Wednesday, April 27, 2011
I'm just saying...
I know it was important for the team to get the first win of the year. I know it was only 111 pitches for Yo! But still, it was only April 5. And here are Yo!'s stats after the 9-inning, complete game shutout:
And today... 4 runs in the first. Ugh. I hope he's not hurt.
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I know it was important for the team to get the first win of the year. I know it was only 111 pitches for Yo! But still, it was only April 5. And here are Yo!'s stats after the 9-inning, complete game shutout:
| Date | Opponent | Score | Dec | IP | H | R | ER | HR | BB | K | W | L | SV | BS | HLD | IP | ERA |
| Apr 22 | HOU | W 14-7 | W | 6.0 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 31.1 | 4.88 | ||
| Apr 17 | @ WAS | L 4-8 | L | 5.1 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25.1 | 4.62 | ||
| Apr 10 | CHC | W 6-5 | - | 5.0 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20.0 | 2.70 |
And today... 4 runs in the first. Ugh. I hope he's not hurt.
Boom. Boom. Boom. Braun. Fielder. Weeks.
Last night the Brew Crew took on the Reds, looking for their first victory against Cincy. I've been a bit busy to blog, having gone to Las Vegas for my nephew's wedding - Congratulations Randy! But the Brewers have been hanging around in contention along with every other team of the NL Central. Anyway, it's been fun to remain ignorant of the previous night's game and then listen to it in the morning at work. So, it's just news to me right now that we took home the 3-2 win!
Some notes:
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Last night the Brew Crew took on the Reds, looking for their first victory against Cincy. I've been a bit busy to blog, having gone to Las Vegas for my nephew's wedding - Congratulations Randy! But the Brewers have been hanging around in contention along with every other team of the NL Central. Anyway, it's been fun to remain ignorant of the previous night's game and then listen to it in the morning at work. So, it's just news to me right now that we took home the 3-2 win!
Some notes:
- Corey Hart returned early to pinch hit
- His roster spot was opened because I'll-See-Counsell-In-Chambers beaned Almonte in the head during warmups, allowing Almonte to be the first player on the new 7-day DL
- Every run of the game was delivered on a home run. Gomez got picked off and Lucroy blew a sacrifice bunt. I hope Roenicke has the ability to learn.
- Marco Estrada, Kameron Loe, and John Axford were all great. Apparently the National were there and are big Axford fans.
- First place again!
- We're half an hour away from the third game of the series!
Friday, April 15, 2011
The Buntin' Brew Crew Live from Pittsburgh!
Some notes about last night's 4-1 victory over the Pirates:
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Some notes about last night's 4-1 victory over the Pirates:
- We got to see an Erick Almonte start in right field and we were perfectly situated in the right-field grandstand. He didn't really have a good game, though.
- Much to Jason's chagrin, we also got a Steve Pierce start at third base (his second in his career) for the Pirates. He didn't look that bad at the plate but Jason was annoyed.
- A Real Wolf "looked like Steve Carlton" against the Buccos, according to David Todd, the Pirates Extra Innings host, and he was right. Wolf piled up 10 K's in 6-2/3 innings working his consistently 67-mph bender. We had a great angle on it and it looked like an eephus pitch.
- Despite having the leadoff guy on often, the Pirates were hapless and struck out 14 times. Their offensive highlight of the two-game series was a wild pitch plating Andrew McCutcheon in the 9th.
- It was a good game though. You can't ask for more than to have the game in question in the last at-bat. Bottom of the ninth, bases loaded, down by 3, a rookie up looking for his first major league hit! Of course the rookie was something called Josh Rodriguez, a Rule 5 pickup from the Indians. He actually had 13 dingers in AAA last year so maybe he has potential? Not tonight though, as Axford got him.
- Kameron Loe pitched again tonight... the 9th time in 12 games. I'm fairly certain you can't lean on one reliever that much. Again, why did he pitch last night in a 6-0 lead?
- Axford wasn't so great. He came in to a non-save situation thanks to Joel "If I can't get a save, no one can" Hanrahan (joke thanks to Jason) and walked McCutcheon but then threw a lot of strikes but couldn't finish off the lame Pittsburgh hitters and wound up giving up a run on the wild pitch.
- We got to see a Tony Plush "flop" as he tried to stretch a triple and lost his footing and then got caught in the second pickle of the night. Still, the contact he made was light years ahead of his competition - Carlos Gomez.
