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Tuesday's Frosty Mug

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Some things to read while finding evil wax.

The Brewers were off yesterday for day one of the All Star break, but the local media appears to have spent the entire day following Ryan Braun around. To the bullet points!

Meanwhile, the lone Brewer involved in last night's festivities was the Bratwurst, who made us all proud by winning the Great Mascot Race. Nats Enquirer has a photo of all the participants.

Michael Fiers has been one of the Brewers' biggest surprises in the first half and has probably earned an opportunity to be a member of the rotation long term. Nathaniel Stoltz of Beyond the Box Score has the most thorough look you'll ever see at Fiers' arsenal and his ability to get by with an 88 mph straight fastball.

Another day, another set of Zack Greinke trade notes:

  • The Brewers have said they're planning on waiting nine more games before making any moves, but Jim Owczarski of OnMilwaukee.com says they need to make a decision on Greinke now.
  • Carson Cistulli of FanGraphs used recent history as a guide to what the Brewers or Phillies may expect to get in return if they opt to trade Greinke or Cole Hamels.

Greinke, by the way, remains #2 behind Braun in Justin Hull's Brewer Power Rankings at LosersBracket.com.

Tonight the Brewers will have just one All Star for the first time since 2005, when Carlos Lee was Milwaukee's lone representative. They'd have six position players, however, if Plunk Everyone were allowed to choose the roster. Of course, the Brewers would also have four players if rosters were selected based on Hardball Times' Worst of the Worst for the first half.

Rickie Weeks is listed among the Worst of the Worst in the above link, but it's worth noting he's been better lately. J.P. Cadorin notes that Weeks finished the first half with a .199 batting average and is hitting .344 in July.

Axford is another of the Worst of the Worst listed above. He also posted what might be the grossest picture you'll see today of his recently extracted wisdom teeth.

In the minors:

If you'd like more Brewer coverage today but you're sick of reading, I've got two options for you:

Around baseball:

Braves: Placed shortstop Andrelton Simmons on the DL with a broken finger.

In former Brewers:

This morning's edition of Today In Brewer History marks the 54th anniversary of pitcher Lew Burdette hitting two home runs and pitching a complete game in the Milwaukee Braves' 8-4 win over the Dodgers in 1958. Chris Jaffe of The Hardball Times notes that it's also been 20,000 days since Burdette pitched a shutout in Game 5 of the 1957 World Series and 23 years since Greg Vaughn's major league debut.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to throw harder.

Drink up.