Another close win for the Brewers tonight 1-0 over the Braves.

This is the second close win at home in as many days.

It is nice to see the Brewers dig deep and grit it out. It is going to be a tough home stand, it would be nice if these two first games set the pace.

Washed-up ex Red Sox and Cubs pitcher Julian Tavarez signed with the Brewers on Sunday. After passing his physical he will likely replace Seth McClung or Dave Bush in our starting rotation.

Talk about pulling guys from the scrap heap- Tavarez has an ERA over 6.something, similar to most of our starters. He's been around more than Heidi Fleiss and has a major attitude problem. He's known for throwing at batters after giving up home runs or consecutive hits. He can get a little razzed on the mound (ala Zambrano-style) and takes it out on hitters. Who knows maybe all we need is a bench-clearing brawl to getting our lackluster team rolling.

 Sunday marked the one-year anniversary of Ryan Braun's Major League debut. In the 161 games he's played since, he ranks second among Major League players with 47 home runs, including 13 this season

Russell "the Muscle" Branyan is back with the Brewers. He will platoon with Billy Hall at 3rd base. Hall can't hit right-handed pitchers and Branyan is tearing it up at AAA Nashville. Also, Hall's defense has been shaky lately- he had 2 errors in the 9th inning the other day.
I still think he's a pretty good defensive 3rd baseman but we need more production and consistency from him behind the plate. The majority of major league pitchers are right-handed and that doesn't bode well for Billy Hall & the Brewers.

   Tony Gwynn Jr was sent down to the minors to make room for the "muscle". Ned said he wants to keep Jr sharp and doesn't want him riding the bench every day. He said there are plans for Tony in the Brewers future. I don't think TG Jr was ever going to see much action in the field or more than 5 at-bats a week for the rest of the season. So keep his skills honed in the minors. Next season, Mike Cameron will be gone, Corey Hart will shift to center field and Tony Jr will start in right field. If this is not the Brewers plan for '09 then we should trade Tony as soon as possible to help out our current situation.

Dave Bush - Not a good starting pitcher. I say give Jeff Weaver a try. Anyone know Weaver's minor league stats for Nashville?

After his last outing of only 4 innings against the Red Sox and his ERA hovering near 7., Yost informed Carlos Villanueva he would be removed from the #4 starter role. Lucky for Villa, we have Seth McClung to take on that role and Carlos can stay with the big league club as a long reliever. 

However, if this switch doesn't work out and McClung struggles as well, expect to see Jeff Weaver brought up from AAA.

What I find funny in all this is the double-standard Ned Yost manages by. He refuses to shift the batting order around and move struggling players (Weeks, Cameron, Hall, etc.) because he wants to maintain consistent roles for his guys. On the other hand, our pitching is an absolute chaotic mess of constant shifting, demotion, promotion, etc.: 
Bush was sent to minors then recalled when Gallardo got hurt (again)
Turnbow was sent to minors to find himself and Joe Dillon got recalled
Gagne was removed from closer's role and re-installed a day & a half later. Mota blew one in his absence.
David Riske got hurt and Mike DeFelice was promoted from minors (after 10 years with no big league experience)
Mitch Stetter forgot how to throw stikes, was demoted and Zach Jackson was called up (Additional note on Jackson: he was a starter in Spring Training and AAA but is now a long reliever).
And McClung switched spots with Villanueva for our #4 starting role.

And, we've only played 45 games, with this much pitching turmoil. Yet Rickie Weeks stays as our lead-off man?! We've got 3 every day starters batting below .200 = Weeks, Cameron and Hall and 2 starters below .240 = Fielder and Hardy. Our core of Braun, Hart and Kendall cannot sustain us. Thus, LAST PLACE.

The Brewers dropped all three in Boston over the weekend, extending their loosing streak to 5 in a row.

This is not how the season was supposed to turn out. As Adam mentioned, the Brewers are in last place, and I really thought this team would win the Central. I used to think that the Brewers were slumping, or that their bats needed to get hot, and they would be right back in the thick of the central. Now I am not so sure.

There were a few good things to take away from the Boston series. The Brewers played them pretty tight all three games, and Boston is the World Champion team. Braun hit 2 homers in one game off one of the better pitchers in the game, and, well, no one got hurt.

In fact, you could almost say that about the whole Brewers season so far. They have played teams pretty tight, they have gone toe to toe with a lot of good teams, they just can't get over the hump. The Brewers can't seem to "click". It is what I was talking about with one step forward, one step back. If Braun is hot, Fielder can't catch a ball. If Kendall is hot, Weeks can't get on base. If Weeks is hot, well, if the starting rotation is pitching great, the bats are no where to be found. I mean, with the exception of the Cubs game, I don't think the Brewers have really gotten blown out of any games this year.

For a while it seemed like all the Brewers had to do was come together at the same time, and this team would go on a tear. Now I am not sure that will ever happen. At least if the Brewers do finally gel, it will be at the right time of the season.

