Highlighting and Lowlighting the Brewers' Week

While the Brewers are struggling this year, there are still good and bad things about each series, this is why we created Highlights & Lowlights to praise and criticize at the same damn time.

Highlights
Not having the Cardinals clinch at Miller Park - HAHA SUCK IT HARD ARIZONA.  Look, I could not complain if St. Louis went down Bernie's slide after being very critical of Arizona's response to the Los Angeles Dodgers winning the NL West crown at Chase Field. It was nice to see the Brewers get at least a game from St. Louis.  One of the biggest things for next season is the Brewers have to be better against the Cardinals in general.

Carlos Gomez - Great week for Gomez in general. He had a masterful Cubs series and then played pretty well against St. Louis. It is pretty clear he was bothered by injuries for the month of August and a little bit of September. Now that he is fully healthy, it appears Gomez is playing better again.  GoGo had a couple home runs this week including a big triple last night against St. Louis in a series he did not play as well as the Chicago one. Hopefully, he finishes strong in the final week.

Aramis Ramirez - You just sort of wonder with Ramirez. He spent most of the year banged up, but Rami looked great this week against Chicago and St. Louis. Ramirez had a couple home runs and also drove in multiple runs including a five RBI game on Friday night. I still believe Ramirez has some left in the tank, but the Brewers need to have someone there to back up Rami if he goes down with multiple injuries next season.  

That was Norichika Aoki's first double since Aug. 9 and just his third since July 22.
— Andrew Gruman (@AndrewGruman) September 23, 2013

Nori Aoki - He had a great series against St. Louis going 8 for 11 also taking some walks, but this is sort of a telling stat by FOX Sports Wisconsin Andrew Gruman. Aoki is not producing to the levels we saw last season. With the Brewers having a loaded young outfield, Ryan Braun can move to right field. I think he a big enough arm and the Brewers add more power to their already big lineup if Khris Davis is in left field.

Tyler Thornburg - Truly making a case for why he deserves to be the fifth starter when the 2014 season rolls around in March. Thorny looked great again this week once again going six innings, something he has done for all of his starts this season. In the last three starts, Thornburg has only allowed four runs and the only real issue is he still walks a couple guys a game. He is a starter to at least begin the season, folks.  

Sean Halton - Pretty good week for the young Brewers first baseman as he hit a grand slam on Wednesday night pushing the Brewers ahead in the game against the Cubs. He had another homer that week as well. Halton is a fine player, but certainly not the answer at first base. I do not think Halton is a good enough player to be an everyday player although he could be a vital bench player next season.

#Brewers avg 31,248 fans in 2013, outdrawing the playoff-contending Reds, Pirates, Orioles, Indians, Royals and Athletics. Good job, fans!
— Mike Vassallo (@MikeVassallo13) September 23, 2013

Miller Park support - Also add the Tampa Bay Rays who the Brewers outdrew this season. It speaks to the team and the city honestly. Both have done a great job supporting this team through thick and thin. There are still knuckleheads out there (Green Bay has plenty of them too), but this team gets support unlike any time before. They like I will hope there is October baseball next year.

Lowlights
No Jean Segura - This is sort of a bummer. Another Brewer went down with an injury and naturally to troll Wisconsin fans alike, it is a hamstring injury. I doubt we will see much of Segura to finish the season. Honestly, if he is hurt, just let him sit out the rest of the season unless he feels 105 percent. (JUST KIDDING, LOSE EVERY GAME THIS WEEK, TANK! TANK! TANK!)

ESPN's Ryan Braun lovefest - ESPN Sunday Night Baseball decided to remind Brewers fans about Ryan Braun and made some unqualified opinions on the Brewers fans. There is really no need to try to open a wound that is practically closed. There has been so little discussion about Braun since mid-August honestly. Sure, it is worthwhile talking a little bit about it, but taking up almost a whole inning talking about him is not great.  The worst part is I DVR'd the part of it and watch it because I am a complete loser.

Rob Wooten - First real bad game from The Owl on Saturday night. It happens and I am encouraged by all the young relievers for the following season.

Mike Gonzalez - WHY ARE YOU STILL HERE.

Kyle Lohse - It is crazy how bad Lohse has been against the Chicago Cubs this season. In general, Milwaukee has played well against Chicago this season, but this was the only team Lohse seemed to have problems with this year.

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Highlights-Lowlights: Reds v. Brewers (9/13-9/15)

While the Brewers are struggling this year, there are still good and bad things about each series, this is why we created Highlights & Lowlights to praise and criticize at the same damn time.

