Thursday's Frosty Mug
by KLSnow
on Aug 21, 2008 9:11 AM CDT
I drank another Nutrisoda yesterday. And the Brewers won. I'm going to need more Nutrisoda.
Win Expectancy Graph
BR Box Score
After losing 2 of 3 to the Brewers, the Astros are just one game over .500, 8.5 games behind the Brewers (and behind four other teams) for the Wild Card, and BP Postseason Odds has them at .13%, or about 1 in 756 to make the playoffs. But Crawfish Boxes wants you to know that if the Astros sweep 4 games from the Mets and the Brewers lose 4 in a row, they'll only be 4.5 games back.
Rickie Weeks was back in the lineup yesterday, and went 0-1 with 3 walks and scored 3 times. Al says he's the best leadoff hitter the Brewers have had since Paul Molitor. That's a study waiting to be done.
This much is for sure: Weeks did give J.J. Hardy a high-five following the home run that more or less sealed yesterday's game.
Prince Fielder hit two sac flies yesterday and leads the NL with 10.
Will Ben Sheets be the next injury-prone but dominant-when-healthy SP to sign a big deal with the Blue Jays? The Southpaw is hearing rumors that the Jays will make a run at Sheets this winter, but Jordan Bastian says the Jays likely won't look to replace pitching via free agency. Next spring only one of them will be right.
If the Jays would like a headstart, they could overspend on Brewer pitchers right now by picking up the contracts of Eric Gagne and David Riske, who both cleared waivers.
CC Sabathia is making the NL better one start at a time. Not only did CC Sabathia pitch his fifth complete game Monday, he also inspired Pirates SP Ian Snell, who watched footage of Sabathia on his iPhone, translated some things over to his delivery and dominated the Cardinals.
Ken Rosenthal seems to think the Brewers will exercise their $10 million option on Mike Cameron for next season. I guess the Eric Gagne experiment has shown us that there are worse ways to spend $10 million.
Jeff Moore at Dugout Central considered both Ryan Braun and CC Sabathia for NL MVP before deciding the only real candidate is Albert Pujols.
Yesterday, I took a quick look at Brewers who have hit 20 home runs and stolen 20 bases. Corey Hart needs one home run to become the first Brewer ever to do it twice. Today, Recondite Baseball takes a look at a more dubious 20/20 club: players who committed 20 errors and grounded into 20 double plays. No Brewer has ever made this list. None will in 2008, either.
Dayn Perry says the Brewers' biggest weakness is right handed middle relief. I can live with that.
On injuries:
A's SP Sean Gallagher has a tired arm and will miss his next start.
Rockies RP Matt Herges has been placed on the DL with lower back stiffness.
Hanley Ramirez will likely miss a day or two after bruising his thumb stealing a base last night.
Jim Thome was scratched from last night's game with slight soreness in his leg.
White Sox CF DeWayne Wise left last night's game with a strained abductor muscle.
Dixieflatline is everywhere these days. Today, he's posting at new SBN affiliate Driveline Mechanics about the stuff of Jeff Samardzija, whose name I still can't spell. That's the only name I've ever written, looked at and thought, "shouldn't there be another z in there?"
Finally, The Griddle handicaps the race between the Mariners and Nationals to be the first team mathematically eliminated from playoff contention. Another look at the BP Postseason Odds shows that the Royals, Mariners, Nationals, Pirates and Reds have already been all but eliminated, with the Padres holding onto a slim .00005% (1 in 2 million) chance.
I filtered out 6 unnecessary commas from the original draft of today's Mug to make it smooth and add drinkability. Drink up.
Win Expectancy Graph
BR Box Score
After losing 2 of 3 to the Brewers, the Astros are just one game over .500, 8.5 games behind the Brewers (and behind four other teams) for the Wild Card, and BP Postseason Odds has them at .13%, or about 1 in 756 to make the playoffs. But Crawfish Boxes wants you to know that if the Astros sweep 4 games from the Mets and the Brewers lose 4 in a row, they'll only be 4.5 games back.
