What we learned: April 22, 2014

Yesterday's Results

Brewers 4, Padres 3

The Brewers struck early last night, putting up three runs on a Scooter Gennett RBI triple, a Ryan Braun sacrifice fly, and an Aramis Ramirez solo home run. The Padres responded with two in the fourth, and the Brewers added a little insurance with a Ryan Braun RBI single in the fifth. Chris Denorfia of the Padres hit a solo home run to close the gap, but the Padres wouldn't get closer as the bullpen shut them down.  Wily Peralta pitched 6 1/3 innings and allowed six hits and three runs (two earned) in the win, and Francisco Rodriguez recorded his fourth consecutive save.

Fallout from the Brewers-Pirates fight continues.

A day later, more quotes and opinions kept coming out on the fight from Sunday's game. There was more than enough out there to write one of these posts with just those links by themselves. You can see just some of the coverage from around the web in the Cram Session section below.  Yesterday, here on BCB, Derek Harvey wrote his opinion on the whole situation. He recaps what happened and talks about what is fair to say and what isn't in the aftermath of the fight. He also tackles the idea that players need to "respect the game". There's more than enough here and around the web to keep you talking about this subject for at least a few days.

Alfredo Figaro joined the roster to solidify a tired bullpen.

Also in the aftermath of yesterday's game, the Brewers found themselves with a tired bullpen. To help fix the situation, they optioned Rob Wooten back to Triple-A Nashville, and recalled Alfredo Figaro. In terms of talent, the move seems like a lateral move at best, so it appears to be more about having depth available. Entering last night's game, the bullpen had been overworked, and while they got some rest last night, certain pitchers were still needed. Francisco Rodriguez has now pitched in four straight games, and Tyler Thornburg and Jim Henderson have each pitched in three of the last four.  An off day is coming on Thursday, and more help is on the horizon as Brandon Kintzler should return for the weekend series. So far, the bullpen has been up to the task of keeping the Brewers in games, but too much work could cause problems later in the season.

Rickie Weeks is running out of time to prove that he can contribute.

While Rickie Weeks has not had much playing time this season, what he has done so far has not inspired much confidence. However, there is a legitimate question of how much time he should get before changes should be considered. Yesterday, Jordan Mader tackled this question and asked if a change to Jeff Bianchi in the platoon is warranted. Jordan argues that it's not time to make a change yet, and that a change to Bianchi is not necessarily better. However, if Weeks continues to struggle, at some point the change may need to come anyway.

The Brewers made the right decision to not trade for Ike Davis.

Over the offseason, the Brewers were continuously noted to be in trade talks for the Mets first baseman Ike Davis. These rumors were up and down all winter, and the Brewers eventually passed on Davis for a platoon of Mark Reynolds and Lyle Overbay (that has turned into Reynolds starting with Overbay getting some time as a backup). Over the weekend, the Pirates traded for Ike Davis to bolster their position at first base. In the aftermath of that trade, Noah looked back at the rumors and asked if the Brewers made the right decision to not trade for Davis. He looked at the prospects that the Pirates received in returned, and revisited what the Brewers were rumored to need to trade. He concludes that any value gained from Davis would have been lost in what they traded away.

Cram Session

The Brewers-Pirates Brawl

• Carlos Gomez was more level-headed on Monday, and gave his view on what happened.  Adam McCalvy has some quotes from Gomez on his Brew Beat blog.
• Over at the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Tom Haudricourt writes that Carlos Gomez denies he had bad intentions in the brawl.  (They also have a picture of Travis Snider's black eye.)
• Andrew Wagner writes that Carlos Gomez doesn't plan to apologize for his role in the fight.
• Over on Reviewing the Brew, Benjamin Orr asks who is really to blame for the fight.
• Vince Morales of Miller Park Drunk tackles the "thug" view, and asks if Carlos Gomez really is a thug.
• Tim Brown of Yahoo Sports says that Carlos Gomez is just being himself.
• Bill Baer of NBC Sports notes that Chipper Jones had some comments for Carlos Gomez on Twitter.
• Justin Schultz of Reviewing the Brew also found some tweets from Vernon Wells that blasted Carlos Gomez.
• The Brewer Nation went through possible scenarios the Brewers face as a result of the fallout from the fight.
• David Schoenfield of ESPN writes that fights are a part of the game, and that Carlos Gomez deserves to be suspended.
• Due to crew chief Fieldin Culbreth traveling yesterday, punishments for the brawl were delayed because MLB would not have enough time to review his report.
• On Monday, Russell Martin went to Twitter and suggested a charity fight between him and Martin Maldonado. Mike Oz of Big League Stew has a transcript of the tweets.