Highlights
Carlos Gomez - Remember how I complained about Gomez's last two months?  He obviously was also tried of hearing about it too. On Friday night, Gomez drove in five runs providing all of the Milwaukee Brewers offense for the night. He also drove in runs on Saturday and Sunday as well, but Gomez's biggest play came in the ninth inning of Sunday's game. He robbed Jay Bruce of a three-run homer or possibly an extra-base hit. Just give this man the Gold Glove.



Kyle Lohse - Like Gomez, he scuffled a bit in the last couple of weeks and Lohse found a way to shutdown the Reds Friday night with a complete game. Lohse retired 23 straight batters before giving up a hit in the ninth inning. He looked stellar against the Reds mixing in all of his pitches and Cincinnati had no answer for him. It cannot be stated enough how good of a year Lohse is having this season.

Sean Halton - Second straight time appearing in the Highlights section but it is deserving as Halton capped off a four run comeback by the Brewers on Sunday afternoon. Halton hit a home run off Zach Duke (Yes that Zach Duke) in walk-off fashion. I said it last week and I will repeat myself here, there is absolutely no reason why Yuni B or Juan Francisco at this point.

Jean Segura - Good weekend for Mean Jean. He had not been struggling, but let's just say, he was sort of stagnant not making the plays he had during the year. Segura had a massive two-run triple during the Brewers comeback on Sunday.   He had two stolen bases and two runs on Friday making sure Gomez had ducks on the pond.

Lowlights
Michael Blazek - Not a great appearance for the young Brewer on Saturday afternoon.  The Brewers had cut the lead down to 4-3 in the fourth inning and Blazek came into the game in the 6th. As many have done before him, Blazek surrendered a two-run home run to Joey Votto to push the lead back out to three. That is a killer.

Aramis Ramirez's injury - It has been a rough year for Rami. He has battled through all sorts of injuries and banged up his wrist again on Friday.  It is fair to say this is a concern at this point with Ramirez's age and still having another year left on his contract.

Johnny Hellweg -  He did not handle the Reds very well on Saturday afternoon. Hellweg struggled in the first two innings of the game with giving up two runs in both innings. After that, he settled in nicely. There are still kinks to work out with Hellweg. I do not know if he is ready to be a big league starter yet, only time will tell with that one.

Michael Gonzalez - Yup, still here.

Charlie.

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Highlights & Lowlights: Brewers-Cardinals

While the Brewers are struggling this year, there are still good and bad things about each series, this is why we created Highlights & Lowlights to praise and criticize at the same damn time.

Highlights
Tyler Thornburg - I am fully on-board with the Thorny for starter in 2014. I am sorry I cannot hide my feelings about it right now.  He might be a shutdown reliever when it is all said and done, but why not give Thorny a chance for the 2014 season? He just seems ready to pitch in the rotation at least to start the season. I like how he handled the Cardinals for the most part this week and also did not buckle under pressure when he gave up some runs.

Sean Halton - This guy gets a chance to play on Thursday night and he delivers with a home run and three RBIs. I do not think Halton is the answer at first base, but just put him there for the rest of the season. I rode along with the Juan Francisco bandwagon, but he seems like a lost puppy dog right now. Yuni B is Yuni B so just stick Halton there for the rest of the season and be done with first base.

Wily Peralta/Marco Estrada - Both Peralta and Estrada starts summed up Brewers-Cardinals in 2013 in a nutshell. Peralta and Estrada both carried no-hitters into the sixth inning before they both gave it up before the final out then the Brewers lost both games including one where Peralta got the lost thanks to a quick hook from Ron Roenicke for Michael Gonzalez (Oh we'll get there). Just unreal, they pitched well, they deserve to be here.

Scooter Gennett - I swear he just puts a dopey picture of me up in his locker room and thinks that I am the blogger who talks all sorts of shit about him. Gennett has hit over .400 in the last month plus he went .500 during the road trip. All he does is hit the baseball and honestly, it is getting harder each week to defend Rickie Weeks being the starting second baseman. I love what Weeks brings to the table, but my goodness, Gennett is making a statement.

Lowlights 
Michael Gonzalez - I started putted Gonzalez in the lowlights for the last couple of series just to be an ass and to be funny, but this is deserving spot. Gonzalez is my least favorite Brewer of the season. I am going to be creating a post looking back at what Brewer bothered me the most in the last decade. I just cannot believe he is still allowed to pitch on this team. Unless this is a plan to tank, I am completely for it. I do not care Gonzalez owned up to it either. He stole money from this team, complete robbery.