- Gomez looked terrible at the plate with his half-hearted bunting attempts. Who bunts for a hit with two strikes?? I guess he thought no one would be expecting it. He got that right.
- Yeah, we managed two bunt-foul-strikeouts tonight. One by A Real Wolf where there seemed some confusion as he kept walking back and forth to the dugout and finally just waved it off.
- Runnin' Roenicke's strategies weren't so hot last night. One steal, one pickoff, a couple failed bunts, and an out trying to stretch. He got lucky on a play at the plate that was called safe much to the "crowd's" dismay.
- Yeah... the crowd must have been 4000 people, max. There were a lot of Brewers fans. It was a beautiful night. Come on, Pittsburgh!
- And speaking of getting lucky, the only extra base hit off A Real Wolf was a "double" by Neil Walker that bounced out of Braun's glove. Boy the "crowd" hates Braun. I need to look up the background on that.
- Lastly, while tickets are a bargain, food is ridiculous at PNC Park. The game was $11 a seat but because my go-to ballpark meal (fish and chips) are no longer available, I went hungry. I'm not spending $6.25 for french fries. Come on!
- Anyway, we had a good time. Great night. Brew Crew 7-5 and on the way to Washington, along with several of their fans. For PNC this year -- I like that you text now to vote on a song, all game long. The opening video is high-larious too!
Thursday, April 14, 2011
The Full Almonte
Baseball Prospectus's Ben Lindbergh has a long article today about how "inadequate" the Brewers bench is. He doesn't mention I'll See Counsell In Chambers but he calls out Wil Nieves (rightfully - and who will soon be off the team), George Kottaras (who he likes), Jeremy Reed (already off the team now), Mark Kotsay (another debate), and Erick Almonte.
Lindbergh's only associations he can come up with for Almonte, Nieves, and Reed is when they were on New York teams and spends a lot of the article talking about "Who's that?" type players which implies he's got a geographical bias as far as his baseball knowledge. This is a disturbing trend lately with BP with several writers mentioning their Yankee fan-dom in every article they write (one, by the way who quipped the Brewers had a 10,000-to-1 chance of getting a pinch homer this year AFTER they'd already gotten McGehee's) and others referencing guys like Ryan Braun as someone you "heard was good but never saw." It's making me question renewing my subscription.
Anyway, on to Almonte. I'm guilty myself of not bothering to follow up on where I'd heard his name... and then was reminded it was when he filled in for Derek Jeter in big news a few years ago. I frankly don't care that much what PECOTA has him pegged for. All I know is that almost every time he's pinch hit this year, he's scorched the ball. Of course it's been right at fielders all the time, but he's not doing anything to make Roenicke regret putting him on the roster. I'd like to see what happens when the sample size spreads a little. Who doesn't want hard contact out of a pinch hitter?
In more exciting news, Brewers got a shutout out of Marcum, Braddock, Loe, and Stetter against my hometown Buccos last night. Less exciting is why, with a 6-run lead we had to use 2 of our best 3 relievers. What does Brandon Kintzler have to do to get into a game??
Even more exciting, I'm going to the game tonight with my coworker Jason, a big Buccos fan and the only reader of this blog. What up, J-Argh!? I was looking forward to seeing Narveson see if he could continue his shutout inning streak to start the season but because of the rain-out, instead I get A Real Wolf. If A Real Wolf can't get a better start against the Pirates, who have struggled against lefties, I think it's time to seriously think about dropping him when Granky is ready.
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Baseball Prospectus's Ben Lindbergh has a long article today about how "inadequate" the Brewers bench is. He doesn't mention I'll See Counsell In Chambers but he calls out Wil Nieves (rightfully - and who will soon be off the team), George Kottaras (who he likes), Jeremy Reed (already off the team now), Mark Kotsay (another debate), and Erick Almonte.
Lindbergh's only associations he can come up with for Almonte, Nieves, and Reed is when they were on New York teams and spends a lot of the article talking about "Who's that?" type players which implies he's got a geographical bias as far as his baseball knowledge. This is a disturbing trend lately with BP with several writers mentioning their Yankee fan-dom in every article they write (one, by the way who quipped the Brewers had a 10,000-to-1 chance of getting a pinch homer this year AFTER they'd already gotten McGehee's) and others referencing guys like Ryan Braun as someone you "heard was good but never saw." It's making me question renewing my subscription.
