April 30 Gameday

Brewers (Capuano 3.00, 34/9) @ Cubs (Zambrano 3.94 33/20)

I like the Brewers chances in this rubber/death match if the game actually gets played. As you can see, Zambrano has already walked 20 guys this year, which is good news for the team that (I think) is leading the majors in pitches taken. I also watched him break his bat over his knee earlier in the week. The thought of a Zambrano implosion on the mound today makes me giddy.

***Edited with picture of weather by Condescendy***
Condey sez, "ain't gonna be no game today."

April 29th Game Day

Davis (0-2, 7.66 ERA) vs. Rusch (1-3, 6.41 ERA)

Not much to say here. Davis desperately needs a win and some run support. The Cubs have played well at home this year, so I don't expect that to change today, even with Rusch pitching. Yesterday, I accurately predicted Jenkins as the most successful hitter against Maddux. Today my money is on Carlos Lee.

Also, I'm sure we all hate the White Sox, but that shirt is complements of a dirty south-sider outside of Comiskey. My favorite article of clothing only cost 10 dollars.

Bush NOT #1

Well, I guess that question's answered...

Link

April 28th Gameday

Greg Maddux (4-0, .99 ERA) vs. Dave Bush (2-1, 3.54 ERA)

A lot is going on in this game. Greg Maddux is looking to go 5-0 for his first five starts for the first time in his career, let's hope he blows it. Let's also hope that the great performance that took place Bush's shutout against the Reds carries over to today's game. Lee being out really helps our chances, but left fielder Matt Murton is hot right now and is filling Lee's shoes pretty well. In the Atlanta series, all parts of our batting order were able to drive in runners in scoring position frequently, this is something I can get used to. Yeah, Atlanta sucks, but not stranding runners and no outs on the bases would be great this series.

Also, I look forward to being constantly reminded how Mike and Greg Maddux are brothers, I REALLY hope our favorite duo aren't announcing this game for MLB TV. Jenkins and Miller, of all people, have hit Maddux really well in the past, they have a career .395 and .385 batting average against him respectively. Miller did not play in Wednesday's game, so he should be well rested.

Finally, are the Cubs the ONLY team that play Friday day games? I really look forward to the possibility of Jenkins making an opposing pitcher look stupid.

Baseball Players' Minds

If you have not yet seen the clip of Delmon Young, who is considered by many to be the top prospect in baseball, throwing a bat off the chest of a replacement umpire in a AAA game last night, then you don't know what you're missing. It was completely cartoonish. Hilarious! Go to ESPN and click and it's under the videos link on the right side of the page. Go quickly. It may not be there long.

Young is an insanely talented player, but his mental problems are really holding him back. In my review of the D-Rays in January, I called Young a child and said that his development would be restrained. It certainly looks like that is the case.

This brings me to the main topic here: the Brewers recalled Ben Hendrickson today. I refuse to accept that Hendrickson will ever stick in the Major Leagues. He looks like a deer in the headlights on the mound and refuses to throw a pitch anywhere near where someone could hit it. I don't think he has the mental ability to pitch in the Major Leagues. I usually don't give a rat's ass about what someone's attitude is or if the person is a "clubhouse guy." But, in the case of prospects like Hendrickson and Young, the mental game really does matter.

What sucks about the callup of Hendrickson is that he will likely pitch one of the games this weekend in the playground for the cocksuckers. If there is one place that is high-pressure regardless of the game situation, it is the playground for the cocksuckers. I have a really bad feeling about this callup. Does anyone here think Hendrickson will be okay? Someone defend him? There are some players playing very well in AAA who I'd rather have seen called up. Nelson Cruz is raping the ball down there, and Mike Rivera is still showing that he should be the Brewers backup catcher.

So the Brewers are about to start a series against the cubs. I know all of us will be watching these games and will get really emotional. I will probably be the most pissed off of anyone if the Brewers lose the series this weekend, especially since the cubs are basically without their entire offense. Maddux, and Sutton jacking him off, is going to drive me crazy. I really hope Gross starts in center against him rather than Clark. Anyway, I'm rampbling. I ask in advance here that people say funny things and don't get as upset as I will. Please try to cheer me up instead of making me have to defend the Brewers and look at the bright side of things.

April 26th Game Day

Jorge Sosa (0-3, 10.45 ERA) vs. Ben Sheets (0-2, 4.5 ERA)

Can we please get Sheets a win with some run support today?
MLB TV has TBS coverage, so in between classes I will definately be watching simply because I don't have to put up with Beavis and Butthead.