The Overuse of Brandon Kintzler - Does Milwaukee forget Brandon Kintzler had all sorts of shoulder issues in the last couple of years?  He has pitched great in the second half of the season but there is no reason why he should be pitching after throwing 30 pitches the day before even if he told Ron Roenicke that he could go out there. It will suck if he gets hurt next year and we can all point to why it happened.

Carlos Gomez - I have no idea if regression hit Carlos Gomez or he started reverting to his old ways but GoGo is having a terrible two months. For the month of August,  he hit .197 in August and currently in the month of September, Gomez is hitting .207. I mean maybe it was unrealistic to expect Gomez to continue at the pace he was going at earlier this season, but it would have been cool to see him stay the course.

Not really a lowlight, but a disappointing Jean Segura fact - This one from Andrew Gruman of FOX Sports Wisconsin kind of bummed me out. I wish Segura would have stayed above .300 for the whole year.

Jean Segura strikes out and his average drops to .299 for the first time since Opening Day. Hasn't finished a day under .300 all year.
— Andrew Gruman (@AndrewGruman) September 11, 2013

-Charlie.

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Highlights & Lowlights: Brewers at Cubs

While the Brewers are struggling this year, there are still good and bad things about each series, this is why we created Highlights & Lowlights to praise and criticize at the same damn time.

Highlights
Scooter Gennett - Good weekend to be Scooter. He had a big three-run homer on Friday's game to pull the Brewers back within striking distance of the Cubs, and hit the ball pretty well throughout the weekend.  I really do wonder if he expects an apology fruit basket from me. It is becoming harder and harder for me to say next year it should be an open competition.

Yovani Gallardo - How about this guy?  Yo has looked like an ace since coming off the Disabled List. Now does this upset you off as a fan?  I guess, I mean if Yo's pitching well all year, the Brewers probably finish .500 which would drive me insane.  The biggest hope is this string of great starts translates to the following year.  People kept pointing to him pitching for Mexico at the World Baseball Classic as a reason why he struggled early on and I am starting to buy into that notion.

Logan Schafer - He had the big hit on Saturday afternoon as the Brewers trailed 3-1, Schafer cleared the bases with two outs after Juan Francisco failed to get a runner in with less than two outs.  I have no idea what Schafer's future is with this organization seeing as the outfield will be crowded next season, but I have enjoyed watching him play this season for the most part.



Johnny Hellweg - A little bit better outing than what we have seen from Hellweg in the past. He drew a lot of groundballs and really only made two mistakes to Luis Vallbuena and Brian Bogusevic. I would rather have Hellweg giving up home runs than putting a bunch of people on-base having it look like Gas House Gorillas on the base pads.

Junior Lake - Yeah this seems like a guy I do not want to play against for the next couple of years. Lake had a big grand slam on Friday to vault the Cubs over the Brewers and then provided the only offense Sunday with a huge home run. He is also one of those players you want to say his full name because Junior is always Ken Griffey Jr. until the end of time and Lake feels like you should be adding Michigan, Erie or Ontario after it.

Lowlights
Juan Francisco = Doghouse - An Internet favorite is currently hanging around in Ron Roenicke's doghouse. First, who knew RRR had one, second, he is in there pretty bad. Francisco has not started a game since September 3rd so if he does start Tuesday against St. Louis, it will be his first start in a week. Additionally, he pinch-hit in every game this weekend and struck out every time. Not a great look for Fat Juan.

Kyle Lohse - He had his first bad start in over two months. I mean the one against Pittsburgh was not stellar two weeks ago, but this is what I would qualify as a bad start. This is how good Lohse has been in the second half, his ERA, still sitting at 3.59, is the highest its been since July 13th.  My assumption is he will bounce back this week playing his former foes, St. Louis.  

Jean Segura's defense - When is it okay to start worry about Segura's defense? Like are we there yet with him or should we wait until middle of next year?  I am starting to see why people pegged him as a second baseman for the future. Segura has the overall tools to be a shortstop, no doubt about it, but he tends to be lackadaisical out there from time to time. My assumption is it is a youth thing and he will clean it up yet it keeps happening so I worry like my mother does when I describe my weekends.

Michael Gonzalez - Yup, he's still here.

Charlie.

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Highlights & Lowlights: Brewers at Cubs (7/29-7/31)

While the Brewers are struggling this year, there are still good and bad things about each series, this is why we created Highlights & Lowlights to praise and criticize at the same damn time.

