Tuesday's Frosty Mug

Some things to read while checking out the second pool.

At current pace, we're going to run out of healthy Brewers sometime before the end of the week. Three outfielders were added to the injury report yesterday: First, Carlos Gomez was scratched from the lineup with a stiff back. Then, Chris Dickerson (ribs) and Logan Schafer (right thumb) each left the game with injuries and were sent off for X-rays (FanShot).

We're also still waiting for an update on the condition of Caleb Gindl: He went in for an MRI yesterday on the knee he twisted in foul territory Sunday.

Meanwhile, we've got a collection of rehab notes: Zack Greinke is riding a bike to stay in shape while his ribs heal, but it sounds like a pretty slow process. Ryan Braun was lifted from yesterday's game after two at bats as part of Ron Roenicke's plan to take it slow with him.

Howie Magner has a projection for the Brewers' next injury.

The rash of spring injuries has really exposed one of the Brewers' more significant problems: A lack of depth. Chris Cwik of FanGraphs wonders if this team can win with their "stars and scrubs" approach.

On the field, Mark Rogers was a little underwhelming in his Cactus League debut yesterday, allowing two runs on three hits in just one inning of work. Adam McCalvy has quotes from Rogers and Ron Roenicke regarding the rookie's outing.

Actually, underwhelming pitching performances were kind of the theme of the day. Zach Braddock opened the fifth inning by walking a batter, hitting a batter and allowing a long home run before settling down and getting three outs. Braddock's spring ERA is now up to 8.44 and he's struck out just two batters in 5.1 innings. Adam McCalvy is wondering if it's time to start worrying.

Other notes from camp:

• Adam McCalvy talked to Brandon Boggs about life as a switch-hitter.
• Jordan Johnson of the JS has a photo tour of Scottsdale Stadium.
• Kati Shearer of the JS talked to Brian Anderson about his work to help build an orphanage in Ethiopia.
• Harper Babin of the JS has video of Tim Dillard's Harry Caray impersonation.
• Our own Hangwith'em Rach has Day Three of the recap of her Arizona trip.
  

At least the Brewers have cool hats to wear while they're healing: Cardboard Connection says the Brewers have baseball's fifth best caps. (h/t Rob Neyer)

In the minors:

• Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com unveiled his list of the Brewers' top ten prospects yesterday, featuring Mark Rogers at #1.
• As part of yesterday's All Questions Answered thread, John Sickels said Mark Rogers is more likely to be a major league starter than Rangers prospect Tanner Scheppers, but Zach Braddock projects to be less valuable than Royals prospect Tim Collins and Dodger Kenley Jansen.
• Prospect Madness continues at Bernie's Crew: The last matchup I've seen features Zelous Wheeler and Amaury Rivas.

Season previews continue to trickle in: Today The Bucky Channel has theirs.

If you're just now checking in for the first time this morning, you might have missed Jordan's post opening up Community Projections for left field, right field and catcher. Follow that link to go share your thoughts.

Around baseball:

Athletics: Closer Andrew Bailey left yesterday's game with elbow pain and will visit Dr. James Andrews today.
Padres: Returned Rule 5 pick George Kontos to the Yankees.
Rays: Claimed pitcher Cesar Cabral off waivers from the Blue Jays.

Cabral is one of this spring's more interesting transaction stories. He was the Rays' Rule 5 selection, from the Red Sox. The Blue Jays claimed him when the Rays placed him on waivers, and reportedly attempted to trade him back to Boston. When that didn't work out they put him back on waivers, and the Rays claimed him again.

Today in former Brewers:

• Britt Ghiroli of MLB.com has a pretty interesting profile of J.J. Hardy including thoughts on his time in Milwaukee, an ill-fated trip to a sports psychologist and attempts to change his game. There's also more here.
• Gregg Zaun, who decided to retire from the Padres last week, has agreed to join Sportsnet in Canada.
• The Common Man admitted an irrational love for Rob Deer.
  

As we get closer to final cuts across baseball, this issue is going to start coming up more often: Steve Slowinski of FanGraphs looks at the decision to promote or not promote top prospects.

This spring hasn't gone as many of us had planned, but here's a reminder that things could always be worse. The Indians are nowhere near contention once again in 2011, and the 2010 census shows Cleveland's population has shrunk to 396,815, the lowest it's been since 1900.

Today's coolest graph comes courtesy of Beyond the Box Score, where they've diagrammed a 5-4-3 double play.

And he doesn't like the kids on his lawn, either: Twins manager Ron Gardenhire doesn't like when reporters use Twitter.

It's been a while since I've linked to a Joe Posnanski story, so it's time once again to remind you that he can make just about anything interesting. As evidence, I present this story on kidney stones.

On this day in 1983 the Brewers' hopes of repeating as AL champs took a serious hit when '82 Cy Young Award winner Pete Vuckovich was diagnosed with a torn rotator cuff. He would go on to make just three starts over the next two seasons.

With help from the B-Ref Play Index, happy birthday today to:

• 1984-85 Brewer Jim Kern, who turns 62.
• Seattle Pilot and 1970 Brewer Bob Locker, who turns 73.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to finish this call.

Drink up.