Wednesday's Frosty Mug

by KLSnow on May 14, 2008 9:37 AM CDT Comment 8 comments

So the Brewers win, the Cardinals lose, the Cubs lose, and they appear to be signing Jim Edmonds. That's win-win-win-win if I ever saw it.

Win Expectancy Graph
BR Box Score
BDD Recaps

The circle of life continues: Chris Capuano will have Tommy John surgery as soon as Thursday, giving up the effort to come back without it. Also on Thursday, 2006 first round pick Jeremy Jeffress will return from his 50-game drug suspension and report to Brevard County.

Beyond that, it's kind of a slow day for Brewer news. Baseball Analysts, though, did take a look at players looking to avoid a sophomore slump, including one guy you may have heard of who's hit 6 extra base hits in 3 days.

On injuries:

Milton Bradley was held out of last night's Rangers game with a sore shoulder.
J.D. Drew injured his wrist making a sliding catch and is day-to-day.
A's 2B Mark Ellis missed last night's game with a hamstring injury, and will miss a few more.
O's C Ramon Hernandez missed last night's game with a sprained left wrist.
Reds SS Jeff Keppinger fouled a ball off his knee last night and has a fractured kneecap.
O's 3B Melvin Mora was hit by a ball in warmups yesterday and missed last night's game.

If you haven't been paying attention, Lance Berkman is pretty hot right now. He's hitting .605 in his last 11 games, and has scored a run in 15 straight games, leaving him 2 games shy of tying the NL record Rickie Weeks tied earlier this season.

Berkman also won this week's BaseballHappenings blogpoll for NL MVP. Brandon Webb ran away from the field in the Cy Young voting, and Geovany Soto dominated the Rookie voting. Here's the ballot I cast:

MVP:
1. Lance Berkman
2. Chase Utley
3. Chipper Jones

Cy Young:
1. Brandon Webb
2. Edinson Volquez
3. Carlos Zambrano

Rookie of the Year:
1. Geovany Soto
2. Jair Jurrjens
3. Kosuke Fukudome

Click the link above for the full results.

A rare former Brewer trifecta happened yesterday: The Mets designated Nelson Figueroa for assignment, called up Claudio Vargas and activated Matt Wise from the DL in the same day.

Oh, and here's a story about Tigers P Nate Robertson's unrequited love for bats.

Drink up.

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Comments

Let the stoner jokes resume

I love those high (ceiling) prospects.

I have found myself enjoying the Brewers a lot more this year than last. Certainly that great start made it fun to be a baseball fan in 2007, but I had an obsessive paranoia that they were going to get caught (and as we saw, it was vindicated). I felt like every game was something to lose.

There’s no way I believe being the “hunter” instead of the “hunted” makes a difference one way or the other for the team itself, but I find myself more relaxed in my fandom this year. Sure, the Brewers make frustrating happenings, but it’s more of a “dang that sucks, but I’m going to keep rooting for you” instead of a “you idiots, you’re blowing your chance!” from my end.

Am I alone?

by Et tu Brewte on May 14, 2008 10:31 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

You're not alone

It still feels like it’s in my DNA as a Brewer fan to think of impending doom, but much less so this year. I keep coming back to the fact that our offense isn’t close to hitting on all cylinders. Last year’s hot start was fun but felt unsustainable in a bad way; this year’s poor offensive start feels unsustainable in a good way.

by John Brew on May 14, 2008 11:33 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I had more fun last year

I certainly felt the sense of impending doom last year as the Cubs crept up on and eventually overtook the Central, but at least for most of the season I felt like the team was playing up to its potential and experiencing the expected level of success.

This year, I feel like the window is wide open to win the Central. Windows like that only stay open for so long, especially as the arbitration clock is ticking on most of our position players and our ace is nearing free agency. I feel like this is the best chance the Brewers have had to make a run in my lifetime (born 1983), so when they underperform I fear the window is closing.

Also, having an unreliable closer often means I’m holding my breath for 4, 5, sometimes 6 batters in a row in the 9th. That’s just not healthy.

by KLSnow on May 14, 2008 12:31 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Man, do I know what that's like

I try to get myself to not watch the eighth and ninth because I get so tense - but how can you not watch the eighth and ninth? I will say this - there has only been two or three moments all year where I’ve actually felt, prior to the final out, that the Brewers were certain victors.

by Et tu Brewte on May 14, 2008 12:48 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Edmonds

I guess I don’t understand why everyone is so happy that the cubs are signing Jim Edmonds. Sure the guy is old, he lost a step, and is not hitting very well, but Im sure the cubs won’t pay him very much. Also, he’s probably going to platoon with Reed Johnson, and if he plays like crap they can just cut him.

Pie is going back to the minors, he was playing like crap, and has never shown any signs of hope while being in the majors.

I really don’t see how the cubs lose in this situation. He’ll only hit against righties, won’t get payed much, replaces a struggling Pie, and if he plays bad, they will cut him.

So can someone kindly tell me how the cubs signing Edmonds helps the brewers in any fashion?

by brewfan2 on May 14, 2008 10:51 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

I think the reasoning is

Edmonds has a clear record in the past few years of sucking and Pie has a minor league track record that shows he could turn into something. While the Cubs waste ABs giving them to Edmounds Pie could have used those to get on track and possible help more. Also, despite what you hear Pie is the far superior defender at this point in their careers. Pie’s RZR last year was .937 while Edmonds was .852. That is a huge difference and center field is where a lot of balls to the outfield get hit.

Visit my baseball blog ...or else!

by dixieflatline on May 14, 2008 11:00 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah

Pie playing like he has all season so far is better in every aspect than what Edmonds can do at this point. He was a great player once but he’s done.

by kingcharlesxii on May 14, 2008 11:18 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Fractured Knee

that sounds really painful.

by Braunstalker on May 14, 2008 11:32 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

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NL Central Standings

	W	L	PCT	GB	STRK
St. Louis Viva El Birdos	91	71	.561	0	Lost 6
Chicago Bleed Cubbie Blue	83	78	.515	7.5	Lost 1
Milwaukee Brew Crew Ball	80	82	.493	11	Won 3
Cincinnati Red Reporter	78	84	.481	13	Won 2
Houston The Crawfish Boxes	74	88	.456	17	Lost 3
Pittsburgh Bucs Dugout	62	99	.385	28.5	Lost 2