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JohnBriggs12

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Everything posted by JohnBriggs12

  1. JohnBriggs12
    How excited is Corporan? From Haudricourt's notes: "As soon as Corporan hung up with Money, he called his grandfather, Alberto Hernandez, the man who raised him in Puerto Rico. When he heard the news, Hernandez immediately thanked God and started crying. Overwhelmed by his grandfather's emotion, Corporan also started crying uncontrollably as shoppers walked past him in the mall" Make no mistake, it's special for every guy to get called up to the majors the first time. But the guys who were drafted high and always on everyone's prospects lists, it's kind of taken for granted that it will happen eventually. For guys like Corporan and DiFelice last year that persevere when it must seem that they'll never get that chance, it's really special. I would hope that Macha gets him in there somehow in these two weeks.
  2. JohnBriggs12
    Rather than compare staffs, my point was that Maddux can't make bad pitchers good any more than any other pitching coach and that Castro is certainly competent enough to have this job. Castro has every bit the credentials that Mike Maddux had. He only lacks a HOF brother and a mustache.
  3. JohnBriggs12
    Texas staff under Mike Maddux: 5.79 ERA, 12th of 14 in AL Brewers under Castro: 4.31 ERA, 8th of 16 in NL
  4. JohnBriggs12
    I'll get excited about Jones when he's doing this against other 26 year old guys at AAA. He's 3-4 years older than most of the guys he's facing.
  5. JohnBriggs12
    Smith's major league career is likely not over. I don't think his age is a factor at all especially for a bullpen arm.
  6. JohnBriggs12
    Great news for Carlos Corporan. I like to follow guys in the organization that are below the radar and Corporan's surely been that since he started in 2003. In fact, I'm sure someone can correct me, but is he the first Brewer to have reached the major leagues without once being listed on the Power 50? The other guy I can think of is Chris Barnwell, but even he might have been 40 something at some point. Not that Carlos hasn't deserved being in the top 50 on his ability to gun down baserunners alone. While his offense has never been great, it's never been embarrassingly awful either especially for a defensive catcher and what I've noticed is that when he repeats a level, it always improves the 2nd year.
  7. JohnBriggs12
    If they planned Rottino to be the first option to call up if Rivera went down, he would be the Nashville backup, not a utility guy at AA that rarely catches. There was a reason Corporan spent the entire spring in big league camp. It was so the coaches would see him and the pitchers would get to work with him. He's clearly the guy in this scenario. They want Salome playing. Corporan will also still have options after he's called up. Rottino is out of options. Corporan has worked his way through the system. Many have discounted his chances, but he's still just 25 and may end up with a pretty nice career as a backup catcher.
  8. JohnBriggs12
    Macha showed me something this series. He could have relegated Julio to mopup duty but he had him in there with a one run lead last night. Then he sticks Villanueva, who needed a confidence boost himself, in there to save a win for his buddy Yo. I'm starting to like this guy at the helm. These types of moves builds positive vibes in the clubhouse which might be more important this time of year than winning.
  9. JohnBriggs12
    The Brewers brought in Trot Nixon to do the job that Brad Nelson is doing. Going into ST, it was Nixon's to lose, and well, he lost it. Generally, that job is better handled by a veteran. My point is, they turned to Nelson only after Nixon failed. If they were that worried about losing Nelson if they DFA'd him, they wouldn't have looked for a veteran. Nelson can become a FA if he's DFA'd. But nobody's going to make a roster spot for a guy who's 0 for April and has no track record of major league success so they'd stand a decent chance of him accepting an assignment much like Figueroa just did with the Mets. With guys like Catalanotto, Edmonds, Jenkins out there, Nelson needs to start sprinkling in some hits or he'll be gone by Memorial Day. Same goes for Duffy by the way if he ever gets another AB.
  10. JohnBriggs12
    You can't go more than a couple days with one catcher (yes I know McGehee has played there some). My guess is if he's not ready to go, they bring up Carlos Corporan. Corporan's been gunning down runners with regularity as Salome's backup and has a .500 OBP. Salome needs to play, not sit. They would have to add him to the 40 man which isn't a problem because they are currently at 39/
  11. JohnBriggs12
    It's very early, but it's worth pointing out that Jim Skaalen's Oakland A's hitters are really, really bad so far. They are last in the AL in BA. They are last by a huge margin in Slugging and they are next to last in OBP. Needless to say, they are also last in runs scored. While on the topic of ex Brewer coaches, Mike Maddux is not having much more success than Skaalen. His Ranger pitching staff is next to last in the AL with a 5.99 ERA. So far I've liked what I've seen out of many of the Brewer hitters this year. The big guys took a couple weeks to get it going but now that they are hitting, the offense is functioning well.
  12. JohnBriggs12
    When ST opened Brad Nelson was not the guy they envisioned in this role. That guy was Trot Nixon. Had Nixon been hitting anywhere near the level Nelson was, Nixon would be on the team and Nelson would have been DFA'd. Yes they might have lost him. Teams lose guys all the time. Nelson is not an established major leaguer. Unless he gets an opportunity to play on a semi regular basis, it's doubtful he ever will be. Furthermore, if this was August or September, no way would they be going with a player with such limited major league time in the role of lefty pinch hitter especially with the number of unemployed veteran lefty bats out there. I suspect at some point unless Nelson sprinkles in some base hits, they'll grab a Durham, Catalanotto, or Edmonds to replace him. I suspect that move may come sooner than later (Mother's day is my guess). Duffy may hang on a little longer but really is Duffy any better than Gwynn especially if Gwynn has been playing regularly and Duffy has replaced Rivera in the witness protection program. They are also running the risk of not having a capable backup to Corey Hart who has been known to be quite streaky. That Kaplar was hurt when Hart struggled down the stretch almost cost them the playoffs last year.
