By: Big Rygg

Another day, another extra-inning affair. The Brewers lost this afternoon courtesy of a Wes Helms home run. You want to know something that ticks me right off? When we lose because of Wes freaking Helms.

Therefore, I digress from talk about the game today and instead pose the following situational query:

Ben Sheets is supposed to be getting his next start this coming Tuesday evening against the Chicago Scrubs in our second series of the year at the Northside Garbage Dump. Also, coming back for the Brewers in that game will be Centerfielder Mike Cameron, fresh off of his 25-game suspension for the use of a banned stimulant. A lot of people want to call him a steroid user, but that simply wouldn't be an accurate statement.

We also know that Cameron's roster spot on the 25-man roster was opened up when the team optioned RHP Dave Bush to AAA Nashville. They plan on keeping him pitching every five days while there so that he can keep working as a starter. While I understand the move (Bush had options and some of the other relief pitchers that could've been jettisoned don't) and it makes sense to me, my question now becomes who gets the ax when Joe Dillon is eligible to return from Nashville as well?

One thought process from someone that hasn't been paying any attention would be that since Mitch Stetter came up when Dillon went down, that it only makes sense that they'd swap back again. While Ned Yost and Doug Melvin may end up doing just that, Stetter has proven again and again that he deserves to be in the Brewer bullpen and that he also definitely helps us win. (I know I said I wouldn't talk about tonight's game, but he got out of a bases-loaded, no one out jam hand-crafted by Derrick Turnbow, with ZERO runs scoring. That's impressive.)

So, who goes? Is it Stetter, and they'll just call him back up again for the next Reds' series? Is it McClung, which a move involving would leave us without a long-man? Maybe Turnbow finally has done enough that Yost wants him to go down for a spell to get his confidence back? I know it won't be Gagne, Shouse, Torres or Mota (I'm pretty sure of this, but I never thought they'd carry 14 pitchers for as long as they did either.), but maybe it could be David Riske? I personally think he needs to be with the parent club, but maybe it's his turn for a 10-day stint in Nashville?

Who do you think it'll be, Brewer Nation? Or do you think that we'll keep Dillon in the minors until something bad happens, thereby severely limiting ourselves offensively and just begging for something to happen that will force us to play somebody severely out of position?
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Question #2: What are your thoughts now that this season is officially 25 games in? We have an off-day tomorrow (much needed in my opinion thanks to all of the extra-inning games we've been playing), so it ought to give us all a chance to reflect a little bit.

Personally? I think we're lucky to be 14-11. You can say that without the Giants' sweep that we'd be .500 (which is mathematically correct), but we've faced some tough teams and some very good pitching so far this year. We've run into Carlos Zambrano, Aaron Harang (twice), Johnny Cueto (twice), Johan Santana, Oliver Perez, Scott Olsen (who's been throwing lights out so far), Adam Wainwright (twice) and the Cardinals staff that's been playing out of their minds to this point, Cole Hamels...(do you see my point yet?)...and we've done this with Sheets missing one start and Yovani Gallardo missing a few himself due to an off-season knee injury.

We avoided Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain of the Giants, but otherwise we've drawn the opposing team's ace in every series so far. Perhaps that's adding in to our offensive struggles so far, but even if we would've faced everyones' bottom three, we'd still have been struggling out of the gate with the bats. Individuals are starting to come around, and if we ever all come around at the same time we'll be in for some fun 9 inning games, but we're definitely not all there yet.

So what are your thoughts? Lucky to be 14-11? Should be better? Is that about what you expected after 25 games at the beginning of the season? Let me know what you think, Brewer Nation!!!

By: Big Rygg

Despite his game winning run today, and a home run that wasn't called as such, I'm happy to report one Gabe Gross has been traded to the Tampa Bay (devil) Rays for pitching prospect Josh Butler.

 Joshua Bulter - 0-2, 6.35 ERA, 17.0 IP, 18 H, 12 ER, 5 BB, 10 K

I'm not upset by this...I don't care what the return was. Nice work, Doug Melvin!

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Oh yeah, the Brewers won one helluva game today, 9-8 in 12 innings. More on that (with some pictures) later, probably.

 

By: Big Rygg

"Okay, so there's Craig Counsell, Gabe Kapler and...yup, Mike Rivera. Okay, where's Gwynn? Right...on a rehab assignment. Well what about Dillon? Optioned to Nashville? Hmm."

I have a feeling that someone may have said something quite similar to the above statement today when arriving to the ballpark. When the Brewers were in the field defensively during today's ballgame in Cincinnati, the dugout consisted of exactly seven uniformed members of the Milwaukee Brewers (four of which are coaches) that don't count the bullpen as at least their second home. That's not many.

