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.

Read More

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.

Read More

Cheer for Brewers players, not wins in September

2013 has not been kind to the Milwaukee Brewers.  They have one of the worst records in Major League Baseball. Their star player is the mortal enemy number one in cites and states not named Milwaukee or Wisconsin.  The Brewers have more injuries than a M.A.S.H. unit and they cannot find one person to play first base even at a competent level. Thankfully, the season is over this month and the team can start looking forward to the 2014 season trying to compete in what figures to be a brutal division for the next couple of years.

Many people would ask 'Why would I watch this baseball team for the next coming weeks when I can forget about them like I usually do in the final month of the Bucks season?' Well the hope should be there is progress on the field with the young players, but they should not win any games.  Does that make any sense? No, but it is the hope for the following season.  

The baby Brewers as some call them have been encouraging in the last couple of months. Khris Davis and Scooter Gennett both are playing well enough to make many believe they should be on the roster in 2014. It is okay to get irrationally excited about these two players although it should be noted teams tend to catch up on these players as they continue to play in Major League Baseball. Davis and Gennett had massive Augusts and if they have another big month, they might be considered for a starting role especially Gennett.

This is the time where I apologize for my slighting of Gennett early on this season. It is not that I disliked him, I disliked the notion he would be an upgrade to Rickie Weeks. I still believe Scooter will come back down to earth and not provide the same offense Weeks has shown throughout the years.  I personally do not think anyone will take Weeks' contract from the Brewers. There is no real reason for me to believe someone will actually want him for 12 million dollars a year. If Weeks plays a platoon next year with Gennett, and excels maybe a team gets interested in him come June. But the one concern I have with Gennett v. Weeks is the majority of the fanbase is going to ridicule Weeks making him Milwaukee's least favorite player although they do that already with him.

It is hard to argue with Gennett's numbers and defense but I am going to at least make an attempt to fan some of the flames for the notion of Scooter being the second base of the future.  He has not hit a home run at Miller Park. His homers this season have came at Great American Ballpark, Arlington Stadium and SAFECO Field.  SAFECO is the only one where we can be impressed and Gennett is not known for power yet still the Brewers have lost some power from the second base position.  Even though Gennett hit a dazzling .423, he only had a .452 OBP.  He is not getting on-base as much as he probably should if he is hitting the ball that way.  .452 is an insanely high OBP but to only be thirty points higher than the average is worth noting that is not as stunning as others may make it out to be.

The Brewers outfield is absolutely loaded. Ryan Braun will be back next year, Carlos Gomez will be as good of a player as he has ever been, and Nori Aoki is still a competent right fielder. Now add Khris Davis to the equation and Milwaukee has a strong outfield.  Davis had a huge August hitting six home runs and having 12 of his 23 hits being extra-base hits. The other thing that deserves some mention is Davis only struck out 12 times in August and for a guy with Davis' power plus his young age, this is impressive at least to me.

 The biggest problem with Davis moving forward is his defense makes him sort of a liability.  He cannot technically play any other position than left field plus I have no idea if he can be a full-time starter in the major leagues just yet. I drove the Aoki trade bandwagon, but for his value and price, the Brewers should keep him for another year at least until the month of June. Unless they are convinced, Braun can play right field which I do not think he has the arm for it, Aoki should be the option. Davis will make an excellent fourth outfielder for the 2014 season. Having a loaded bench makes teams in playoff contenders, and from the looks of it, the Brewers might have it.

While the hope is these young players develop nicely, the hope is for the Brewers to have a brutal September. That's right I said it. They are off to a good start losing their last four games.  It does not get talked about as much as it does in the NBA or NFL, but there is an upcoming MLB Draft coming up in June. The difference from picking fifth and ninth is just as big as it is in any other league. The Brewers being unsuccessful in September means their draft pick is higher next year.  Additionally, everyone believes Milwaukee has enough money to sign their draft whomever it may be next season.  