Power Rankings

• ESPN has the Brewers up a spot to #1.
• FOX Sports moved the Brewers up seven spots to #1.
• Justin Schultz of Reviewing the Brew dropped the Brewers one spot to #2.
• Over on Sports Illustrated, the Brewers dropped a spot to #3.
• Jonah Keri of Grantland isn't buying the start, but did move the Brewers up two spots to #8.

Brewers vs. Padres

• Derek Harvey posted a preview of the series here on BCB, and notes that there are some fantastic pitching matchups scheduled.
• Nicholas Zettel of Disciples of Uecker also has a preview of the Brewers-Padres series.

Other Notes

• Jean Segura's performance has resulted in him dropping to seventh in the batting order. It did seem to help last night as he had two hits.
• With suspensions looming, Elian Herrera's versatility could be really helpful for the Brewers. Adam McCalvy has some notes on how important it could be for the team.
• Ryan Braun has been dominating in the state of Pennsylvania this season. It leads to David Brown of Big League Stew suggesting that Pennsylvania should be added to the banned substance list.
• Adam Wieser of Disciples of Uecker has put together a tracker to monitor Carlos Gomez's crazy swings over the course of the season.
• Ryan Topp of Disciples of Uecker notes that the Brewers pitchers have been avoiding hard contact so far this season.
• There was another shouting match over the weekend that could have led to a fight in the Astros-Athletics game. The argument appeared to be over Jed Lowrie trying to bunt during a seven-run inning, which led to Jeff Sullivan of FanGraphs asking when it is appropriate to bunt.
• Dave Cameron of FanGraphs takes an early look at wOBA run differential, and talks about what it means for different teams.

Miller Park

• Yesterday, Hank's house was unveiled at Miller Park, and John & Cait have some pictures from the unveiling.
• Mike Oz of Big League Stew also has a few comments on Hank's house.
• There is a special banner under the Harley Davidson deck to call attention to the house. Also, Brandon McCarthy of the Diamondbacks is a fan of Hank.
• Later this week, the Bob Uecker statue inside Miller Park will be dedicated. John & Cait have details on the statue and the unveiling ceremony.
• At the Double Clutch, the featured item for this series is Blackened Shrimp Tacos.
• If you've been around BCB for a while, you know that one event many people here look forward to is Miller Park Drunk's Pants Party. He has announced details for this year's party, and what will probably be the last one.

Minor League Update

News & Notes

• Jimmy Nelson wants to get in the Brewers rotation at some point in 2014, and his results in Nashville show it.  He threw seven scoreless innings in last night's 7-0 win over Omaha.
• Jed Bradley of Brevard County was named the Florida State League's pitcher of the week.
• Marcus Young of Miller Park Prospects put together a mailbag yesterday, answering some questions on the minor leagues.

Check out morineko's daily minor league update for a more in-depth look at yesterday's minor league results.

Division Update

• Pirates 6, Reds 5: The Reds took a lead in the top of the eighth, but Andrew McCutchen tied it in the bottom of the eighth, and Neil Walker hit an RBI single in the bottom of the ninth to give the Pirates the win.
• Mets 2, Cardinals 0: Mets pitcher Jenrry Mejia pitched 6 2/3 innings and David Wright extended his hitting streak to 12 games as the Mets shut out the Cardinals.
• Cubs 5, Diamondbacks 1: Travis Wood pitched seven innings of one-run baseball with nine strikeouts, and also provided most of the Cubs offense with a three-run home run in the second inning.

Today's Games

• Reds (Johnny Cueto) @ Pirates (Edinson Volquez) - 6:05 pm
• Cardinals (Adam Wainwright) @ Mets (Dillon Gee) - 6:10 pm
• Diamondbacks (Brandon McCarthy) @ Cubs (Jason Hammel) - 7:05 pm

Today's Action

The Brewers continue their series against the San Diego Padres tonight.  Game two will feature Yovani Gallardo (2-0, 1.46 ERA, 2.92 FIP) for the Brewers and Ian Kennedy (1-3, 4.13 ERA, 2.33 FIP) for the Padres.  First pitch is at 7:10 pm, and Corey Brock has the MLB.com preview.