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Monday's Frosty Mug: Double All Stars

We're talking about Carlos Gomez, Jean Segura and the Midsummer Classic in today's daily roundup of all things Brewers.

By Kyle Lobner

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Tom Lynn

Some things to read while sticking around.

Let's try something new and lead with the good news today: Despite the fact that they're in last place and may lose 100 games the Brewers have two All Stars: Carlos Gomez and Jean Segura. Both players will appear in the game for the first time, and Segura still could start if Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki is unable to appear. Segura received 438 votes on the player ballots, compared to Tulo's 309.

Back on the field, bad hitting and defense were the story as the Brewers lost 2-1 to the Mets to complete a home series loss. Noah has the recap, if you missed it.

Unfortunately, yesterday's game might have turned on a pretty glaring umpiring mistake. Mets first baseman Josh Satin was pretty clearly out trying to stretch a single into a double in the fourth inning but was called safe despite the fact that replay showed Rickie Weeks tagged him twice. Satin scored on an infield single and error in the next at bat.

Errors were also a big part of the story yesterday. Juan Francisco started at third and committed two of them, leading Adam McCalvy to comment that we might have seen the end of him at the position. Those errors led to a pair of unearned runs and spoiled what could have been an excellent spot start from Tom Gorzelanny.

When the Brewers aren't making mistakes on the field, they're making them on the bases: Friday's game featured three TOOTBLANs and moved them into the major league lead in that category.

Other notes from the field:

Let's put a bow on the Mets series with a look at this weekend's home runs, with help from Hit Tracker and Wezen-ball:

Day Player Distance Trot Time Video
Friday Juan Francisco 433 feet 23.32 seconds Video
Saturday Jonathan Lucroy 393 feet 22.93 seconds Video
Sunday Jonathan Lucroy 402 feet 20.43 seconds Video

Francisco's blast Friday was the second-longest by a Brewer this season.

The homestand continues tonight as the Brewers welcome the Reds to Miller Park. Kyle Lohse will take on Homer Bailey (or Ho-Bail, according to Craig Calcaterra) at 7:10, and Paul Casella has the MLB.com preview. Noted leisured gentleman Carson Cistulli of FanGraphs gave tonight's pitching matchup a seven out of ten on his NERD scale, largely based on the fact that it's Bailey's first outing since his no-hitter. Lohse, by the way, is our reigning Brewer of the Week. He's the eighth different player to win that vote this season, and just the second pitcher.

Johnny Hellweg is expected to make another start in the Reds series despite allowing 16 runs in his first 6.1 major league innings. Enrique Bakemeyer of The Brewers Bar asks what we can learn about a pitcher in his first few appearances.

Hellweg's starts have been a strain on the bullpen, but so far they've been up to the challenge. In the FanPosts nullacct has a look at how the Brewer relievers have gone from a weakness to a strength in one season.

Aramis Ramirez was off Sunday after leaving Saturday's game early, but the upcoming All Star break should open the door for him to get some extra rest for his sore knee. It's possible he'll miss all of this weekend's Diamondbacks series to get eight consecutive days off before the Brewers resume play on July 19.

While Ramirez steps back, Ryan Braun may be getting ready to step forward: His continued recovery from his thumb injury has raised the possibility that he could rejoin the team in Arizona on Thursday.

Here's a pretty great example of how far Carlos Gomez's stock has risen in recent years: He's now being used as a positive example of the type of player Astros outfielder Matt Dominguez could develop into.

In the minors:

Around baseball:

Dodgers: Acquired pitcher Ricky Nolasco and some international signing money from the Marlins for three minor leaguers.
Indians: Designated pitcher Carlos Carrasco for assignment.
Marlins: Catcher Miguel Olivo cleared waivers and is now a free agent.
Nationals: Placed pitcher Ross Detwiler on the DL with a back injury and acquired outfielder Scott Hairston from the Cubs for a minor league pitcher.
Orioles: Acquired infielder/outfielder Alex Liddi from the Mariners for international bonus money.
Padres: Placed catcher Yasmani Grandal on the 60-day DL with a knee injury.
Phillies: Placed first baseman Ryan Howard on the DL with left knee inflammation.
Rangers: Placed pitcher Nick Tepesch (elbow soreness) and DH Lance Berkman (hip inflammation) on the DL.
Red Sox: Placed reliever Andrew Miller on the DL with a foot injury.
Tigers: Placed pitcher Darin Downs on the DL with rotator cuff tendonitis.
Yankees: Claimed first baseman Travis Ishikawa off waivers from the Orioles and placed pitcher David Phelps on the DL with a forearm strain.

Let's go around the NL Central:

  • The Pirates lost two of three to the Cubs this weekend to fall back a bit. They scored a run to tie yesterday's game in the ninth inning but still lost 4-3 on Dioner Navarro's walkoff sac fly in the eleventh.
  • The Cardinals pulled back into a tie for first place by sweeping the Marlins, wrapping up the series with a 3-2 win yesterday. Lance Lynn pitched seven innings for his eleventh win.
  • The Reds lost two of three in Seattle, including a 3-1 defeat yesterday. Joe Saunders, Charlie Furbush and Tom Wilhelmsen combined to hold Cincinnati to a single run on six hits.
  • The Brewers, of course, lost two of three to the Mets.

Here are today's updated standings and probables:

Team W L GB Today Time Matchup
Pirates 53 34 -- v OAK 6:05p Jeff Locke v Bartolo Colon
Cardinals 53 34 -- OFF
Reds 50 38 3.5 @ MIL 7:10p Homer Bailey v Kyle Lohse
Cubs 38 48 14.5 @ CHW 7:10p Matt Garza v Hector Santiago
Brewers 35 52 18 v CIN 7:10p

The Brewers still have seven games to play before the All Star Game and the widely accepted division between the season's first and second halves, but mathematically the season has been more than half over for a while now. Value Over Replacement Grit has a look at the somewhat arbitrary placement of the All Star Game over time.

I haven't heard yet if Angel Hernandez is expected to umpire the All Star Game, but if he is some fans won't be watching. Chipper Jones, of all people, is leading an effort to get TV viewers to boycott games where Hernandez and his crew are on the bases. This is the first time I can recall seeing a former player take a stand against a specific umpire.

We mention home run trot times a fair amount in this space, but just how fast is fast? The Milwaukee Magazine team recently took to the field to see how their times measure up against various big leaguers.

This morning's edition of Today In Brewer History marks the 34th anniversary of Ben Oglivie becoming the first player in franchise history to homer three times in a game. Here are today's other bits of history:

  • Chris Jaffe of The Hardball Times notes that it's been 8000 days since Paul Molitor's first walkoff home run and 13 years since the Brewers struck out 20 times in an extra inning loss to the Tigers.
  • Today is 1959-61 Milwaukee Brave Al Spangler's 80th birthday, and Plunk Everyone notes that his eleven career HBP are tied for the fourth most ever for a player born on July 8.
  • Today is also Seattle Pilot pitcher Bucky Brandon's 73rd birthday, and his 23 career plunkings are the fifth most ever for a pitcher born on this day.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to be more patient.

Drink up.

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