Update:
Ryan has a post saying Yost is Fired. I would agree with that call. It seems like a team not gelling would have to fall on the shoulders of the manager, and that he would be responsible for getting them to "click". I like Yost as a manager, but it doesn't seem like he is getting it done, at least as far as team chemistry.

More:
Tom Haudricourt has an article where they quote Ryan Braun as saying "We didn't expect to win". That kind of sums up the team attitude I was trying to capture here.

Finally:
It looks like Yost was not fired. The Brewers are going to have to bounce back for him to keep his job though.

   Look for the end of an era today. By the end of the Brewers off day in Pittsburg I think the Brewers will have a new manager. Some internet chatter has been pointing to the recent Brewers slide as the right time to pull the plug on the Yost era. The time seems right if it's going to happen at all. I have been a fan of Yost thus far, but the time to win is now. The team has been playing like crap and a change is needed, a big change, an attitude change, and that starts at the top. I don't think bringing Russell the muscle Branyan up from thew minors is going to turn this team around, and you can't just demote the entire starting lineup. So it looks to me like Yost will be gone and probably replaced by Ted Simmons. Make the change, boys start swinging your bats, and let's win some ball games.

 

 

 

Brewers stink on the road!! Again!! Rickie Weeks batting .187, Mike Cameron striking out every other at-bat, Ryan Braun-thank you!, Prince Fielder no longer All-Star material, Bill Hall striking out every other at bat, demoted in line-up and hitting about .100 against righties, Corey Hart consistent but nobody on base to drive in, JJ Hardy a mediocre hitter with great fielding and Jason Kendall has come back down to earth as expected.

Talk about streaky pitching. After all 5 starters posted decent outings last week, this week our sub-par rotation has been revealed on national television. Apparently, Saturday's game against the Red Sox was broadcast to 72% of the nation. People were probably wondering how a guy like Suppan could be a #2 starter! Myself included.

Alas, our once solid corps of relievers has also taken a turn down Crap Creek. Starting with the ineptitude of Gagne, the familiar collapse of Mota (ask Mets fans), the inability of Mitch Stetter to find the strike zone (7 walks against 11 batters) and subsequent demotion to AAA, the loss of David Riske with elbow problems (bet this will be a problem for him all year), the promotion of Mike DeFelice who has spent 11 years as a minor leaguer and apparently is now good enough (he did have 28 strikeouts to 3 walks at AAA Nashville. Nice!), and the promotion of Zach Jackson who was a starter and has been converted to long relief. 

Our situation is very similar to last year's already. With poor starting pitching our bullpen will be over-used and guys like McClung, Shouse and Torres will be spent and exhausted by the All-Star break. 

Sorry to be so negative but our Brewers are in last place, and the Cubs don't show any signs of slowing down. We're only 6 games back on May 18th, but as Brew Crew Hugh stated, this is NOT a playoff team

Apparently Mark Attanasio has given the "go-ahead" to Doug Melvin to look for additional pitching. With Riske taking himself out of the game last night with a hyper-extended elbow, the Crew is short on relief pitching.

Manny Parra pitched great last night: only 1 earned run (2 more runs caused by poor fielding from Fielder & Braun). So, we've had pretty good outings from all 5 starters this week. Our rotation seems set for a while. Let's hope that holds up on the 9-game road trip starting tomorrow.

We will now be looking for another reliever to fill in for Riske. As previously stated, we may be looking to package a minor leaguer with draft picks or, thanks to Attanasio, put some cold hard cash down to pick up a pitcher.

By the way, the Cubs picked up Jim Edmonds for about 50 bucks to shore up their outfield defense and take time from Felix Pie and the fragile Alfonso Soriano.

Another sad note, Bill Hall and Mike Cameron combined for 8 strikeouts last night. Look for Cameron to switch batting order spots with J.J. Hardy soon.

With Gallardo out, and Turbow out, and Gagne riding the bench, the Brewers pitching looks to be the weak spot of the team.

If the Brewers continue the small hot streak they are on, they will be right back near the top of the Central. At that time, they might start shopping around for another pitcher. (Starter, refeif, or closer, there are many combinations that would work.)

As Gwynn showed in the Cardinals series, the Brewers have a lot of talent on the bench. Who will get traded for pitching sometime this season?

Well, it's official, Eric Gagne is a bust. Our 10 million dollar man is now just one of many Brewers relievers. One day after Jason Isringhausen was demoted from the Cardinals closing role, Ned Yost and Doug Melvin followed suit with Gagne. Brian Shouse was the 1st replacement and pulled out his first save (although he did allow a runner to score- already on base via Salomon Torres).

