Monday's Frosty Mug

by KLSnow on Apr 28, 2008 9:37 AM CDT Comment 19 comments

I think I got a little too much frustration yesterday. Saturday night, the cruise control on my car went out about 350 miles from home. Narveson had a no-hitter going through 3 innings in Omaha yesterday before I jinxed it and he gave up the game-winning run in the 4th. Mike Cameron is jogging out his ground balls in AAA in a way that would make Johnny Estrada jealous. Omaha walked the bases loaded in the seventh, but Brad Nelson saw fit to swing and miss at 3 straight pitches to end the inning anyway.

Then I got back in the car and heard the last 3 innings of yesterday's game. One strategic note still irks me:

Craig Counsell walked in the 9th, which was great. So now we've got Bill Hall up, fresh off a seventh inning home run. Am I the only one who screamed when they told him to bunt? I know he's a big risk to strike out, but the pitcher can't find the strike zone and we handed them an out anyway. Advancing the runner via the sacrifice actually brought the win expectancy down, and was made completely irrelevant when Weeks walked too. Did this drive anyone else nuts? I had 300 more miles in the car to think about it, and it's still bugging me.

Win Expectancy Graph
BR Box Score
BDD Recaps
BP Postseason Odds have us at 84 wins and 19.7% to win the Central.

So Dave Bush has been sent to AAA to make room on the roster for Mike Cameron. Brewers Bar thinks Parra should've gone down instead. In-Between Hops says the buzz about Parra's inability to pitch deep into games is overblown and based on pitch counts. Today I have a new Fan Opinion Poll. I'm curious to hear what people think about this one. Results from last week's poll are below.

Adam Charles at Bugs and Cranks is using his excitement about the Cubs series to forget that the Brewers just lost to Wes Helms.

With the 16th pick in the first round, the Milwaukee Brewers selected Christian Friedrich, a LHP from Eastern Kentucky, in Minor League Ball's mock draft.

Phil Rogers ranked the Brewers 16th in his most recent power rankings, behind 3 NL Central teams. The Southpaw ranks them 8th and does a better job of including some eye candy with the rankings.

Speaking of rankings, Chris De Luca of the Chicago Sun Times rated Miller Park 25th. I'll admit I haven't been to all (or even most) major league parks, and I'm not Miller Park's biggest fan, but I find 25th hard to believe.

On injuries:

Moises Alou may have broken his ankle in rehab.
Jorge Posada has a torn muscle in his rotator cuff.
John Smoltz left yesterday's start with discomfort in his shoulder.

No one's calling it an injury, but there does seem to be some concern and difference of opinion regarding Brett Myers' struggles to regain velocity.

No one, though, will doubt Joel Pineiro's flexibility.

Here are the results from last week's Fan Opinion Poll, with a record 168 votes:

48% of voters thought the Brewers should have 12 pitchers on their roster. 44% voted for 13.
25% of voters thought Derrick Turnbow should be the pitcher to go. 18% voted for Mitch Stetter and Seth McClung, 16% voted for Dave Bush and 15% voted for Manny Parra.
96% of voters thought Yovani Gallardo was brought back at just the right time.
69% of voters thought 3 consecutive days should be the limit for Eric Gagne.
36% of voters thought Ben Sheets will miss five to ten starts this season. 35% thought he will miss three to five.
Ned Yost's approval rating is at 47%, with 22% disapproval and 29% unsure. He was at 78%/8%/12% last week.
Doug Melvin's approval rating is at 83%, with 4% disapproval and 11% unsure. He was at 97%/0%/2% last week.
94% of voters approved of the Cameron/Hall/Braun move.
47% of voters approved of the decision to sign Eric Gagne, down from 61% last week.
30% of voters thought the Brewers shouldn't offer Ben Sheets a contract until after the season. 29% think they should do it now, and 25% think they shouldn't do it at all.

Full results here.

To cast your vote in this week's poll, Click here. Last week's poll set a turnout record for the third straight week. Thanks to everyone who helped promote it, and if you can help us out this week, please do so.

That's all for today. Drink up.

0 recs | Comment 19 comments

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don't know if anyone noticed

you do a great job klsnow, not a shot at you at all, but fielder was featured in this NYT article: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/27/sports/baseball/27fielder.html

"If there is a more reactionary blog with idiotic commentary out there I'd be surprised." -On Bleed Cubbie Blue

by Michael M on Apr 28, 2008 9:56 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Great article

I bet none of the Cub fans will make any comments about his diet this week. It is hard to believe that he has only lost 5 pounds since giving up meat.

Good time for Prince's fifth homer

by molitorfan on Apr 28, 2008 7:55 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I'm still bugged

by the decision to bring the infield in with one out and the bases loaded on Friday.

Its not the decisions on which player to play, its strategic decisions that are obviously wrong that lead me to believe Yost can’t handle managing at the major league level. When you add in his obvious preferential treatment and attachment to favorites and he doesn’t even belong as the main guy in the minors. He might be a valuable teacher of the game, but strategery and honest talent evaluation just aren’t the man’s strengths.

by Getting Yosted on Apr 28, 2008 10:06 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

BTF has a Brewers season preview up, finally.

He's extremely quick and good.

by battlekow on Apr 28, 2008 10:24 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Hall bunt

I guess I see your point about the Hall bunt, but it doesn’t really bother me. We had a chance to put a guy in scoring position with 1 out late in a tied ballgame late in the game. Obviously, it didn’t work, but I don’t have much of a problem with the call. Especially with how poorly Hall’s been hitting, depite his earlier HR.

by SunglassesAtNight on Apr 28, 2008 11:19 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Miller Park

I haven’t been to many ballparks. However, Ive been to U.S. Cellular, and there is no way that that dump is better than Miller Park.

