There's not exactly a ton of fresh material out there coming off the off day, but here are some things I put together once I finally got Gorman to stop chasing ducks:

20 other teams did play yesterday. Here are their win expectancy graphs.

The Brewers open a series with the Pirates tonight. Get used to hearing that, we're going to say it 3 more times between now and October. The Brew Town Beat is pretty excited about playing the Pirates without Jason Bay and Xavier Nady. Also, his bar of the week is The Safe House, which is a bizarre experience if I've ever seen one.

The Beat also wants to know why Laynce Nix is still a Brewer but Tony Gwynn Jr. is not. I left a comment with a handful of reasons (one turned out to be wrong), but Chuckie Hacks sums it up pretty nicely too.

While we're on the subject of minor leaguers, The Junkball Blues warns us not to count our chickens before they've hatched regarding Alcides Escobar.

Maybe Escobar can play second? 64% of voters at Brewers Fanatics want Ray Durham to play at second over Rickie Weeks. Next step: a blind taste test.

Of the three remaining contenders in the NL Central (sorry, Houston), the Brewers have the lowest opponent winning percentage and most home games on their remaining schedule.

Baseball Prospectus (via Sports Illustrated) has released 26-50 of their list of best players to build a team around. Milwaukee's favorite vegetarian checks in at #35.

Injuries are really brief today: The A's placed two-fifths of their starting rotation on the DL yesterday and Royals OF Mitch Maier broke several bones in his face being hit by a pitch.

Home Run Derby's Jersey of the Week is a must see if you enjoy making fun of the Cubs, and I do. If the Cubs fail to win the World Series again, I'm hoping he'll untuck it.

Oh, and would you have guessed that Brett Myers has pitched almost as well as CC Sabathia since the All Star break? Me either.

Drink up.

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.

The Pirates may be ahead of us in the standings, and the Brewers are something like 4-83 against them in the last decade, but after playing the Red Sox, I'm glad to head to Pittsburgh.  The Pirates are 21-23, still respectable past the one-quarter mark, and they've got a new front office team.  Are we witnessing the turning point for the Bucs?

Charlie writes the SBN Pirates site Bucs Dugout, and he was kind enough to take the time to answer a few questions for us.  I also answered some of his questions, which are here.

Q: I didn't expect to be in this situation in mid-May, but the Brewers are looking up in the standings at the Pirates.  That probably says more about Milwaukee's season so far than Pittsburgh's, but still, you guys are hovering around the .500 mark without a whole lot of obvious reasons why.  What has kept the Pirates hanging in there so far?

A: Mostly just good starts by four players: Nate McLouth, Ryan Doumit, Xavier Nady and Jason Bay. These starts are mostly for real, but Doumit is now injured. The Pirates' pitching staff and defense are complete messes and the team doesn't have much depth at any position except outfield. I wouldn't sweat it if I were you -- the Bucs and Brewers will switch places before long.

Q: Sometimes a new manager is better than an experienced manager--just ask any Brewers fan.  What's your take on John Russell so far?

A: Well, just about anyone can make Jim Tracy look good.  Russell makes a lot of dubious tactical decisions -- he leaves starting pitchers in for too long, he bats Luis Rivas second, and so on. Unlike Tracy, though, Russell has been spot on with the big decisions: Tracy absurdly preferred Nyjer Morgan to McLouth and Ronny Paulino to Doumit, but Russell got those decisions right. How close would the Pirates be to .500 without McLouth and Doumit? Not very. I'm inclined to cut Russell a break for a while. His most important job with the Pirates, at least for the next couple years, will be finding out that the McLouths and Doumits can play, and so far he's done that.

Q: Here's a fun fact, courtesy of Baseball-Reference: the Pirates have the best-hitting outfield in the NL, along with the worst hitting infield.  Big contributors are, obviously, Nate McLouth's hot start and Brian Bixler's imitation of a blogger in his mother's basement, but there's more to it than that.  Do you see this continuing throughout the season, or will guys like LaRoche and Sanchez start hitting like the major leaguers they purportedly are?

A: LaRoche and Sanchez always make me nervous because their successes always seem so precarious. LaRoche has a long swing and tends not only to slump for prolonged periods, but to look completely clueless when he does. Sanchez's struggles to start the year have more to do with his shoulder troubles than anything else, but he always seems to be one awkward throw from a long DL stint. Yes, these guys should play better, but it's far from a foregone conclusion that they actually will.

Q: Presumably, the Pirates are going to find themselves as a "seller" in July.  Do you think the new front office will approach trading season differently than their predecessors?  What should they spend that time doing?

A: If you're asking whether I think they'll demand ridiculous returns for mediocre players, turn down Ryan Howard for Kris Benson, and settle for Ty Wigginton at the last second, then the answer is no.  They haven't made any major trades yet, so I don't know exactly what they'll do, but I assume they'll look for young guys, especially young pitchers. Since new GM Neal Huntington isn't really responsible for the roster as it exists now, I also assume he won't have any problem admitting that the current core of players isn't getting it done. I'll be disappointed if the Pirates don't make at least a couple of major trades, and I assume that Nady, Bay and a reliever or two will all be gone.

Q: The Pirates weren't exactly lauded for picking Daniel Moskos with the 4th overall selection in last year's draft, but that hardly means he's the second coming of Matt Morris.  How's he coming along, and how do you feel about that pick, almost a year later?

A: The new front office moved him back to the rotation, where he's been unimpressive so far, pitching in High-A with an ERA in the mid-fours, a bunch of unearned runs, and a mediocre strikeout rate. I can't fault the Pirates for letting him start until he proves he can't, but I saw him start for Clemson almost immediately after he was drafted, and I don't think he has the stuff to succeed there. His breaking ball was pedestrian and his fastball topped out at 92 or so. It was just an inexplicable, terrible pick.

Thanks, Charlie!