What could you do with $357,142.87? I'm guessing a lot. I could pay off my student loans, buy my next house and still have something left over for to buy a small castle for Gorman. Instead, the Milwaukee Brewers will pay Jeff Suppan to make one start.
Tonight at 7, the Brewers are featured on Sunday Night Baseball, closing out home opener weekend against the Cubs. The Cubs will send Ryan Dempster to the mound for his second start. He pitched six innings and allowed two runs in a no decision last week. He's 8-2 with a 2.45 ERA in 35 career appearances against the Brewers. Jason Kendall will be happy to see him: Kendall has hit .432/.543/.514 against Dempster in his career. Corey Hart, however, could be in for a long day: he's hit .071/.235/.071 off Dempster.
For the Brewers, Jeff Suppan returns to the mound to try to rebound from a rough start to 2009. He allowed six runs in four innings on Tuesday. Suppan has been widely criticized lately, causing Doug Melvin to come to his defense earlier this week. Melvin noted that Suppan helped carry the team last August, which is true: Suppan went 5-0 in six starts with a 3.00 ERA in August. However, he's posted a 9.86 ERA in 28.1 innings since then, including one postseason start.
But, there is a bright spot on the horizon. We may not have the Project-o-tron anymore, so I've consulted the Project-o-ball for insight on today's game. When asked "Will Jeff Suppan get a quality start today?" the ball responded, "Yes, definitely."
The ball is never wrong. As proof, allow me to submit this evidence: