Another day, another 500 blog entries.  Let's get to it.

• BR Box Score
• FanGraphs Win Probability Chart

Much to my chagrin, Ned put the lineup back in the news yesterday.  Corey Hart led off, Hardy hit second, and Bill Hall played second.  I like it.  As I've noted, I don't care very much about lineup optimization, especially relative to how much it gets discussed, but what I do like is seeing Ned think outside the conventional wisdom box.  I wouldn't have guessed that Hall would see time at second with Weeks out, but I'm glad.

David Riske is feeling better, and could be just days away from a rehab assignment. 

In-Between Hops notes the Brewers road woes, but also points out the three NL teams who have a bigger home/road differential.  One of those is the Cubs, and while you'd think there'd be some Milwaukee-style hand-wringing over it in the Chicago press, Hire Jim Essian looks at the flipside: The Cubs are dominating at Wrigley.

Between the Green Pillars looks at the Brewers' Pythagorean record and doesn't see much reason for hope.

Redlegs Rundown notes that the NL Central is looking pretty good this year.  We were talking about this in a comments thread several days ago, but it's worth seeing again.  So far this year, it's the NL West that deserves a demotion to the Pacific Coast League.  (The Mariners, on the other hand, should be send to extended spring training.)

In former Brewers news: Joe Thatcher is back with the Padres, and Raul Casanova is once again the odd man out with the Mets.

TheJay generates a list of the pitchers who have appeared in the most games without registering a plate appearance.  Our buddy Brian Shouse is on the list, and it is far from the first time I've wanted to see him take his hacks.

Here's an interesting draft project: MLB Trade Rumors polled its readers immediately after each of the first 30 picks in the draft to see how much the community liked the pick.  Pedro Alvarez met with the approval of nearly 90% of readres, while Jason Castro was under 15%.  Brett Lawrie is right in the middle of the pack at 62%. 

Check back later today--I believe we've got another draftee interview on the way, and of course the Brewers look to solve their Houston problem again tonight at 7:05 CT.

So, at least Corey Hart and Rickie Weeks are heating up, right?

Win Expectancy Graph
BR Box Score
BDD Recaps

There's not much out there this morning that I (or someone else) haven't already told you about. We've covered that Gagne has biceps tendinitis and won't throw again until at least Sunday.

We've also covered that Ned is still here, even though Dayn Perry thinks he should be fired, Scott Miller of CBS Sportsline lists him second (behind Willie Randolph) on his list of managers on the hot seat, and some guy named Eli lists him second on his list of managers to be fired, behind M's manager John McLaren.

So, since it's a slow news day, here's a stat to think about instead:

Johnny Estrada, April 2007: .312/.346/.455
Johnny Estrada, May 2007: .236/.244/.449

Jason Kendall, April 2008: .301/.366/.398
Jason Kendall, May 2008: .224/.314/.290

On injuries:

Moises Alou is back on the DL with a strained calf, meaning Raul Casanova is back in the big leagues.
Twins SS Adam Everett has been placed on the DL with a strained shoulder.
Nats OF Austin Kearns is out 3-4 weeks after surgery to remove bone chips in his elbow.
Phillies OF Jayson Werth left last night's game with an oblique strain.
Padres P Chris Young has been placed on the DL with a broken nose after being hit by a line drive Wednesday.

The results from the most recent Baseball Happenings blogpoll have been posted. Josh Hamilton takes home the AL MVP this week, with Cliff Lee winning the AL Cy Young and Jacoby Ellsbury winning Rookie of the Year. Full results here. Here's the ballot I cast:

MVP:
1. Josh Hamilton
2. Kevin Youkilis
3. Carlos Quentin

Cy Young:
1. Cliff Lee
2. Daisuke Matsuzaka
3. Shaun Marcum

Rookies:
1. Greg Smith
2. Jacoby Ellsbury
3. David Murphy

Maybe I'm just an NL guy, but I think the NL Rookie of the Year race is far more interesting, with Fukudome, Geovany Soto and Jair Jurrjens, who Braves beat writer Dave O'Brien thinks might be the best rookie of them all.

Astros 3B Ty Wigginton is tough. But can his toughness be matched by a Houston Chronicle writer? Click here to find out!

Oh, and here's a story about the inaugral "All-you-can-eat day" at the Metrodome.

The Mug is off tomorrow, Sunday and Monday for the holiday weekend. Drink up.

So, just to make sure we're clear: Retro uniforms - unlucky. Pink bats - awesome.

Sunday's Win Expectancy Graph
Sunday's BR Box Score
Sunday's BDD Recaps

Saturday's Win Expectancy Graph
Saturday's BR Box Score
Saturday's BDD Recaps

Today, apparently, is a big day. So big I used two unnecessary commas in my opening sentence. It's a big day because Doug Melvin and Ned Yost are meeting to "discuss the Milwaukee Brewers' personnel and what might be done to improve the club."

Scott over at In-Between Hops seems to think making Prince eat a steak will improve the club.

Al notes that the team hasn't announced a starter yet for Thursday. Perhaps that will be addressed in the meeting.

Yovani Gallardo will have surgery tomorrow morning to repair his torn ACL. Hopefully the extended delay in surgery won't keep him from being ready for spring training in 2009.

Apparently commenters are watching to ensure I use the proper level of snark when posting power rankings. I hope they'll find today's snark appropriate. Or they'll find something better to do than burn half a day commenting on how I addressed Phil Rogers.

Phil Rogers is widely seen as a subpar baseball writer. He has the Brewers 21st in his most recent power rankings.
The Southpaw improves on those rankings in two ways. First, they moved the Brewers up to 18th. Second, they included a picture of Summer Glau. Who is Summer Glau? I have no idea.

On injuries:

Blue Jays reliever Jeremy Accardo has been placed on the DL with a strained forearm.
Mets 2B Luis Castillo left yesterday's game with "quad discomfort."
Chone Figgins is on the DL in Anaheim with a strained hamstring.
Kevin Millwood had to leave his start over the weekend after just two outs, and has been placed on the DL with a groin strain.
Vernon Wells has a broken non-throwing wrist and will miss 6-8 weeks.

A news flash from Chicago: Apparently the ladies love "some asian guy."

In other Cubs news, it looks like Ryne Sandberg is getting pretty good at getting ejected from games. He's been suspended from Midwest League action following a confrontation with an opposing manager Thursday.

I'm really easily distracted some days: I got up early to write the Mug this morning, but lost all the time I gained when I spent half an hour on Keith Law's list of ten home cooking mistakes.

Oh, and the Mets have DFA'd Raul Casanova.

Drink up.