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joepepsi

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Everything posted by joepepsi

  1. Speaking of Mike "is he still with the team?" Rivera, how about given Kendall some time off? His offense is heading for the Chad Moeller cliff.
  2. Maybe not the dramatic run we are anxious for, but....the last 12 games the Brewers are 6-6, averaging almost 5 runs a game. They scored 3 or less in only 3 of those games. They scored 16 runs against some pretty good Red Sox pitching. In the past 12 games Braun has raised his OPS 183 points, Hardy 46 points, Hart 36, Fielder 29. Weeks has raised his 42 points in the last 5 games. Cameron's OPS has risen 130 points in the last 5 games. It may not be earth shaking, but several players are closing on in on their career lines. I no longer expect the offense to blow every single scoring opportunity in the game. Here's Rickie's line in the last week:.318/.464/.455 Prince: 292/393/542 Hart: 292/320/583 Cameron: 333/417/714 Braun: 357/357/857 The starting pitching, despite Villty's poor start and Ben's bizarre inning against the Dodgers, has actually been pretty good. Last 12 games, 3.74 ERA, 6-1/3 innings per start. 6 quality starts, not counting 2 of Parra's nice outings when he pitched 5-2/3ip, 0runs, and 5ip, 3 runs. So, should we stop whining and pay attention to the good things that have been happening most of the last two weeks? Is it time to breathe a collective sigh of relief?
  3. I agree. I'm not enamored with Ned, but firing the manager mid season rarely results in positive change.
  4. Earl Weaver's Second Law: If you don't make any promises to your players you won't have to break themWeaver notes in his book that players, for example relief pitchers, who have to be told what their "role" is just don't get it. When asked such a question he would often retort "Your role is to warmup when I tell you and come in the game and pitch when I tell you."
  5. The fact is, the Brewers could use a lefty bat off the bench and against tough righties. Since Yost almost never gives a regular outfielder the day off, it is of no benefit to have Kapler and Gwynn both riding the pines. Gwynn should go down, Kapler should be first choice for OF backup, while Dillon and Branyan can both fill in around the corners. Seems like a much better bench all around.
  6. Earl Weaver: "If you play for one run, that's all you'll get."
  7. Lost in all this is the Brewers are playing a bit better in the last couple weeks. Suppan is pretty much right at his career average, Sheets is having a very good year so far (crosses his fingers), Parra has put in 3 starts in a row where he's stronger each time. Bush is slowly getting back to that league average guy he used to be. The offense is playing better too. McClung just has to be average and the team will look much stronger, given the slow improvements already taking place over the last couple weeks.
  8. Moreso than Jim Rome, hisself?
  9. The dollars per win ratio is a legitimate concern when looking at a .500 team or one that is rebuilding. For instance, it doesn't make sense to pay Sexson $10 million for a 68 win team. You can actually build a .500 win team on the cheap, as Melvin showed us. But it very difficult to build a playoff caliber team without spending a lot more dollars per win. Each win over 85 or so often comes a high cost. When you're playing for .500 it's in your best interest to audition closers among a bunch of schlubs you find on the scrap heap. When you're playing to win 90+ games, it's tough to justify that strategy; you have to pay a lot for a "proven" closer. You also can end up paying more each piece of the roster. If the 2008 team were playing for .500, Gagne, Cameron, Kendall, Mota, Counsell, and Torres wouldn't be on the roster. Probably not Suppan either. Instead you have a catching corps of Rivera/Rottino, Vargas in place of Suppan, Nix in CF, hodge-podge of NRI's and minor leaguers in the bullpen, Nunez at utility. As fate would have it, that roster might play as well as the current roster has so far; but no one, not even the most homer fan among us, would see it as a playoff team.
  10. Did you know Rickie has an .829 OPS against lefties this year? He's raised his batting average 10 points in the last 3 games. Just sayin.....
  11. Wow, was that a reference to Ned's Atomic Dustbin, the great 90's band that did Kill You Television? That's sweet.
  12. I think a player has to be on the 60 day DL to get any insurance money. Back when Albert Belle was forced to stop playing because of a hip disorder, the Orioles had to keep him on the DL for a couple years or insurance wouldn't pick up the majority of the salary. Once the contract expired he could officially retire.
