batman

Bill Michaels is ridiculous. In a bad way. Anyway, I wanted to post this little tidbit from Adam McCalvy's MLB.com Game Recap: "My favorite pitcher growing up was Tommy John. Now I'm 14 months off his surgery and pitching in his stadium." -- Matt Wise That's pretty cool, I must say. ~Bill

Final: Indianapolis 2, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (Phillies) 1 The pitching portion of today's box score is beautiful: IP H R ER BB SO ERA ------------------------------------------------------ [b]Clint Weibl[/b] (W 1-0) 6.0 4 1 1 0 6 1.13 [b]Dan Reichert[/b] 2.0 1 0 0 2 4 1.15 [b]Jason Childers[/b] (S 14) 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 1.50 How 'bout those ERAs, huh? Three singles for Ryan Knox, doubles by Luis Figueroa and Steve Scarborough, and a triple by Chris Macgruder were the offensive highlights. Apparently Jeff Liefer is indeed human, 'cause he went 0-for-4 to drop his batting average to .337. Indianapolis Box Score: GAME DATE: 5/31/04 IND at SWB INDIANAPOLIS 2 AT SCRANTON-WB 1 YTD YTD INDIANAPOLIS AB R H BI AVG SCRANTON-WB AB R H BI AVG R.Knox CF 4 0 3 0 .274 M.Budzinski CF 4 0 0 0 .230 M.Erickson 2B 3 0 0 0 .212 A.Machado SS 4 0 0 0 .225 C.Hart RF 4 0 0 0 .267 L.Collier 3B 4 0 1 0 .324 J.Liefer 1B 4 0 0 0 .339 J.Rushford 1B 4 0 1 0 .292 C.Magruder LF 4 1 1 0 .273 P.Ozuna 2B 4 0 1 0 .256 M.Johnson CAT 3 1 1 0 .276 M.Smith LF 3 0 0 0 .231 L.Figueroa 3B 3 0 1 2 .303 M.Hernandez CAT 4 0 1 0 .207 S.Scarbrough SS 3 0 1 0 .210 J.Padilla RF 3 1 1 1 .241 C.Weibl PIT 1 0 0 0 .000 B.Powell PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 S.Sheldon PH 1 0 0 0 .216 D.Coggin PIT 2 0 0 0 .000 D.Reichert PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 G.Kubes PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 J.Childers PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 B.Hitchcox PH 0 0 0 0 .229 S.Lundberg PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 TOTALS 30 2 7 2 TOTALS 32 1 5 1 INDIANAPOLIS 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0- 2 7 1 SCRANTON-WB 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0- 1 5 0 E--S.Scarbrough. DP--INDIANAPOLIS 1, SCRANTON-WB 2. LOB--INDIANAPOLIS 4, SCRANTON-WB 7. 2B--L.Figueroa (8), S.Scarbrough (9), L.Collier (12), J.Rushford (8). 3B--C.Magruder (2). HR--J.Padilla (2). SB--P.Ozuna (13). CS--R.Knox 2. HBP--M.Johnson, M.Smith. SH--C.Weibl. YTD IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA INDIANAPOLIS C.Weibl (W,1-0) 6.0 4 1 1 0 6 1 1.13 D.Reichert 2.0 1 0 0 2 4 0 1.15 J.Childers (S,14) 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.50 SCRANTON-WB B.Powell 2.0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1.74 D.Coggin 4.0 3 0 0 1 3 0 5.09 G.Kubes (L,3-2) 1.0 2 2 2 0 0 0 3.20 S.Lundberg 2.0 1 0 0 0 1 0 4.70 HB--J.Childers, G.Kubes. WP--D.Reichert 2. SO--M.Erickson, C.Hart 2, C.Weibl, M.Budzinski 3, A.Machado 2, L.Collier, J.Rushford, P.Ozuna 2, J.Padilla. BB--M.Erickson, J.Padilla, B.Hitchcox. T--2:20. A--3451Indianapolis Game Log: www.sportsnetwork.com/mer...MEID=14145 ~Bill

