danzig6767

It's been awhile since i can remember the Brewers stringing together three hits like that on the road to the point it almost feels shocking. Make that four straight now

That's what I saw too. It's a huge peeve of mine that so many umps call a guy out simply because the throw beats the runner even if the foot gets to the base or plate before the tag.

Roenokie is most the blame for his love affair with Kotsay and stuff like playing him in center over Boggs, but i can't excuse Melvin from this either. It was Doug signing Kotsay that brought this to the team and he is the GM with the power to ask Running Ron why he's doing the things he does. That said, my guess is Doug agrees with how Roenokie uses Kotsay and playing him in center over Boggs because if a roster spot is needed and an outfielder needs to go, Melvin without question will DFA Boggs and keep Kotsay because Doug has a soft spot for grizzled vets. Also, Lucroy hitting 8, BEHIND Buttancourt, is very frustrating. Didn't you realize that Lucroy is only hitting this well because he's been hitting in the 8th spot? Moving him up in the order would cause him to hit like crap? Sound reasoning by our manager.

For any of the stat guys here Is there any data out there which tracks how hitters as a whole through out the league do in situations of runner on 3rd with one out? Do they strike out at a higher percentage, maybe because pitchers would be trying harder for a strikeout in that situation vs a regular at bat?

He's pinching Wolf Not to excuse that home run pitch he served on a tee to Kemp, but the ump pinching him on a clear strike flipped the count and it ended up being 3-1 instead of 2-2, so Wolf threw a fastball. It was up though.

Yea, and i do wonder what reason he has to bat the walking out machine in front of Lucroy?

No question that it was Melvin's dumb decision to acquire Betancourt, not Roenicke. That said, not only does Gomez need to be moved down the order, if Roenicke is going to continue refusing common sense and keeping Gomez in the two hole, i'd rather see Lucroy batting 7th instead of 8th. It's a minor issue, but overall the guy batting 7th will likely come up a little more in RBI situations than the guy batting 8th. With situations of guys on base with two outs after McGehee/Hart came up, i'd much rather see Lucroy up than Yuni. Your overall point though is true, the heavy angst over Betancourt needs to be levied on Doug, not the manager.

I don't know if i'd say Yuni is slumping at the plate as much as his normal brutal approach at the plate looks to be reaching an epically bad approach level, thus he's not squaring up much on balls he hits. Sliders off the plate are his addiction. The guy just flat out refuses to make pitchers throw him pitches that he can hope to hit square. It's amazing how stupid of a hitter he is, especially since his swing isn't awful and he has some pop for a shortstop. If Betancourt wasn't such a moron up there, i think he could be an above average hitting shortstop. Pitchers aren't as stupid as Yuni is though. There are in depth scouting reports today and tons of video for each hitter. Thus, pitchers know that they can simply throw him a steady diet of balls, particularly on the first pitch and Betancourt will constantly respond in kind by swinging anyways. You'd think after a guy has over 3000 at bats that he'd figure out what even a complete baseball novice could see that pitchers rarely throw Yuni really hittable strikes because he rarely ever forces them to. Yet, there he steps into the batters box over and over swinging at first or second pitch at most pitch garbage. Just incredible stupidity.

HE SAW SOMETHING IN SPRING TRAINING! Just ask him. It was for almost a whole month. (I'm not making this up). Roenicke has been in baseball for over two decades. Has been managing for over ten years. How is it possible for a guy to be this dense regarding batting Gomez 2nd? It truly is mind boggling. Yet, come tomorrow, Gomez will be back in the two hole. Pure insanity. Plus, where is Melvin on this? Can't he tell Running Ron to stop the madness and remove Carlos from batting in a spot he's so mismatched for?

I've honestly never seen a hitter with a worse approach at the plate than Yuni. The pathetic thing is the guy actually has a decently swing and some pop for a shortstop, but he simply refuses to make pitchers throw him pitches he can drive or hit hard.

I feel quite a bit better about the lineup now that Hart is back and Lucroy is hitting so well. I like the rotation for the most part. What worries me about the next 10-15 is the bullpen. Man would it be nice to have Saito right now. Hopefully Braddock returns soon and has the stuff he had last season. In spring training, i had really high hopes for the pen, but with all the injuries, i rarely feel confident about them being ale to hold a small lead or keep a tight game close.

My gut feeling is that come the end of the year, Gomez will easily have finished with the highest walk rate of his career and that won't be the main reason for a sub-standard OBP, his low batting average will be the main culprit. What i question more is if there is any hope that he can ever raise his batting average to the point it can reach the .260 area at least? Maybe hit more ground balls that he in turn can leg out into hits?

