TooLiveBrew

Texas would not get an elite young SP for Beltre at age 35, that's not realistic at all. I agree that adding him would create a bit of a logjam given both Ramirez & Reynolds, but if there did come the chance to add Beltre for a reasonable price, I'd make that move & just push Ramirez to 1B & Reynolds to the bench... except for the fact that Beltre is still owed $18M for next season & then has a $16M vesting option for '16. Way too much money for what will likely be declined production. Which is too bad, because I've long admired him as a player. His defense alone is worth the price of admission.

Can't really fault Marco much for that HR. What a freak swing from Jones.

Hopefully a corresponding Jed Bradley-to-Huntsville move will be coming shortly as well.

I'm sure many others noticed this as well, but Tyrone Taylor has already notched 20 doubles this season. 20 in 44 games! He just shows such an impressive hit tool!

I've said it once or twice elsewhere on the forum, but every time I see Denson I can't help but think Ryan Howard for a body type comp.

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/260307871.html We bought our group of tickets right away today... I'm super excited!

Agreed!

Harang, Garza to battle in sequel to earlier duel Veteran hurlers look to match starts from previous matchup in finale By Joe Morgan / MLB.com | 5/22/2014 12:15 AM ET Aaron Harang and Matt Garza gave baseball one of its first pitchers' duels of 2014 on April 2 in Milwaukee. Both hurlers carried no-hitters into the seventh inning before Chris Johnson plated the game's decisive run with a solo homer in seventh. "It was tough," Johnson said. "I ended up getting a pitch out over the plate -- one of the only mistakes I think [Garza] made that night." With the sequel set for Thursday night at Turner Field, Brewers manager Ron Roenicke simply said, "They were both on their game." Both clubs need their respective veteran to turn in another good outing, as each club has not only struggled at the plate this month, but has shown new signs of life in recent days. Atlanta scored 14 runs combined on Monday and Tuesday, and Milwaukee plated six in Wednesday's victory at Turner Field. Harang has used the momentum from his debut gem to post a 2.98 ERA in nine starts this season. The right-hander has recorded a quality start in eight of his nine turns, giving up two runs or fewer in every game but one. "Obviously, you just want to make a good first impression for your new team, go out there and give us a chance to win," Harang said. "It was nice to come out on such a positive note right out of the chute." Unlike Harang, Garza has not pitched as well as he did that day in Milwaukee. His ERA has climbed from 1.13 to 4.83 in eight starts since as the right-hander has compiled a 1.35 WHIP that is on track to be his highest since 2007. He did, however, pitch one of his better outings this season during his last turn on May 17 against the Cubs. He walked one batter and gave up four hits in seven innings, each number his best since he pitched against Chicago on April 25. He has also given up three earned runs in three consecutive starts, an improvement from the second half of April when he compiled a 6.55 ERA in four starts. Even more encouraging, Garza gave up only one hit in his final six innings after giving up all three of his runs in the first at Wrigley Field in his last turn. "First inning was a hiccup," Garza said. "It's kind of been what it's been like all year. … I'm just going to keep going, keep grinding, keep working out and keep going. It's going to come together sooner or later." Braves: Gattis hopeful for late-week return Evan Gattis has missed the past two games with a virus that began bothering him on Saturday. Gattis was still battling a fever and some weakness on Wednesday. But the Braves are hopeful that he will return to the lineup on Thursday or Friday. Brewers: Lohse returns staff to 'quality' Milwaukee had a season-long streak of three straight games without a quality start from its rotation snapped on Wednesday night when Kyle Lohse notched his ninth by giving up only one run in eight innings of work. The streak began on Sunday when Marco Estrada surrendered four earned against the Cubs in five innings of work. Wily Peralta only gave up two earned runs on Monday, but he lasted only five innings, and Yovani Gallardo suffered a sprained left ankle that shortened his Tuesday start to 3 1/3 innings, but he had already surrendered four earned runs before his exit. Worth noting • Justin Upton has hit .400 with nine home runs and a 1.296 OPS in 23 home games. • Scooter Gennett finished 2-for-5 on Wednesday night, giving him the team lead with 13 multi-hit games. • Tyler Pastornicky has realized some gradual improvement with a left calf strain that has sidelined him for the past four games. Manager Fredi Gonzalez said there is a chance that Pastornicky will resume his role as the starting second baseman as early as Thursday. • Carlos Gomez's two-run homer on Wednesday snapped a streak of nine straight solo home runs by the center fielder to begin the season.