Ned Yost, in 2006, alienated Milwaukee icon Robin Yount (then his bench coach) by insisting in carrying 13 pitchers instead of the "standard" 12. Yount didn't like the limited options in pinch-hitting, pinch-running and other aspects of the game that a bench that was a man short of regular scenario handling allowed for. Yount left the bench after the 2006 season citing the want to spend more time with his family. I'm not one to begrudge the man his public reasoning, but it seems like odd timing.

Now in 2008, Yost has a swollen bullpen again. There may be underlying reasons for it (some of which include: wanting an extry lefty for the bullpen while we faced Cincinnati's left-handed heavy lineup, Brian Shouse being overworked, Seth McClung not having any minor-league options left, being unsure about what to do with the extra spot in the rotation, not being positive about Ben Sheets' tricep), but the bottom line is that the Brewers are currently carrying an unprecedented 14 men in their bullpen. This leaves, as previously stated, 8 starting position players and three backups (1 catcher who could backup at 1B, 1 infielder who mans 2B, SS and 3B, and 1 OF that could backup at all three spots assuming his shoulder can hold up). Dicey, Ned and Doug...dicey indeed.

So what does this mean in the long run? Well, hopefully not much. Hopefully the phone rings in Frank Kremblas' office tomorrow and there's a move or two to report back the other direction. Otherwise, the Brewers will continue to be perilously thin and in danger of severe problems should they need a pinch-hitter late in the game or in the case of an injury. Granted, a guy that can handle anything but an injury to J.J. Hardy in Joe Dillon is just a short flight away, but that's still something that you just have to pray to avoid.

Will this end up biting the Brewers in the short term? Let's hope not. But until another position player (or two) is added back to the roster, all we can do is hope.

Click Here for some comments from a Hall of Fame broadcaster

Click here for an article in a Chicago newspaper that overviews more idiotic Scrub fans

The "Comments" link is to an audio file, so make sure your sound it ready to go on your computer.

By: Big Rygg

If you likes you some offense, was this ever a game for you. Pitching on both sides (for the most part) was shaky at best and (most of) the bats were nice and warm on both sides as well.

The Brewers jumped on Met starting pitcher Oliver Perez early, courtesy of a Gabe "Boom Boom" Kapler two-run home run. Perez set down the next three Brewers in order.

But therein lies the secondary story of this offensive outburst. That order was not as it had been all season prior to this game; Prince Fielder, Ryan Braun and Bill Hall. Instead, per their personal request, Fielder and Braun were swapped in the order to the configuration they hit during the majority of the 2007 season. Braun hit 3rd, Fielder cleaned up (poorly today) and Bill Hall and his 5 home runs still hit 5th in the order.

Prior to their personal request for the swap, Ned Yost had said that a switch of Braun and Fielder would simply be a "placebo", implying that it would be completely a mental thing if it helped out. Obviously, it's too early to tell what kind of effect it might have, but it was nice to see Ryan Braun with a couple of hits and RBI. Fielder, as I mentioned earlier, didn't fair so well. He went 0/5 (with a walk). Ultimately, this has a chance to break both men out of their respective funks. That's a good thing.

As for Brewer starting pitcher Jeff Suppan, he only last 4.0 innings and didn't exactly do well in keeping the ball down. Salomon Torres pitched two innings, Brian Shouse and Guillermo Mota pitched dangerous innings, but Eric Gagne slammed the door in the 9th, recording the Brewers only 1-2-3 inning all night, for his third save overall, his second in as many nights.

Hopefully people have a little more faith in Gagne after this series.

What was noticeable was how Derrick Turnbow was not pitching in the 8th inning yet again. There was a two-run lead to protect and Yost called Mota out of the 'pen. Mota got some help on defense highlighted by an excellent double play from Prince Fielder without which he might have given up the lead. Will Turnbow ever get the 8th inning gig back? I think it truly depends on others faltering first, to be honest, which is unfortunate in my opinion.

But, the Brewers won again, so does it really matter who pitches the 8th? Well, it does, but it didn't tonight ultimately.

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So some questions for all of you out there (if there are any of you left...):

1. Is this a long-term switch with Braun and Fielder (and if so, what do you expect from it)?
2. Was this just an off night for Suppan, or is his summer starting early?
3. What's your confidence level like in Eric Gagne now?
4. Should Gabe Kapler start every game in centerfield (assuming Gwynn is still injured) until Mike Cameron comes off suspension?

Feel encouraged to answer any or all of these questions.

Thanks!

By: Big Rygg

There are plenty of people around MIlwaukee and in the Brewer Nation that are worried about this team's "slow start".

