Brewers fans were greeted to a 10-6 drubbing by the Colorado Rockies to open the second half of the season. Worse yet, the Cubs won, 6-0 over the Houston Astros, shrinking the Crew's quickly melting lead in the division to 3.5 games. The starting pitching of this team is flat out no longer an assest. The team is 0-9 in Capuano's last 9 starts and his ERA after last night has ballooned to over 5.00.
Coupled with Ned Yost's penchant for managing a team that plays terribly in July, I honestly would not be surprised to see the Brewers looking up at the Cubs by the time the trading deadline rolls around. I have little to zero faith in Ned Yost's ability to manage a game and now without a reliable pitching staff, I'm even more worried. Yost is awful in handling pitchers, leaving them in way too long and rarely, what I would call, "feeling the game." Look no further than the final game before the All-Star break against Washington, leaving Cappy in after being on the bases in the 97-degree heat and then walking the first batter he saw (.049 batting average). Instead of hooking him because the combination of the heat, humidity and pitch count had obviously got to him, he waited until the Brewers 2-1 lead turned into a 7-2 deficit.
I'll say this right now. Yovani Gallardo needs to get back into the starting rotation NOW! I realize they are limitiing his innings so he doesn't have a huge total come the end of the season. Well you know what? They need to get to the playoffs first and the way the starters are pitching of late, they need a major dose of something to turn it around. Get him back into the rotation before this season goes down the tubes.
Sheets takes the ball tonight so it's the best chance the Crew has to get back to 10 W's over .500. Here's hoping for a nice game from Sheeter.
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Thursday, July 12, 2007
On the eve of the second half
Been more than awhile since we've posted on here, but the time is nigh to focus on the Brew Crew, who sit 10 games above .500 and hold a 4.5 game lead on the surging Chicago Cubs at the All-Star break. Despite the Cubs absurd spending in the offseason to get to one game over .500 at the half way point, they remain the biggest threat to the Brew Crew's chances of winning the NL Central crown. That being said, the Brewers as a whole, are a better team. The following are some issues/areas that should be watched carefully as the Crew attempts to reach the postseason for the first time since 1982:
Starting Pitching
Don't look now, but the$42 million dollar man has an ERA of 5.00 with a record of 8-8. Claudio Vargas is 6-2, which has been a most pleasant surprise, but his ERA sits at 4.52 and Chris Capuano is 5-6 with a 4.78 ERA. Everyone's (myself included) goat of the staff in the first half, Dave Bush's ERA is nothing special, 4.86, but it's dropping. Everyone else is heading in the wrong direction. There has been much hub bub about the Brewers having "too many" starting pitchers on the staff which everyone seems to think is a "good problem to have." Unless your last name is Sheets (10-4, 3.41) there's nothing sexy about the first half they put together and when ERA's are rising, Ned and Doug best figure out which pitchers are best suited to be taking the ball every five days if they expect to win the Central. Yovani Gallardo and Carlos Villaneuva both have starter stuff and are in the bullpen, waiting. Manny Parra is a left hander who hits 92-93 on the radar gun and is downright dominating AAA, having already tossed a perfect game.
Part of me agrees that having an overstock of arms at this point of the season is good, because many teams will ship off the organizations top prospects all in the name of renting a starting pitcher to help them reach the post season. The Brewers simply don't need to do that, but they also need to figure out which five pitchers give them the best chance to win every five days. Conventional Wisdom tells you to not mess with a good thing, but how many poor starts are you going to absorb from the likes of Suppan, Bush and Cappy while Gallardo and Villanueva remained sheathed in the pen?
Rickie Weeks
It has become painfully obvious to me that Rickie "Dick" Weeks just ain't right. Either his wrist is a much, much larger problem than apparently anyone is willing to admit or he is quite plainly, a bust. If his wrist is indeed not healed yet, there's no reason he should be playing everyday. A trip to the 60-day DL is what the doctor ordered. If he is healthy, then he simply shouldn't be playing everyday any longer. He has no plate discipline, cannot drive in runners and is comically bad at even attempting to hit a curve ball. Even batting in the 8 hole, he is costing the team and I'd really like to know what he has done in his career as a Brewer to warrant so many chances when the team is in the thick of a playoff push. He's a career .249 hitter with warning track power as a player. He has already cost the team in key situations with his ineptitude at the plate and he has shown no reason to believe he will turn it around. Graffanino and Counsell should be getting the reps at 2B.
