Some things to read while wondering why this is so fun.
So far, this weekend hasn't been kind to the Brewers. After coming in to close out a game against the Cardinals, Trevor Hoffman gave up a homerun to Nick Stavinoha, then earlier today the Crew lost 7-1 after newly signed Yovani Gallardo had a start to forget. Tom H notes that todays Cardinal starter, Jaime Garcia, was the first lefty starter to win a game for St. Louis since June 15, 2006. In addition, the Brewers have yet to score first in a game.
Brewers Locker has a couple notes: The Brewers haven't gotten much production out of their catcher spot this year (Gregg Zaun has a .086 OBP) but LaTroy Hawkins has been off to a good start thus far.
Witrado has manager Ken Macha still saying that there isn't a platoon in right field and that Corey Hart is the starter. Hart has started 2 of five games, Jim Edmonds has started the other three. In case anyone was wondering, Corey Hart has a .841 OPS against left handed pitchers and Jim Edmonds has a career .954 OPS against righties.
A couple of Brewers injury notes. First, AAA OF Adam Stern has been put on the DL with an oblique strain. Second, two bad pieces of news on Jeff Suppan: He put up a horrible line pitching for the Timber Rattlers in his rehab start and, even worse, he didn't feel any neck problems during the game.
After Yovani Gallardo signed his shiny new contract Thursday, plenty of people have been wondering who the Brewers might sign next. Adam McCalvy says that Prince Fielder is a priority, but Rickie Weeks could be a possibility as well. MLBTradeRumors shares the feeling. Both players are under team control through 2011.
Speaking of a possible Fielder contract, the possible smorgasbord of great first baseman that could be available in the same free agent class as Prince won't change how agent Scott Boras handles his client, and Doug Melvin won't say anything about a potential extension. In addition, Fielder isn't too worried about concerns that he is "off to a slow start". I don't know where those concerns are coming from, because it's not like he's hitless or anything.
The internet is still abuzz about Yankees president Randy Levine's accusations that Brewers owner Mark Attanasio was whining about the Yankees payroll instead of worrying about signing his own players. Right Field Bleachers has a clip of ESPN's Erik Kuselias who, surprisingly for ESPN, seems to take the Brewers side in the argument. He notes that the Yankees have payed 92% of total revenue sharing and that the total amount that has been paid in revenue sharing over 7 years has been less than $200MM. Kuselias claims that each team gets only about $500,000 a year from the Yankees. The whole clip is absolutely worth watching.
Around the Majors:
Mariners: Seattle doesn't expect Cliff Lee to return until sometime in May
Red Sox: Mike Lowell will "almost certainly" retire at the end of the season
Cubs: Ted Lilly was scratched from his rehab start due to a stiff back
Orioles: Brian Roberts has an ab strain and could go on the DL
Phillies: Claimed Nelson Figueroa off waivers
If you have an interest in how much each individual team charges for things such as parking, beer, or hats, Biz of Baseball has an article for you. BoB looks at how much those items cost at each ballpark, and compares them to last year. It's an interesting article.
Female knuckleballer Eri Yoshida, the first woman to have been drafted by a professional baseball league, has signed in the US. She will report to spring training next month for the Chico Outlaws of the Golden Baseball League.
Baseball Analysts have graphics showing all of the homeruns from the first five days of the season. There haven't been a whole lot of homeruns by lefties against lefties yet, though I guess that's to be expected.
Be sure to join us tomorrow night when the Brewers try not to get swept by the Cardinals. The game starts at seven, and the gamethread will open an hour before.
That's all I've got for you today, unless you want to know which stadium to visit for a hot dog. I personally think the Tigers, Cubs, and Diamondbacks look the best, in that order.