It is always a bummer to see Miller Park turn off its lights at the end of September, something tells me a lot of Brewer fans will be looking forward to not having to think about the 2013 team and hope the season was just a blip on the radar.

Charlie.  

Read More

Highlights & Lowlights of the Brewers' Week.

Usually we break down just one series, but since the Brewers had one two-game, I thought we would wrap up the entire week. If you are looking for Braun stuff, I will probably end up writing something on him come tomorrow.   

Highlights
Johnathan Lucroy - The Brewers catcher had hit safely in six straight games, but he saved his best for the sixth one. Lucroy went 4 for 5 with three RBI's and one big home run. The homer came off Aroldis Chapman in the ninth inning to win the game for the Brewers. The celebration really felt like these players were happy for Luc and I am starting to buy into the idea he is the 'captain' of this ball team.  Doug Melvin deserves a ton of credit for locking this guy up early on in his career, turned out be stellar value.

Yovani Gallardo - Wow, what a comeback for Brewers supposed ace on Saturday night. He completely shut down the Reds going sixth and a third innings with three hits allowed, three strikeouts, no runs and only 82 pitches thrown. The last one is the most important. If Yo can find a way to be efficient again and go after batters, the Brewers might really have something moving forward next season.

Khris Davis - What a tear Davis has been on lately. He has six home runs since his call-up in mid-July and Davis is hitting safely in his last five games.  The Brewers rookie vaulted his average to .305.  I am not sure if Davis could be a full-time starter in the major leagues. He definitely has to work on his fielding in left to be considered for the part. The Brewers outfield is already crowded but Davis could be a valuable fourth outfielder for the team next season.

Scooter Gennett - Yes Scooter continued his rampage in Texas with two home runs and some great defensive work on Wednesday night. He had the night off on Thursday night, but Gennett picked up where he left off this weekend, with hits in each of his starts plus a double on Sunday afternoon. I am not a believer by any means, but the Rickie Weeks Hate Club is getting stronger every time Scooter finds his way on-base.

Lowlights
Cincinnati Reds announcers - So this is pretty pathetic. On Friday night, the Reds broadcast team goes completely silent when Lucroy hits his walk-off. Not heard on this clip, the Reds color commentator said this about Lucroy via Grantland's Jonah Keri

Color commentator accused Lucroy of stealing signs, because how could he have possibly hit Chapman. Kid you not. RT @fredj @me Any tears?
— Jonah Keri (@jonahkeri) August 17, 2013

OH NO OUR PRECIOUS AROLDIS!!!! NO ONE HOMERS OFF OF HIM AND THE BREWERS HAVE BRAUN SO THEY MUST ALL BE CHEATERS.  Note: He did not say the following, but I assume this is his convoluted thought process.

Wily Peralta - Bad Wily came out to play on Sunday afternoon. I really do not get upset at it anymore. It is like your drinking buddy whom you always have fun with but there are those times where he or she just goes overboard making you question why they are your friend, that's bad Wily Peralta for me. Yes I know that's as convoluted as my statement above, whatever, it's Monday.  

Aaron Rodgers Brewers Jerseys - I use to say the customized jersey was the worst thing for a grown man to wear but now I am going with this one. What a chump. Who on earth thinks that would be a good idea?  What a complete assclown. Yes, I did see this person on Brady on Saturday night and nearly punched him in the larynx.

Mike Gonzalez's Wednesday - Just leave this ball team.

Charlie.

Read More

Cincinnati Reds vs. Milwaukee Brewers (8/15-8/18)

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. 

