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What we learned: April 22, 2014

Today's lessons include the Brewers-Pirates fight, a bullpen addition, the second base platoon, and revisiting some first base trade rumors.

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Mike McGinnis

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

Power Rankings

Brewers vs. Padres

Other Notes

Miller Park

Minor League Update

Team Level Record Yesterday Today
Nashville Sounds AAA 9-9 Nashville 7, Omaha 0 Nashville @ Omaha
Huntsville Stars AA 11-7 Mobile 2, Huntsville 1 Mobile @ Huntsville
Brevard County Manatees A+ 10-7 Tampa 2, Brevard County 1 Brevard County @ Tampa
Wisconsin Timber Rattlers A 9-7 Burlington 5, Wisconsin 1 Wisconsin @ Burlington

News & Notes

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

Division Update

Team W L GB
Brewers 15 5 -
Cardinals 11 9 4
Pirates 9 11 6
Reds 8 11 6.5
Cubs 6 12 8
  • 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.