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Tuesday's Frosty Mug

Good morning, Brewer fans. Most of the NL had an off day yesterday, so the Brewers wake up again in second place by themselves, but in a good position to do something about it: They open up a series with the first place Cardinals tonight. It's time for a Frosty Mug.

With the off day, there's no Win Expectancy Graph or ESPN Video highlights to show you, but here are Baseball Digest Daily's recaps from yesterday.

Also, I have a new addition to the daily reads, Baseball Prospectus postseason odds. Today, they project the Brewers to win 82.1 games and give them a 17% shot of winning the NL Central.

Now, today's big news: Tom H. is reporting the Brewers may have signed Jeff Weaver. Tom thinks they'll likely send him to extended spring training and then AAA, but notes that Weaver is a Boras client, so it seems unlikely he cut a deal without some promise for a big league opportunity. It's probably still too early to speculate.

Ben Sheets won this week's Baseball Happenings Blogpoll for NL Cy Young. Albert Pujols won the vote for MVP, and Kosuke Fukudome won Rookie of the Year. Click the previous link for full voting results, and click here to see the BCB ballot.

The Junkball Blues is doing a nice job tracking an interesting stat, and so far it's paying dividends: The Brewers see an average of 3.91 pitches per plate appearance in their 8 wins, and only 3.61 in their 4 losses.

Bucs Dugout is starting some kind of tournament to crown the worst GM in baseball. Our very own Doug Melvin is one of the 14 GM's who won't make the field.

Brad Bortone at Bugs and Cranks is comparing Prince's new eating habits to the sudden change in Sid Fernandez's eating habits in 1985, which took 8-10 mph off his fastball. I disagree with the point, but it's an interesting one.

The Southpaw, a Jays blog, has the Brewers #5, the best in the NL Central, in their latest power rankings.

There's only three injury reports today, so I'll just put them in one paragraph: Reds SS Alex Gonzalez is not seeing improvement in the compression fracture in his knee and still won't be able to run for at least 2-4 more weeks. Pedro Martinez's rehab is going slower than expected and will keep him out well into May, maybe into June. Mariners OF Mike Morse has been moved onto the DL with a dislocated shoulder, opening the door for the big league return of R.A. Dickey.

Fish Chunks takes a look at some of the surprising numbers surrounding the 2008 Marlins, who lead the NL in home runs but are being outscored by seven NL teams. They have several more stats about homer-centric baseball that should sound familiar to fans of the 2007 Brewers.

This one doesn't appear to be paid, but No Bias Baseball is looking to add writers.

24 hours in, we've already got 96 votes in this week's Fan Opinion Poll. If you haven't cast your ballot yet, take a moment to do so. Thanks to everyone who's helped promote it, including Al's Ramblings.

Over the weekend I missed a comment asking how to submit links for inclusion in the Mug. The easiest way to grab my attention is to post links in the comments of the previous day's Mug, which I usually check right before I start writing. I'll start making a more conscious effort to re-post the best links I find that way.

That's all for today. Drink up.

0 recs | Comment 28 comments

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BP Odds

Outside of the regalar BP odds, they also publish the postseason chances using the Pecota weighted-adjusted avererages as well.

by tnweill on Apr 15, 2008 9:41 AM CDT   0 recs

Excellent work as always

Just wanted to let everyone know that R.A. Dickey got the call http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3346919.

Visit my baseball blog ...or else!

by dixieflatline on Apr 15, 2008 9:42 AM CDT   0 recs

Dickey

I hope he does well.

by drezdn on Apr 15, 2008 10:37 AM CDT to parent up   0 recs

If they give him a start...

...let’s hope it goes better than the one in 2006.

by Zeyes on Apr 15, 2008 5:36 PM CDT to parent up   0 recs

interesting point

out of bugs and cranks, where have i heard that one before?

by SunglassesAtNight on Apr 15, 2008 10:02 AM CDT   0 recs

Track record

Is the difference. This is the first time I’d heard someone talk about it happening before.

With that said, Prince Fielder is making a small fortune himself and the team is making a huge fortune off of him, so if someone hasn’t been hired specifically to help Prince manage this diet, I’d be shocked.

by KLSnow on Apr 15, 2008 1:03 PM CDT to parent up   0 recs

i love prince

however, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that a malnutritioned human can’t be a slugger. i wish i’d ben posting these comments from the start. there simply is not a good substitute for meat in the vegitarian diet. the closest option is soy and there’s absolutely no chance prince is eating soy. no one likes soy.

by SunglassesAtNight on Apr 16, 2008 3:34 AM CDT to parent up   0 recs

It's not just the power

He’s not hitting with much authority, and he’s only at .222. It sounds to me like his swing is screwed up - he gets that figures out, the power will come back, tofu or no tofu (that is the question).

"I will agree that the attitude [at BCB] is ridiculous and they have done so much to instigate animosity and then block us from responding. Real mature!"

by roguejim on Apr 16, 2008 3:38 AM CDT to parent up   0 recs

that's it

i’m calling for jeff sackman to host a round table with industry-leading nutritionists, and webcast it, so that we know he is
not selectivly editing

by SunglassesAtNight on Apr 16, 2008 3:44 AM CDT to parent up   0 recs

i am of course somewhat kidding

prince’s veganism has brhign ro do with his horrible batting average. but it would help his power

by SunglassesAtNight on Apr 16, 2008 3:47 AM CDT to parent up   0 recs

Soy

Almost every I know is a vegetarian,and we all consume soy regularly. What are you talking about?

