Sunday Sundries: Week 15

The Brewers outscored the Reds 13-7 in their three game series and went 1-2. Shoulda, coulda, woulda. Two big innings in game two obscure the fact that once again the Brewers failed in opportunities that could have made a difference.

TOP HITTING STORY

Jonathan Villar had a good start to the second half, getting on base at a .500 clip and hitting .417. His defense was good, and he stole 2 bases. He did have a costly caught stealing for the third out in a big inning in game one, but perhaps he was just excited to be back playing baseball after the break.

Honorable Mention: Scooter Gennett hit his eighth homer, had two more hits against lefties, and generally hit the ball hard more often than not. It is looking more and more like, when healthy, he can hit with authority against all pitchers and should play very regularly.

TOP PITCHING STORY

Zach Davies returned from his ‘demotion’ to AAA to throw a gem today, going seven shutout innings with four hits and no walks. He struck out 5. Perhaps the break and short vacation in Colorado agreed with him. He remains 6-4 after the Brewers failed to plate any runs for him, but...

Honorable Mention: Jimmy Nelson also went seven shutout innings for his sixth win in the Brewers 9-1 laugher in game 2. He allowed six hits, walked two, and struck out 7. He was a bit erratic early with his control, but breezed through the fifth and sixth with 23 total pitches, enabling him to complete seven with less than a hundred. Very encouraging start.

IMHO

We graded hitters, pitchers, and management, and discussed said grades (not to mention the grading system). We reported and promulgated rumors about Jonathon Lucroy, Jeremy Jeffress and, Will Smith, and looked at teams that might or might not be interested in any and all of them.

One late development today was the injury to Cleveland catcher Yan Gomes, who was discussed here. Gomes tripped over first base and initially looked like he hurt his knee, but left the field on a cart with his shoulder wrapped. The Indians' interest in Lucroy could be intensified, but they do have Roberto Perez coming off of the DL and up from a rehab stint to at least temporarily take Gomes' spot. Perez has caught 103 games over 3 seasons for the Tribe, but isn't an established starter. We will find out the extent of Gomes' injury, and if it is more long term, if they are confident in Perez' ability to catch regularly, and if that confidence isn't there, whether they are willing to part with the prospects necessary to acquire Lucroy.

COMMENT OF THE WEEK

Derek kicked off 'Rumor Week' with this piece on the Brewers scouting the Rangers Rookie League team here.

mjdietz had some excellent insight with this response:

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I think this is probably more about an RP trade