Ryan Braun
Can he keep up his torrid pace? Here's one resounding yes. Hitting between two All-Stars makes it difficult for opposing pitchers to avoid him. The Brewers top 4 is as nasty as any in baseball since Braun was called up. One can't help but wonder how many more W's the Crew would have at this point if they hadn't waited until late May to call him up from Nashville.
Ned's Customary Awful Second Half
Remember in 2004 when the Brewers were actually 4 games above .500 at the break? Ned oversaw the worst second half record in all of baseball which put the team in all too familar territory of 70-some wins. They got to .500 in 2005, but needed 161 games to do so. Last year was a wash and I realize injuries had a lot to do with it. Historically, July hasn't been the kindest month for the Brewers and that has me quite scared. The good news is that they open the second half at Miller Park, where they own the best home record in baseball and the Cubs start at Wrigley where they apparently play worse than on the road, maybe that's because the building looks like it's about to fall down.
See you in the newly re-paved Giants Lot, Go Crew!
Starting Pitching
Don't look now, but the$42 million dollar man has an ERA of 5.00 with a record of 8-8. Claudio Vargas is 6-2, which has been a most pleasant surprise, but his ERA sits at 4.52 and Chris Capuano is 5-6 with a 4.78 ERA. Everyone's (myself included) goat of the staff in the first half, Dave Bush's ERA is nothing special, 4.86, but it's dropping. Everyone else is heading in the wrong direction. There has been much hub bub about the Brewers having "too many" starting pitchers on the staff which everyone seems to think is a "good problem to have." Unless your last name is Sheets (10-4, 3.41) there's nothing sexy about the first half they put together and when ERA's are rising, Ned and Doug best figure out which pitchers are best suited to be taking the ball every five days if they expect to win the Central. Yovani Gallardo and Carlos Villaneuva both have starter stuff and are in the bullpen, waiting. Manny Parra is a left hander who hits 92-93 on the radar gun and is downright dominating AAA, having already tossed a perfect game.
Part of me agrees that having an overstock of arms at this point of the season is good, because many teams will ship off the organizations top prospects all in the name of renting a starting pitcher to help them reach the post season. The Brewers simply don't need to do that, but they also need to figure out which five pitchers give them the best chance to win every five days. Conventional Wisdom tells you to not mess with a good thing, but how many poor starts are you going to absorb from the likes of Suppan, Bush and Cappy while Gallardo and Villanueva remained sheathed in the pen?
Rickie Weeks
It has become painfully obvious to me that Rickie "Dick" Weeks just ain't right. Either his wrist is a much, much larger problem than apparently anyone is willing to admit or he is quite plainly, a bust. If his wrist is indeed not healed yet, there's no reason he should be playing everyday. A trip to the 60-day DL is what the doctor ordered. If he is healthy, then he simply shouldn't be playing everyday any longer. He has no plate discipline, cannot drive in runners and is comically bad at even attempting to hit a curve ball. Even batting in the 8 hole, he is costing the team and I'd really like to know what he has done in his career as a Brewer to warrant so many chances when the team is in the thick of a playoff push. He's a career .249 hitter with warning track power as a player. He has already cost the team in key situations with his ineptitude at the plate and he has shown no reason to believe he will turn it around. Graffanino and Counsell should be getting the reps at 2B.
Ryan Braun
Can he keep up his torrid pace? Here's one resounding yes. Hitting between two All-Stars makes it difficult for opposing pitchers to avoid him. The Brewers top 4 is as nasty as any in baseball since Braun was called up. One can't help but wonder how many more W's the Crew would have at this point if they hadn't waited until late May to call him up from Nashville.
Ned's Customary Awful Second Half
Remember in 2004 when the Brewers were actually 4 games above .500 at the break? Ned oversaw the worst second half record in all of baseball which put the team in all too familar territory of 70-some wins. They got to .500 in 2005, but needed 161 games to do so. Last year was a wash and I realize injuries had a lot to do with it. Historically, July hasn't been the kindest month for the Brewers and that has me quite scared. The good news is that they open the second half at Miller Park, where they own the best home record in baseball and the Cubs start at Wrigley where they apparently play worse than on the road, maybe that's because the building looks like it's about to fall down.
See you in the newly re-paved Giants Lot, Go Crew!
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