The last time I checked, ladies and gentlemen, 6-4 is not a terrible position to be in; it's not even a bad position to be in. There are 11 teams in the National League that are looking up at the Brewers in the standings (12 if you count the head-to-head tie-breaker we currently have over the Scrubs). Out of 16 teams, that's not bad air that we're breathing.

And you know what the real silver lining to this whole situation is? According to Manager Ned Yost, nobody on our team can be considered "hot" right now. I don't know that that's entirely true. Afterall, Jason Kendall is still batting .483, Gabe Kapler is still at .389 and Ben Sheets is pitching lights out so far (knock on wood) with 15.1 IP, 15 K and exactly 0 R. Nobody else with any significant amount of at-bats is hitting .300 let alone over it (Corey Hart is the highest at a stellar .257).

Of note, Prince FIelder (2007: .288, 50 HR, 119 RBI) is hitting .243 with 0 HR and only 6 RBI. Ryan Braun (2007: .324, 34 HR, 97 RBI) is hitting .227. Yes, he's got 3 HR, but he's got exactly no walks...that means his on-base percentage is only .227, that's not a good number.

Dave Bush is 0-2 in two rough starts, Carlos Villanueva and Manny Parra have each had a rough inning and each have a loss to show for them as well.

But, despite all of these problems and all of the slow starts, the Milwaukee Brewers would play a one-game playoff with the Chicago Scrubs for the NL Wild Card if the season ended today.

If you can't see the silver lining in that, then let me spell it out a little more clearly...

Our best hitters are struggling. Our pitching staff isn't pitching as well as they can. We don't have our starting center fielder or our #3 starting pitcher right now. We don't even have our backup CF right now.

Basically, everybody is scuffling at the same time. Just wait until everyone starts firing on all cylinders together. There could be some stretches this year of some pretty special play.

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What do you guys think, Brewer Nation? Is there any cause for panic here? Do you think this team is pressing at all? I think that a reason they might be pressing is that for all of his positive locker room influence and presence, Prince Fielder's personal offensive woes and attitude about them (not an unfounded attitude by any means) are rubbing off on everyone else. Prince either needs to snap out his emotional funk a little bit, or just hit a damn dinger already! Everything will fall into place from there on out, in my opinion.

It's a been a few days since either of us has posted, and with good reason. South Side Rob has been bowling a lot and has a bunch of other obligations. I've got a 15-week old daughter, but more than that I've been spending the bulk of my free time at night (after my wife and baby go to sleep) getting the Home Run Derby standings sheet ready to go and watching DVR recordings of Brewer games from earlier in the day/evening.

It's been a tiring few days.

Having said that, let's ride on a few news updates that I'm sure you've all heard by now, but what you haven't had yet is comments from our little peanut gallery here:

• The Brewers' record currently stands at 6-3 after the first 9 games of the year. This includes a 2-1 series win over the Scrubs (on the road), a 3-game sweep of the Giants and a 1-2 series loss to the Reds. Any of us would take 2 out of 3 all season long. That equates, for those of you that don't want to do quick math, to a 108-54 record for the season. 100 wins? Yeah, I think that'd be just fine.
• Dave Bush has begun the year with two losses, and until a couple of hours ago those were the only two losses on the young season. Carlos Villanueva was tagged with the loss today. The most frustrating part about that? Villanueva had a no-no for a while in this one before melting down a bit and giving up five consecutive hits. The Reds never looked back. The reason I bring these losses up...
• Yovani Gallardo will be rejoining the team in New York this weekend (however he will not be officially activated off the DL right away) as an insurance policy in case of losing a starter to bad weather and you need an extra starter next Monday in a potential, hypothetical make-up game. Either way, Gallardo is going to officially rejoin the Milwaukee rotation sooner than later (barring setbacks) because he's healthy and hasn't had any setbacks yet. It's assumed by the majority of people that Dave Bush becomes the odd man out. Whether that means he goes to the bullpen and somebody that's currently in said bullpen gets sent down, waived or traded remains to be seen. Personally I think the reason that Bush was made the #3 in the first place was so that Gallardo could be slotted right into that spot when returned from the DL.
• Speaking of the DL, Opening Day starter Tony Gwynn Jr. was officially placed on the DL yesterday (retroactive back to April 6th) because the team was tired of playing a hitter down. To take his place, Milwaukee called up Hernan Iribarren from Class AAA Nashville. The former 2B, current CF, has always hit well (.324 in AAA last year, if memory serves) and is a lefty-hitter to boot. He's also got some speed. I had hoped that Gabe Gross' days of starting for this team were over after last night's game, but lo and behold there was Gross in the 2-hole playing CF today. Weird that the Brewers lost with Gross in the lineup...

That's a little catch-us-up. So, what's next?

