza line and now carries the fourth best on-base of any of our starters. This means he should still be our leadoff hitter. Think about it. You want the guy with the highest on-base possible at the top of the order, but if his average is garbage, you don't want to rely on him to try and drive runs in. As a result, you make him the table setter and that's what Rickie is.

While McLouth struggled in the first two games, the Pirates 3-4-5 hitters have been absolutely ridiculous. They probably won't maintain these numbers all season, but it's still fun to watch as a baseball guy. Bay is possibly the only disappointing guy there, but after this series, he may have found some confidence that can boost this team to another winning streak. All they need to do is avoid the Cubs like the plague. Their command is just too awful for a team that takes walks like the Central leaders. Nevertheless, look for the Pirates to accumulate some big offensive numbers. If only they would take more walks, they could do even bigger things.

Predictions and Notes:
Game three was an atrocity. I was right in suggesting the Brewers needed some offense to get the job done with Bush on the mound. After really getting on Carlos' case, Yost didn't seem to mind that Dave Bush couldn't even get past the fifth. Instead of making the heady move like he did elsewhere, Yost defends the guy. Ugh. I can't stand managers who take favorites (insert Dusty Baker and Lou Pinella). It's a simple fact that some guys just can't cut it for very long in the bigs and I have no doubt that Dave Bush is one of those guys. Villanueva will definitely have a longer career in the bigs if he stays in the bullpen, so I'm not devastated by it, but he's clearly the better of the two in my book, and he's getting paid significantly less because of his service time. Trade Dave Bush and Tony Gwynn for a solid three or four starter.

The Brewers offense appears to be on the rise as they managed to get more than ten hits in every game of this series. The Pirates matched them on Wednesday and Thursday, eventually taking game three following two huge double plays to prevent the big inning. Look for more of the same as the Brewers head to Washington to play the Nationals. Beware of the starting pitching as Seth McClung will likely take the mound on Saturday and will be limited to 75 pitches or so. Good luck Seth!

Doug Melvin Not as Good as You Might Think

2008-05-22T09:49:00.005-05:00

In 2007 the Brewers made a barrage of moves to try and improve their bullpen. Though this never really panned out, today I want to look at the trades we've completed after the last few years and decide if the moves turned out to be worth anything, or if they were epic disasters.

The Move: First let's go back to Dana Eveland at the request of one of my loyalest readers. In November 2006 the Brewers traded away Doug Davis Dana Eveland and David Krynzel in return for Greg Aquino, Johnny Estrada and Claudio Vargas.

What Did We Think?: At the beginning of this, I was stoked. Johnny Estrada was a switch hitting catcher with pop, Claudio Vargas had a live arm with lots of potential and I didn't have to watch Doug Davis pitch any more. Don't get me wrong, Doug is a very serviceable pitcher, but he's like Steve Trachsel reincarnated: Very deliberate and slow pace. I can stand it.

What Happened?: Initially the trade looked fantastic for the Brewers who put all three guys on the big league squad.

Aquino started off on fire for the Brewers, not giving up a run in his first six appearances, but struggled unbelievable with runners on and ultimately went on the DL with a 'phantom' injury. I say it's a phantom injury because he had been optioned to AAA, and somehow got hurt on the way there, meaning the Brewers had to pay him a big league salary while on the DL. He would return for a September call up and struggle a bit, but mad a good enough case for himself to earn a job in Baltimore, where he has exploded with a 14.21 ERA in just 6.3 IP.

Vargas was outstanding for the Brewers to start the year. While his command was questionable at best, Claudio earned the name Houdini by mid-season for sneaking out of jams unscathed. Eventually it caught up to him though and he would be removed from the starting rotation despite his 11 victories (Because those matter right Dave Bush?). In the end Vargas would be given his outright release this spring so he could find a job, which he did in the Mets minor league system. Since then he has been called up and has started and lost two games for the Mets giving up six earned runs over 11.1 innings.

Johnny Estrada... well Johnny hurt this team immensely and ultimately got traded for Guillermo Mota, which has been a positive thus far. But in 2007, Johnny was a .278/.296/.403 hitter, which is surprisingly close to his career numbers which are .278/.318/.401. The unfortunate thing about those numbers is that they don't tell the whole story. Estrada dogged it constantly, hurt or not and GIDP'd 16 times during the year, most of which felt like pivotal times. He marred the locker room with bad energy and ultimately didn't get along with management, especially Ned Yost who he got into an altercation with. In the end, the Brewers would sign Jason Kendall to a two year deal and immediately ship the cancer out.

So three guys in: All three out at the end of the 2007 season. What about the D'Backs?

Doug Davis did what Doug Davis has always done in his career, which is walk batters at a ridiculous rate, but still pitch around 200 innings and get you 10-12 wins, which is exactly what the D'Backs wanted. Oddly enough, we're paying a guy $10 million dollars to do that instead of $7.75 mil, which is a totally different story. Nevertheless, Doug did well with Arizona amassing a 4.25 ERA and winning 13 games. He will return to the team this week after being diagnosed and treated for thyroid cancer.

Dana Eveland would get his chance in 2007 to play, but struggled mightily in the only five games they let him play in before getting traded to the A's in December in the Dan Haren. Since then Eveland has been unbelievable. Leave it to A's to find talent that looks fallen but really isn't. Eveland is 4-3 this year with a 2.90 ERA and a 1.161 WHIP, and looks like a legitimate big league pitcher, though he still has trouble with his command at times. Sometimes it takes a different set of eyes and a new backdrop to get pitchers on task, but Eveland has some talent and could do extremely well in the future.