Rickie Weeks was back in the lineup yesterday, and went 0-1 with 3 walks and scored 3 times. Al says he's the best leadoff hitter the Brewers have had since Paul Molitor. That's a study waiting to be done.
This much is for sure: Weeks did give J.J. Hardy a high-five following the home run that more or less sealed yesterday's game.
Prince Fielder hit two sac flies yesterday and leads the NL with 10.
Will Ben Sheets be the next injury-prone but dominant-when-healthy SP to sign a big deal with the Blue Jays? The Southpaw is hearing rumors that the Jays will make a run at Sheets this winter, but Jordan Bastian says the Jays likely won't look to replace pitching via free agency. Next spring only one of them will be right.
If the Jays would like a headstart, they could overspend on Brewer pitchers right now by picking up the contracts of Eric Gagne and David Riske, who both cleared waivers.
CC Sabathia is making the NL better one start at a time. Not only did CC Sabathia pitch his fifth complete game Monday, he also inspired Pirates SP Ian Snell, who watched footage of Sabathia on his iPhone, translated some things over to his delivery and dominated the Cardinals.
Ken Rosenthal seems to think the Brewers will exercise their $10 million option on Mike Cameron for next season. I guess the Eric Gagne experiment has shown us that there are worse ways to spend $10 million.
Jeff Moore at Dugout Central considered both Ryan Braun and CC Sabathia for NL MVP before deciding the only real candidate is Albert Pujols.
Yesterday, I took a quick look at Brewers who have hit 20 home runs and stolen 20 bases. Corey Hart needs one home run to become the first Brewer ever to do it twice. Today, Recondite Baseball takes a look at a more dubious 20/20 club: players who committed 20 errors and grounded into 20 double plays. No Brewer has ever made this list. None will in 2008, either.
Dayn Perry says the Brewers' biggest weakness is right handed middle relief. I can live with that.
On injuries:
A's SP Sean Gallagher has a tired arm and will miss his next start.
Rockies RP Matt Herges has been placed on the DL with lower back stiffness.
Hanley Ramirez will likely miss a day or two after bruising his thumb stealing a base last night.
Jim Thome was scratched from last night's game with slight soreness in his leg.
White Sox CF DeWayne Wise left last night's game with a strained abductor muscle.
Dixieflatline is everywhere these days. Today, he's posting at new SBN affiliate Driveline Mechanics about the stuff of Jeff Samardzija, whose name I still can't spell. That's the only name I've ever written, looked at and thought, "shouldn't there be another z in there?"
Finally, The Griddle handicaps the race between the Mariners and Nationals to be the first team mathematically eliminated from playoff contention. Another look at the BP Postseason Odds shows that the Royals, Mariners, Nationals, Pirates and Reds have already been all but eliminated, with the Padres holding onto a slim .00005% (1 in 2 million) chance.
I filtered out 6 unnecessary commas from the original draft of today's Mug to make it smooth and add drinkability. Drink up.
27 comments | 0 recs
Tuesday's Frosty Mug
by KLSnow
on Jun 24, 2008 9:17 AM CDT
My to do list for today:
Beat Battlekow at Boggle
Write Frosty Mug
It's a good thing I accomplished the first one, because there's really not much to write about today.
Win Expectancy Graph
BR Box Score
Today's Brewer notes are largely visitor oriented. First, as mentioned in the comments of yesterday's Mug, Stacey from Camden Chat visited Miller Park along with the Orioles over the weekend and offers a nice review.
It's no secret that the Brewers love playing at home. But La Velle Neal notes the Twins like visiting Miller Park too, and have turned their season around in Milwaukee every year since 2005. (Also noted in Fanshots.
It's been a while since we've looked at these: the BP Postseason Odds. Right now the Brewers project for 87.4 wins and a 10.3% chance of winning the Central. It's still too early to talk Wild Card.
Back in March, I (very subtly) hinted that I'd like someone to make me a Ryan Braun wallpaper. While I was on vacation, Josh Downie came through for me. Now, I have a slightly different request. See this terrible, painful song about Jason Bay? Brewer fans, I'm begging you, please don't make those. Especially if you sing too high and create a sound like fingernails on a chalkboard.
