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 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.

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.

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?

One Down, Three to Go

The Brewers pulled off a tough win last night at Sun Life Stadium against Ricky Nolasco and the Marlins. I was on the road in Wisconsin at the time and when I finally found decent reception of the game on the radio I heard that Yuniesky Betancourt was leading off the ninth inning while the Brewers trailed by one. When he reached base I thought, hey, maybe the bottom of the order might do something here. Through the still choppy signal, I barely made out that Ryan Braun had stepped to the plate as a pinch hitter, and I remembered that he wasn't in the lineup yesterday to give his shoulder some extra rest. My radio signal became stronger just in time, allowing me to enjoy Bob Ueker's signature "get up, get up, get outta here, gone!" as Braun quickly crushed what turned out to be a game-winning two-run home run. My wife and I shared a high five as we couldn't quite believe that Braunie came off the bench and again stepped up in the clutch.

John Axford hurriedly warmed up and entered the bottom of the ninth seeking his fourteenth save of the year. He certainly made it interesting, loading the bases on three walks (one intentional to Mike Stanton) before striking out Brett Hayes to end the game.

Ryan Braun is Awesome

I fully intended to write about Gallardo's struggles today, only to find that at least two other bloggers had already done so by the time I woke up. So, seeing as how Ryan Braun successfully reached base yesterday for the 24th consecutive game, breaking Robin Yount's Brewers record for the longest streak to start a season, I thought I would instead write about the awesomeness of Ryan Braun. He just hasn't been in the news much lately and needs a bit more coverage. What a better place to provide some than my humble blog!

Brewers Host Reds After Taking Two of Three From Astros

The Brewers won their series against the Astros yesterday led by another strong start by Randy Wolf (8 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 4 K, 1 HR). It's a good thing they won, because many of us would have been pretty mad if they lost the series after bungling Saturday's game. I was at Saturday's game with a group of friends and family. It was actually a pretty exciting game, and we had a great time. Yes, the 8th inning was a circus act (much thanks to Jaymes Langrehr at the Brewers Bar for this awesome version of it). It was definitely a game of wasted opportunities, but I was sure excited when Braun scored off of Prince's double in the bottom of the ninth, and it was great to see Axford pitch a clean inning for the first time this year. (I snagged a picture of Prince swinging for that hit, included in this post. The ball hasn't reached him yet and can be seen just above the third base line.)

Brewers Secure Series Win in Philly, Move Into First Place

Brandon Kinztler earned his first Major League win on Monday

After dropping three straight to the Nationals this weekend the Brewers won the first two games of their series in Philadelphia against the NL East leading Phillies. Combined with a Reds loss to the Diamondbacks, the win puts the Brewers in first place for the first time this season (shared with Cincinnati). The Nationals entered this weekend's series with a record of 5-7 while the Phillies were sitting at 10-4 before Monday's contest. The assumption before the road trip began was that the Brewers should be able to win series against the Pirates (which they did) and the Nationals (needless to say, they didn't), and would probably only win one while facing the Phillies and dual-aces Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee. Baseball is an unpredictable sport, and one thing is certain about the 2011 Brewers: like any team, they're going to have their ups and downs, but when they play well, they are a force to be reckoned with.

What a Difference a Week Can Make

I've been busy the last few days and haven't had time to post. I'm glad to be back at it today, but with everything that's gone on over the past week that also means that this will be a long one. Bear with me, though; there's a lot of good stuff in here that will make you feel great about the Brewers.

Last Tuesday Brewer fans found themselves lamenting an 0-4 start with their team facing the tough Atlanta Braves for three more games. Yovani Gallardo took the ball that day, put the team on his shoulders, and delivered a two-hit complete game shutout in which he also scored the Brewers' only run. That game started a stretch by the Brewers that left them 5-2 on the home stand and 5-5 overall, moving them back to .500 quicker than even the most optimistic Brewer fans likely hoped.

Yovani Gallardo Beats Braves

Brewers fans witnessed a classic performance by 25-year-old ace Yovani Gallardo on Tuesday vs the Braves. With the Brewers facing a potential 0-5 start to the season, Gallardo put his team on his shoulders and went the distance to end the streak at four. Pitching a complete game, two-hit shutout, Gallardo allowed two walks and faced only one batter over the minimum. No Brave reached second base safely, the closest being Dan Uggla, tagged out by Rickie Weeks after sliding past the bag while stealing second. Even more impressively, Gallardo gathered only two strikeouts in the game while inducing 16 groundouts, two of which led to double plays.

Brewers Bats Begin Season With a Bang, Axford Blows Save With Walk-off Home Run

The Brewers began their season with a bang today as Rickie Weeks and Carlos Gomez led off with back-to-back home runs. Ryan Braun hit a solo shot in the fifth and went 2-3 with two walks for the day. Despite Yovani Gallardo's quality start (7 H, 3 BB, 4 K, 2 ER) the Brewers couldn't grab the win in the Reds' home opener.

Ryan Braun Oozes Confidence; That's Just Fine With Ron Roenicke

When asked about his tweaked intercostal muscle this weekend, Ryan Braun provided some classic Braunie-style quotes: "It's nothing at all. I could have played [Saturday] but there's no sense in it. Honestly, I feel better than I've ever felt in my life, so I don't really need at-bats right now." The three-time All-star and Silver Slugger recipient has never shied away from expressing confidence in his abilities, but his statements this weekend went even a bit further than usual.

John Axford to Make His 2011 Debut Today vs San Francisco

The Brewers play the San Francisco Giants for the second time this spring today at 2:05 CST. Tim Dillard leads a pitching staff that will include appearances by some of the team's best bullpen arms of 2010, including closer John Axford, whose debut was delayed by a bout of food poisoning at the beginning of camp. Axford tweeted this morning that he's "SUPER PUMPED" for his first Cactus League appearance.

Brewers Baseball Is Here!

The Brewers began Cactus League play on Monday, splitting their split squad games against the Cubs (W, 5-3) and Giants (L, 10-9). Shaun Marcum looked sharp starting vs the Giants, retiring the first four in a row while throwing only fastballs and changeups for the day. He threw 16 of his 17 pitches for strikes and said he "accomplished what [he] wanted to get accomplished."

Still More Pics From Spring Training

Here's another set courtesy of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Marcum Discusses Brewers Rotation

Today Shaun Marcum spoke with MLB Network about the Brewers rotation and his approach on the mound. Here is a link to the short video, and below are pictures from this past weekend courtesy of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Braun Attends Bucks Game With Little-Known Football Player

While in town for "Brewers On Deck", Ryan Braun attended Saturday night's Bucks game with a football player named Aaron Rodgers (pictured above, to Braun's right). Apparently the two became friends over the past several years. I've never heard of him so he's probably only famous because he's friends with Braun. When asked if he planned to attend Rodgers' football game next weekend (did anyone else find it odd that they kept talking about football with Spring Training right around the corner?), Braun said he most likely would not as he did not want to miss any workouts this close to Spring Training. Braun has been working out near his California home with one of Major League Baseball's known fitness nuts, none other than former Brewer Gabe Kapler.