Dave Krynzel was once a big time prospect for the Brewers, but he lagged greatly on his way up and refused to take advice from his team while leading a wild lifestyle. It looks like AZ may be having the same problem with Dave, who has only played in 27 games since leaving the Brewers, leading me to believe he's been on the DL for quite some time and doesn't plan on reviving his career. For all I know he's out of baseball.

Grade: C-. Doug Melvin really screwed the donkey on this one. If he would have just kept Doug Davis, didn't pay Jeff Suppan and waited for Eveland the Brewers would be a very different team, but that's a big IF. Nevertheless, the eventual result was a wasted trade where the Brewers left the deal one year later with none of those players on their roster and two teams ended up with starting pitchers who are clear major leaguers.

...

The Move: In July of 2007, Doug Melvin traded Grant Balfour for hard throwing Seth McClung from the Devil Rays.

What Did We Think?: Let's be honest, nobody really cared. Balfour was a live arm who wasn't throwing strikes and so was Seth McClung. The swap was just to save two pitchers from getting snagged up by waivers.

What Happened?: Seth McClung has slowly but surely made progress in a Brewer uniform. Since arriving, Seth has purposefully taken three or four MPH off his fastball to control it better and it has help immensely. At one point he could toss 100 MPH missiles at any time, but the fear was in the hitter because 'Wild Thing' Vaughn was on the mound. McClung got a call up in August 2007 and struggled immensely to start, as eh could not control his breaking pitches, but as the rest of the season progressed, McClung began to show signs of life and ended the season with a 3.75 ERA over 12 innings of relief allowing only 1.33 batters to reach per inning. This year, McClung has been relatively solid. The walks continue to plague him, but the K numbers are their, having struck out 20 in 20.1 innings of work. As a result, he's been tabbed to join the starting rotation this Saturday.

Grant Balfour's jump to the Devil Rays was not so successful. He immediately was given the opportunity to pitch, but could not seem to command his pitches, walking 16 over 22, while striking out 27. Nevertheless, his ERA ballooned to over six and is currently pitching in the Rays AAA minor league affiliate in Durham where he has a 0.45 ERA in 20 innings of work and a 0.65 WHIP. Wow. Maybe he's figured something out.

Grade: B. No one really knows if Balfour is going to pan out or if he's a straight AAAA pitcher. Nevertheless, he has the stuff, primarily the fastball, that can turn him into a really good pitcher. McClung is beyond serviceable and probably won't be the answer to the Brewer's rotation woes, but you can't complain about what he's done so far. Neither team wins this one giving Melvin a deserving B.

...

The Move: Three days prior to trading for McClung the Brewers traded Will Inman, Joe Thatcher and Steve Garrison to the Padres for Scott Linebrink.

What Did We Think?: I was livid. The Brewers gave up two big prospects in Thatcher and Inman. Thatcher was the only lefty prospect who was showing legitimate progress and Inman was supposedly a top 10 prospect. Even worse, rarely does a trade for a reliever work out for a team mid-season, especially a struggling one like Scott Linebrink.

What Happened?: Linebrink came in and pitched pretty well for the Brewers, which was a breath of fresh air, but when the season came to a close, the Brewers didn't even talk to him about a contract as they spent their entire time trying to re-sign Cordero, which they failed at. Linebrink would then sign with the White Sox and has been damn solid, throwing 20 innings and giving up only three earnies (1.35 ERA).

Joe Thatcher was a huge positive for the Padres down the stretch, tossing 21 innings while amassing a 1.29 ERA in the final few months of baseball. Unfortunately, he would give up quite a few big runs in the series against the Brewers that would eliminate them from the playoffs. This year Joe has struggled mightily, amassing a 7.45 ERA over 19.1 innings of baseball. The problem may not be that big though considering hitters BAbip is well over .330. Still, it doesn't look like he was as ready as I thought.

Will Inman continues to do well in the minors as a AA pitcher for San Antonio. Inman has pitched 47.2 innings in nine starts this year and has struck out 50 while only walking 19. He has a 2.46 ERA and a 1.15 WHIP which his very promising, especially considering he's only given up two homeruns this year. Inman is still a few years away, but this could be the sign of a huge mistake.

Steve Garrison continues to look like a solid pitcher in AA-San Antonio, but is likely a little bet behind Inman as far as stuff goes. That hasn't stopped him from doing particularly well. In eight starts Garrison has tossed 42 innings, striking out 27 and walking 15 on his way to a 3.86 ERA and 1.29 WHIP. Not bad for a fourth year professional.

Grade: C. Linebrink may have done well with the Brewers, but they did nothing to keep him around and now he's having another solid year. Throw in the idea that Inman might be a solid starter in the future and Garrison a serviceable reliever and the Brewers really sacrificed their future for two month fix in the pen.

...

So Doug, you sucked last year. Sorry man. The moves at the time didn't look that bad, but in the end they have bit this team hard in 2008. That's not exactly why they're playing awful, but it scares me as far as what we may have lost in the future. The Eveland thing is tough to swallow. He probably wouldn't have been as good as he is now if it wasn't for the path he took, but you have to wonder what the Brewers could have done to help him understand what he needed to do here to be a better pitcher. If he turns into a consistent starter, the "Doug Melvin is Gold," saying has to be changed to, "Doug Melvin gives away gold." In years past he always seemed to get more than he gave, but things may have turned a corner in 2007.