Yesterday, the Brewers routed the Angels 8-1. True, we had most of the regulars going and they had a split-squad, but it feels good nonetheless. Vinny Rottino, Carlos Lee, Rickie Weeks, Bill Hall, and Damian Miller all collected a pair of hits, and Corey Koskie hit a three-run HR in the 5th to put the game out of reach. Split squad or not, much of the scoring was against John Lackey, no slouch in the last week of spring.
As I mentioned when it happened, Brady had to be pulled from the game with a sprained ankle, but he'll get a scheduled day off today and should be ready for Saturday's game. Bill Hall took over for him in center field, where I'd imagine he'll start today's game as well.
Odds 'n' ends:
- Ben Sheets is officially on the 15-day DL. He's on schedule; the move opens up a roster spot for Jared Fernandez.
- Despite graduating some of our best prospects, Baseball America still ranks the organization 5th. That's best in the division by a long shot: the Cubs are next at 15th. The Pirates, Astros, and Cardinals are clumped at 19-20-21 and the Reds are dead last.
- Ken Rosenthal likes Prince Fielder for NL Rookie of the Year.
- KR also likes the Brewers for fourth in the Central. Sheesh, dude, read a newspaper!
- Victor Santos isn't exactly proving his worth over in Pirates camp. It may soon be a moot point, as the Bucs may trade Craig Wilson for a pitcher, perhaps Mariner Joel Pineiro.
-
Here's a Drew Olson story on Dan Kolb.
- As was hinted a couple of weeks ago, Miller Brewing has signed a major new promotional deal with the club. As Al notes, Miller isn't paying much for naming rights, so it's about time the Brewers squeeze some more cash from the, uh, brewers.
- I wrote a preview of the Cincinnati Reds' pitching and defense for Beyond the Boxscore. Don't miss my comments on Brandon Claussen. I just finished my Astros pitching preview, so that may be posted over on BtB in the next couple of days.
- Today, the Brewers play the Rockies at 2:05 CT. Tomo Ohka will start, and the game will be televised. I plan on opening up a couple of threads later on for that game and some season predictions.
Update [2006-3-31 19:19:20 by Jeff]: Well, that didn't work out at all. Life intervened; I apologize for no game thread or prediction thread. More tomorrow.