Monday's Frosty Mug: Busy Weekend of Baseball

Some things to read while figuring out if we really need this type of technology to tell us how good Carlos Gomez is in center field.

This weekend featured a lot of action for the Brewers as they played four times since the last Mug was published on Friday morning.  On Friday afternoon, the Brewers lost a close one to the Giants, which Fred recapped.  On Saturday, Derek had the recap on the Brewers' split squad action against the Dodgers and Diamondbacks.  Finally, on Sunday, Jordan recapped the Brewers' one run victory over the Rockies.

The Brewers have yet to use Jim Henderson in the spring and Ron Roenicke assured Adam McCalvy over the weekend that fans should not worry.  Henderson is not missing time due to any sort of arm trouble, but rather because he is working on a new pitch this spring.  Along with a brand new pitch, Henderson is attempting to refine his slider as well.

While McCalvy would only hint at the identity of Henderson's new pitch on Twitter, Ryan Connor at Reviewing the Brew investigated why the cutter is likely the pitch Henderson is attempting to master.  Connor believes that a new pitch could help even out his platoon splits as lefties tend to hit Henderson a bit better at this point.  Connor points out that cutters, along with changeups and curveballs, can carry a "zero or backwards platoon split", but ultimately the cutter is Henderson's most likely addition because of his arm slot and the difficult learning curve of each of the other two pitches.

While Henderson has everyone's attention off the field, Elian Herrera was turning some heads on the field with some slick fielding at shortstop on Saturday.  Todd Rosiak writes that the switch-hitting Herrera may have a chance to make the Brewers opening-day roster if he can prove to be a competent shortstop.  Herrera, claimed off waivers from the Dodgers, can play second and third base along with multiple outfield positions.

Another player showing off great versatility in the spring has been newly acquired Will Smith.  Lou Olsen at Reviewing the Brew thinks so much of his versatility that he tabbed Smith as the pitching staff's missing link over the weekend.  Olsen writes that Smith's ability to give the Brewers a solid spot start as a lefty and productive innings from the bullpen gives the pitching staff a depth that they haven't had in the past few seasons.

Other notes from Milwaukee:

• The Brewers revealed the identity of the first bobblehead this season: Carlos Gomez.  The bobblehead features Gomez robbing a home run ball at the wall and will be given away on Sunday, April 27th as the Brewers take on the Chicago Cubs.
• The Arctic Tailgate was a success this weekend as the Brewers sold 91,000 tickets on Saturday, which was 4,000 more tickets than last year and one of the highest total number of tickets sold in a single day in Brewers history.
• With most of the staff in Arizona for Spring Training, the Brewers turned to new employee Evan Entler to write about his first Arctic Tailgate experience.  Entler, previously from Florida, raved about the tailgating abilities and passion of Brewers fans.
• As part of their Brewers By The (Jersey) Numbers" series, The Brewer Nation profiled Tyler Thornburg and Brewers closer Jim Henderson.