Probable Pitchers & TV Times

Thursday: Tony Cingrani (5-2 2.87) v. Kyle Lohse (8-7 3.26) 7:10 pm FSNWI

Friday:     Mike Leake (10-5 2.86) v. Tom Gorzelanny (3-4 2.51) 7:10 pm FSNWI 

Saturday: Mat Latos (12-3 3.04) v. Yovani Gallardo (8-9 4.91) 6:10 pm FSNWI

Sunday:   Homer Bailey (7-10 3.81) v. Wily Peralta (8-12 4.30) 1:10 pm FSNWI

5 Things to Watch 

1.) Brewers on my Birthday - Because I have no life, I spent some time figuring out how the Brewers do on my birthday (Today), they are 8-14 and three of those wins came in my first three years of existence. They are typically pretty bad on my day of birth, let's hope today is different. Last year was a brutal bullpen loss against Colorado, a team whom the Brewers have played multiple times on my birthday.

2.) Reds are red hot - It is okay if I use one pun a post, right guys?  The Reds have found themselves winning ball games again and they are starting to creep back into the race for the National League Central. Starting play today, the Reds are 3.5 games back of the leading Pittsburgh Pirates, but they are 5.5 games ahead in the second Wild Card spot. At least right now, it seems like a given the NL Central is getting three teams into the playoffs. Cincinnati is doing it more with pitching and still banging the baseball around now and again.

3.) Pitcher duel weekend? - The Brewers are probably up against it this weekend. Three of the four Reds starters have an ERA either under three or right at three and then the other one already has a no-hitter under his belt for 2013. Mat Latos is probably pitching the best for the Reds this season overall. I would definitely consider him the ace of this staff.  Naturally, the Brewers usually struggle against him. The only one in the four they hit well is Homer Bailey.

4.) The return of Yovani - After nearly a month of the disabled list, Yovani Gallardo will be making a start in August. He had a horrible July and looks to try to build some momentum into the 2014 season. Yo pitched well against the Reds earlier this season and pitching at home always helps easing a pitcher back into the rotation. I doubt he will pitch his usual count; my assumption would be he will be on a strict limit and then the Brewers move to the bullpen.

5.) SnoTap Scooter watch - I finally said on Twitter, I believed Scooter Gennett is trolling me. The guy played his ass off in the two Texas games with a multi-homer game on Tuesday night, and then did all of the little things with the bat and glove on Wednesday night. He faces the home crowd again along with some stiff competition. Knowing how things are going for Scooter, he will hit a walk off grand slam this weekend.

Prediction
Eh. I would love to say the Brewers could find a split here with the way they are playing, but the Crew struggles against the Fightin' Jay Bruce's usually. I feel like they will get a game here, hopefully tonight on my birthday.

Charlie. 

Read More

Milwaukee Brewers-Texas Rangers Preview (8/13-8/14)

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. 

Probable Pitchers and TV Times
Tuesday:      Marco Estrada (4-4 4.96) v. Alexi Ogando (5-3 3.28) 7:05 pm FSNWI
Wednesday: Tyler Thornburg (1-0 1.72) v. Matt Garza (2-1 3.38) 7:05 pm FSNWI

Five Things to Watch
1.) What the hell are the Brewers doing with Thorny? - I thought we were done with Thornburg as a starter, but it appears the Brewers are trotting him out for another start. My assumption is Yovani Gallardo is not quite ready to go and they want to go with their best pitcher not in the rotation. My buddy Eric talked about his annoyance with how the Brewers have managed Thornburg and I am starting to feel the same way. Texas will be his toughest test yet. I am still rooting for him.

2.) Red hot Rangers - The Rangers have won eight straight games and won the last nine of ten making a blazing impact on the AL West race as well as the American League standings. They are benefiting off having a weak schedule in the past week facing the Los Angeles Angels and the Houston Astros and now getting the Brewers. That's like having three straight open-book exams.  Although the Crew has pitched better in the month having a team ERA for starters at 2.37 and playing generally better, but Milwaukee is not facing world-beaters either.

3.) Hello old, misogynistic friend - Matt Garza is pitching well since getting traded to the Rangers from the Chicago Cubs although he seems to run the same circles as Don Draper.  He also tends to pitch well against the Brewers having a 2.66 ERA in seven starts against the Crew. It is hard to remember a time when the Brewers got to Garza pretty good. Hopefully no one decides to bunt against Garza leading him to call out their wife or significant other.  

