Some things to read while learning the truth.
And somehow, Jeff Suppan survives another day. Instead of dumping one of baseball's most parasitic contracts, the Brewers sent Marco Estrada back to AAA and designated Adam Stern for assignment (FanShot) to make room on the 40 man roster for Kameron Loe, who made his Brewer debut in the eighth inning yesterday.
Loe's appearance yesterday made him the seventeenth pitcher to appear in a game for the Brewers this season. Assuming Chris Capuano makes his scheduled start tomorrow, he'll be the eighteenth, and the ninth starter. The 2009 Brewers only used 23 pitchers and nine starters for the entire season.
On the field, the Brewers lost again yesterday, but Disciples of Uecker sums up what I was thinking: It's hard to get too upset with anyone over yesterday's loss. Ken Macha pulled Dave Bush early, but it turns out Bush is dealing with a blister. Trevor Hoffman gave up three runs, but none were really hit all that hard. I guess we'll have to settle for blaming Jim Edmonds: The Brewers are 0-6 in his last six appearances, dating back to May 10. Or we could follow the lead of Rick Peterson, who blames the baseball gods.
Even if yesterday's runs weren't Hoffman's fault, they still count: Jayson Stark pointed out that Hoffman has now allowed 22 earned runs in 2010, which is the most he's allowed in a season since 2001.
Corey Hart went deep again yesterday, and now leads the NL in home runs (14) and slugging percentage (.599, tied with Ryan Zimmerman). Five of Hart's last six hits have left the yard. MLBDepthCharts.com has Hart on the bench on their May NL All Stars.
Other notes from the field:
- Chris Coghlan, Ricky Nolasco and Corey Hart are leading FanGraphs' Star of the Game voting.
- CoolStandings has the Brewer playoff chances at a season-low 1.1%.
- For the second straight day, Tom Haudricourt documented a poor call that went against the Brewers, as home plate umpire Chad Fairchild called a ball on Dave Bush for going to his mouth, but replay showed the offense never took place.
- It was 85 and clear at game time in Miami, so Rick Peterson had his jacket off for what I believe might be just the fourth time all season.
Todd Coffey remained unavailable yesterday as he continues to undergo treatment for a bone bruise in his thumb. He's hoping to return to action today, though.
Elsewhere in injury news, Doug Davis says he's feeling better. He's scheduled for an electrocardiogram Monday, and if everything comes up normal there he could begin a rehab assignment and rejoin the team before the end of the month.
I doubt tickets for the rest of the season are selling very quickly at this point, so it's probably a good thing the Brewers have the potential for new business ventures: A deal preventing them from doing so has expired, so the Brewers are now free to develop several parcels of land near Miller Park.
Meanwhile, the Brewers continue to scrape the bottom of every barrel for fresh arms: Yesterday they signed former Nationals reliever Brian Bruney to a minor league deal (FanShot). Bruney can request his release if he's not added to the roster in a month. Also, Jarrod Washburn is sitting by his phone. The team denied interest in Dontrelle Willis, though.
Elsewhere in the minors:
- Huntsville Star starting pitcher Michael Bowman left last night's game after being hit with a comebacker.
- It was a rare 4-0 night on the field for the affiliates, as Kyle Heckathorn allowed one run over seven innings for Wisconsin (dropping his ERA to 2.72) and Caleb Gindl went deep for Huntsville. You can read about that and more in today's Minor League Notes.
On rankings, power and otherwise:
- WhatifSports has the Brewers 23rd.
- Beyond the Box Score ranked Rickie Weeks #50 on their list of the 50 Best of the Next 5 Years.
- Andrew Baggarly rated the brats at Comiskey Park in Chicago and AT&T Park in San Francisco as better than Miller Park's.
Carson Cistulli of FanGraphs is working on an interesting concept - a formula to quantify the "interesting" nature of various starting pitchers. It might not surprise you to learn that there are no Brewers among the leaders, but Dave Bush is near the bottom.
If you haven't yet, there's still time for you to cast your vote in this week's BCB Tracking Poll. The poll will close at noon and results will be posted sometime in the coming days, maybe as soon as after the game tonight.
Around baseball:
Astros: Placed reliever Chris Sampson on the DL with biceps tendinitis.
Diamondbacks: Acquired pitcher Dontrelle Willis from the Tigers for pitcher Billy Buckner.
Indians: Claimed pitcher Shane Lindsay off waivers from the Yankees.
Pirates: Acquired pitcher Dana Eveland from the Blue Jays for reliever Ronald Uviedo.
White Sox: Placed third baseman Mark Teahen on the DL with a fractured right middle finger.
The fact that this surprised me probably shows how bad Brewer pitching has been: There are still two major league teams (the Phillies and Mariners) that have yet to allow ten runs in a game this season. The Brewers have already done it five times.
If the votes were cast today, Ubaldo Jimenez of the Rockies might be the unanimous choice to win the NL Cy Young. The Rockies, though, might come out as the biggest winners: Josh Levitt of MLB Daily Dish notes that Jimenez signed a long term deal this offseason that could keep him with the team through 2014 for just $23.75 million. Jimenez would have been arbitration eligible for the first time following the season.
Another day, another umpire moment: In the ninth inning of yesterday's Rays-Blue Jays contest, home plate umpire Angel Hernandez ejected Blue Jays closer Kevin Gregg in the top half of the inning, then refused to grant a request for time and called strike three on Carlos Pena in the bottom half, and ejected Rays manager Joe Maddon when he came out to argue. Here's video of the incident.
Angel Hernandez works on the umpiring crew led by noted embarrassment Joe West, who now has his own fake Twitter feed.
Happy birthday today to 2009 Huntsville Star David Welch, who turns 27. Welch is pitching in Mexico this season.
I can't decide how I feel about Michael Bay being involved, but a new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie is always good news.
Oh, and here's a story about a dog, a skunk, and a hotel room.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go find something to get worked up over.
Drink up.