Favre's Coming Back

LINK

I hate this idea. This front office clearly feels that all the Packers need is Brett Favre. I'm sure they aren't celebrating now that they've got their man though. What they are doing is absolutely nothing, just like they have this entire offseason. I will not be watching the Packers this season.

Thoughts?

April 25 Gameday

Brewers (Ohka) vs. Braves (Hudson) 7:00

It's amazing that the Brewers are 10-10 considering how atrocious the team's defense has been this year. When looking at defense, you have to look deeper than the box score. The Brewers have made a ton of errors, but the problems go well beyond this. The team's range is bad, it cannot turn a double play, and it blows almost every chance it can to force an out on the basepaths. It doesn't get errors for those plays, but I ensure you that the Brewers defense is the worst in the league defensively, challenged only by the Reds for that distinction. You had to see the game yesterday to know what I'm talking about. Clark and Hardy both missed opportunities to make average-to-good plays when Giles scored. Fielder and Weeks blew a pickoff rundown. Weeks failed to turn a double play. Weeks made a throw to Fielder that was awful, as was Fielder's inability to come down with the ball. Growing pains folks. Growing pains.

I'd like to expand these gameday post comments to include comments made on Baseball Tonight. I usually don't watch the show, but every episode is good for AT LEAST 30 knee-jerking, hilarious comments. The "analysts" treat every day of baseball as if what happened that day defines a player, team, and baseball in general. Here are the highlights from yesterday:

The Rockies are an amazing road baseball team. They have a TON of talent. If they can just find a way to win at Coors Field, they will be a force in the NL.
Jacque Jones and Corey Patterson have been struggling because pitchers are making good pitches on them. Because Jones can hit a ball to left field, he is an insanely talented player that could carry the Cubs through Derrek Lee's injury. Both Jones and Patterson have been swinging at bad pitches because they are pressing. After the home run yesterday, Jones will not be pressing any more.
Also, the team on BT, when talking about Todd Walker getting robbed by 3 web gems, failed to make note that Walker would have reached base all three times by hitting a home run or walking.

These comments and those from Rick Sutcliffe during broadcasts are something we should all share and laugh at. It will be fun to see how quickly their opinions on Jones and the Rockies change.

April 24 Gameday thread

Braves (Davies) @ Brewers (Capuano)7:05 CDT.

April 23rd Gameday: Dollar Dog Day!

Brewers (Lord Davis) vs. Reds (Milton), 1:00

Expect HUGE things from Davis today, today being the first Lord's day he's pitched on this young season. The bullpen is nicely rested after the two back-to-back best starts of the year by any Brewers pitchers. It won't be necessary. This is the Lord's day.

April 22 Gameday

Brewers (Bush) vs. Reds (Claussen), 1:00

Bush takes on his twin brother Ryan Freel. Who will win the battle?

April 21 Gameday: $1 Dog Night!!!

Brewers (Sheets) vs. Reds (Arroyo), 7:00

With Arroyo in the lineup, the Reds figure to score even more runs tonight. This ought to be fun. Look for me running onto the field to hug Adam Dunn in the 8th inning. I hope I get on TV!

Haha

Am I the only one who can't help but laugh every time I see the video of Derrek Lee getting hurt? This might be historically the earliest point in the season where Chubs fans are saying "Better luck next year..." Below is a link to the video so you can all enjoy this moment as many times as you would like. Just click on the little icon that shows him wincing in pain.

http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/index.jsp

April 20th Game Day Thread

Dave Williams (0-2, 8.00 ERA) vs. Tomo Ohka (1-1, 3 ERA)

We are 5-0 at home, albiet we played pretty awful teams. This is an interesting match-up because Adam Dunn is cold right now, but has hit Ohka in the past really well (he's .444 with 3 homers facing Tomo). Williams was pulled after 3 innings against the Cardinals in his last start, but fares well against the Brewers compared to other teams. It'll be about as interesting as a weekday Brewers Reds game gets.

April 19th Gameday

Brewers (Capuano) at Astros (Pettitte) 7:00

Cirillo in the lineup at first tonight. Hmmmm? Corey Hart gets sent down and the next two games are games where his services could have been used. That's annoying, but it will be nice to have three good sticks, Fielder, Gross, and Koskie, coming off the bench.

Minor League Update and April 18th Gameday

Brewers (Davis) at Astros (Oswalt), 7:00.

About twice a month I will try to update everyone on what's happening in the minor leagues. I know it's still really early and we're dealing with small sample sizes, but here's who's hot and who's not:

Nashville (7-5):
Who's Hot?

