batman

Keith Ginter goes into second as hard as anyone else in baseball. How can you not love him? Seriously. EDIT: As hard, not harder. Homer caught me. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif ~Bill

Victor Santos has the Doug Davis thing going, 'cept he gives up more extra-base hits. I have a lot less faith that Santos' success will continue, but he keeps finding ways to do just enough to stay in the game. It's like he's the pitcher Clancy thinks Wayne Franklin is. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif ~Bill

Just to add to the post count: - That ball Vlad hit was *crushed*. I can't wait to hear the estimated distance. - Guillen was out on that pickoff play, obviously. - That balk was ugly. - Santos is not looking real reliable right now. I'm getting somewhat concerned that our bullpen is not going to be there when we need it tonight, at least not in the quantity that Santos is going to require. EDIT: And one more thing... - I think Guillen's leg is still hurting, 'cause he's made two ridiculous baserunning plays in a row. Ug-ly. But thanks, Jose... we appreciate it. Go team. EDIT: Nice job, team. That DP wasn't pretty, but it got the job done. Now, how 'bout some more offense? I don't want to be greedy, but I think we're going to need it. Y'all are going to have to pick me up for tonight's game thread... I'm about ready to go crash on the couch and watch the rest of the game from a horizontal position. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif ~Bill

And on cue, he doubles in a run. Washburn sure doesn't look too good anymore. His win totals have been artificially inflated, 'cause he's really not a quality pitcher anymore. I think he's just what the doctor ordered for our hang dog offense. Think we can break the 5 run barrier tonight? I might go to George Webb's just to celebrate. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif ~Bill

I have to admit that it was nice of Nedley to give Durrington a start against his old team. It's very hard to hate on Trent 'cause he's a pretty cool dude... not a valuable-to-this-team pretty cool dude, but a pretty cool dude nonetheless. From Adam McCalvy's notes column: Also from the same column, apparently the Dynamic Duo got the "Ginter would catch" thing wrong, too. Those two guys are incompetent, so I'll trust McCalvy's judgment. ~Bill

Nicely done, bullox. What is going on with Junior Spivey? I really wish that Bill and Daron wouldn't keep making excuses for him... it's either a lack of concentration or effort or something, but it's not just "a funk". I can't remember the last time a player had four errors in the span of two games... the Dynamic Duo are making it seem like this is a normal occurence. Remember when Junior had a ton of trade value? Remember when we might have been able to trade him for someone of Meltdown Bradley's calibre? Yeah... that's not going to happen now. ~Bill

Bill/Daron just said that Keith Ginter was going to catch last night, Brady Clark was going to play third, and Wes Obermueller was going to play rightfield. Gary Bennett then said he's okay to play, so they ixnayed that idea. What happened to the "Trent Durrington Is Our Third Catcher" party line? EDIT: Drop and give us 20, Pods. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/devil.gif ~Bill

Our catchers suck at throwing. Bennett has had good luck this year, but he really is not any good at throwing runners out. And Moeller is even worse. At least they can hit, right? http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif ~Bill

Is there a reason BIll Hall isn't starting everyday? He lacks veteranness. That, and Counsell has played excellent defense while Billy still struggles with that aspect of his game. I disagree, but that's the reason. And it's not like Billy has been tearing it up - he snapped an 0-for-17 streak last night with that hit. ~Bill

YAY OFFENSE. Bunt hit for Clark, double by Jenkins, double by Nintendo. Me likey. ~Bill

That's scary, Brian. Great minds think alike, I guess. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif ~Bill

Do you remember when we were advocating a "Willy Mays Hays" approach to Alex Sanchez, wherein he would be forced to drop and do pushups every time he hits the ball in the air? I think it's time we do that to Podsednik. ~Bill

Not too much experience on either side except for Ben Grieve, who has been very good against Washburn but isn't in the lineup. Brewers vs. Washburn: Ben Grieve - 8-for-31, 2 2B, 2 HR, 4 BB, .895 OPS Junior Spivey - 1-for-3, 2B, 1.000 OPS Chad Moeller - 2-for-2, 2.000 OPS Craig Counsell - 0-for-1, .000 OPS Angels vs. Santos: Adam Kennedy - 2-for-4, 1.000 OPS Raul Mondesi - 0-for-1, BB, 1.000 OPS Tim Salmon - 0-for-2, K, .000 OPS Bengie Molina - 0-for-2, .000 OPS Vladimir Guerrero - 0-for-1, .000 OPS Jose Guillen - 0-for-1, .000 OPS Josh Paul - 0-for-1, .000 OPS ~Bill

The Yankees' game is on ESPN now (still rain delayed in Boston) and the advertisement behind home plate is for "Amino Vital," "The Official Amino Acid Sports Supplement Drink of the New York Yankees." You'd think they wouldn't want to be advertising performance enhancing drugs, but they're the Yankees I guess. Anybody else find that pretty hilarious? ~Bill

Anyway, Burba should also be ready right? Yep, forgot about him. So it'll probably be Wise and Burba and hopefully Kolb if we have the late lead. ~Bill

I must be tired... I swear I just saw Trent Durrington's name pencilled into Nedley's lineup as a designated hitter. And that's not it - I thought I saw Brady Clark hitting second, too. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/laugh.gif I must be losing it. ~Bill