Highlights
Jean Segura - Easily, the MVP of the doubleheader. Segura looked like his forearm was alright even if he
took two games off.  He hit a home run off Carlos Villaneuva to put the Brewers on the board and had the game-winning double in the 7th inning. In the second game, he did not start but came in the ninth as the Brewers trailed and beat out a single in the 9th. He proceeded to score the go-ahead run by trusting the ball would fall in the outfield. Segura is a good to great player, but it is his hustle that is an added bonus.

Rob Wooten - Another very nice surprise from Nashville this year. The Brewers Triple A team is awful this year yet it seems like there are some gems there. Wooten has pitched great since his time up with the Brewers starting last Saturday. He bridged the gap in Game 1 of the doubleheader after John Axford gave up multiple runs. If Wooten is not nicknamed 'The Owl' by the end of August, we have failed as a society.

Tyler Thornburg - OH ME SO THORNY.  I hoped Thornburg would do damn thing on Tuesday night because I feel like he deserves to start after his great bullpen work. The pressure amplified as Yovani Gallardo went down in afternoon. If Thornburg pitched well, he probably takes Yo's spot in the rotation. He did everything and more with going a strong six innings only allowing four hits with six strikeouts. Thornburg might be the player to watch in August.

Khris Davis - It is not like he had a great series here. Davis had one moment, but it was a big one drilling a three-run homer to tie the game in seventh inning of Game 1. Davis's two homers since his call-up have been to the opposite field which is good to see from the young hitter.

Wrigley Field Foul Pole - Way to be there for the last 90-plus years, thanks I appreciate it because I did not have to watch a Wellington Castillo walkoff.

Lowlights
Juan Francisco catching ability - This really does not make sense at all.  I realize Francisco is a third baseman by trade, but still there is no excuse to drop two baseballs at first base. That is something 7th graders do not have happened to them in Little League. Someone needs to send Francisco to Tom Emanski school of defense.

Yovani Gallardo's hamstring - While the supposed Brewers ace struggled in the month of July, it was disheartening to see him go down with a somewhat serious hamstring injury. Who knows how long Gallardo will be on the shelf, but when he does come back, hopefully he finishes strong for the season.

Game 1's Fifth Inning - What a disaster this was for the Crew. They lose Gallardo with two strikes and two outs with the bases juiced.  Ron Roenicke decides to bring in John Axford which I did not agree with given his recent struggles of late.  

Game 2's Seventh Inning - This inning was definitely worse than the one above because the defense could not have been more shittier. They kicked around the baseball throughout the inning basically causing Burke Badenhop to give up two runs. While there is a lot of Triple A talent out there, it still does not excuse all the errors.

Alfredo Figaro - Not a great outing back from injury. He did not look good last night. Hopefully, it will be a blip in the radar.

Charlie.

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Milwaukee Brewers at Chicago Cubs Preview (7/29-7/31)

From now on, we are previewing the upcoming series with a variety of things. The pitching matchups with the TV times, five things to watch, notable musician from the opposing team's area, Twitter follows from the opposition and a prediction. 

Pitching Matchups and Start Times
Monday:                 Kyle Lohse (7-7 3.37) v. Jeff Samardzija (6-9 3.94) 7:05 pm FSNWI
Tuesday: Game 1 - Yovani Gallardo (8-9 4.88) v. Carlos Villanueva (2-7 4.23) 1:20 pm FSNWI
               Game 2 - TBD                                   v.  Jake Arrieta (0-0 0.00) 7:05 pm FSNWI
Wednesday:            Wily Peralta (7-10 4.57) v. Edwin Jackson (6-11 4.89) 7:05 pm  FSNWI

Five Things To Watch
1.) Will we see some #DugoutHugs? - The Cubs have already traded three players from their team, Scott Feldman, Alfonso Soriano and Matt Garza, can anymore be one the move? There has been some talk about Kevin Gregg, but that's probably the last player to be on the block for Chicago. Milwaukee does not seem like they are moving Lohse and Gallardo, but there is still a chance they could send off Jim Henderson and John Axford. We will be on the lookout for #DugoutHugs in the coming days.

2.) Yovani's bad July continue? - For me, he is the biggest disappointment of this dumpster fire season. Gallardo has been absolutely terrible of late.  He did pitch well against Miami, but that's about it plus I could pitch scoreless against the Marlins for at least three innings. For the month, Yovani's ERA is 7.56 and he has given up 21 runs with 12 walks and only 20 strikeouts. It seems like his confidence is completely shook and hopefully, the Chicago winds are not blowing out Tuesday afternoon.