1. Dana Eveland: Through two outings, Dana has pitched 12 innings, giving up just two runs and one walk while striking out 11.
2. Dave Krynzel: Like last year, Krynzel has gotten off to a hot start. Let's hope his May-September is a little better this year. In 35 AB, he has 1 home run, is batting .379, with 5 walks, 10 K's, 6 SB, and 1 CS. He is slugging .657.
3. Mike Rivera: Rivera is the guy I was hoping would be the backup catcher this year. Through 28 AB, he has an OPS of 1.007.
4. Nelson Cruz: Cruz has hit well in the last 5 games or so, raising his OPS to .919. 3 BB and 13 K through 49 AB is a little bit concerning, though. His power numbers are good so far, but the on-base ability (.327 OBP) hasn't shown itself this year yet.

Who's Not:

1. Brad Nelson: Currently with an OPS of .647, Nelson has yet to show an ability to hit AAA pitching.

Others to Note: I figure a bullpen arm is going to get a call up real soon. Here are the leading candidates for a promotion.

1. Mike Adams: Five strikeouts, no walks, and one run allowed through his first five innings in AAA.
2. Chris Demaria: 7 strikeouts, 1 walk, and 2 runs allowed through 5.2 innings.
3. Jason Kerchner: 3 strikeouts, 1 walk, and 2 runs allowed through 7.2 innings. With Adam Dunn and the Reds coming to town this weekend, the Brewers could perhaps use Kerchner's lefty arm out of the bullpen.

Huntsville (7-6):

Who's Hot?

1. Callix Crabbe: The only Stars regular to have an OPS over .7o0. Yeah, this team cannot hit. Crabbe is off to an excellent start, with an .840 OPS, 12 walks, 3 strikeouts, and a rare home run in his first 40 AB. This is really nice to see, as I've like Crabbe a lot since his days in Beloit.

Who's Not?

1. Every other hitter in the lineup, though there are almost no prospects in the Huntsville lineup.
2. Tim Dillard: A 5.28 ERA through 15.1 innings is not the worst thing in the world. But, he has just 8 strikeouts, and his pitching to contact may catch up with him this year at the higher level.

Brevard County (10-1):

Who's Hot?

1. Almost everyone in the lineup. Of the bigger name prospects, Alcides Escobar and Charlie Fermaint have stood out. Escobar, whose plate discipline has always been lacking, has 5 walks to just 4 strikeouts in his first 27 AB, en route to a .923 OPS. Fermaint has continued his hot hitting from the end of last year, posting a .932 OPS, with 6 walks, 10 K, 1 HR, 5 SB, 2 CS, and a .359 batting average through his first 39 AB.
2. Yo Gallardo: 10 K, 2 BB, and a 1.69 ERA through his first 10.2 innings.
3. Josh Wahpepah: Yet to surrender a run in 11 innings, Josh looks to be this year's version of Tim Dillard, a sinkerball pitcher that doesn't strike out many and succeeds in pitching to contact in A+ ball.

Who's Not?

1. Ryan Braun: While his .717 OPS is okay, a 14/5 K/BB ratio and 4 errors through 42 AB is troubling.
2. Mark Rogers: So much for all that improvement he made this offseason with his mechanics. 10 walks through 6.1 innings says it all.

West Virginia (5-6):

Who's Hot?

1. Angel Salome: In a good pitchers environment, Salome has a .908 OPS, with 1 HR, 5 BB, and just 3 K in 44 AB. He is batting .341.
2. William Inman: Inman has been getting some good press from baseball insiders as being one of the better picks of last year's draft. His fastball has exceeded expectations, and he seems to be developing quicker than his 19-year-old age typically would allow. So far this year he has a 2.25 ERA, 11 K and 2 BB in 8 innings.
3. Derek Miller: A draft-and-follow guy signed out of Vermont, Miller had a great year pitching in college last year. In his brief professional experience, he has pitched rather well. This year, he has a 1.80 ERA, 12 K and 2 BB in 10 innings.

Who's Not?

1. Most of the other players. Luckily, there aren't too many real prospects on this team. The closest one to a prospect who is playing poorly is Michael Brantley, whose .482 OPS is indicitive of his current problems hitting for average and power.

RBI Baseball interview

By now, I'm sure most of you have seen the RBI Baseball reenactment of Game 6 of the '86 Series. Well, to all of those wondering how the hell someone was able to do that, wonder no more. This is a link to an interview with the creator. It's great.

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/5512862

April 17th Gameday

Brewers (Bush) at Astros (Buckholz) 7:00.