The Brewers head to the aforementioned New York City today to begin a three-game set with the Mets at the soon-to-be defunct Shea Stadium. Tomorrow sees lefty Manny Parra take the ball and attempt to shut down a team that many have picked to win the NL East this year.

One of the biggest reasons that they've been tabbed as such is because of off-season acquisition left-handed pitcher and perennial Cy Young candidate Johan Santana. Guess who draws Santana in this series? That's right...we've got an ace of our own that is currently living up to the expectations that have followed him (dogged him?) throughout his career...one Ben Sheets. Now that is a game that I plan on watching live.

But we are on a three-city road trip for now. After the Mets, we visit the Cardinals and these same Cincinnati Reds before finally returning home to Miller Park on April 21st for a three-team, seven-game homestand. Let's get back to Miller Park with a winning record...what do you say? All we have to do is go 4-5 on the trip. We should be able to do that, right?

Well, for now I've got to fly. It's time to get back to dissecting this loss a bit better.

Until next time...

GO BREWERS!!!!!

 

by South Side Rob

How many more games do the Brewers need to be ahead of the cellar-dwelling Cubs before the National media will take their focus off Chicago?

The Brewers are clearly better in every area of the game, yet, people fail to notice because every baseball writer is fixed in on what the Cubs are doing. I'll tell you what they are doing, almost nothing. If not for a gift-victory on Thursday afternoon, this Cubs team would be 0-4. Soto, their prize-rookie is hitting a meager .167, has a throwing error and stolen bases on him already. Derrek Lee is hitting just .222, Aramis Ramirez, .154, and Alfonso Soriano .059. While their Japaneese 12 million dollar import is hitting .500, most of those hits came during a home-opening loss to the first place Milwaukee Brewers.

The Brewers meanwhile should be front-page news. No, Braun and Fielder are not hitting bombs yet but at least their hitting. Coupled with major contributions from Tony Gwynn, Billy Hall, and Jason Kendall, the Brewers are averaging 7 runs per game in this young season. It's how they have done it is what makes this team exciting. With just 3 home runs, most of these runs are being produced with timely hitting and fantastic base running. The Brewers are 6 for 6 in steal attempts so far. Other than Braun (.211), and J.J. Hardy, who has started slow hitting just .059 (hitting in front of the pitcher), the Brewers are hitting in all other areas. Prince has no dingers but he's 6 for 14 (.429 avg). Right now, the Brewers have 4 hitters (Kendall, Fielder, Weeks, and Gwynn) who have a .450 on base pct or better. Kendall, right now, has an on base of .600. Anybody missing Johnny Estrada? Sorry about that.

The pitching has been good enough. With a team ERA under 4, the Brewers so far have been in every game. The defense has been almost perfect. Thanks to the hometown scoring official in Chicago, Braun's misplay did not result in an error but should have been. Because of this, the Brewers have went 4 clean with 4 games and no errors and that's without their gold-glove free-agent Mike Cameron.

What would any baseball fan rather read about? A 1-3 team with 10,000 headaches, or, a young winning team that can hit, run, pitch, and defend? You know I'll take the Brewers everyday.

Last night, I watched Toronto whip up on Boston. I loved it. I watched the Rays (No longer the Devil Rays) destroy the Yankees in Yankee stadium. I loved it. I watched the Royals battle but come up just short. I watched the Phillies handle the Reds (Jenkins had at least 2 strikeouts). Again, I loved it.

Major league baseball has turned the page. The smaller markets have done better jobs building their teams than in the past. Buying winners is no longer the standard. Building them is.

By: Big Rygg

Ladies and gentlemen...Jeff Suppan!

What a performance by Soup. April was a good month to Soup in 2007 and he's starting off 2008 great as well. A quality start (only giving up two solo home runs) and handing the ball off to the bullpen (after our offense knocked in a few of our own runs) for a solid performance of their own...

Does it get much better than this?

We edged the Scrubs on Opening Day and we knocked them around a little bit in Game 2. We're 2-0 and on top of the division all by our lonesomes.

I'll take it.

Tomorrow, I honestly expected Dave Bush to be squaring off against Rich Hill. Apparently Lou Piniella thought it would be a good idea to separate the lefties in his rotation, so he decided to make Ryan "The Dumpster" Dempster his #3. Personally? I love this idea. I'd much rather be facing the Dumpster with a sweep on the line in Game 3 of the season and series.

Also, don't forget that we've got a game that counts at Miller Park on Friday against the woeful San Francisco Giants. Let's all hope that the Brewers don't take a cue from their NBA counterparts and play down to the level of their competition. The Giants are going to be terrible this year and they need to be swept out of Milwaukee like the whipping boys they are.

But for another night, our Milwaukee Brewers sit atop the NL Central.

Feels good, don't it?