Some things to read while tapping your feet.
The Brewers were bad once again last night, and no one busts out the epic prose to describe bad baseball quite like Tom Haudricourt:
It was woeful starting pitching that bled into the bullpen in the early weeks of the season, quickly dropping the Brewers from the NL Central race. And it’s the starting rotation that’s now hurling them into oblivion, ending any faint hope of making a run toward respectability.
By allowing 12 earned runs last night, Randy Wolf cemented a pretty undesirable place in Brewer history. Last night's game recap has a look at where his performance stands among the worst in baseball and franchise history. Here's a note I missed, though: The Brewers are the first team to have four different pitchers give up 10+ runs in a game in the same month since the 1936 Philadelphia A's.
The Brewers likely won't see Pirates catcher Ryan Doumit in tonight's series finale: Doumit left last night's game in the fourth inning and was taken to the hospital for tests after complaining of feeling light-headed and nauseated. Doumit collided with Rickie Weeks early in the game, and has already missed some time this season for concussion symptoms.
Other notes from the field:
- Zach Duke hit Prince Fielder with a pitch in the first inning, Fielder's fourth HBP in six days and the 1800th in team history. As you might expect, Plunk Everyone has more.
- Pedro Alvarez is now the first Pirates rookie ever to have back-to-back multi-home run games.
- Delwyn Young, Jose Tabata and Pedro Alvarez are leading FanGraphs' Star of the Game voting.
- CoolStandings has the Brewer playoff chances at a season-low 0.2%.
- Here are the MLB.com video highlights.
The Brewers will be looking for the split when Yovani Gallardo returns to the mound tonight, but should he? You can add Jaymes Langrehr of The Brewers Bar to the list of people wondering letting him pitch again this soon after straining his oblique is the right decision.
The Brewers will have to make a roster move today to make room for Gallardo, and it's widely expected that Lorenzo Cain will be sent down. It's also possible, though, that Jim Edmonds could make a return trip to the DL. Edmonds is nursing a sore Achilles, and this is what he told Adam McCalvy about it:
"Some days are better than others," Edmonds said. "But the days that are better are still pretty much unbearable."
If the Brewers do send Cain down today, it won't be a popular decision: 72% of voters in this week's BCB Tracking Poll think Cain is more likely than Carlos Gomez to become the Brewers' center fielder of the future.
Speaking of roster moves, Quevedo at the Buffet has some NSFW takes on what the Brewers should do with Dave Bush and Randy Wolf. And in a related note: Jen Lada and Howie Magner seem to agree that it's time to start questioning Rick Peterson's results.
Meanwhile, Bob Uecker is still expected to return to action tomorrow, and Adam McCalvy reports the WTMJ broadcasts will return to their normal pattern, with Uecker calling six innings and Cory Provus calling three.
Here's some trade discussion:
- A day after saying the White Sox aren't interested, Ken Rosenthal reversed course and now says they're "trying to accelerate" talks for Prince Fielder, but the Brewers aren't high on top pitching prospect Daniel Hudson. Rosenthal also says Fielder is drawing more interest than Corey Hart at this point.
- Matthew Pouliot of Hardball Talk says "the Brewers will probably be better off keeping (Fielder) and hoping for better luck in 2011."
- Jim Breen of Bernie's Crew tackles the notion that waiting for the offseason to make deals is the right move.
- The Brewers Bar has a look at five players who could play first base if Fielder is dealt.
- In today's least surprising trade news, Jon Paul Morosi of Fox Sports says the Brewers should be sellers.
Corey Hart could be traded soon, so we're running out of time to do things like this: Wisconsin Sports Tap has a Sunglasses at Night-themed tribute.
Casey McGehee seems to have cemented himself as the Brewers' third baseman for the foreseeable future, but should that be the case? Jack Moore of Disciples of Uecker has a look at McGehee's value.
David Riske allowed two runs on four hits in 1.1 innings of work last night. Until reading this post at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer I didn't realize Riske is a former 56th round pick, making him a pretty unlikely major leaguer.
It's hard to tell if this will affect anything, but Rickie Weeks might be changing agents. Ken Rosenthal is reporting that Weeks' current agent, Lon Babby, has been named the new President of Basketball Operations for the Phoenix Suns.
In the minors:
- LaTroy Hawkins may be staying in the minors a little longer than previously anticipated: Ken Macha told reporters yesterday that he wants to see Hawkins regain some of his prior velocity before rejoining the team. Hawkins has been working in the low 90's in his rehab appearances.
- The affiliates went 1-4 last night. The lone bright spot was Wisconsin, where Maverick Lasker and Nick Bucci combined to hold West Michigan to one run in the Timber Rattlers' 3-1 win. You can read about that and more in today's Minor League Notes.
- Jim Callis of Baseball America is calling new BC Manatee Kyle Heckathorn a "Potential No. 3."
- Hiram Burgos, recently promoted to Wisconsin, was an honorable mention for MLB Depth Charts' Under the Radar Minor League Pitching Performance of the Week.
- Huntsville has drawn some attention with a "Car Survivor" promotion: Follow this link to read about two men who have spent six days in a car attempting to win a 2004 Honda LX.
Here's an interesting experiment, and hopefully it'll raise some money for a great cause: The August 10 game will be broadcast commercial-free on FSWisconsin and will feature a live charity auction for the Brewers Community Foundation.
We also have another set of nominations for the SBN Wisconsin Hall of Fame: Click here for FtJ's nomination of Eddie Mathews, and here for Anonymous Eagle's post on Wesley Matthews Jr.
Around baseball:
Astros: Claimed infielder Anderson Hernandez and pitcher Nelson Figueroa off waivers from the Indians and Phillies, respectively, and designated pitchers Polin Trinidad and Gary Majewski for assignment.
Dodgers: Pitcher Clayton Kershaw has been suspended for five games and manager Joe Torre for one game following an incident against the Giants on Tuesday. Kershaw appealed his suspension.
Marlins: Designated pitcher Nate Robertson for assignment and placed catcher Brett Hayes on the DL with a wrist injury.
Padres: Placed second baseman David Eckstein on the DL with a calf strain.
Today's strangest story comes via the San Francisco Gate, and details a long and interesting journey across Iowa for Lefty O'Doul's left arm. (h/t BBTF)
Happy birthday today to:
- 1973-78 Brewer Tim Johnson, who turns 61.
- 1970 Brewer George Lauzerique, who turns 63.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a new hero. (h/t The Book Blog)
Drink up.