Final: Game Two, West Michigan (Tigers) 7, Beloit 2 The Whitecaps salvage a split by hammering 6'5" RHP Greg Moreira to the tune of 6 runs on 12 hits and 3 walks in 5 and a third. Two hits for new Brewerfan-favorite Adam Heether and a home run by Josh Murray (his first) were the offensive highlights, but the Snappers managed only that one extra-base hit (and only 5 hits total, and no walks). West Michigan's Chris Steinborn, a LHP drafted in the 36th round in 2002, tossed a complete game and lowered his ERA to 2.69. Beloit Game Two Box Score: GAME DATE: 5/31/04 WMI at BLT WEST MICHIGAN 7 AT BELOIT 2 DH GAME #2 YTD YTD WEST MICHIGAN AB R H BI AVG BELOIT AB R H BI AVG V.Blue CF 3 1 1 2 .259 T.Trofholz CF 3 0 0 0 .299 J.Francia SS 4 0 2 0 .347 J.Murray SS 3 1 1 2 .233 N.Doyle 2B 3 1 1 1 .364 V.Rottino LF 3 0 0 0 .314 K.Hunt DH 4 1 2 0 .286 L.Palmisano DH 3 0 0 0 .304 G.McKinney RF 4 1 3 1 .258 A.Heether 3B 3 0 2 0 .267 K.Piantek 1B 4 1 2 2 .220 M.Ramirez 1B 3 0 1 0 .262 N.McIntyre 3B 4 0 1 1 .234 T.Marks CAT 3 0 0 0 .192 A.Trezza CAT 3 1 0 0 .178 R.Deevers RF 2 0 0 0 .210 J.Knoedler LF 3 1 1 0 .218 G.Acosta 2B 2 1 1 0 .173 C.Steinborn PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 G.Moreira PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 D.Grybash PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 TOTALS 32 7 13 7 TOTALS 25 2 5 2 WEST MICHIGAN 2 0 2 0 0 2 1- 7 13 1 BELOIT 0 0 0 0 0 2 0- 2 5 0 E--N.McIntyre. DP--WEST MICHIGAN 2, BELOIT 1. LOB--WEST MICHIGAN 7, BELOIT 2. 2B--V.Blue (12), G.McKinney (6). HR--K.Piantek (2), J.Murray (1). CS--J.Francia. HBP--N.Doyle. YTD IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA WEST MICHIGAN C.Steinborn (W,3-4) 7.0 5 2 2 0 3 1 2.69 BELOIT G.Moreira (L,3-2) 5.1 12 6 6 2 3 0 4.70 D.Grybash 1.2 1 1 1 0 0 1 4.85 HB--D.Grybash. BALKS--G.Moreira. SO--N.Doyle 2, J.Knoedler, T.Trofholz, A.Heether, R.Deevers. BB--V.Blue, A.Trezza. T--1:48.Beloit Game Two Game Log: www.sportsnetwork.com/mer...MEID=20761 ~Bill

From SportsNetwork: ~Bill

This game was... ...base, contemptible, degraded, dejected, deplorable, destitute, dishonorable, downtrodden, fawning, forlorn, groveling, hang dog, hopeless, humbling, humiliating, low, miserable, outcast, pathetic, pitiable, pitiful, servile, squalid, stark, submissive, underfoot, worthless, wretched. Thanks Thesaurus.com. Which word is your favorite to describe today's loss? I think I'll go with wretched. ~Bill

Right, but why didn't he hit? Duh... yeah, you're right. Thought you were talking about pitching. Freaking world. This game sucked. I'm unpleased. ARGH. ~Bill

I don't think he's available today. Probably just Burba and Bennett left, with Adams and Kiesch only in emergencies. ~Bill

Baseball Tonight just showed a clip of Nick Neugebauer striking out Adam Everett. Talk about weird. It was a short piece about Everett's emergence as a good shortstop, and the clip didn't last more than 5 seconds, but it was cool/surprising/odd to see Neugy again. And Jason, I agree. Check out the Adams thread for more. ~Bill

Argh again. Bennett or Burba? ~Bill

At a boy, Scotty. Keep leaning into 'em, boys... just two more HBPs and we're ahead. ~Bill

At a boy, Moeller... hit where they ain't. Now lean into one, Craig, and we'll have ourselves a rally. UPDATE: Darn it. Swinging at the first pitch? I thought you were a gritty, scrappy battler Craig. No soup for you. ~Bill

Darn it, scoop.... don't ever do that again. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/mad.gif Gagne? Wonder-freaking-ful. What's worse, we have (wait for it........) Craig Counsell and Gary Bennett on our bench. Argh x2. ~Bill

Or is this Capuono's start and he can't go? Yeah, today was Cappy's turn but his "pulled lat" or whatever is his current injury of the week pushed him back to Saturday. These Johnny Wholestaff days have been pretty sweet, though, no? ~Bill

Miscellaneous thoughts from the last few innings: - Nice to see Kinney continue his improved pitching. Not the best outing in the world, but two scoreless innings are two scoreless innings. Hopefully he'll find a comfort zone in a relief role and can become a productive setup man or closer. - Grieve is the man. - I'll take credit for Jenkins' home run... but I'm not satisfied yet. You still suck, Geoff... best start hitting, or else. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif - Matt Wise finished with 52 pitches, 35 strikes, in five innings. That's amazing. - No walks yet today again. They gots to be more patient. ~Bill