I also have a lot of Cub fan buddies who would much rather watch a game at Miller Park than Wrigley.

by brewfan2 on Apr 28, 2008 11:22 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

I've been to most of them

40+, including now defunct parks, and Miller Park is at least in the middle of the pack. I guess if you like “character” or history then the Wrigleys/Fenways/etc of the world would beat it out, and everybody has their gripes about any particular stadium (parking, whatever). But without thinking about it too much, I would probably but Miller around #8-10 on my list.

Also, cheese.

by Jeff Sackmann on Apr 28, 2008 11:35 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I think that's around where

SI and other publications usually have Miller Park in their surveys, too; admittedly boosted a little bit because going to a Brewers game is still less expensive than at most other parks. Still, 25th is nuts, pricing levels included or not.

by Zeyes on Apr 28, 2008 11:43 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

SI

released an article a year or two ago ranking miller park #1. however, i seem to remember their math being wrong (the rated each park on a number of factors) and miller park actually coming in #2 even though the article had them 1.

by SunglassesAtNight on Apr 28, 2008 11:45 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

yeah, I seem to remember that one

but I think they’ve had another one since then where MP was ranked a bit lower, though still in single-digits.

by Zeyes on Apr 28, 2008 11:49 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

well

i know the author of the article i was referring to is from wisconsin, so i’m sure he was a little bias

by SunglassesAtNight on Apr 28, 2008 11:56 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Apropos of not much, but PNC Park is by far the best stadium I've been to

I haven’t been to Camden Yards or Comerica though, and my dad says they both compete. Fenway blows Wrigley away in the antique division, as far as the building itself goes. I’d love to go to Random Telephone Company park in San Francisco, too.

He's extremely quick and good.

by battlekow on Apr 28, 2008 12:01 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Hey guys

Kind of sad coming back after the weekend and seeing we lost that series against the fish. Last week looked like a good opportunity to make up some ground but no luck. Should be an interesting series against the cubs starting tomorrow.

Also, I have released some hidden umpire cards on my blog. Please don’t advertise this link around as I am not really supposed to be publishing this stuff. For your entertainment only. You won’t find a link to them anywhere on my site but if you go here you can find them: hxxp://baseball.bornbybits.com/2008/umps/umps.html

I have the code linked up to my other code so there should be daily updates with the umpire cards as well. A few interesting ones to look at. Wally Bell and his huge strike zone that got Prince ejected last year. Gerry Davis and the mysterious moving plate to lefties. Paul Emmel and the right down the middle pitch being a ball. Tim McClelland’s high strike is good.

Visit my baseball blog ...or else!

by dixieflatline on Apr 28, 2008 12:13 PM CDT reply actions 1 recs

Awesome work dixie

He's extremely quick and good.

by battlekow on Apr 28, 2008 12:21 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Very nice work

I’ll be checking this pretty often for reference

Can't pitch Gagne in rain. He’s like the B-2 bomber of baseball.--TheJay

by verno329 on Apr 28, 2008 4:32 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Parra

2 R in 5 1/3 IP
3 R in 4 IP
3 R in 4 IP
3 R in 5 IP
2 R in 5 1/3 IP

That’s kind of Bush-like, but with a quicker hook, isn’t it? The problem with expecting only five good innings per start out of him as In-Between Hops suggests is you undermine complaints about having thirteen pitchers on the roster. Furthermore, I think the reason Parra has been pulled after four innings a couple times is also related to the offense’s scuffling. If the Brewers are closer than behind 3-0 when Parra comes up with runners on in the fourth inning of those games, I’d bet Yost would led him try and work another inning. When the team’s been scoring behind him (or at least not trailing), Parra’s been allowed to get closer to 100 pitches. The irony, of course, is that Parra has the reputation of being a good-hitting pitcher so pulling him to use up a bench player that early in a game is an iffy decision anyway.

Obscure baseball records and more at my blog, Recondite Baseball.

by TheJay on Apr 28, 2008 1:34 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Pineiro

Thanks for the link! Joel Pineiro totally blew our minds with that move.

by Sooze on Apr 28, 2008 2:02 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Possible Link

Apologies if I missed this link, but this is a relatively interesting Wall Street Journal article about recent unconventional strategies being used by managers this year: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120907935062743195.html

I found the Doug Melvin quote at the end especially interesting:

But if Mr. Melvin had his way, the Brewers organization might be even more progressive. He has another counterintuitive idea: using relievers to start the game, and delaying the “starting” pitcher’s entrance until the third inning or so. The thinking is that starters are typically among a team’s best pitchers, yet nowadays they often pitch only through the fifth or sixth inning, well before many games are decided. By having them pitch later, they’d be around for the higher-leverage innings.

The idea would need to be tested first in the minor leagues, Mr. Melvin says. The only problem, it appears, is that it’s too unconventional. “I can’t get anybody to do it,” he says.

by silverwolf on Apr 28, 2008 11:35 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Already posted, a couple days ago. Jeff was supposed to be in the article but they thought the idea of a Brewer fan in New York was a hoax.

He's extremely quick and good.

by battlekow on Apr 29, 2008 12:15 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

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NL Central Standings

	W	L	PCT	GB	STRK
St. Louis Viva El Birdos	44	38	.536	0	Won 3
Milwaukee Brew Crew Ball	42	38	.525	1	Lost 3
Chicago Bleed Cubbie Blue	39	38	.506	2.5	Won 3
Cincinnati Red Reporter	39	39	.500	3	Lost 1
Houston The Crawfish Boxes	38	39	.493	3.5	Won 2
Pittsburgh Bucs Dugout	37	43	.462	6	Won 1