On injuries:
Reds 3B Edwin Encarnacion left last night's game with back spasms but should be ok.
Felix Hernandez hit a grand slam last night, but also suffered a sprained ankle and had to leave the game. Big League Stew has the ironic take.
Nats 1B Nick Johnson will likely miss the rest of the year after having surgery on his wrist.
Pirates P Ian Snell has medial epicondylitis, aka Golfer's Elbow, and will miss his next start. Perhaps he was trying to save money on his car insurance.
Kevin Youkilis was hit in the eye with an errant warm-up throw last night and had to leave the game.
Via Baseball Musings, I learned yesterday that Safeco Field is no longer a good place to meet the ladies.
On the other end of the spectrum, I learned (via Baseball Musings again) that Padres owner John Moores' divorce may force him to sell the Padres.
Jose Guillen is hitting .359/.365/.613 over his last 37 games despite the fact that he hasn't drawn a single walk over that stretch. Sometimes being aggressive works.
The Cleveland Plain Dealer took a deeper look at the process involved in trading a franchise cornerstone like C.C. Sabathia. They also look at some past deadline deals, including a couple of past Indians deals you'll recognize.
Here's where the maple bat situation has brought us: Researchers are developing a portable CT scan device specifically designed to assess the safety of specific bats. Can't we just go back to ash bats and be done with it?
That's all for today. I'm moving tomorrow and may not have internet for a while, then I'm back on the road for a bit. The Mug will return full-time sometime around the 7th or 8th of July. Until then, thanks again to Jeff for filling in. Drink up.
Write Frosty Mug
It's a good thing I accomplished the first one, because there's really not much to write about today.
Win Expectancy Graph
BR Box Score
Today's Brewer notes are largely visitor oriented. First, as mentioned in the comments of yesterday's Mug, Stacey from Camden Chat visited Miller Park along with the Orioles over the weekend and offers a nice review.
It's no secret that the Brewers love playing at home. But La Velle Neal notes the Twins like visiting Miller Park too, and have turned their season around in Milwaukee every year since 2005. (Also noted in Fanshots.
It's been a while since we've looked at these: the BP Postseason Odds. Right now the Brewers project for 87.4 wins and a 10.3% chance of winning the Central. It's still too early to talk Wild Card.
Back in March, I (very subtly) hinted that I'd like someone to make me a Ryan Braun wallpaper. While I was on vacation, Josh Downie came through for me. Now, I have a slightly different request. See this terrible, painful song about Jason Bay? Brewer fans, I'm begging you, please don't make those. Especially if you sing too high and create a sound like fingernails on a chalkboard.
On injuries:
Reds 3B Edwin Encarnacion left last night's game with back spasms but should be ok.
Felix Hernandez hit a grand slam last night, but also suffered a sprained ankle and had to leave the game. Big League Stew has the ironic take.
Nats 1B Nick Johnson will likely miss the rest of the year after having surgery on his wrist.
Pirates P Ian Snell has medial epicondylitis, aka Golfer's Elbow, and will miss his next start. Perhaps he was trying to save money on his car insurance.
Kevin Youkilis was hit in the eye with an errant warm-up throw last night and had to leave the game.
Via Baseball Musings, I learned yesterday that Safeco Field is no longer a good place to meet the ladies.
On the other end of the spectrum, I learned (via Baseball Musings again) that Padres owner John Moores' divorce may force him to sell the Padres.
Jose Guillen is hitting .359/.365/.613 over his last 37 games despite the fact that he hasn't drawn a single walk over that stretch. Sometimes being aggressive works.
The Cleveland Plain Dealer took a deeper look at the process involved in trading a franchise cornerstone like C.C. Sabathia. They also look at some past deadline deals, including a couple of past Indians deals you'll recognize.
Here's where the maple bat situation has brought us: Researchers are developing a portable CT scan device specifically designed to assess the safety of specific bats. Can't we just go back to ash bats and be done with it?
