Some things to read while trying to figure out what you'd do with two toasters.
The Brewers, along with 21 other MLB teams, were off yesterday, but this site was not. Thanks to a link from Big League Stew that ended up on the front page at Yahoo, over 57,000 readers stopped by yesterday, far and away the biggest day in BCB history. Thanks to BLS for the link, and if you're one of our new readers, welcome. Please consider taking a look at the Posting Guide and Game Thread Guidelines.
The off day also gave Ryan Braun plenty of time to go pick up an award. Braun was named NL Player of the Week after hitting .458/.567/.958 over the Brewers' last six games, with three home runs and 12 RBI. This is the first time Braun has won the award. (Also noted in FanShot)
Yovani Gallardo may not have been at his best over the weekend, but there's a lot to be optimistic about. Over at The Hardball Times, Harry Pavlidis has a Pitchf/x profile of Gallardo that's well worth a read.
Manny Parra takes the mound tonight for the Brewers. He's 1-4 in six starts, and hasn't really looked sharp all season. Looking for a reason for optimism? Fish Chunks says the Brewers are 8-2 on May 12 since moving to the National League.
A couple of minor notes:
- The Official Site takes a look at Brett Lawrie, two months into his professional career. Pretty much everyone who sees the guy seems to like him. On his blog, though, McCalvy mentions Lawrie having a weird stance. Does anyone have pictures/video of it?
- Mat Gamel's defense is still questionable, but his bat continues to propel him toward the big leagues: He's currently fourth in the PCL with a 1.105 OPS.
Gamel was one of dozens of topics covered in Tom H.'s chat over at the JS site yesterday. It was a pretty good chat, all told. Some questions that should have been ignored were bludgeoned instead, but there was also conversation regarding Jason Kendall, Alcides Escobar, Brad Nelson, Mike Jones, Mark Rogers, Chris Capuano, Jake Odorizzi, Erik Komatsu and others.
The Brewers continue to move up in power rankings:
- Richard Griffin of the Toronto Star, who had the Brewers at #25 two weeks ago, has moved them all the way up to #8.
- WhatifSports has the Brewers at #10.
The transaction wire was pretty quiet yesterday, but I did notice these moves in Baseball America's Minor League Transactions:
- Tony Armas Jr. signed a minor league deal with the Braves.
- Former Brewer minor leaguer Nic Ungs has signed with the Marlins.
Meanwhile, across the ocean, the Pirates have signed 17-year-old Dutch outfielder Daan Cornelissen. With the move, the Pirates have now signed players from each of six continents over the last 12 months. The BBTF thread is worth reading, just for the first few comments.
Former Brewer and current Astros hitting coach Sean Berry has been released from the hospital following surgery to remove a cancerous tumor from his kidney. He's expected to rejoin the team in a couple of weeks.
Oh, and Nick Punto needs to be more careful about letting his hand linger.
Drink up.