4.) SnoTap's Scooter watch - Even though it is two games, I will still be keeping an eye on how Scooter Gennett does against two solid pitchers. It is not like I want Gennett to fail, rather I am more than interested to see how he does with regular starting time, something people have pleaded for in the last couple of months.  If you are curious when I will eat crow about him, it will probably be May of 2014.

5.) Glad it's not Yu - First of all, what an awful pun. Big shoutout to the MLB schedule, the Rangers rotation and everyone else who made it possible for Yu Darvish to start on Monday instead of Tuesday.  The Brewers facing King Felix then Darvish would have been impossible.  

Music from Texas? Uh..Dallas? Arlington?


Probably our hardest music one because Texas is way too big so we reduce it to Dallas area.  With that, we found a lot of popular artists from the Dallas area and decided to go with Meat Loaf. Why? I have no idea honestly. One of the forgotten guys in music.  

Rangers Twitter follow
Lana Berry is one of my 2013 MLB Twitter follows. She claims not to be funny in her Twitter bio but I tend to find her funny then again I won worst jokes in high school so the bar is probably pretty low for me.

Charlie.

Read More

Highlights & Lowlights: Brewers at Mariners (8/9 - 8/11)

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 - If you have follow along this whole season, I have been pretty adamant against the idea Scooter should replace Rickie Weeks. I felt like Gennett's skillset did not really vault him ahead of Weeks and people were just throwing shit to the wall about him because they would like Weeks out of Milwaukee. Naturally, his first starting series featured a three-run homer, a multi-hit game and a single off Felix Hernandez late in the game.  He had a very good series, but let's remember, this is a small sample size and who knows what will happen in the coming weeks.

Tom Gorzelanny - Pretty crazy year for T-Gorz. He came to the team expecting to be a bridge guy for the Brewers where he could probably pitch in either the 7th or 8th inning and now he has turned into a pretty good starter for the team. Who knows when regression will slap him in the face, but let's hope it is before the season ends because I do not like the idea of him being a starter for the team in 2014.

Roenicke's ejection - LOVED IT. I want to see more of it. I realize Roenicke is not that type of manager but he should just get thrown out at least one game every month. I cannot explain why it fires me up so much but it does in a big way. Maybe it is because I feel like being angry like that once in awhile shows you truly give a shit about the profession.

Felix Hernandez - First time I watched King Felix against the team I rooted for and he was dominant. Hernandez went eight innings with nine strikeouts, gave up five hits and did not allow a run. Martin Maldonado said he was the best right-handed pitcher he has ever faced and that is all you really to know how good Hernandez was on Sunday. I hope he gets to be involved in a playoff chase at some point soon.

The Brewers score 20 runs in two games - Pretty incredible effort by the entire offense this weekend. They were doing all the little things like actually driving in runners when they were in scoring position and getting extra-base hits.  Yuniesky Betancourt hitting a grand slam is such a Yuni B thing to do. He will probably be in the lineup four times next week.

Lowlights
Defensive Girlfriends - We are at the bar on Saturday and away from the television for a bit.  I approach a man watching the game and asked him how the Brewers scored their runs... His girlfriend absolutely freaks out on us and goes 'HE'S FROM SAUDI ARBIA AND DOES NOT KNOW BASEBALL, LEAVE HIM ALONE.'  First, I tell this woman to relax and then apologize to the dude. Look I know your man is from another country and that's so whimsical but I just wanted to know the Brewers had 10 runs in the game. Relax psycho.

This would be the spot where I complain about the Brewers but I have nothing to bitch about for these series. They scored 10 runs in two games and they got shut down by a Cy Young candidate. Everyone played well. I can only assume it will be different after the Texas and Cincinnati this week.

Charlie.

Read More