That's all for today. I'm moving tomorrow and may not have internet for a while, then I'm back on the road for a bit. The Mug will return full-time sometime around the 7th or 8th of July. Until then, thanks again to Jeff for filling in. Drink up.
16 comments | 0 recs
Monday's Frosty Mug Return
by KLSnow
on Jun 23, 2008 9:57 AM CDT
I'm not quite ready for a full time return to the active roster quite yet, but I am home for a couple of days, so the Mug returns temporarily today and tomorrow, and hopefully for good in early July. Thanks to Jeff for filling in admirably during my extended absence. Without him, life might imitate Garfield minus Garfield. I'll be back full-time soon.
Win Probability Graph
BR Box Score
When I left on my mini-sabbatical, Prince had 8 home runs. Since then he's hit 8 more, including the one pictured here. If I go back on sabbatical and he hits 8 more, I'll be tempted to retire.
Also pictured: The biggest accomplishment of Jeff Suppan's weekend.
Matt LaPorta missed a couple of games last week after running into the outfield wall, then returned for one day before leaving the team again to be with his ailing grandfather. Best wishes go out to him and his family.
I hadn't updated my projection spreadsheets in a while, so this morning I updated the data and noticed that Russell Branyan is on pace to hit 42 HR in just 296 official AB's this season. Dave Cameron at Fangraphs notes that Branyan was called up on the same day (May 25) to play the same position (#5 on your scorecard) as Ryan Braun circa 2007. The similiarities pretty much end there, but they're interesting nonetheless. If you're looking for analysis of Branyan's hot start, though, dixieflatline's post from Friday is the best I've seen.
Speaking of Branyan: Weeks ago I bookmarked a link about him, then promptly forgot about it and went on vacation. Remember that 460-foot home run he hit into the Dew Deck on May 31? SensibleUnits.com says 460 feet is equal to 44 male African elephants standing on top of one another, 7.8 ten pin bowling lanes, 2.8 Olympic swimming pools, or 1.8 Airbus A380s side by side. Check out the link to get more.
Sometimes Phil Rogers gets a bum rap, and sometimes he deserves it: In his most recent power poll he ranks the Brewers, owners of a 21-10 record in their last 31 games, 16th. Thankfully, the Hardball blog has a little feature at the bottom where you can rate their posts. I'd encourage you to go give him one star. Sadly, it's the lowest option available.
Even Eli acknowledges it's unlikely to become a story, but the Phillies reportedly had a scout in town to watch Ben Sheets recently.
Mark DiFelice is starting to climb up an interesting list: By making his first ten big league appearances without issuing a walk, Recondite Baseball notes that DiFelice has tied the eighth longest streak of all time to start a career. There's seven names you likely won't recognize on the all-time list in front of him. Still, though, it's a pretty nice claim to fame for a guy most of us never expected to get out of the minors in the first place. On injuries:
Marlins P Burke Badenhop has been placed on the DL with right shoulder tendinitis.
Erik Bedard left his start Friday with back spasms.
Adrian Beltre missed this weekend's action with a bruised index finger but could return as soon as today.
Reds SS Jolbert Cabrera injured his hand sliding into second Friday, making him the fourth Reds SS to get injured this season.
Pirates SP Phil Dumatrait has been placed on the DL with rotator cuff tendinitis.
Yankees RP Kyle Farnsworth left Sunday's game after being struck in the hand by a ground ball. He needed 3 stitches.
Cards SS Cesar Izturis is on the DL with a strained hamstring.
Reed Johnson is having back spasms and may have to go on the DL.
Rangers C Gerald Laird is on the DL with a strained hamstring.
Blue Jays SP Shaun Marcum has been placed on the DL with elbow soreness.
Rangers RP Doug Mathis has been placed on the DL with shoulder inflammation.
Pirates SP Ian Snell will have an arthrogram (a what?) today to determine the source of his right elbow irritation.
Red Sox RP Mike Timlin has been placed on the DL with tendinitis in his knee.
Jose Valentin has suffered multiple setbacks in his rehab and will be out for the season.
