What we learned: August 1, 2014

Yesterday's Results

The Brewers had the day off.

The trade deadline passed yesterday with the Brewers making one acquisition.

Yesterday at 3 pm CT, the non-waiver trade deadline for MLB passed. It was one of the busiest days on the trade deadline in a long time, with several players moving in a flurry of moves. The Brewers did make one move on the day, acquiring OF Gerardo Parra from the Diamondbacks. Parra has been a good outfielder in his career for the Diamondbacks, though was struggling through this season. Even in his struggles, he represents an upgrade as a fourth outfielder for the Brewers, and is a little more than a rental as the Brewers can bring him back next year (though his anticipated contract means it's not an easy decision). It remains to be seen how the Brewers will use him. Early thoughts are as a bench bat & late inning defender, though could also make a couple starts a week to give other outfielders days off.

Meanwhile, around the division, there were moves going on, but nothing too big. After acquiring Justin Masterson on Wednesday, the Cardinals acquired John Lackey yesterday. These moves bolster the Cardinals rotation and also cleared space for a top prospect to be called up, as the Cardinals fight for a playoff spot. On the Pirates side, rumors kept coming up for them (including a fake one that got media coverage about Rays player Ben Zobrist) but the Pirates ended the day making no moves. Same went for the Reds, though towards the deadline rumors came out that they were taking offers on Mat Latos, potentially looking like sellers. Finally, the Cubs made a few moves, but most were building for the future. The fears of David Price coming to the division didn't come true, and Price ended up with the Tigers.

Cram Session

• Adam McCalvy has some quotes from Gerardo Parra and Doug Melvin in his Brewers Beat blog.
• While the month of June has been very demoralizing, Nicholas Zettel of Disciples of Uecker has a reminder that great teams can play awful baseball.
• Trade deadline season is a very uneasy time for players, who don't know if they'll have to make major life changes soon. Todd Rosiak looks at how different Brewers have dealt with it.
• Tim Dillard provides a look into a normal day of batting practice on his blog.

Minor League Update

Division Update

• Cardinals 6, Padres 2
• Diamondbacks 7, Pirates 4
• Reds 3, Marlins 1
• Cubs 3, Rockies 1

This Weekend's Division Games

• Pirates @ Diamondbacks
  Friday: Edinson Volquez vs. Vidal Nuno
  Saturday: Vance Worley vs. Chase Anderson
  Suinday: Francisco Liriano vs. Trevor Cahill
• Reds @ Marlins
  Friday: Mat Latos vs. Jarred Cosart
  Saturday: Homer Bailey vs. Nathan Eovaldi
  Suinday: Mike Leake vs. Henderson Alvarez
• Cubs @ Dodgers
  Friday: Kyle Hendricks vs. Dan Haren
  Saturday: Tsuyoshi Wada vs. Hyun-Jin Ryu
  Suinday: Edwin Jackson vs. Josh Beckett

This Weekend's Action

The Brewers start a critical three-game series in St. Louis tonight. Here are the starting pitcher matchups for the weekend:

Friday: Wily Peralta vs. Adam Wainwright
Saturday: Jimmy Nelson vs. Justin Masterson
Suinday: Kyle Lohse vs. Lance Lynn