Anyway, on to Almonte. I'm guilty myself of not bothering to follow up on where I'd heard his name... and then was reminded it was when he filled in for Derek Jeter in big news a few years ago. I frankly don't care that much what PECOTA has him pegged for. All I know is that almost every time he's pinch hit this year, he's scorched the ball. Of course it's been right at fielders all the time, but he's not doing anything to make Roenicke regret putting him on the roster. I'd like to see what happens when the sample size spreads a little. Who doesn't want hard contact out of a pinch hitter?
In more exciting news, Brewers got a shutout out of Marcum, Braddock, Loe, and Stetter against my hometown Buccos last night. Less exciting is why, with a 6-run lead we had to use 2 of our best 3 relievers. What does Brandon Kintzler have to do to get into a game??
Even more exciting, I'm going to the game tonight with my coworker Jason, a big Buccos fan and the only reader of this blog. What up, J-Argh!? I was looking forward to seeing Narveson see if he could continue his shutout inning streak to start the season but because of the rain-out, instead I get A Real Wolf. If A Real Wolf can't get a better start against the Pirates, who have struggled against lefties, I think it's time to seriously think about dropping him when Granky is ready.
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Get up! Get up! Get out of here!
Yes! On so many levels. This game makes up for Opening Day! 5-5 on the season, 1-1 on heartbreakers. Casey's confidence should be back now. A walk by Yuni to set it up?! Love it.
Good sports weekend all around. Steel City Derby Demons put on a great showing in London: almost a major upset vs. Charm, an upset vs. Montreal, and a win against London that was closer than it should have been but it looked like they were experimenting.
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Yes! On so many levels. This game makes up for Opening Day! 5-5 on the season, 1-1 on heartbreakers. Casey's confidence should be back now. A walk by Yuni to set it up?! Love it.
Good sports weekend all around. Steel City Derby Demons put on a great showing in London: almost a major upset vs. Charm, an upset vs. Montreal, and a win against London that was closer than it should have been but it looked like they were experimenting.
Friday, April 08, 2011
Jeff Baker?
Come on, shut up. 4 hits and rbis every time up?
A Real Wolf may be the guy bumped from the rotation when Granky gets back.
Lastly, I think I'm on board with the idea of getting rid of the earned/unearned thing... A Real Wolf totally earned 3 of those runs in the 4th. When you start with no one on base and give up two hits and a homer, it's not because you "should have" been out of the inning. That guy's off the bases.
Lastly, was Kerry Wood re-signed as a Marmol-Aide?
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Come on, shut up. 4 hits and rbis every time up?
A Real Wolf may be the guy bumped from the rotation when Granky gets back.
Lastly, I think I'm on board with the idea of getting rid of the earned/unearned thing... A Real Wolf totally earned 3 of those runs in the 4th. When you start with no one on base and give up two hits and a homer, it's not because you "should have" been out of the inning. That guy's off the bases.
Lastly, was Kerry Wood re-signed as a Marmol-Aide?
Thursday, April 07, 2011
Stone-Cold Fielder
This cracks me up. Instead of using career numbers, they are building their batter hot-zone/cold-zone based on this year's small sample-size. Apparently the best strategy against Prince Fielder is a fastball right down Wisconsin Avenue. Whatever you do, don't throw it on the corners!
A couple other comments about the MLB.com GameDay this year:
1. Have to remember to not click on Video Highlights. The audio comes on and blows away the radio broadcast. Then you have to fiddle with it, switching sources until it realizes you want to listen.
2. Sometimes it gets stuck. In employing the earlier strategy, I would sometimes get stuck with the terrible Braves announcers.
3. My favorite stations are the ones that don't have commercials (like the Pirates) and you just get that awesome ambient sound of a ballpark and/or some "off-live" commentary by the broadcasters.
4. It's hard sometimes to figure out what happened in the inning beyond one batter. You have to go to Summary and then Play by Play and then scroll the tiny bar. It seems like it takes longer than it should.
5. It's really cool that they use video-game technology to differentiate the parks.
6. The badges thing is totally goofy but maybe a fun game-within-game. Basically each game each team has three players from each team with some kind of action ascribed to them. Like "Yuniesky Betancourt - Double." If it happens while you're listening, I guess, you win the badge and it goes up on your trophy wall. It reminds me of "Pick to Click" started by the White Sox announcers and continued by my family and I when we go to games. I'd like it more if you got to choose something yourself, but still it's kind of fun. All you have to do is listen.