  13. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/laugh.gif that made me laugh!
  14. Hardy was healthy all of 2005; he just didn't play every day. I think in 2005 I was saying, "this is as good as Bill Hall will ever be. He's a good utility guy, but once the arby years kick in, he'll be too expensive to be worth keeping." In 2006 I thought, whoa, was I way off on this guy; Hall's legit. Now I'm beginning to revert back to my original thinking. We're not 1/3 into the season; 73% of the games remain to be played. I've been as frustrated as anybody at times this year, but it's still so early in the year that any team, even the Brewers, can change the season around with a hot run of 15-20 games. Look what the Astros have done the last couple weeks. No way they are really that good. Last year after 44 games the Cubs had the exact same record the Brewers do now: 20-24. A month later, on June 21st, they were worse, 7 games under .500, 32-39. I think the 2008 team is much better than the 2005 team. However, it is true that not every player develops or improves. We shouldn't be surprised if some of these kids never live up to the potential we thought. At this point we can't be sure who that might be. If I had to guess, I'd say we've probably seen the best of Bill Hall, and maybe Hardy. Hardy should continue to be a quality major league ss for several years, but I'll be stunned if he ever hits 26 homers again.
  15. Doesn't it come back to K:BB ratio or K/ip? Isn't the best thing a reliever can do is take the ballgame into his hands by striking everyone out?
  16. Nobody in their right mind loves a loser....
  17. OK, maybe I should have written "important" instead of essential. (Sheesh!) Anyway, I feel defense is "important" but good offense and pitching are more important. And yes, part of what makes good pitching is often good defense; especially for pitchers who don't have overpowering stuff.
  18. This is the way I feel. I remember Hart's excellent catch and I agree Cameron is an excellent outfielder. Braun will be fine in LF. Basically I think defense is essential but somewhat overrated. The teams seems to have been built on the notion the offense will score 5+ runs a game and the pitching and defense will be good enough to win the majority of games. With the offense struggles this year, the poor defense and lack of dominant starting pitchers really stands out.
  19. I'm not reading this entire topic--too long. Just want to point out that Rickie hit .272 with a .429 obp in the Boston series. If he did that from here on out I'd be ecstatic!
  20. Those are all good points. Even though Brewer defense has been better this year, I still think they do little to help guys like Villy, Suppan, and Bush. It seems there have been several examples by other teams this year, where a player made a fantastic defensive play that effectively killed a rally attempt by the Brewers. You just don't see Brewer OF'ers crashing over the wall or diving and sliding, or making over the shoulder catches.
  21. Mr. Weeks hit .272 with a .429 obp for the Boston series. I'd take that for the rest of the year from him. Suppan did not pitch badly. Bush was Bush-like, but he could have used some support from the defense. Villy was given the opportunity to win twice by the offense and couldn't get the job done. It's too bad Branyan wasn't called up to DH. Hall might need to start sitting out a few games. Gwynn adds nothing to the team. It's clear they traded the wrong left handed spare OF'er.
  22. Where have you gone, Claudio Vargas? Villy has actually pitched pretty well in 4 of his 9 starts; 2 wins and 2 quality starts with no decisions. He does seem better suited as a middle relief guy, but I'd give him 3 more starts, in part because there's no one else to take his place. If those next 3 starts show no improvement then it's clearly time to try someone, anyone, else.
  23. I've always like Berkman. Early on in their careers I was hopeful Jenkins would be as good as Berkman. For a brief moment there, around 2000, their numbers had similarities if you squinted at the paper and tilted your head sideways. Kind of like U2 and Simple Minds when they first came out... Anyway, I don't begrudge players on other teams just because they are really good. I tend to admire their level of play. Except for Derek Jeter that is. And Roger Clemens.
  24. So are you admitting that it is you and not the team that can't keep thier cool? Perhaps! http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif
  25. Um, as noted on page 1 of this topic, I think the only reason ZachJack gets the call is due to the number of Red Sox lefty hitters. I'm not saying I necessarily agree with it, but I'll bet a 6 pack of Kul Light this will be Ned's reasoning on the pregame show tonight.
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