He's extremely quick and good.

by battlekow on Apr 16, 2008 11:32 AM CDT to parent up   0 recs

here's he thing

i’m not overreacting to the fact that prince is on pace for “ZERO” home runs. (i’m sure he’ll hit one before season’s end) i just don’t get why people reuse to make the obvious connection between his imbalanced diet and his lack of power

by SunglassesAtNight on Apr 16, 2008 3:52 AM CDT to parent up   0 recs

It ~could~ be

I guess, if all of his other offensive stats were there except for home runs. But his numbers are off across the board, which makes me think that his swing is still in Maryvale.

Now, if you want to argue that the veggie burgers are affecting his entire swing, that I could see. I’m not sure why that would be, though, and of course the small sample size disclaimer applies.

Brhign ro do?

"I will agree that the attitude [at BCB] is ridiculous and they have done so much to instigate animosity and then block us from responding. Real mature!"

by roguejim on Apr 16, 2008 9:06 AM CDT to parent up   0 recs

post hoc ergo propter hoc

He's extremely quick and good.

by battlekow on Apr 16, 2008 11:33 AM CDT to parent up   0 recs

Jeff Weaver

I doubt that there is a promise of anything other than a minor league contract for Weaver. He has had back to back really bad seasons, and is on the wrong side of 30.

I think they are just taking a flyer on a guy that is trying to become a serviceable pitcher again. I think this is just adding a little depth to the minors.

by grant76 on Apr 15, 2008 10:07 AM CDT   0 recs

agreed

just cause he’s a boras client doesn’t mean he has the talent to be a major leaguer. I’m ok with having him in AAA as depth and protection from injuries.

by verno329 on Apr 15, 2008 10:11 AM CDT to parent up   0 recs

Tin Foil Hat

Has anyone heard an update on Cappys injury? Could this be a sign that he might be headed to TJ and we need to get a little more depth as protection?

After all, Sheets is probably going to burn his tongue on a hot cup of McDonalds coffee and be on the DL for 2 months.

by SgtClueLs on Apr 15, 2008 10:37 AM CDT to parent up   0 recs

Another Link

Frosty Mug has quickly become one of my must-reads every morning. Awesome job.

One more link to consider providing as wrap-up for the previous day is the link to the baseball-reference.com boxscore. Lots of gritty details in there. Example from Sunday: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYN/NYN200804130.shtml

Also, maybe a link to the BR preview for today’s game: http://www.baseball-reference.com/previews/2008/SLN200804150.shtml

by silverwolf on Apr 15, 2008 10:39 AM CDT   0 recs

good ideas

I always intend to include the BR Preview in my gamethreads, but I think I’ve only remembered once. We gotta get it in here somewhere!

Also, cheese.

by Jeff Sackmann on Apr 15, 2008 11:00 AM CDT to parent up   0 recs

Crazy 8 makes the national news

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/2008-04-14-larussa-lineup_N.htm

it’s actually as much about LaRussa as anything else.

I wonder how accurate this statement by Yost is:

“I started to think about maybe putting Kendall in the 9 hole as a double leadoff guy. I started doing study on it and found it would increase our scoring opportunities quite a bit.”

Yost discussed the move with the Brewers’ stats analysts and scouts and decided to try it, but only with Kendall.

As a side note, I was surprised by the reaction by blogs and forums for the Mets. Almost nobody had ever even heard of the idea and the few that did almost all thought it was stupid.

by ol Pete on Apr 15, 2008 12:41 PM CDT   0 recs

"I started doing a study on it"

Haha. Right-o, Neddy.

He's extremely quick and good.

by battlekow on Apr 15, 2008 1:32 PM CDT to parent up   0 recs

Did Prince appear on Good Morning America?

if it has been discussed; i have missed it. if he did; anyone have a link?

by Jamie in LA on Apr 15, 2008 1:31 PM CDT   0 recs

It got canceled

link.

They still ran a taped interview, which I have not seen. I’ll keep looking.

He's extremely quick and good.

by battlekow on Apr 15, 2008 1:34 PM CDT to parent up   0 recs

it was on youtube

but MLB got it taken down. Since Prince is still pre-arb, MLB technically owns him and his family.

(kidding, I think.)

Also, cheese.

by Jeff Sackmann on Apr 15, 2008 1:44 PM CDT to parent up   0 recs

hopefully it was cancelled

because prince decided to start eating meat again

by SunglassesAtNight on Apr 16, 2008 3:38 AM CDT   0 recs

Possible link for tomorrow's Frosty Mug

Not Brewers-related, and certainly not the brilliant stats-based analysis that I’m used to here, but I hope maybe this will be a good read and one worth posting:

http://nohuddleoffense.blogspot.com/2008/04/look-back-on-brilliant-career-of-ken.html

Steve http://nohuddleoffense.blogspot.com

by stigmo on Apr 16, 2008 7:20 AM CDT   0 recs

Ken Griffey Jr, video game pioneer?

That part might be a stretch.

He's extremely quick and good.

by battlekow on Apr 16, 2008 11:36 AM CDT to parent up   0 recs

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