I think I'm actually going to go to class tonight, so you all will have to keep me updated on what I've missed. I will watch the ESPN ticker for a while and am taping the game. If this ends up being like the game of which we will not speak, then someone tell me and I won't waste my time watching the tape.

Making fun of the Cubs never ceases to amuse me

Completely Useless By September

April 16th Gameday

Brewers (Sheets) at Mets (Bannister) 12:10

Brewers leave 9 on base through four innings. Off to a great start, obviously.

EDIT at 2:45 PM: You cannot post comments about this game. Vent somewhere else. Don't talk to me or anyone else about the game. Just forget about it. If you post a comment in this thread I will delete it. We're going to act like the game never happened.

April 15th Gameday

Brewers (Ohka) at Mets (Trachsel) right now

Another typical stellar start for the Crew...already an out on the basepaths.

April 14th Gameday

Brewers (Capuano) at Mets (Glavine) 6:10, plus a likely long rain delay

I got this up in time, so hopefully people will post some comments tonight. In the future, if I've been lazy about putting the gameday thread up, feel free to put it up yourself if you have something to say.

Not really sure what to think about this matchup. Obviously, the Mets lineup is better than the Brewers lineup. Capuano should hold Reyes and Beltran quiet on the basepaths. Jenkins and Fielder will be in the lineup despite the lefty on the mound. 2/3 from the Mets would make for an absolutely wonderful start to the season.

April 13th Gameday

Brewers (Davis) at Cardinals (Suppan) 12:00

too many outfielders

i thought posting here would be more effective than changing my "tade block" on the league web page.

i hereby have two needs, second baseman and starting pitcher. i was thinking closer earlier but with the emergence of johnny pap in bean town and with mcdougs coming back in a couple months for kc that position is in good shape.

kudos for FINALLY removing the innings cap, the bub.

by the way, congrats on the hafner trade.

April 12th Gameday

Brewers (Bush) at Cardinals (Marquis).

Another shitty matchup for the Crew. Marquis is at best an average pitcher, but given his sinker, he has had pretty good success against the Brewers. I expect the Crew to lose again, mostly the result of the Cardinals getting hits by Marquis while Bush goes 0-2.

Team Club Tap, have no shame

So...tonight, my co-ed softball team lost 30-2. It was not a pretty way to end the season. We were actually on a two game win-streak...no one needs to know that the first win came via forfeit ;) This team was a bunch of sandbaggers though. If all your girls are as good if not better than I am, then you shouldn't be in the "novice" division. Anywho, their portion of the first inning took about 15 minutes out of the 55-minute game and they scored at least 15 runs. I guess since we then held them to 15 total in the next three innings, it should be considered an accomplishment. I know this still doesn't rival the 45-whatever score in the Real Chili season, but it comes close :P Great team party afterwards though...margaritas all around! I only made it through half of mine and I can't see straight :)

I'm just going through my dvr'ed Brewers game from this afternoon. I've already watched the 9th inning, but I figured I'd at least go back and watch the rest on fast forward. Capellan strikes again. I thought Kolb was supposed to be a ground ball pitcher??? Question...why is it that Isringfacker can walk the bases loaded and then give up a mother-effing grand slam to the piece of $hit Cubs but then just come in and close out the game against the Brewers??? I now hate the Cardinals more than the Cubs just because the choke and die every year against the Cubs and bowl right through the Brewers. I hope their new stadium collapses.

P.S. Just a helpful tidbit for anyone thinking about chopping up some jalapenos in the near future...I highly HIGHLY suggest wearing gloves, unless you want to feel like your hands are holding onto a pan that just came out of a 400 degree oven for ten hours straight. Not fun, not fun at all.

April 10th Gameday

Brewers (Ohka) at Cardinals (Mulder) 3:00

I'm not too excited about this matchup. The Cardinals still have an absolutely deadly 3-4-5 lineup combo, and Mulder is exactly the type of pitcher that isn't great, but who completely shuts down the Brewers. He has in the past a lot.

April 8th Gameday & Thoughts about the 4-0 Start

Brewers (Davis) vs. D'Backs (Webb) 1:00 Saturday. Anyone interested in going? The game is not on TV.

It's hard to not be really excited about the Brewers right now. I mean, they have started the season 4-0. All I was looking for was for them not to get too far behind in the early going because I think they'll be playing a lot better in July than in April.

