Friday's Frosty Mug

Some things to read while upgrading someone's cell phone.

It may not have looked like much. An eighth inning pinch-hit appearance ending in a strikeout. But with that K, the Mat Gamel era is upon us, and everyone seems to be talking about it:

• He made Baseball America's list of ten potential impact rookies.
• "The fact the Brewers recalled him a week prior to the start of any inter-league games signals he is up for good," according to FakeTeams.
• He was eulogized in Nashville.
• And his plane nearly ran out of fuel on the way to Milwaukee.

On the other side of the coin we have Brad Nelson, the organization's former #1 prospect who still has not announced whether he'll accept his assignment to Nashville. KIMT, his local TV station, was in town covering Nelson when he got the news Wednesday night.

Trevor Hoffman was one of the big stories in yesterday's game, pitching his ninth consecutive scoreless appearance en route to his eighth save. Adam McCalvy has a look at Hoffman's early dominance. Meanwhile, Brett Christopherson of the Appleton Post Crescent reminisces about Hoffman's days in the Midwest League.

Mike Rivera returned to the team yesterday, and Carlos Corporan was sent back down to Nashville to make room for him. Corporan appeared in just one game during his brief stint in Milwaukee, making him one of just three players to make one career appearance as a Brewer, and the first position player to do it. Obviously, Corporan is hoping to make more appearances at some point.

Marlins pitcher Josh Johnson had a rough outing yesterday and was pulled early. Today the Miami Herald is reporting Johnson was removed with weakness in his shoulder. It's not believed to be serious and he's expected to make his next start.

Yovani Gallardo will take the mound tonight, but the Brewers almost missed out on him entirely. The Official Site relives the 2004 draft, when the Brewers drafted Gallardo in the second round.

Speaking of the draft, Minor League Ball is preparing for their mock draft on June 6, and you can check in here or here to voice your opinion on what players or types of players the Brewers should be pursuing.

One can only hope this year's draft class will be as good as the class of 2002: eight pitchers from that class started games in the majors last night. Dave Bush (drafted #55 overall by the Blue Jays) is one of 23 pitchers drafted in that class that are currently experiencing success in the big leagues.

Meanwhile, Brett Lawrie checks in from the Midwest League with a blog post on the adjustment to playing every day, frustration and Guitar Hero Metallica.

Will Prince Fielder's physique prevent him from having the career he could have had? Fielder has slimmed down a bit this season, but this FanPost at Beyond the Box Score suggests Fielder's career will draw to an end early. A note in the comments mentions that Fielder's listed height and weight would give him a 35.4 BMI, about 11% higher than Kirby Puckett, the closest comparison. Or course, no one knows how close Fielder (or Puckett) actually were to their listed weights.

There's nothing holding Mark DiFelice back this season. After pitching a scoreless eighth yesterday, DiFelice is now 4-0 with a 2.02 ERA in 35.2 major league innings, and ESPN is projecting him to make the All Star Team. Not bad for a guy who didn't make it to the big leagues until 31 and had to go to the WBC to get noticed in spring training.

This is the kind of story that gets a team's fan base a reputation: If you're near something that you shouldn't vomit on, feel free to skip this story about the "negotiation" for Chris Coghlan's home run ball from Wednesday. (That story is all over the place now, but I found the link via Tom H.'s Twitter)

Buried in Scott Miller's latest column is this note: The Brewers are 17-6 since April 19, the best record in all of baseball.

With interleague play coming up, Baseball Reference has a look at 17 home/road matchups that haven't happened yet. The Brewers have visited every AL ballpark and hosted 13 of 14 AL teams, but are still waiting for the Rays to come to town.

Around the league:

D-Backs: Designated infielder Josh Wilson for assignment.
Nationals: Returned Rule 5 pick Terrell Young to the Reds.
Rockies: Placed Glendon Rusch on waivers.
Tigers: Placed Nate Robertson on the DL with a lower back strain.

So how many of these disabled list stints are legit? Yesterday, Shysterball wondered about some recent disabled list shenanigans, and Jayson Stark of ESPN followed up on it. He seems to have arrived at the conclusion that a doctor, given a reason to, can find something wrong with just about anyone. All of this came out on the same day the Astros placed Geoff Geary on the DL with chronic ineffectiveness biceps tendinitis.

Following up on something I mentioned yesterday: Umpire Paul Schrieber apologized for making contact with Magglio Ordonez on Wednesday. It doesn't look like he'll face any significant consequences for his actions.

How much of a major league curveball's action is real, and how much is simply an optical illusion? The Book blog has a pretty cool visual aid to help explain it.

Braden Looper is turning out to be a pretty good signing for the Brewers, but was he the best signing of a free agent starting pitcher this offseason? Jorge Says No! makes a pretty good case for Baltimore's Koji Uehara.

Speaking of transactions, El Lefty Malo has a look at players the Giants have traded away that have gone on to success in other organizations, including Carlos Villanueva. Villanueva was acquired for Wayne Franklin and Leo Estrella.

We, or maybe just I, complain a lot in this space about the MLB Blackout policy, but MLB.TV has been awarded a patent for the system they use to enforce it online.

Unfortunately, I'm still watching Baseball Tonight, but fortunately, I wasn't watching last night when Eduardo Perez dropped this chunk of knowledge:

And one thing I can tell you: baserunning, hitting, pitching -- and especially the bullpen -- is not only important in the National and the American League, but all around baseball.

I've heard the MLB Network alternative is better, but I have yet to see it for myself.

Oh, and apparently being a major league player has one more perk we didn't know about: When you're injured, you can hit on radiologists.

Drink up.