And dang... who would have thought a week into the season that I would have as many wins as the Red Sox and Rays combined?!
Lastly, Loe's got the bases juiced in the top of the eighth with AGon up. Come on, Loe!!! "Yuni B?" with the play! Is that what we're calling him, Ueck? Yuck.
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This cracks me up. Instead of using career numbers, they are building their batter hot-zone/cold-zone based on this year's small sample-size. Apparently the best strategy against Prince Fielder is a fastball right down Wisconsin Avenue. Whatever you do, don't throw it on the corners!
A couple other comments about the MLB.com GameDay this year:
1. Have to remember to not click on Video Highlights. The audio comes on and blows away the radio broadcast. Then you have to fiddle with it, switching sources until it realizes you want to listen.
2. Sometimes it gets stuck. In employing the earlier strategy, I would sometimes get stuck with the terrible Braves announcers.
3. My favorite stations are the ones that don't have commercials (like the Pirates) and you just get that awesome ambient sound of a ballpark and/or some "off-live" commentary by the broadcasters.
4. It's hard sometimes to figure out what happened in the inning beyond one batter. You have to go to Summary and then Play by Play and then scroll the tiny bar. It seems like it takes longer than it should.
5. It's really cool that they use video-game technology to differentiate the parks.
6. The badges thing is totally goofy but maybe a fun game-within-game. Basically each game each team has three players from each team with some kind of action ascribed to them. Like "Yuniesky Betancourt - Double." If it happens while you're listening, I guess, you win the badge and it goes up on your trophy wall. It reminds me of "Pick to Click" started by the White Sox announcers and continued by my family and I when we go to games. I'd like it more if you got to choose something yourself, but still it's kind of fun. All you have to do is listen.
And dang... who would have thought a week into the season that I would have as many wins as the Red Sox and Rays combined?!
Lastly, Loe's got the bases juiced in the top of the eighth with AGon up. Come on, Loe!!! "Yuni B?" with the play! Is that what we're calling him, Ueck? Yuck.
I Guess it's a Four-Game Series
So much for my announcements of a series win. For some reason I thought we'd get a day off today. What the heck? What's up with the schedule this year for the Crew? Between the inter-league imbalance and this many games in a row so early... this will put them two ahead of other teams.
A couple words about Shaun Marcum. I love that guy. Especially as a third starter. He's totally the kind of guy I loved building fantasy teams around. Low-exposure guys with good peripherals. Lots of times people draft prospects expecting them to be great their first year but that's really not the case with most pitchers, even the best. They need a year or two to learn on the job. Marcum's in his arc right now of three or four years of above-average pitching. That's terrific for a third starter in the NL Central.
His first start had a higher walk and strikeout rate than he's normally had. The strikeout rate may stay with the change to the NL's weaker lineups. The walks I expect to iron themselves out.
It's looking like we're balancing out the offensive production pretty well so far. McGehee is the only one under-performing expectations right now. Morgan will come down to earth soon enough. My big worry is the bullpen, though they looked solid enough last night discounting Axford's walk.
Note: Braun just cranked a 2-run jack in the 1st. Gomez was running. Oh, Runnin' Roenicke... when will this bite us in the butt?
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So much for my announcements of a series win. For some reason I thought we'd get a day off today. What the heck? What's up with the schedule this year for the Crew? Between the inter-league imbalance and this many games in a row so early... this will put them two ahead of other teams.
A couple words about Shaun Marcum. I love that guy. Especially as a third starter. He's totally the kind of guy I loved building fantasy teams around. Low-exposure guys with good peripherals. Lots of times people draft prospects expecting them to be great their first year but that's really not the case with most pitchers, even the best. They need a year or two to learn on the job. Marcum's in his arc right now of three or four years of above-average pitching. That's terrific for a third starter in the NL Central.
His first start had a higher walk and strikeout rate than he's normally had. The strikeout rate may stay with the change to the NL's weaker lineups. The walks I expect to iron themselves out.
It's looking like we're balancing out the offensive production pretty well so far. McGehee is the only one under-performing expectations right now. Morgan will come down to earth soon enough. My big worry is the bullpen, though they looked solid enough last night discounting Axford's walk.
Note: Braun just cranked a 2-run jack in the 1st. Gomez was running. Oh, Runnin' Roenicke... when will this bite us in the butt?
