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.

An off day is always a good time to practice thinking positive thoughts.

BDD Recaps
BP Postseason Odds: 79.2 and 8.2% to win the Central.

Yesterday's off day was also a pretty quiet one around the web. In fact, the biggest news is likely that there will be no news surrounding the closer's spot.

On closers, Eric Seidman at Fangraphs is working to develop a new stat that's more accurate than a pure save total. I like where he's going with it.

In his most recent "That's Debatable" at ESPN.com, Jerry Crasnick says the Brewers have too many pitching issues to overcome to be considered the top team in the NL Central.

Reportedly, the Mets are interested in Turnbow. Doug Melvin is sitting by the phone.

If you needed something disturbing to help you get through the day, here's Brian Shouse juxtaposed into classic art. Is juxtaposed the word I wanted? Perhaps I'm using it in the wrong situation...just like the Brewers use Shouse.

Here are the results from last week's Fan Opinion Poll:

• 52% of voters thought the Brewers made the right decision keeping Manny Parra on the roster and sending down Dave Bush. Of course, it's a moot point now.
• 70% of voters thought Mike Cameron should bat second. No other position got 10% of the vote.
• 52% thought Bill Hall should've swung away in the ninth inning of last Sunday's game. 43% favored the decision to bunt.
• 58% of voters were satisfied with the 13-pitcher roster. Also a moot point.
• Of those dissatisfied, 48% wanted more position players on the roster. Welcome back, Joe Dillon.
• Ned Yost's approval rating is down to 40%, with 32% disapproval and 26% unsure. He was at 47%/22%/29% last week.
• Doug Melvin's approval rating is up slightly, at 84%, with 4% disapproval and 10% unsure. He was at 83%/4%/11% last week.
• 97% of voters approve of the Cameron signing and position changes.
• 60% approve of the Gagne signing, with 17% disapproval. That's up from 47% approval last week.
• 34% of voters think the Brewers shouldn't offer Ben Sheets a new contract until after the season. 31% think the Brewers should offer him a contract now and 24% think they shouldn't offer him one at all.

Full results here. A new poll may be posted today. If you have suggestions for questions in this week's poll, I'd welcome them. Drop them in the comments.

On injuries:

Braves IF Martin Prado injured his thumb sliding into first base in a 14-7 game. He's out 6-8 weeks.
Mariners P Jarrod Washburn had to leave last night's start with tightness in his right calf.
Rockies P Kip Wells will require surgery to remove a blood clot in his right hand.

Non-Brewer related: We've been talking an awful lot in the comments lately about umpiring. The Book has an interesting post today on Angel Hernandez and how he skews umpiring statistics. I'd try to offer a better summary of it, but the more I read, the more confused I get.

That's all for today. Post your suggestions for linkage in tomorrow's Mug and/or suggested poll questions in the comments. Drink up.

There are two hard-and-fast rules that guide Brewers fans in the 21st century:

1. It's all okay if it ended in a win.
2. The above does not apply if Ben Sheets got hurt.

Of course, the big news this morning is that Ben Sheets got hurt.  He left with "triceps tightness" after 60 pitches and 5 innings.  Here's the MLB.com story, which has all the relevant quotes.  If Ben's "cautiously optimistic," I guess I might as well be cautiously optimistic too.

The usuals:

• Win Expectancy Graph
  
• Baseball-Reference box score
• ESPN Video Highlights
• Baseball Digest Daily Recaps
• Baseball Prospectus Postseason Odds

Some injury reports:

• Jay Bruce is back in the lineup after missing a day for Triple-A Louisville.
• Howie Kendrick goes on the DL with a strained hamstring.
• Both Scott Kazmir and Dioner Navarro were rehabbing in A-ball; Navarro will be back next week, Kazmir the beginning of May.
• Tom Glavine officially went on the DL for the first time in his career.
• Hideo Nomo is pitching like he has an injury.

The biggest news outside of Milwaukee yesterday came from Tampa Bay, where the team locked up Evan Longoria for six years (including options for his first three two years of free agency) after Longoria's first week or so in the majors.  Dave Cameron notes the trends and the risks.   What interests me is that Longoria is almost certainly leaving millions (perhaps tens of millions) on the table...but this isn't the first time he's done so.  Unlike most very high draft picks--he was #3 overall--he signed almost immediately because he wanted to play ball.  Needless to say, Scott Boras is not his agent.

Also at FanGraphs, Eric Seidman notes that Brian Shouse is is strand-a-rific.  That's not news to those of us around here, though it's always cool to see someone like Shouse get ink outside of our little blogosphere.  Beyond stranding all those runners, Shouse is just a really good pitcher, as Jacob pointed out in the comments to this FanPost last week.

Here's a blog I didn't know about until yesterday: D-Backs on Deck.  It's written by A.J. Hinch, the former MLB catcher, who is now Director of Player Development for the Diamondbacks.  I don't expect to get any big scoops straight from the horse's mouth on this one, but details on the inner workings of front offices are always welcome.  Unlike a lot of MLBlogs, this one reads like Hinch actually wants to write it.

That'll do it for this morning.  Game time: 12:10 CT.