I'm not a fan of selecting high school pitchers in the early rounds, but it's not because of timeframe concerns. I think the data suggests that the attrition rate among prep arms is higher than collegians, and that makes intuitive sense. I also worry about the quality of talent evaluation at such an early age, especially in cases like the Lobster's where he has thrown only 38 innings this season against not-so-good competition. Certainly, the more games a player has under his belt against more predictable, measurable competition, the easier it is to get a grip on his performance and potential performance. I'm not saying that it's impossible to accurately scout high school pitchers. Obviously, that is just not true. Rather, my point is the quality of the data available (and by "data," I include first-hand accounts as well as statistics and health records) decreases the further a player is away from their prime (and by that I mean their late 20s). You can certainly see that a 12-year old pitcher is very good and has lots of potential, but accurately projecting where that individual will be pitching-wise in 10-15 years is nearly impossible. As that same pitcher ages, the accuracy of their "projectability" increases. By the time a pitcher is 18, I think you can get a pretty good grasp of his raw potential. At the same time, I think there necessarily are still a lot of question marks about the pitcher's health, makeup, and performance (including how sustainable said health and performance are). One positive about high school pitchers is that they become the organization's property and we can develop them how and which whom we please. That means no 140-pitch outings by ill-advised college coaches or misguided training programs architected by not-so-bright assistants. If you trust your organization to nurture and develop a young pitcher, then this might appeal to you. Still, there is the risk that even the best development program will be helpless to prevent injuries or ineffectiveness. I think there is a pretty high attrition rate between the ages of 18-22, and I'd much rather gamble on players that have already gotten through that 4-year period healthy and successful. As far as the timeframe issue goes, it's really a non-issue. The player's arbitration clock doesn't start until they are in the major leagues, so it's not like younger players are with us for less time. Intelligent, conservative management of your minor league rosters and promotions is far more important to maximizing your control over a player than is his age. Finally, the argument that one should take "the best available player" is begging the question. The concern I expressed above directly impacts the criteria by which we evaluate a player's "ceiling." I think that, too often, talented but raw high school pitchers are "projected" to a degree that isn't wholly rational. When a pitcher has "some mechanical issues," a "developing breaking ball," and "room to grow into his body," that's a whole lot of variables we are just assuming will go our way. The ability to see a player as he will be in 5-10 years is really difficult, and we are going to be wrong just as many times as we are right. That's why I advocate performance scouting as a pretty important "reality check" on projectability. I wish we would have taken Sowers and Buckner 1-2. Those are two proven, successful, and healthy college pitchers with four more years of experience to evaluate and project. To me, that makes our projections of them more likely to be accurate. I like the Lobster, and he seems to be a very intelligent and cogent young man. I will be a huge fan, and will cheer him on from afar as he joins the organization and progresses toward Milwaukee. I think we all will. But the Brewers did take a pretty big gamble, and they could very easily come up empty. ~Bill

The Crew gets to face a left-hander tonight, and a struggling one at that. From the USA Today (byline Sports Ticker): I think the bullpen is probably pretty thin tonight. - Matt Wise is definitely available, and will probably be option #1 if Santos struggles. - Dan Kolb and Luiz Vizcaino are probably both available, although Kolb would likely only be used in a save situation. - If he is at the park, Brooks Kieschnick will be able to throw. Otherwise, it's slim pickings for Nedley if he requires several innings from his bullpen. On an unrelated note, Vin Scully was just talking about interleague play (he's on ESPN during the Red Sox/Padres rain delay). I only caught the end of his comments, but he said that he'd prefer if the DH is used at National League parks and not at American League parks. That way, fans at the home ballpark get to experience "the other side"'s game. I like it. Thoughts? Da da da da da da.... CHARGE. Go team. ~Bill

If you missed anything, or just want to relive last night's marathon, check out the Daily Brew game recap: www.brewerfan.net/ViewDai...portId=244 Here's my bold prediction for tonight: it won't be as exciting as last night. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif ~Bill

Yeah, kind of like Alex Sanchez and Izzy Alcantara that day, huh? When two of your three top prospects earn comparisons to Alex Sanchez and Izzy Alcantara, I think it's time to panic. Uncool. ~Bill

Brad and Corey bat from opposite sides of the plate, so I can envision a scenario where they would platoon for a while. At some point, though, there is a distinct probability that the Hart/Nelson combo will be better than Jenkins/Hart or Jenkins/Nelson. Them's the breaks... at the time of Jenkins' signing, Nelson was still a pretty big question mark. I don't think Brad has necessarily earned a promotion yet, but he is certainly raking. ~Bill

From The Sporting News: That's the record. ~Bill

Have we heard anything about Kade Johnson, yet? Nothing on google news as of 2:34 PM. Shouldn't his waiver period have expired by now? ~Bill

This thread ruled. I'm dragging today, but I'm a knuckle-ball poster so I'll be good to go for tonight. We should get some cash from the WI Dairy Council 'cause I think this thread prompted people to eat a bunch of cheese sandwiches. Nice job, fellas. ~Bill

David Castillo of Kane County is starting ahead of Cap'n Lou. He is having a wonderful season. I was going to complain about the Cap'n not getting the starting nod, but Castillo is definitely having a better offensive season. Them's the breaks, I guess. Congrats to all the Snappers' MWL All-Stars!!! ~Bill