Tuesday's Frosty Mug: Brewers News, Links, and Notes

Good morning everyone. Kyle is out taking care of some business this morning, so I am here to give you your daily dose of Brewers news. Hopefully this will come close to equaling his usual quality for the Mug.

The Brewers played a close game against the Cubs last night, at least until the ninth inning. The Brewers sent fourteen batters to the plate in a nine-run ninth inning to blow the game wide open and win 15-4. If you missed the game, roguejim has the recap for you.

Aramis Ramirez continued his impressive season last night with three more extra base hits, two of which were home runs. His double in the first inning was his 43rd double of the season, and his 63rd extra base hit. He added on two more home runs to up the count of extra-base hits to 65, and tied for eighth on the list of home runs by third basemen.

The Brewers had the major league lead in strikeouts entering Monday night's game with 1,089. Adam McCalvy took a look at the record that the Brewers are approaching this year. He also notes that Monday's game was the Brewers seventh straight game with at least ten strikeouts, and Joe Block adds that the Brewers are the first team to have 10+ strikeouts pitching in seven consecutive games since 1900. J.P. Breen of FanGraphs analyzed the Brewers pitchers and how they've been able to maintain the strikeout rate.

Other notes from last night's game:

• The back-to-back-to-back home runs in the ninth inning by Ryan Braun, Aramis Ramirez, and Corey Hart was the first since September 9, 2007 against the Cincinnati Reds.
• It was the fourth straight game against the Cubs where the Brewers struck out at least twelve batters.
• Jeff Bianchi pinch hit for Aramis Ramirez in the ninth inning, and collected his fourth hit in his last four at-bats.
• MLB.com has a video of all five home runs from last night's game.
  
• The top of the ninth inning took over a half-hour to complete, and all of the Brewers starters scored in that inning. It took the Cubs 39 pitches before recording their first out of the inning.
• Joe Mather became the first Cubs position player to pitch for the Cubs since 1999.
• Corey Hart's home run was the longest of the night at 429 feet. Ryan Braun's home run traveled 404 feet, Carlos Gomez recorded one at 404 feet as well, and Aramis Ramirez had home runs of 399 feet and 384 feet.
• Aramis Ramirez's first home run was timed at 23.39 seconds. (Sorry, no other home run times were listed.)

The series at Wrigley Field continues tonight in the second of a four-game set. Yovani Gallardo faces off against Travis Wood, and Mark Clements of MLB.com has a preview of the game. Carson Cistulli of FanGraphs gives this matchup a 3 out of 10 on the NERD scale.

Norichika Aoki stole his twentieth base of the season in last night's game. It gave the Brewers three different players with twenty steals in 2012. Adam McCalvy notes that the last time the Brewers had three different players with twenty steals was 1992, when Pat Listach, Darryl Hamilton, and Paul Molitor each had more than twenty.

Yesterday, Kyle talked about how Mark Rogers fastball velocity had dropped in his start on Sunday. Carson Cistulli of FanGraphs went a step further and took an in-depth look at his pitches, complete with graphs and GIFs.

While the Brewers may not have much to play for, they can still have a big impact on the postseason race. Nick Michalski of The Brewers Bar went over the Brewers schedule and noticed that they still have nineteen more games against teams who are still in the postseason hunt. Reviewing the Brew looks at the month of August for the Brewers and how they are playing for pride.

The Brewers have had some great broadcasters in their history. Late last week, the ballot for the 2013 Ford C. Frink award was released. Two Brewers broadcasters made it on the ballot: Bill Schroeder and Jim Powell. Reviewing the Brew has an overview of the two candidates. Meanwhile, The Atlantic analyzed MLB announcers as a whole and found some bias from the announcers towards certain players.

As the season is winding down, many people have started looking at next season. Disciples of Uecker took a look at some of the questions facing the Brewers next season and beyond, including a look at the starting rotation for 2013 and possible options at the catcher position.

In the minors:

• The Appleton Post-Crescent had a profile of Timber Rattlers manager Matt Erickson over the weekend.
• Mark McCarter of The Huntsville Times takes a look at the future of the Huntsville Stars.
• Khris Davis will play in the Arizona Fall League.
• Mike Walker was selected as a Florida State League All Star.
• Caleb Gindl was named Pacific Coast League batter of the week.

As of September 1st, the Brewers can begin calling up anyone on the 40-man roster to the active roster. However, Adam McCalvy notes that the Brewers will most likely wait until after the Nashville Sounds season ends on September 3rd before calling anyone up.