To tell you the truth, I don't care who closes, as long as that pitcher is reliable with well located pitches or is able to depend on our defense thru ground balls. A closer shouldn't go out there and nibble at corners, like Gagne, and then serve some right down the middle when he gets behind in the count. Gagne may have been a dominant closer in the past, but his fastball is nothing special at 88 to 91 mph and his change-up is easily recognized.

So let Gagne get a breather and work things out with Mike Maddux, an excellent pitching coach. Apparently, Ned, Doug and Mike have noticed something in Eric's delivery that is causing him (and the Brewers) problems.

 Well, go work on that and we've got plenty of reliable veteran relievers. In fact, our bullpen (minus Gagne) is the best thing the Brewers have going right now. We've got Saloman Torres, David Riske, Guillermo Mota, Brian Shouse, Mitch Stetter and Seth McClung. The first 3 have considerable closing experience.

 Doug Melvin knew Gagne was a risk, albeit a very expensive one, but assembled a good committee to close games for the Crew. Now get some hits Brewers so we can continue needing a closer to pull out wins!

How's that view from the Reds bench, Francisco Cordero?

We've gotta finish this series with the Marlins (who have won 3 outta 4 so far this season), then face the Cardinals (who are stretching out their lead in N.L. Central), then the LA Dodgers (who have won 8 or 9 of their last 10 games) and finally the Boston Red Sox, the reigning World Champs, at Fenway Park. Damn and we're at 16 wins and 16 losses right now. We gotta hang in there.

After all those tough games, we do get a day off on May 19th. Then we play the Pittsburgh Pirates for 3 and Washington Nationals for 4. That sounds good but those games are on the road.

With the exception of facing Arizona and Colorado in the first week, June looks to be a much easier month for the Crew!

One reassuring thing about the Crew is our unbelievable depth of starting pitchers. That is something every playoff team needs and we got it in spades.

If Bush, Villanueva or Parra continue to struggle, our AAA team is stocked with veteran starters. We've got Jeff Weaver, Chris Narveson, Zach Jackson, Mike DeFelice and whoever else we pick up in trade for Turnbow. (Believe it or not, Doug Melvin said he's received calls from teams interested in Turnbow. Bye Derrick, thanks for the good times).

So no worries, our offense is still not firing on all cylinders. Rickie is due to get hot, Cameron is just warming up, Braun is on fire, Prince starting to snack on jerky (still tofu jerky, but it's a good step forward), Corey Hart is Mr. Consistent, Billy Hall is starting to really see the ball (he's got 7 home runs and 20 RBIs), J.J. is still looking for good pitches to hit and Kendall is one of the best Brewer acquisitions of all time!

We've got 5 full months left and over 130 games to go. Don't forget, in September, we can expand our roster to 40 players (from 25). We've got a backload of talent and it'll take us straight into October.

Get well Yovani!

That was the Brewers theme yesterday, and it is starting to feel like the theme for the year.

Yesterday we heard of a positive step in the morning, Joe Dillon was returning to the team and Turnbow was going away. A nice positive step, adding a player who can contribute while getting rid of someone who can't help at all anymore. Then, after that bit of news we heard Yovani Gallardo was probably out for the year with a torn ACL in his right knee.

The only thing that took a little of the sting out of the Gallardo loss was the fact that the Brewers just took the series against the Cubs, the Cubs and Cardinals were going to beat up on each other for a bit, and we were finally heading to a team with a loosing record, the Astros. The opening game looked good, the Brewers were up 4-0 after 4 1/2, but then Villanueva gave up 4 home runs in two innings on the way to a 7-4 Brewers loss.

That feels like the Brewers season so far. They are struggling to stay in place. At some time it would be nice to see them come together and take a positive step forward without taking a step back.

According to mlb.com, Joe Dillon's bags are packed and he is expected to join the Brewers for their series against Houston.

No word on who will be removed from the team to make room for Dillon, but I would vote for the guy who gave up 6 runs in one inning.

Wait, let me clarify by saying 6 runs in 2/3 innings.

OK fine, I hope later I will be writing, "Derrick Turnbow" released.

As Ryan mentioned, the Brewers Pundit crew headed down to Chicago to see the middle game of a 3 game Brewers vs Cubs series.

The Brewers did not win that game (they lost 19-5). In fact, the Brewers were down 0-3 by the time we had a hotdog and a beer. But, the important thing is the Brewers beat the Cubs 2 out of 3, in Wrigley. That extends the Brewers lead on the season to 4-2. The Cubs are still up a game overall on the Brewers, but taking 4 of 6 from them at home is a great start on the season. (And it is a needed start, this year we play 9 at Chicago while they only come up here for 7 games.)

April was a little rough for the Brewers, but they came out of it ok. The Brewers are finding their footing, and they are in the hunt for first in the Central. I think most people feel the Brewers can play better baseball, and if they do, the Central is take able for them.

The Cubs travel to first place St. Louis for three while the Brewers go to the Astros. If we can take 2 from the Astros while the Cubs lose two, it's all evened up.