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

5 Things to Hope For in a Brewers New Year, Part 1

With the new year upon us I've come up with a list of five things, in no particular order, to hope for from the Brewers in 2013. I will serially publish each post over the next week or so.

1. Continuation of last year's offense

Brewers Face Pivotal July

Thus far the 2012 Brewers have underperformed and, aside from stellar performances by Ryan Braun, Norichika Aoki and Zack Greinke, underwhelmed, to say the least. Although at times blame has been placed on the hitters and starting pitchers, the main problem has been the bullpen. Blown leads, blown saves, and altogether shoddy work have been the orders of the day far too frequently, and each reliever has an ERA of at least 4.06. Much of the finger-pointing finds its way toward John Axford, though in my opinion he's still the best available option in the bullpen and should remain the closer for the time being.

Despite the fact that it feels like every other day another game is lost by the bullpen, the Brewers have mostly tread water right around five games below .500. Sporting a losing record for each of the first three months of the season, they sit seven games back of the first place Pittsburgh Pirates(!), six behind the Reds, and 5.5 behind the Cardinals in the NL Central. Many now figure the Brewers to be sellers at the trade deadline and rumors have started to swirl, particularly regarding Zack Greinke.

My Take on Ryan Braun

I felt it important to publish my thoughts on this issue before the regular season begins, even if I'm late to the party. Warning: this is my longest and most thoughtful post yet.

Personally I don't think Ryan Braun is a cheater. He's simply been too consistent over the course of his career, is too smart, and has passed too many drug tests for me to think he increased his performance through performance enhancing drugs last year, or even sought to do so. I do think, though, that he violated MLB's anti-drug policy through abnormal levels of synthetic testosterone.

What Can We Expect of Zack Greinke in 2012?

More than we got in 2011? After joining the team in May last year Greinke put together a pretty solid year for the Brewers. All told he finished with a 16-6 record, 3.83 ERA, 1.2 WHIP, 201 strikeouts and a league-leading 10.5 K/9 while pitching only 171.1 innings over his shortened season. He gave up long balls at a higher rate and underperformed in the postseason but for the most part was the co-ace the Brewers hoped for when they sent a slew of prospects to the Royals in December of 2010.

A Princely Sum

Last year I previewed what I expected to be Prince Fielder's final season in Milwaukee. In that post I said most of what I could possibly say about his career with the Brewers. Basically, he's a very good player, and we've been privileged to have him on our team for as long as he has.

Despite the fact that we knew it would never, could never happen, many Brewers fans held out hope that he might somehow end up back with the Crew this season. A slow-to-develop market for the slugger this offseason didn't help, but any such hopes were finally dashed Tuesday when he signed a $214 million nine-year deal with the Detroit Tigers -- a Princely sum, to say the least. We now must come to terms with the fact that Prince Fielder, a pillar of the Brewers' resurgence over the last five years, will never again wear a Milwaukee uniform.

I want this much money

Let me first say -- it could be worse. A lot worse. He could have signed with the Yankees, Red Sox, or any other large market, big spending team. He could have signed with the Cubs or even the Cardinals after Albert Pujols landed with the Angels. Let me also say -- good for him! Our very own Prince Fielder went and signed the fourth largest contract in MLB history, behind only A-Rod (twice) and Pujols. I somehow knew he would get the deal he was looking for, and just yesterday morning said to a colleague that we shouldn't rule out a mystery team jumping in on him.

Yes, I'm sad to see him go. We knew this day was coming but it's still sad that it's finally here. But we've been spoiled as Brewer fans. We've enjoyed watching MLB's most dynamic and productive hitting duo for the last several years. Prince will probably retain that title now that he's joining Miguel Cabrera in Detroit.

I'll always enjoy watching Prince Fielder and I'll probably keep cheering for him now that he's a Tiger. He's the type of hitter that you think just might hit a home run every time he comes to the plate. His plate discipline has improved steadily over the past few years and he should now be considered one of the best sluggers of his time. Plus, the dude missed one game over the past three seasons and only thirteen in six years! What's not to love about that?

Fare thee well, Prince Fielder. May you continue perform the way we've come to expect and may you end up more worthy of that ridiculous contract than A-Rod and Pujols by the end of theirs!

I will miss that smile

Happy New Year, Brewers Fans!