Wednesday, April 06, 2011
YES, AXFORD!
"Get on your bike and get out of town, Erik Estrada... I carry his picture in my wallet." -- Ueck
Congrats to Marco Estrada for first big league win!
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"Get on your bike and get out of town, Erik Estrada... I carry his picture in my wallet." -- Ueck
Congrats to Marco Estrada for first big league win!
Finally, a win
I listened to last night's gem by Yo! this morning, what should have been his second win of the year. I hope there won't be a price to pay for those 110 or so pitches. I hope also that Roenicke learned that he's a good hitter. It would be nice if a win could come a little easier. Momentarily, though, the Crew has a chance to win their first series of the season.
Marco Estrada takes the mound with his 8 career ERA against Mike Minor for the Braves. Minor has a chance to be a much better starter than Estrada but it might not be this year. We'll see. Neither team has been hitting a ton but averages might just balance out tonight. I expect a lot of hitting.
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I listened to last night's gem by Yo! this morning, what should have been his second win of the year. I hope there won't be a price to pay for those 110 or so pitches. I hope also that Roenicke learned that he's a good hitter. It would be nice if a win could come a little easier. Momentarily, though, the Crew has a chance to win their first series of the season.
Marco Estrada takes the mound with his 8 career ERA against Mike Minor for the Braves. Minor has a chance to be a much better starter than Estrada but it might not be this year. We'll see. Neither team has been hitting a ton but averages might just balance out tonight. I expect a lot of hitting.
Sunday, April 03, 2011
2011 Cincinnati Reds: My New New Favorite Team
Just kidding. Ugh. Turned on the game today with a 2-2 tie with A Real Wolf on the mound. Four minutes later, it's 6-2 Reds. No big deal. Team's start off 0-3 all the time and win the World Series... ugh.
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Just kidding. Ugh. Turned on the game today with a 2-2 tie with A Real Wolf on the mound. Four minutes later, it's 6-2 Reds. No big deal. Team's start off 0-3 all the time and win the World Series... ugh.
Friday, April 01, 2011
Today is John Axford's birthday.
Well, Ax-cuuuuuuuse me!
I guess I'll have to give him a pass for ruining everything yesterday. Everything was going so well! Good defense, good hitting, good pitching... then the Ax-man Cameth and gave up a walk-off two-out three-run opposite-field jack to Ramon freaking Hernandez. Ugh.
It's a long season, though and this can either be an afterthought or something that "sets the tone" for the year. The team seems willing to put it behind them. Games like this are the frustrating ones though. There are times where it's never much doubt if you'll win or lose.. maybe two-thirds of your games. And then there are these. I'm going to try to keep track of these, because this was definitely one that should have gone to the Crew. So far: 0-1 in tossup games. This is what will decide the season.
Plusses: RIIIIIIIIICKIE WEEEEEEEKS! And Yo! Milwaukee Raps. Big Fresh Veggie Prince.
Minuses: Roenicke bunting with Yo! with no outs and the improbable situation of Wil Nieves on second. I know it's supposedly good to move a guy to third with less than two outs, but Yo! slugged higher than Ryan Braun last year! Everyone could hit off Volquez at that point too. Then Yo! wound up still bunting with two strikes. Hey Roenicke, learn your players.
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Well, Ax-cuuuuuuuse me!
I guess I'll have to give him a pass for ruining everything yesterday. Everything was going so well! Good defense, good hitting, good pitching... then the Ax-man Cameth and gave up a walk-off two-out three-run opposite-field jack to Ramon freaking Hernandez. Ugh.
It's a long season, though and this can either be an afterthought or something that "sets the tone" for the year. The team seems willing to put it behind them. Games like this are the frustrating ones though. There are times where it's never much doubt if you'll win or lose.. maybe two-thirds of your games. And then there are these. I'm going to try to keep track of these, because this was definitely one that should have gone to the Crew. So far: 0-1 in tossup games. This is what will decide the season.
Plusses: RIIIIIIIIICKIE WEEEEEEEKS! And Yo! Milwaukee Raps. Big Fresh Veggie Prince.
Minuses: Roenicke bunting with Yo! with no outs and the improbable situation of Wil Nieves on second. I know it's supposedly good to move a guy to third with less than two outs, but Yo! slugged higher than Ryan Braun last year! Everyone could hit off Volquez at that point too. Then Yo! wound up still bunting with two strikes. Hey Roenicke, learn your players.
