Brewers Must Beat the Cardinals

The Brewers sit in first place with a two game lead over the Cardinals as they open this weekend's series in St Louis. They're 4-5 against them this year, actually a pretty good record considering their overall abysmal results against them since they lost the NLCS to St Louis in 2011 (2012: 6-9, 2013: 5-14). The Pirates sit just another half game behind the Cardinals, but if recent history holds true, Milwaukee's true danger lies south.

If the Brewers want to win the NL Central and make the playoffs while avoiding the Wild Card play-in (crap-shoot) game, they need to improve their results against their most bitter of rivals. The Cardinals made a couple of trades, including the bold move that brought them John Lackey, to strengthen their team before the trade deadline. One has to assume they'll play quality baseball to close the season; their track-record suggests they will. To make it to October the Brewers not only need to be better than they have been over the previous couple of months, they'll need to beat the Cardinals-- preferably often and repeatedly.

Carlos Gomez, Don't You Ever Change

Today's Brewers game against the Braves began with such promise. Carlos Gomez, coming off an MVP-caliber season, swung at the first pitch to open the bottom of the first and laced a ball down the third base line for a hit. He promptly took second on a misplay by Braves' left-fielder Justin Upton. The crowd approved but was suddenly silenced when Gomez inexplicably tried to beat a throw from left field to third base and was thrown out. That's right folks, for a team criticized the last couple of years for a preponderance of TOOTBLANs (baseball nerdery for "Thrown Out On The Bases Like A Nincompoop" -- it's a real thing -- I did not make this up), the first offensive play of the season could not have been more apt.

The excitable style of play that Gomez brings to the field is a big part of his appeal as a player. There are few players in the majors who play with such youthful abandon and seem to enjoy their job as much as he. In this case his opening day excitement got the best of him. Sure, he'll commit more TOOTBLANs than we'd like, but I'll forgive him for it because he's so much fun to watch. Don't you ever change, Carlos Gomez.

Now That May is Over...

This is not a post about the Brewers' recent roster moves, or even the latest garbage journalism to come out of ESPN related to the Biogenesis controversy. Rather, this is an account of where the Brewers stand as of the beginning of June, 2013, a time by which teams tend to have more-or-less settled into their roles within their divisions. Needless to say, the Brewers' role in 2013 is not good.

5 Things to Hope For in a Brewers New Year, Part 5

The thrilling conclusion to my five part series. This one took me longer to get to than I expected. The "new year" theme is a little tired considering it's mid-February, but I figured it's better late than never.

 5. Another exciting year in the outfield

5 Things to Hope For in a Brewers New Year, Part 4

The fourth of five parts.

4. A strong full season from Jean Segura

5 Things to Hope For in a Brewers New Year, Part 3

Part three of five.

 3. An improved bullpen

5 Things to Hope For in a Brewers New Year, Part 2

Part two of five in a series for the new year.

2. A serviceable starting rotation