3.) Guessing the TBD - I will put half of my fake money on Tyler Thornburg. He seems like the logical decision here or Alfredo Figaro. Either one would be great to deliver a spot start. I might be alone here, but I have really enjoyed year two of Thornburg. I think he's pitched really well for the Brewers. Hopefully Thorny gets a chance at starting this week. Figaro would be a fine option. He really has not pitched much since being back on the team last Wednesday, but he did well for his short time as a starter.

4.) Jean Segura's forearm - He did not play on Sunday, and honestly as much as I love watching Mean Jean, there is no need for him to push himself to play. The Brewers are a sparkling 18 games under .500, he can seriously take his time to get back. My assumption would be either he plays today and one game in the doubleheader, or just a single game in the doubleheader. It would be completely illogical for him to play all four games of this series, but then again Ron Roenicke is a robot so who knows.

5.)  Cubs are a little bit hot - They pitched awesome over the weekend in a sweep of San Francisco basically holding the Giants to only a total of three runs and they got no more than five hits in any of the three games. Do you know the Cubs are only seven games under .500?  Do you also know the Cubs have won five of their last seven games?  They are playing good baseball, and I honestly think this team is a year away from actually contending for a playoff spot. Good news for the Brewers!

Music from Chicago


I could really be standard and go with Kanye West, and this one is still pretty basic. Eddie Vedder is the choice. While Pearl Jam started out of Seattle and the Pacific Northwest as most of grunge music did, Vedder is from Evanston, Illinois and he is a massive Chicago sports fan. Pearl Jam recently played a concert at Wrigley.

Cubs' Tweeters  
Justin Jabs and Sean Powell are both great follows if you need Cub news and baseball in general. I am not just saying that because they are Cubs fans whom put up with my Brewer nonsense either.

Prediction
Hoping for a split, but I feel like this is a three out of four for Chicago.

Charlie.

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Highlights & Lowlights: Padres-Brewers (7/22-7/25)

While the Brewers are struggling this year, there are still good and bad things about each series, this is why we created Highlights & Lowlights to praise and criticize at the same damn time. 

Highlights
Carlos Gomez - It is fair to say Gomez broke out of his slump on Wednesday night. He put the team on his back in a 3-1 victory with a 4 for 4 night with two doubles and two RBIs along with a stolen base. He followed it up with a 3 for 5 day on Thursday with a home run.  Gomez's average dipped to .289 on Tuesday and now it is back to .301.

Kyle Lohse - Fun facts abou.t Lohse's recent run... The last time he had two walks in a game was June 19th. Loshe has struck out five batters or more in the last three outings. Lohse's ERA is down to 3.37. He is dominating out there. Lohse is the ace of this staff. Now I say ace in a very rough sense but he's the best pitcher on the team. It is crazy there are not more teams wanting him for the playoff run.

Nori Aoki's Walk-up Song - Mike Vassallo, the Senior Director of Media Relations, is a big WWE fan. He talks about it from time-to-time on Twitter when not talking about the Brewers. He is a big fan of Fandango whom has an extremely catchy theme music. It is now Aoki's walk-up music. Love it.



Jim Henderson - After the Milwaukee Brewers traded away Francisco Rodriguez, they had a void at the closer position. People wondered whether it would be Henderson or John Axford. Ron Roenicke said it would be a closer tag team and it started with Henderson. He pitched well in the two appearances against San Diego this week.  

Lowlights
Juan Francisco - I promise I will leave Francisco off the next one as he was a highlight and now a lowlight, but this one has to do with his overall performance this week after being told he will be the primary starter at first base. In his last eight games, Francisco has six games where he had more than one strikeout. He needs to be a little more discipline at the plate. I like Francisco and could see him having a future with this team, but he needs to hit better with runners in scoring position.

Lohse & Gallardo Trade Value - FOX Sports Ken Rosenthal reported both players will likely not be going anywhere. Every indication says both of them are safe from leaving. The Lohse one does not make sense because he could be real valuable to a lot of teams right now and I believe if the Brewers could take some money from Lohse's deal, they could get some big time prospects. The Gallardo one does only because he's been awful in the last month.

Mike Gonzalez - Just leave the team. There is no reason for you.

Jean Segura Hitting Third - Another one of Roenicke's moves this week is saying Segura would be hitting third for the rest of the year.  This has not been going well at all.  Segura went 0-13 in the last three games all hitting from the third hole. Maybe it is a good idea to move him back to the second spot in the order? or something else?

Charlie.

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