What we learned: April 17, 2014

Yesterday's Results

Brewers 5, Cardinals 1

The Brewers avoided the sweep yesterday by defeating the Cardinals 5-1 in the afternoon finale of the six-game homestand.  Wily Peralta allowed a run in 6⅓ innings, and the bullpen kept the Cardinals off the board the rest of the way.  On offense, Carlos Gomez hit an RBI double to start the scoring, then Jonathan Lucroy and Aramis Ramirez drove in three more in the fifth.  A Lyle Overbay RBI walk accounted for the final run (which is the last thing any of us expected).

There's a dark secret in the starting rotation.

Something has seemed wrong with Brewers starters Yovani Gallardo and Kyle Lohse this season.  They have pitched well, but not like they usually do.  The secret finally came out yesterday, when Derek revealed that Yovani Gallardo and Kyle Lohse have switched bodies.  His proof is in the stats, which look like the other pitched them.  It's an odd situation, but probably not one to be concerned about yet.  Both are pitching well so we can worry about getting them back to their original bodies once the success wears off.

The Brewers offense stacks up decently against the rest of the division.

On a more serious note, the season is about two and a half weeks old and the Brewers are still performing well.  They should contend for most (if not all) of the season, though the offense probably will regress a little.  Yesterday, Jordan compared the Brewers offense to the rest of the NL Central contenders and found some interesting figures.  Projections place the Brewers second among the four contenders, but only by a small margin.  The teams beneath them should have better pitching that can help them make up the difference, but it is a nice advantage on offense this season.

Cram Session

Hitting the Ball

• The Brewers as a team have done well at hitting line drives this season, and that has been important for their offense.  Jonathan Judge of Disciples of Uecker analyzes how their ability to hit line drives has affected their offense.
• Meanwhile, on the other side, there is Jean Segura.  Justin Schultz of Reviewing the Brew notes how Jean Segura is second in the majors in ground ball percentage and needs to change that.

Bullpen Notes

• Tom Gorzelanny hit a setback in his rehab, but Adam McCalvy reports that he is back on track now.  There is still no set timetable for his return, though.
• We've talked about Tyler Thornburg returning to the rotation one day, but could he be better suited for a different role?  Benjamin Orr of Reviewing the Brew makes the case for Tyler Thornburg to be the Brewers future closer.

Rickie Weeks

• One player that has been lost a bit in the Brewers hot start is Rickie Weeks.  Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel looks at how Weeks is trying to adjust to his role as a bench player.
• Meanwhile, on Brewers.com, Adam McCalvy writes that the Brewers are waiting for Weeks to bust out of his slump and for hits to start falling.

• It may have only been game 15 of the 162-game season, but Mike Bauman argues that it was still a big statement win for the Brewers.
• One concern about the new replay system is that it would lead to longer games.  Jeff Sullivan of FanGraphs looked at average game time this season to see if the new system is resulting in longer games.
• Mark Reynolds has been a nice surprise for the Brewers so far this season.  Adam McCalvy of Brewers.com writes about how Reynolds has helped stabilize the first base position this season.
• Over on The Brewer Nation, they have updated their milestone tracker to watch for milestones in the 2014 season.
• Despite some umpires who have had very odd strike zones, overall they seem to do well.  Jeff Sullivan of FanGraphs analyzed how umpire strike zones have been getting better in recent years.
• Jess Lemont of The Brewers Bar created some artwork and a theme song for "Wario Matt Garza".

Minor League Update

News & Notes

• Brad Krause of Miller Park Prospects has a photo gallery from yesterday's double-header for the Timber Rattlers.

Division Update

• Reds 4, Pirates 0: Johnny Cueto struck out twelve as he pitched a complete game shutout to lead the Reds to a 4-0 win.
• Yankees 3, Cubs 0: Masahiro Tanaka led a complete game shutout for the Yankees pitchers. He pitched eight scorless innings with ten strikeouts, allowing a total of just two hits and one walk.
• Yankees 2, Cubs 0: Michael Pinieda pitched six scoreless innings for the Yankees allowing a total of four hits and a walk, and the bullpen allowed only two more hits as the Yankees completed the double-header sweep of the Cubs.

Today's Games

• Cardinals (Adam Wainwright) @ Nationals (Taylor Jordan) - 6:05 pm
• Cubs and Reds have the day off.

Today's Action

The Brewers head back on the road to start a four-game series against the Pirates in Pittsburgh.  It will be a rematch of Saturday's starters as Yovani Gallardo starts for the Brewers and Edinson Volquez starts for the Pirates.  First pitch is at 6:05 pm, and Adam McCalvy has the preview on MLB.com.