Carlos Zambrano's shoulder has landed him on the DL. They're still calling it precautionary.
Barry Zito isn't hurt, but The Giants Baseball Blog is bringing up the possibility of taking a drastic step and having him undergo Tommy John surgery anyway.
Comedy legend George Carlin passed away over the weekend. Here's one of his all-time great preformances, highlighting the differences between baseball and football.
Here's a performance that's not exactly an all-time great: After a nearly unprecedented 3 managerial firings in 4 days, Scott Miller of CBS Sports wants to make sure we know we shouldn't expect it again. I guess I thought that was implied when phrases like "nearly unprecedented" are being used.
It doesn't look like Rich Hill will be back to help the Cubs anytime soon. On Friday, he threw 45 pitches and only got two outs in AAA.
Are we still talking about free pitchers the Brewers may or may not be interested in as bullpen help? If we are, can I interest you in Kiko Calero or Denny Bautista?
Chipper Jones' chances of hitting .400 continue to lurk at about 1 in 5000.
If you're looking for summer reading material and my links in the Mug aren't long enough, you might consider picking up a book or two off of The Klaw 100. Speaking of books, I picked up "Shoeless Joe" after reading Jeff's post this spring on must-read baseball books, where he didn't actually recommend it. But I loved it and if you haven't read it, you should pick it up.
On a chance encounter this weekend I happened to meet "kindie" rock star Justin Roberts. I wasn't familiar with his work but after hearing him perform "Henrietta's Hair" and noting his new CD is titled "Pop Fly," I'd recommend him to anyone out there who has kids, and maybe even some of you who don't.
That's all for today. Drink up.
Win Probability Graph
BR Box Score
When I left on my mini-sabbatical, Prince had 8 home runs. Since then he's hit 8 more, including the one pictured here. If I go back on sabbatical and he hits 8 more, I'll be tempted to retire.
Also pictured: The biggest accomplishment of Jeff Suppan's weekend.
Matt LaPorta missed a couple of games last week after running into the outfield wall, then returned for one day before leaving the team again to be with his ailing grandfather. Best wishes go out to him and his family.
I hadn't updated my projection spreadsheets in a while, so this morning I updated the data and noticed that Russell Branyan is on pace to hit 42 HR in just 296 official AB's this season. Dave Cameron at Fangraphs notes that Branyan was called up on the same day (May 25) to play the same position (#5 on your scorecard) as Ryan Braun circa 2007. The similiarities pretty much end there, but they're interesting nonetheless. If you're looking for analysis of Branyan's hot start, though, dixieflatline's post from Friday is the best I've seen.
Speaking of Branyan: Weeks ago I bookmarked a link about him, then promptly forgot about it and went on vacation. Remember that 460-foot home run he hit into the Dew Deck on May 31? SensibleUnits.com says 460 feet is equal to 44 male African elephants standing on top of one another, 7.8 ten pin bowling lanes, 2.8 Olympic swimming pools, or 1.8 Airbus A380s side by side. Check out the link to get more.
Sometimes Phil Rogers gets a bum rap, and sometimes he deserves it: In his most recent power poll he ranks the Brewers, owners of a 21-10 record in their last 31 games, 16th. Thankfully, the Hardball blog has a little feature at the bottom where you can rate their posts. I'd encourage you to go give him one star. Sadly, it's the lowest option available.
Even Eli acknowledges it's unlikely to become a story, but the Phillies reportedly had a scout in town to watch Ben Sheets recently.
Mark DiFelice is starting to climb up an interesting list: By making his first ten big league appearances without issuing a walk, Recondite Baseball notes that DiFelice has tied the eighth longest streak of all time to start a career. There's seven names you likely won't recognize on the all-time list in front of him. Still, though, it's a pretty nice claim to fame for a guy most of us never expected to get out of the minors in the first place. On injuries:
Marlins P Burke Badenhop has been placed on the DL with right shoulder tendinitis.
Erik Bedard left his start Friday with back spasms.
Adrian Beltre missed this weekend's action with a bruised index finger but could return as soon as today.