I basically agree with everything here, although I think Kotsay may be a better PH than Boggs. However, I would probably rather have Boggs start over Kotsay. My big problem with Kotsay is his defense (or lack thereof) and the fact that he has been playing so often. He's fine for a 5th outfielder and pinch-hitter but shouldn't be playing as much as he has been. I don't see a reason to baby Hart like some do. At this point, he should be ready to go. I also don't think people are over-exaggerating how bad Kotsay is. Everyone basically accepts the fact that he can draw a walk and hit the occasional single or double but he has no power and no defense. A guy like that shouldn't be starting as much as he has. I do also wonder what Doug and Roenicke like so much about Kotsay? Why both seem to think he's a better player than Boggs? Yea, Kotsay has a very solid approach at the plate by generally working the count and not just being a hacker, but so does Boggs. Hell, last year in AAA he drew 72 walks in only 439 at bats. He had 14 walks in only 60 at bats this year at Nashville for a .500 OBP after posting a .402 OBP the previous year in OKC. Boggs can switch hit. He's better defensively. While Boggs isn't exactly a power hitter, he certainly has more power than Kotsay. So what am i missing here? Once Morgan gets back, i'm pretty sure that Boggs will get DFA and Kotsay won't play much assuming none of the four main outfielders don't suffer a significant injury. That said, i still won't like or understand the decision to keep Kotsay over Boggs even if there likely won't be any sort of big impact on the team either way unless the injury bug strikes the outfield.

One positive at the plate which shouldn't be ignored is that while Gomez's approach still isn't that sound, he drew his 12th walk today over 137 at bats so far this year. He now actually close to that 1 walk per 10 at bats ratio that most deem as pretty acceptable for a hitter. He's taken 6 walks in 37 at bats this month. Obviously is very questionable as to if he will continue doing this, but he's taking walks at a higher rate this year than at any point in his career. What's amazing though is how he hits for near the same batting average every season, between about .230-.250, give or take a few percentage points. So even if he keeps drawing walks at this somewhat improved pace, he'll only get a more acceptable OBP is he can get his BA at at least .260 or above.

Yea, that goal by Datsyuk was amazing. What a shot. Overall just a fabulous game to watch. That San Jose crowd was so into the game and the last minute plus after Detroit pulled Howard was so intense as the puck was in the San Jose zone most of the time. I wanted to cheer for San Jose over Vancouver, but my buddy lost a 50 dollar bet to me on a different series and he wants to go double or nothing, but surprisingly he chose San Jose instead of Vancouver.

While i agree on the overuse of Loe, this is also partly an illustration of the Brewers overall dismal failure to draft and develop quality pitching. Not only is Doug constantly having to either sign free agent pitchers for the pen or find numerous reclamation projects like Loe, Kolb, Turnbow, Axford, etc, when injuries strike, there rarely has been high quality young arms to bring up from the minors to put in the pen and be really productive. We almost never seem able to draft and develop say a Kimbrel and Venters like the Braves have. Some younger drafted arms that aren't destined to be starters, but at least come in the the bigs and are high quality relievers for a few years.

I didn't realize that and think that is wrong and makes me reevaluate my support for interleague play.

Man is the Royals farm system loaded

1. With his speed Gomez is the better offensive player. Neither can really hit but the 15 point difference in OBP is beaten out by Gomez's SLG and basestealing ability 2. Boggs profiles to be exactly the same offensively as Kotsay but can at least play defense. I'm just guessing here, but if say both Boggs and Kotsay were given about 300 at bats, i'm pretty confident that Boggs would produce better and thus is a better hitter. In a really small sample though of mostly pinch hitting and spot starts, it's more a coin flip on who would produce more at the plate.

With all the injuries to the bullpen and Stetter such an extreme liability vs righthanders, i was wondering for those of you who follow the minors close, is there a different lefty we can call up to replace Stetter that isn't such a liability vs righthanded bats? I hate being in situations like tonight where Stetter is brought in and the opposing manager then pinch hits with a righthanded bat, i feel instant dread, especially if that RH batter has some power and could tie the game or take the lead with a home run. Plus, the way most teams stagger their lineups R/L, most times Stetter comes in he can only face one batter. This can cause problems when the bullpen is taxed, certain key guys should have a night off, and/or if the game goes extra innings. EDIT-- I just looked at the Nashville pitching stats/roster, man that's looking really grim.

I'd certainly be happier with this result if I believed that the Red Sox, Rays, Royals and Indians were playing to their talent levels. I still think we have major disadvantages in the interleague schedule which means this poor start could easily sink us for the entire year. In terms of projected wins, how much harder do you think the Brewers interleague schedule is relative to the Reds or Cards? Don't all NL Central teams play the same interleague schedule except our designated rival is Minnesota and say the Cards play KC?

Amen. He's been very impressive this year. He should be batting second or after Hart, assuming Hart gets things going and stay in the six spot. If Hart gets bumped to the two hole eventually, i'd bat Lucroy after McGehee.

I think last week we score 6 runs. Total. We no doubt weren't hitting the ball well on that brutal road trip, but a game like this and the Atlanta series are prime examples of how luck also factors in. Practically everything the Brewers hit on that road trip was right at a defender, while at the same time Atlanta found every hole possible to turn possible outs into hits. Here tonight though, we have 6 runs off 8 hits that many could have been outs had the grounders been hit a few more feet to the left or right. In fact, about 5 of those hits have been perfectly placed grounders between the thirdbaseman and SS.

We aren't tearing the cover off the ball. It's just been one grounder after another which has been in the right spot to not be an out.

This game reminds me of the Atlanta series where it seems that tons of ground balls and bloops found a seam to sneak through. Tonight, we are getting lucky that so many grounders are finding a seam to sneak through.