At the same time, I must keep my optimism down a bit. After all, the Brewers beat Pittsburgh at home, and we all know the Pirates is probably the fourth worst team in the National League. The win against the Diamondbacks, arguably the fifth worst team in the National League, is not too impressive considering that Russ Ortiz, unarguably the worst pitcher in the National League, was pitching. Because the Brewers have not blown out the opponent in any of these games, it is safe to say that they could easily be 2-2 or 1-3. I guess the real test will come today, when Brandon Webb takes the hill for the DBacks. Although the Crew hit Webb hard in spring training, it has constantly struggled against sinkerball pitchers in the past.

Don't be fooled by my realism. I'm still going nuts right now over this start. The thing that has me the most excited is the starting rotation. Dave Bush essentially replaced Wes Obermueller this year, and Rick Helling replaced Gary Glover. Compare this to last year. In 2005, Sheets is out, Glover and Obermueller curse the rotation, and the Brewers start the year off sluggish. This year, hopefully Sheets will miss just three starts, Bush figures to replace Obermueller with an ERA about 2 full points lower. Bush looked really good tonight. I was very high on him when he came over in the trade, and I am even higher on him after this first start and an awesome spring. The difference in the back end of the rotation could seriously mean upwards of six more wins this season. It's not so much because Bush and Helling are amazing, but rather because Obermueller and Glover were nearly as bad as Russ Ortiz. Don't forget that Ohka is a major improvement over Santos, at least IMO. I think if the Brewers are going to add the extra 9 wins it will take to contend for the wild card this year, the wins would come from the back end of the rotation.

April 7 Gameday thread

We're already two outs into the second, and Arizona is up 1-0. Bush has not looked particularly strong, with a bb, a hr, and a smash ground rule double. Also, I can already see that the early season home runs from JJ Hardy are gonna cause him to swing for the fences more than fielder the next few weeks.

Meanwhile, the Tigers are getting a whole lot of love right now for winning three straight games. Now, I will admit, they have looked good thus far, but its three freakin games against bad teams (or pitchers . . . Runs Allowed Dickey's knuckleball is gonna need serious work at AAA). I was watching my usual sports journalist shows where they have no idea what they're talking about, especially when it comes to baseball, and they were all talking about the Tigers winning the division over the Sox/Indians. I'm gonna go ahead and say its a little to early to be making predictions like that.

Anyway, its the first game I've watched on tv all year, so I'll probably spend most of this thread responding to myself. I'm aware of that.

April 7th Gameday

Brewers (Bush) vs. DBacks (Russ Ortiz) 7:00 tonight.
I am a little worried about this one. Ortiz is the worst pitcher in the National League, but sometimes the Brewers just cannot hit guys who don't throw hard, who have no control, and who don't have much movement on thier pitches. Ortiz has nothing good about him. Let's see how DaRon and Bill feel about him, though.

April 6th Gameday: Opening Day!

No Brewers game today, but never fear, we have 4 minor league affiliates starting their seasons. The AA Huntsville game features Ben Sheets on the mound and on a strict 50-pitch limit. Should be worth keeping an eye on, so I'll keep you all posted on how that goes.

Other than minor league games, there are just a couple other good games across the league today, such as the Jays/Twins game tonight.

Brewers April 5th Gameday

Brewers (Ohka) vs. Butt Pirates (Duke), 7:00 tonight on FSN and on WTMJ 620. Expect Corey Hart to get his first action of the season.

Brewers April 4th Gameday

Alright folks, direct all comments about the game against the Pirates in this thread. We got Chris Capuano facing off against our old friend Vamp Santos. Unfortunately, it is a night game and it's early in the year, so Vamp figures to pitch really well tonight. Thoughts? Predictions?

Also worth noting for some of you...there is a free preview of the MLB Extra Innings package this week. So if you live out of town, have a digital cable box, and want to watch the Crew in action, you can. I will be enjoying the White Sox/Indians game on there this afternoon and the Twins/Blue Jays game tonight. I highly recommend both games in addition to the Brewers game.

Happy Opening Day!

I'm jealous of those of you who get to attend opening day this afternoon. Enjoy the game and have a hot dog or six for me. (Speaking of hot dogs...Jbeast, when you put up this year's dog count, don't forget I already have three!) I unfortunately have to just wait and hope that my dvr actually records the game off the MLB package which as of this morning, I apparently hadn't ordered even though I distinctly remembering calling Time Warner last Wednesday to make sure I got the magical $20 off Early Bird special. Turns out, the idiot I talked to on Wednesday went ahead and ordered me the MLS package. Honestly...who the EFF watches soccer enough to order a pay-per-view package?!?!?! Anyway, all should be taken care of, and hopefully I'll have the Brewers game waiting for me when I get home from my softball game tonight. Either way, I'd still appreciate a full report from someone who actually went to the game. Go Brewars!!! :)