No, this site has not joined the wealth of abandoned Brewers blogs littered across the net. I took some time off following the season but am looking forward to writing here again in 2012. A lot of Brewers news has occurred this offseason: MLB's leak of Ryan Braun's failed drug test, the ongoing speculation about where Prince Fielder might land, the signing of Aramis Ramirez and the subsequent shipping-off of Casey McGehee to name a few of the top stories. I intend to explore these topics and more, even if I'm incredibly late to the party. I hope my readers will again enjoy visiting Milwaukee Brewin' and I know I will continue to savor writing it. Happy New Year, Brewers fans, and GO BREWERS in 2012!

Reflections on the Brewers Postseason

Yes, the Brewers season ended about as disappointingly as possible, limping through the NLCS and losing to the division rival St. Louis Cardinals in six games. Even worse, the games they lost, aside from Gallardo's start against Carpenter, weren't even close, with a run differential of 10-31. The Cardinals all but destroyed the Brewers' pitching and the Crew's hitters somehow never cracked Tony La Russa's bullpen.

Do or Die For the Wolfman

The Brewers fell to the Cardinals two games to one yesterday after their bats couldn't quite overcome a deficit created by what can only be termed a horrible first inning. Moving on, the Brewers send Randy Wolf to the mound tonight versus Kyle Lohse for game four. Wolf comes off one of his worst starts of the year when he threw three innings of seven run ball in game four of the NLDS. Lohse, on the other hand, has not thrown since game one of the NLDS in which he allowed six runs (five earned) in 5.1 innings.

Your National League MVP

The competition for the NL MVP seemingly comes down to two candidates, with two others receiving honorable mention. Prince Fielder and Justin Upton, in my view, don't quite make the cut. Fielder has the power and RBI numbers, but little else. Upton lags behind the front runners, slightly, in most of the important statistical categories. Ryan Braun and Matt Kemp have been the two most outstanding players in the league with regard to the completeness of their game. They hit for average, they hit for power, they steal bases. They're not the best defenders at their positions, but they hold their own. The question then arises, who most deserves the award?

Rickie Returns

The Brewers enjoyed an incredible run during the month of August and have mostly limped into September with a record of 3-4 to start the month. They owe much of their success over the past month and a half to their pitching staff, who mostly pitched brilliantly over that stretch. It's a good thing they did, too, because the Brewers offense has certainly felt the absence of Rickie Weeks.

A Month to Remember

On July 25th the Brewers sat a half game out of first place, behind co-division leaders Pittsburgh and St. Louis. Needless to say, one month later the picture has changed. The Pirates, as many of us expected, fell completely out of contention in rather quick fashion, while the Cardinals went 13-15 over the next month. The Brewers, meanwhile, won 24 of their next 29 games. The Crew now leads the Cardinals by nine and a half games, and the Pirates have fallen even further, sitting behind the Reds in fourth place at 16 games back.

Playoff Hopes Starting to Come into Focus

The Brewers still have 39 regular season games left, but after winning 18 of their last 20 games and opening a seven game lead in the NL Central, murmurings of the Crew making the playoffs are growing. Granted, of those 39 games they play the Cardinals six times. If the Cardinals sweep both series they would reduce the seven game lead to one. That's highly unlikely, considering how the Brewers have played as of late, along with this season's record between the two, but it's still possible. Indeed, there are still too many games left in the season for me to feel comfortable expecting the Brew Crew to make the postseason, but I'd be lying if I said I hadn't started thinking about the distinct possibility, even probability, that they win the division.

A Bad Time to Lose a Starter

On the heels of last night's extra innings win in St. Louis came news that Brewers' starting pitcher Chris Narveson sliced his hand while attempting to fix his glove with a pair of scissors. He will miss his next start and might land on the DL. Normally a missed start by a team's number five pitcher would not be of much concern because off days usually allow the other starters to move up spot and pitch on regular rest. Indeed, with Monday's off day, that is still possible if Narveson misses only one start.

However, this injury comes on the first day of a stretch where the Brewers play seventeen games in sixteen days, including a double header in Pittsburgh on August 22nd, requiring another starter to step up and fill in for Narveson if he ends up on the DL. With the double header at the end of this stretch the Crew may need to call up a minor league pitcher, such as Mark DiFelice or Mike McClendon, regardless of whether or not Narveson misses more than one start. Narveson's injury shouldn't affect the Brewers too much, but its timing is unfortunate.