[igt-2012][game-setup][logo]http://dl.dropbox.com/u/20589901/BrewerFan/2014/logos/brewers.png[/logo][game-info][h1]May 22 | 6:10 P.M.[/h1][h2]Brewers (28-19) | Braves (25-20)[/h2][h3]FSWI | WTMJ 620[/h3][/game-info][logo]http://dl.dropbox.com/u/20589901/BrewerFan/2014/logos/braves.png[/logo][/game-setup][pitching-photos]http://dl.dropbox.com/u/20589901/BrewerFan/2014/pitchers/brewers/garza-08.jpghttp://dl.dropbox.com/u/20589901/BrewerFan/2014/pitchers/braves/harang-02.jpg[/pitching-photos][game-matchup][divclass=away][h2]2-4, 4.83 ERA, 1.35 WHIP[/h2][h3]Versus Braves | Game Log[/h3][h3]Garza's first-inning struggles continued in his homecoming to Wrigley Field. He surrendered three runs in the opening frame to the Cubs on Saturday, but he retired 18 of the final 20 to finish strong over seven innings.[/h3][/divclass][divclass=home][h2]4-4, 2.98 ERA, 1.16 WHIP[/h2][h3]Versus Brewers | Game Log[/h3][h3]Harang was a tough-luck loser against the Cardinals on Saturday. He pitched six strong innings and gave up three runs with only two earned. Harang was a victim of four bunt hits that led to a couple of St. Louis runs.[/h3][/divclass][starting-lineup][divclass=away] SS Jean Segura 2B Scooter Gennett RF Ryan Braun C Jonathan Lucroy 3B Mark Reynolds 1B Lyle Overbay LF Khris Davis CF Logan Schafer RHP Matt Garza[/divclass][divclass=home] RF Jason Heyward CF B.J. Upton 1B Freddie Freeman LF Justin Upton 3B Chris Johnson SS Andrelton Simmons 2B Dan Uggla C Gerald Laird RHP Aaron Harang[/divclass][/starting-lineup][/game-matchup][game-links][h3][chat]BrewerFan Chat[/chat] | MLB Gameday[/h3][/game-links][/igt-2012]

Arm fatigue, shoulder fatigue, lower back tightness, arm/shoulder discomfort... the list of possible ailments goes on & on. Wouldn't look suspicious at all - like you say, it's seen all over the league.

I feel like that'd just mean Roenicke would bat this .320 OBP guy leadoff because he's fast. I'd also prefer the upgrade in LF to be more offense-oriented. I don't dislike the idea of Revere, but our need isn't in CF... if it were, I think I'd really like him as a target... dude can go get the baseball, holy cow.

1. Jimmy Nelson 2. Tyrone Taylor 3. Clint Coulter 4. Orlando Arcia 5. Devin Williams 6. Victor Roache 7. Mitch Haniger 8. Taylor Jungmann 9. Jorge Lopez 10. David Denson 11. Tucker Neuhaus 12. Jed Bradley 13. Ariel Pena 14. Michael Reed 15. Chris McFarland 16. Hunter Morris 17. Johnny Hellweg 18. Damien Magnifico 19. Hobbs Johnson 20. Jose Pena Last men out (no particular order): Nick Delmonico, Taylor Brennan, Nick Ramirez, Brent Suter, Tyler Cravy, Cameron Garfield, Yadiel Rivera, Dustin Houle

I can only speak for myself, but that's 100% untrue for me. Imo you probably have to keep one of Bianchi or Herrera as a backup SS, but getting a sub-.600 OPS from the v.RHP half of a 1B platoon is a massive problem even if you have a 110-win true talent team. Overbay's a nice, classy guy & all, but he needs to go & go now.

Sounds like perhaps this is what took place with the Brewers & Lara... ?

Because he's an elite young athlete who probably wanted the shutout badly. If it's not about the pitch count, then what's the harm? I wouldn't want any of my favorite team's young pitchers throwing 130 pitches in a game. Like I said it's not some magical 100 pitch count but 8 shutout innings is great work and 110 pitches to me is plenty considering the game situation. If it's say 1-0 and your bullpen isn't very good, go ahead and send him out. To me there was just no reason to send him out for the 9th. Don't really care about him pitching a CG shutout. If it was a Brewers player, I'd agree 100% here. Just trying to rationalize why Gonzalez, Teheran, & the Braves did what they did.

Because he's an elite young athlete who probably wanted the shutout badly. If it's not about the pitch count, then what's the harm?

The hyperbole in the last two posts is a good example of where this conversation should steer away from. Literally no one has said Wang is turning this club into a 60-win team, and literally no one is acting like Wang is going to be as good as Randy Johnson. Relax.

It's only roughly 14 pitches per inning. Sure it's a lot of pitches, but he's a young ace-in-the-making going for the second shutout in his MLB career. Ignoring his next-most-recent start (a bad one, he was chased in the 4th), he averaged 94.5 pitches & 7.5 innings over the previous four starts.

Gomez... that throw!!!

Isn't having the #2 pick in a top-4 or top-3-heavy kind of draft class a pretty good place to be? I can't help but think back to Glenn Robinson --> Jason Kidd --> Grant Hill

So, Thornburg was so burned out that he got 7 consecutive days off, and now on one day's rest he's being used to throw multiple innings? I guess we'll find out if he's dinged up or not pretty soon.

Called. Out. I'll do it [EDIT:] tomorrow!

Awesome

Well I'm kind of biting my tongue today as he's caught two stealing, and picked off a third in the first game of a double header. That's some Sweetness. He probably has all the physical tools required to play catcher, but his instincts are behind his abilities. TheCrew07 has typed up some nice first-hand reports on how Coulter has looked defensively over the weeks (this year & last) in the link reports iirc.

Gotcha. Yeah, I guess I'd like to see Green up as well, but it's probably clear that I want to see Morris up asap as well. You could ship out Herrera & Overbay to make room (I'd keep Bianchi for his glove).