There may have been some hope that Tim Dillard could have helped the Brewers later this year, but that is looking unlikely now. Yesterday, Tim Dillard was transferred from Nashville to Huntsville. The timing on this was a little odd, as he was tied for the all-time Sounds record for wins and there were only eight games remaining in the Sounds season. He had posted a 9.42 ERA in 14.1 IP for Nashville.

Finally, congratulations are due out to aaronetc, who was yesterday's winner in our SB Nation Pick 6 contest and earned an entry into the prize drawing. Here's the top 10 from yesterday:

Tonight's games start at 6:05 PM, so you still have plenty of time to get your picks in for today.

Around baseball:

Athletics: Acquired minor-league catcher Blake Lalli from the Cubs in exchange for Anthony Recker.
Astros: Recalled outfielder Jimmy Paredes from Triple-A Oklahoma City and traded infielder/outfielder Steve Pearce to Yankees for cash.
Cubs: Finalized financial terms for the Starlin Castro extension, and designated Scott Maine for assignment.
Mariners: Placed Jason Vargas and Kevin Millwood on waivers.
Mets: Expected to retain Terry Collins as manager after the season and outfielder Scott Hairston claimed off of waivers, but is not expected to be moved.
Orioles: J.C. Romero has declined a minor-league assignment and elected to become a free agent. They also activated Joe Saunders and optioned Jake Arrieta.
Padres: Catcher Nick Hundley will have season-ending knee surgery.
Pirates: Released Erik Bedard.
Rangers: Reinstated Michael Young from the paternity list and designated infielder Luis Hernandez for assignment.
Rays: Minor-leaguer Sean Rodriguez broke his hand after punching a locker.
Rockies: Shortstop Troy Tulowitzki is scheduled for a rehab assignment and planned for an early September return.
Twins: Expected to retain manager Ron Gardenhire and Interim GM Terry Ryan after the season.
White Sox: Pitcher Gavin Floyd had an MRI, and it revealed no structural damage.
Yankees: First baseman Mark Teixeira is expected to miss a few series with a strained left calf.

There are many new parks that still need their chance to host the All-Star Game. It looks like Target Field will be one of the next ones to get it, as reports say that it will be the site of the 2014 All-Star Game. The official announcement is expected tomorrow.

Everyone has their opinion on which teams have the best uniforms. Call to the Pen started their own power rankings of the uniforms of the 30 MLB teams. They started off with #30 to #21 on Monday, and the Brewers were not on this list.

Dan Szymborski made an interesting observation about the closer. In 2012, there is only one left-handed pitcher who has recorded ten saves. It was the same situation last season as well.

How's this for a minor league game? Cleveland Indians' minor-leaguer Justin Toole played an inning at all nine positions in a game for Double-A Carolina Mudcats. It was just a stunt for the team, put together by manager Edwin Rodriguez after Toole said he could play all of the positions.

How's this for a farewell gift? Chipper Jones has been going around the country this year in his last season in MLB, and he's probably received some gifts along the way. You have to wonder if any match the gift he received from Trevor Hoffman on Monday night: a surfboard.

In former Brewers:

• Bluebird Banter looks at the future of Carlos Villanueva.
• Royals Review analyzes Alcides Escobar and how he's hitting the ball.

Today in baseball economics: Albert Pujols may be the big offseason acquisition, but there's another Angel leading the merchandise sales. Merchandise for Mike Trout is outselling Albert Pujols 2-to-1, and Trout accounts for 20% of the overall Angels merchandise sales.

The Dodgers blockbuster trade from the weekend will have a massive effect on their payroll. Steve Dilbeck of the LA Times takes a look at how the Dodgers payroll is going to skyrocket after the blockbuster trade. The Biz of Baseball further breaks down the finances behind the trade. Despite all of the additional payroll, this is not stopping the Dodgers from searching for another starting pitcher.

Hopefully you don't mind watching games on ESPN, because it's going to continue for a while. This morning, ESPN has finalized a new deal with MLB for eight years and $5.6 billion. Included in the deal is the right to carry one Wild Card playoff game, as well as rights to show games from "popular teams" more frequently. Craig Calcaterra looks at this deal and how it will affect the 30 MLB teams financially.

Kyle usually likes to finish up the Mug with a joke, but I decided to just give you some advice this morning. Always watch out for the shaving cream pie. It doesn't just happen to baseball players anymore.

Drink up.