I think the lack of walks is really reason #1 why the offense is struggling. If I have time, I'd like to graph their walk totals over the course of the season and I think there'd be a pretty direct correlation between reduced walks and reduced runs. But yeah... they really aren't hitting at all. It's no fun. EDIT: For those of you (evil) folks with access to a TV feed, how does Wise look? What's the breakdown of changeups to fastballs? Is he showing any other pitches? What's his velocity like? I hate not being able to see the games. Argh. Any observations would be appreciated! ~Bill

I won't rub it in that the MLB.com PC TV package is available to folks like myself now.... Jerk. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif Matt Wise is the man... I definitely think he's one of the better "non-prospect" options we have between AAA/MLB (the group that includes guys like El Duquecito, Ben Ford, etc.). Since he's a starter by trade, he could become a useful long-man out of the pen so that Kinney can work in short roles (where he only has to face the lineup once). Other"wise" (LOL), we don't really have a good long reliever... Kieschnick has become a setup man, Burba hasn't been stretched out, and Ford was not so good before heading to the DL. Thoughts? Let's get some runs. ~Bill

Today's lineups are brought to you by Ben Grieve, who can hit left-handers better than Brady Clark can. MILWAUKEE LOS ANGELES AVG HR RBI AVG HR RBI Scott Podsednik CF .261 5 15 Dave Roberts CF .250 1 9 Bill Hall SS .274 4 20 Cesar Izturis SS .305 2 17 Junior Spivey 2B .274 3 18 Paul Lo Duca C .366 1 18 Geoff Jenkins LF .250 4 26 Shawn Green 1B .229 7 23 Lyle Overbay 1B .337 6 40 Adrian Beltre 3B .316 12 36 Keith Ginter 3B .260 7 16 Juan Encarnacion RF .216 7 26 Brady Clark RF .216 3 13 Jason Grabowski LF .237 4 8 Chad Moeller C .225 2 13 Alex Cora 2B .301 3 13 Matt Wise RHP .000 0 0 Odalis Perez LHP .048 0 0 (0-0, 5.87) (2-3, 3.10) Back to the "old" lineup, I guess. ~Bill

I was referring more to rluzinski. I think you have a right to be frustrated - but also you must realize, it being 29.6% of the way through the season, that there still is a lot of ball left to be played. Oh, sure... of course. If Jenkins goes on one of his trademarked hot streaks and smacks four homers in five days, I think we'll all be really happy. It's just that we've now been waiting almost a third of the season for that to happen... he'll have to hit pretty well the rest of the way if he wants to get his numbers up to where the team would like them to be. It's not like Geoff is hitting like Jeter, but I think we're past the "don't worry" stage and into the "keep an eye on this" stage. ~Bill

You guys are way too quick to give up on Jenkins. I'm not giving up on him, but the Brewers have played 29.6% of their season and Jenkins' OPS is .716. That is just not acceptable for the guy who is supposed to be our "franchise" player/slugger, not to mention a guy making almost a third of our payroll. I think we have a right to be frustrated at this point. ~Bill

I braved the rain to take in today's game at MP and it was rather disappointing. Some thoughts: - Very nice crowd, many of which arrived late. A pretty good chunk of the "peak" crowd also stayed till the end, which was nice to see. - Santos didn't pitch terribly, but he didn't pitch well either. Way too many pitches early in the game, and he just never got on track. Hopefully this isn't a case of the league "catching up" with him. If he struggles again in his next start, it's time to get worried. - Ben Grieve can rake. Watching him take batting practice was just beautiful... line drive after line drive after towering flyball. He had a real nice game, too, obviously, although he wasn't able to come through early with the bases loaded. Still, three-for-five with two singles and a double is mighty nice to see. His OPS is up to .865, and I hope he sticks in the three-spot. Not seeing Clark replace him was much appreciated, too. - The team as a whole is swinging at way too many pitches early in the count. Jenkins seems like he's trying not to walk. They need to get back to the patience and plate discipline that was fueling the offense early in the season. Giving Jenkins a day or two off would be nice, but that would mean more Clark and a lot less flexibility in the outfield. We desperately need to jettison a pitcher and bring up Liefer or Macgruder or someone. A guy like Jason Conti or Mark Smith or Zocco would be really nice to have about now. - Pinch-hit for Bennett. Please. - Mike Adams rules. Two innings, no baserunners, two strikeouts. He da' man, and he really, really looks good out there. Seems to be having fun, too, which is great to see. - Got a Geoff Jenkins "mini-bobblehead". It's tiny, but pretty cool. Or rather, it would be if he didn't suck. Badly. I'm calling you out Geoff, on behalf of the entire Brewerfan nation - stop sucking. - We left 12 guys on base as a team. That's unfortunate. I'm not real optimistic about tomorrow's contest 'cause they should be pretty jet-lagged. Matt Wise was announced as the starter so it'll be a Johnny Wholestaff day. Hopefully they can pull it out, but it'll be tough. That's all I got. ~Bill