Reds SS Jolbert Cabrera injured his hand sliding into second Friday, making him the fourth Reds SS to get injured this season.
Pirates SP Phil Dumatrait has been placed on the DL with rotator cuff tendinitis.
Yankees RP Kyle Farnsworth left Sunday's game after being struck in the hand by a ground ball. He needed 3 stitches.
Cards SS Cesar Izturis is on the DL with a strained hamstring.
Reed Johnson is having back spasms and may have to go on the DL.
Rangers C Gerald Laird is on the DL with a strained hamstring.
Blue Jays SP Shaun Marcum has been placed on the DL with elbow soreness.
Rangers RP Doug Mathis has been placed on the DL with shoulder inflammation.
Pirates SP Ian Snell will have an arthrogram (a what?) today to determine the source of his right elbow irritation.
Red Sox RP Mike Timlin has been placed on the DL with tendinitis in his knee.
Jose Valentin has suffered multiple setbacks in his rehab and will be out for the season.
Carlos Zambrano's shoulder has landed him on the DL. They're still calling it precautionary.
Barry Zito isn't hurt, but The Giants Baseball Blog is bringing up the possibility of taking a drastic step and having him undergo Tommy John surgery anyway.
Comedy legend George Carlin passed away over the weekend. Here's one of his all-time great preformances, highlighting the differences between baseball and football.
Here's a performance that's not exactly an all-time great: After a nearly unprecedented 3 managerial firings in 4 days, Scott Miller of CBS Sports wants to make sure we know we shouldn't expect it again. I guess I thought that was implied when phrases like "nearly unprecedented" are being used.
It doesn't look like Rich Hill will be back to help the Cubs anytime soon. On Friday, he threw 45 pitches and only got two outs in AAA.
Are we still talking about free pitchers the Brewers may or may not be interested in as bullpen help? If we are, can I interest you in Kiko Calero or Denny Bautista?
Chipper Jones' chances of hitting .400 continue to lurk at about 1 in 5000.
If you're looking for summer reading material and my links in the Mug aren't long enough, you might consider picking up a book or two off of The Klaw 100. Speaking of books, I picked up "Shoeless Joe" after reading Jeff's post this spring on must-read baseball books, where he didn't actually recommend it. But I loved it and if you haven't read it, you should pick it up.
On a chance encounter this weekend I happened to meet "kindie" rock star Justin Roberts. I wasn't familiar with his work but after hearing him perform "Henrietta's Hair" and noting his new CD is titled "Pop Fly," I'd recommend him to anyone out there who has kids, and maybe even some of you who don't.
That's all for today. Drink up.
21 comments | 1 recs
Game Thread #46: Brewers (21-24) at Pirates (21-24)
by Jeff Sackmann
on May 21, 2008 4:01 PM CDT
Well, Ned held on to his job at least one more day. Ben Sheets will be starting tonight at 6:05 CT against Ian Snell. Multiple inside sources are telling me that Yost's lineup today will be:
- Hall, 3B
- Sheets, P
- Rivera, SS
- Kendall, C
- Counsell, LF
- Dillon, CF
- Fielder, 1B
- McClung, RF
- Weeks, 2B
Looks like a winner to me.
Go Brewers!
206 comments | 0 recs
Secondary Sidebar
SBN Blog for Pittsburgh Pirates
NL Central Standings
| W | L | PCT | GB | STRK | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Chicago
|
97 | 64 | .602 | 0 | Lost 4 |
|
Milwaukee
|
90 | 72 | .555 | 7.5 | Lost 1 |
|
Houston
|
86 | 75 | .534 | 11 | Won 1 |
|
St. Louis
|
86 | 76 | .530 | 11.5 | Won 6 |
|
Cincinnati
|
74 | 88 | .456 | 23.5 | Lost 5 |
|
Pittsburgh
|
67 | 95 | .413 | 30.5 | Won 1 |
(updated 12.2.2008 at 5:10 PM CST)
FanShots
Quick hits of video, photos, quotes, chats, links and lists that you find around the web.
New FanShot