  13. JohnBriggs12
    A sacrifice fly counts against OBP, but not BA.
  14. JohnBriggs12
    The Marlins will finish below .500. April records mean little. They aren't as good as they looked sweeping the Nats twice nor are they as bad as they have looked getting swept in Pittsburgh (boy that has a familiar ring doesn't it?)
  15. JohnBriggs12
    While his numbers look good (showing that small samples are deceiving), I think it was how he was throwing that caused the Cubs to DFA him. The few times I saw him, he didn't look like the same guy. Not much zip on his fastball (86-87) nor is he able to throw his slider over 80 mph. Yeah, he got some guys out but mostly they got themselves out against Vizcaino. When Vizcaino was good, he got it up there in the 93-94 range with a mid 80's slider. He's just a shell of that guy now.
  16. JohnBriggs12
    Adam Frost update: Frost recently signed with the Winnepeg Goldeyes of the Northern League.
  17. JohnBriggs12
    Maybe Weathers 10 years ago but certainly not now. Weathers stuff isn't close to Coffey velocity-wise now. Weathers sinker is now 86-88. Coffey's is 93-95. Weathers uses his slider a lot more than Coffey does too who throws 80-90% fastballs. Kolb had the same hard sinker as Coffey. It's true in his second time around as a Brewer he had lost 3-4 mph off it. He also lost some command. Coffey as a Brewer has been able to command that sinker much like Kolb did his first time around as a Brewer. Anyone that can command a mid 90's sinker is going to have success but it's a tough pitch to command consistently.
  18. JohnBriggs12
    Question: When Braun was hitting .324/.370/.634 with 34 HR and 97 RBI while making 26 errors at 3B was he a "net plus" or a "net minus" to the 07 team? While you can obviously say his defense reduced the impact of his offense, I think it's a reach to say it wiped out it's positive impact on that team entirely especially if you give Braun's hot 07 any credit in Fielder hitting 50 HR that year, most of which came after Braun joined the team. Gamel needs to be judged in the same manner. His value to the team needs to be judged on his offense and defense. The better offensive player he is, the less his defense really matters. That's not to say the move of Braun wasn't a good thing or that a future move of Gamel won't be but considering the possible places he could be moved are manned by Fielder, Hart and Braun it's best to leave him at 3B right now. Gamel's offensive value should enhance a heavily right handed lineup and be especially beneficial to Fielder. That's why I don't understand the thinking behind replacing Fielder right now with Gamel.
  19. JohnBriggs12
    Old Yankee Stadium, especially prior to the mid 70's refurbishing, was always known as a HR haven for lefthanded pull hitters. In the early 60's this frustrated Charlie Finley so much that he temporarily brought in the fences in RF in old KC Municipal Stadium, set up some bleachers and called it his "pennant porch" until the league told him he couldn't change the dimensions during the season. It's the reason most of the great Yankee pitchers through the years (Whitey Ford, Ron Guidry, Tommy John, etc) were lefthanded. Righthanders struggled in that park. Reggie Jackson didn't need a short porch in RF, but guys like Craig Nettles and even Roger Maris, were able to pad their HR totals with their ability to pull the ball.
  20. JohnBriggs12
    I'm surprised nobody else has brought it up, but I'm struck by how similar Coffey appears to the Dan Kolb of 2003 and 2004. Kolb hadn't done much prior to the Brewers picking him up in his late 20's similar to Coffey's situation. Both feature mid 90's sinking fastballs.
  21. JohnBriggs12
    Smith is worth keeping an eye on. He made it up to Boston (not exactly a bottom feeder) for part of last year and though he didn't fare well overall due to 2 or 3 poor outings, he was quite good in several 3 up 3 down innings.
  22. JohnBriggs12
    And his 5th error in ten games, pushing him further from the majors. His error rate isn't nearly as good as last year, and it wasn't good enough last year. I do, however, hope he gets recalled to DH in interleague play. He's definately better than our others options to do that. Actually he got his 5th error yesterday. Today, he hit is 4th HR and started a game ending double play (one of several assists on the day) and did not make an error. For those keeping track it's 5 errors now in 11 games. All in all though his offense is helping the team more than his defense is hurting it.
  23. JohnBriggs12
    There was a large hue and cry this spring about how Brad Nelson, Casey McGehee and Chris Duffy had clearly won jobs with their spring performance over veterans like Lamb and Nixon. They were so impressive in Arizona, that everyone dismissed even considering bringing in proven veterans like Catalonatto, Jenkins, etc. who were out there to be had for minimum salaries. Well 2 weeks in, Duffy, Nelson and McGehee are combined 1 for 16. Two of the players they back up, Fielder and Braun, are in horrific slumps but one can hardly blame Macha for not sitting them down a game or two when all he has to replace them with are unproven players. The fact is Nelson and McGehee aren't well suited to be strictly pinch hitters. That's a job on the major league level that is better handled by a veteran like Lamb. Duffy is not a bad 5th OF, but he's hardly better than Gwynn or any number of guys.
  24. JohnBriggs12
    Coffey's arm might fall off by July. That won't be Macha's fault or even the other relievers. This team needs to hit and they're not hitting, especially the guys that have to, Braun, Fielder and Hardy. I still think you don't let Suppan lead off the 7th if he's on a one hitter leash pitching in the bottom of the inning. They had a reasonably rested pen and DiFelice should have started the 7th, then they could have gone to Stetter if he got in a jam.
  25. JohnBriggs12
    The worst call this year on a steal attempt cost Rivera a caught stealing. I believe that was against the Cubs.
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