MLB.com preview from friend of Brewerfan J.R. Radcliffe: Speaking of which, he also penned yesterday's notes column (the one headed by the Grieve stuff). Pretty cool... looks like he worked himself into a setup role and is getting more high leverage opportunities this season. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif Great to see... Adam McCalvy does a very good job and the JR/Adam combo should be even better! ~Bill

How cool is it that Brewer fans are the only ones in all of baseball who can even have this conversation? I know!!! I had this debate with my brother last night on the way home, and we were both like "wow... this is so cool to even think about". In 20 years, we'll all be able to tell the next generation of young'uns that we saw Brooks Kieschnick, the two-way player with the Brewers. Pretty darned cool. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif ~Bill

Then, when you used the term 'totally botched' you must have assumed the primary goal was to get Brooks an at bat. Not the primary goal, but I think much of Brooks' value, especially on a team with four bench players, is that he can save a pinch-hitter. He didn't do that tonight. The game ended with only Durrington and Moeller on the bench. What if the Padres would have tied the game and we had to bat in the ninth or extra innings? Durrington would have become our only real option, because Nedley doesn't use his second catcher. Considering the Brewers were ahead, I think the primary goal was and should have been to hold the Pads in the 8th and get the game to Kolb. Why are those mutually exclusive? It would all be moot if Brooks had tossed a scoreless inning because then he would have still been in the game to bat. But he didn't. So instead of using Kieschnick, we used Kieschnick, Adams, and Billy Hall. It's all well and good if the Brewers' are going to use Kieschnick primarily as a pitcher. But if that's the case, we really don't have 12 and a half position players... we have twelve. And that's not a good idea. You also seem to be assuming Ned knew in advance how long the inning would last. There's a difference between a pitcher who's already pitched several innings of live ball and a relief pitcher coming in fresh as to how they handle the inactivity. There's also a reason why pitchers sometimes do have difficulty after their team has a long inning. Pitchers do 'cool down' or stiffen up and 8 warmup pitches isn't always enough. You often see pitchers who are warm and just standing around start throwing again if the inning goes longer. Sure. But pitchers manage to deal with it all the time, no? I think you're making too big a deal of the "warm up time" factor. If Brooks can't handle warming up, sitting through a half inning in which he bats, and then going out to pitch, then he loses a lot of his value, too. Like Peavey said, then Nedley has to use him as a hitter only *after* he pitches. And that might be the case. I just think it would make the 12/13 position player/pitcher roster construction more versatile if Brooks could do the hitting/pitching thing both ways. So yeah, I do think Brooks' primary purpose this year is relevant to Ned's decisions on how he uses him. It's only relevant if *in this situation* Nedley would rather have had Clark and Hall get at-bats versus Clark and Kieschnick or Grieve and Kieschnick. If Brooks can't handle warming up, hitting, and then pitching, so be it. But if he can, and he is the best pinch-hitter available AND/OR using him "both ways" can preserve one of our four bench players, then he should have batted and then pitched. Otherwise, he's just another reliever. And he's certainly done a good job, but that takes a lot of the luster off of having him as that "25th man". That's all I'm saying. ~Bill

Ugh -- standing on second base with no one out in the ninth, Travis Hinton attempted to tag up to third on a fly ball to right -- double play, then a K ends the game. That's why he's TH the DH, not TH the baserunner. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif Crappy night for the affiliates... kinda puts a damper on the Crew's win. Kinda. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif ~Bill

Once a pitcher's warmed up, if the inning continues they soft toss every once in a while to stay loose. If the inning continues because he's on base or if he's in the dugout he doesn't have that opportunity. He's being used as a pitcher first, again in tight situations, and I don't think Ned 'botched' anything. He was finished warming up as Obermueller was pitching the sixth. The pitcher's spot was due up third in the seventh. After the third out was recorded, Brooks was still ready. If he trots in and bats, he's doing the same thing *every other pitcher does*... if Obermueller would have hit for himself and gone back out for the seventh, would he have become "not warm"? There's a reason pitchers' get to throw warmup pitches at the beginning of the inning. It's one thing if Kieschnick hadn't gotten up in the pen yet or if he wasn't ready yet. But if he's good to go, having him hit won't change that anymore than it changes every other pitchers' readiness when they sit on the bench for their teams' half of the inning. It's not that big of a deal, but if Nedley's goal was to get Brooks an AB then he made a poor decision. If he didn't care about using him to hit, then it didn't matter. It has nothing to do with whether Brooks is primarily a pitcher or whether he is pitching in high leverage situations or not. It's just a question of what the goal was and how successfully it was obtained. If the goal was to have Kieschnick bat, then it didn't work. ~Bill