950opsLHcatcher

Is there anything that Chris Saenz can't do? To heck with him being in the Brewers rotation, he's our new RF.

The final score of this game is either going to be 18-15 or 3-1.

http://harlemglobetrotters.com/players/img/plyr-dunbar.jpg Or more?

http://www.forest.ula.ve/~pedroq/tiburon/coll01.jpg Need I say more?

By that you mean... sweetlouyetcapnlou@yahoo.com?

J.J., you're killing me.

Housman would have to pay me off to get a big move up the Power 50. I'm still not buying what he's selling. Has anyone ever started a chant of "Moyer, Moyer, Moyer" at a game of his?

Sweet Lou Palmisano (man, I hate giving up "Cap'n&quothttp://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif Not everyone has given up on the Cap'n. Sweet Lou my butt. Go Cap'n Lou!

I, oddly enough, completely agree with Jopal. The least of the Brewers' problems right now is Wes Helms. I'm not going to throw him on the butcher's block after a whopping 74 at-bats. If he would have had a hot April and then done this in May, no one (well, outside of this site) would have realized it. Helms is not a 514 OPS hitter. If he continued to start everyday at third, it is not that hard to envision him finishing the year with about a 750 OPS. Same thing, to a lesser extent, with Counsell. I don't think he's going to finish the year, wherever he finishes the year, with a .206 batting average, and you don't either. The one thing that could spark this offense is actually playing Keith Ginter everyday, but for the long-term good of the franchise, playing Spivey everyday to increase his trade value is a good thing, and Ginter's defensive liability at third base may not outway the positives of him playing everyday there. The Brewers have to find more and regular PA for Keith, but Wes isn't going to get any better by not playing, either. And it's not like we all don't know that our mid-August middle infield won't be Hardy and Hall, anyway. Back to pitching, I'm actually shocked that the team ERA is only 5.08. While Capuano may or may not pass the Dave Letterman "Is This Anything?" test, the rotation is, as many of us feared, just plain bad beyond Sheets. And the long relief outside of Burba Time (Ford and Hernandez) has been equally as crappy. The Brewers are 22nd in ERA, 22nd in hits allowed and 23rd in walks allowed. That is a powerful index of mediocrity. And I honestly don't see the current bad pitching moving as close to the median as much as the current good pitching losing ground to median. Kieschnick and Burba Time are not this good. Davis and Obermueller may be this bad. A big test in Melvin's GManship may come soon when he has the option to promote prospects like Hendrickson and Adams to fill in spots where veterans have failed. Will he Taylor and promote the guys before they are due, or will Melvin press on, wait it out, and let prospects actually earn their stay? It's tempting to look at Hendrickson's 0.88 WHIP and say he's ready, and it's tempting to look at Adams' 25:1 K:BB ratio and say he's ready. (Note the profound sigh of discontent over not mentioning De La Rosa's nonexistent gaudy numbers here.) I really hope the Brewers press on and try guys like Wise and Michalek and a Childers or two before testing the meat of the farm system before they may be ready to be tested.

Well, Adams did walk his first batter of the season. Not that anyone is complaining about a 25:1 K:BB ratio. Mike's main problem is that his fastball isn't spectacular, so he gets in trouble with it when he leaves it up in the zone, which helps to explain his not-so-great HR allowed totals. By making him go through the order a few times, the Brewers might be helping him to make better adjustments (especially with his fastball) on the mound, which is necessary for ML success, to matter what your role is. I don't think that the Brewers are grooming him to be a starter because he hasn't been that successful when he's been thrown into the rotation. Having him pitch longer just forces him to mix up his pitches, which will be beneficial once he gets to the bigs. And if he keeps going like he is, that shouldn't be too much longer. I originally advocated for Michalek and Wise to replace Ford and Hernandez, but Adams is definitely making a statement and might be making it tougher not to promote him when the time comes.

The first Huntsville game doesn't start for another hour and fifteen minutes. They are picking it up after a few innings in, so they don't need to start it during the day.

Rijo was likely the PTBNL in the Machado deal.

The real problem is Kinney. I think the whole real problem are starters #2-5 http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif . Davis is slipping back towards being what he is, Oby is doing more or less what everyone expected, Capuano may or may not be anything, and Kinney, well, Kinney... While the bullpen is fixable, the rotation might be a losing battle. With the only help at this moment in AAA for the rotation in the form of Ben Hendrickson, the Brewers may have to just grin and bear it because Hendrickson shouldn't be called up until he has at least 10 AAA starts, IMO. De la Rosa needs another 10 starts just to get back on track. I suggested calling up Wise over Adams because Wise might be a person the Brewers could look at as a starter if he experiences success in the bigs. I think Ford still has an option left, so he could go down without a problem.

The Brewers even managed to slip into the first half hour of Sportscenter, as opposed to getting 12 seconds in the final minute of the show. I know this means nothing, but it means somethin'. It'll be interesting to see how Yost handles the budding Counsell/Hall situation. You can't sit Hall after two game-winning RBIs in a row, but you also can't make it look like Counsell is out of a regular job after a few good performances by an understudy. Something has to be done about the pitching. This rotation may well be worse than last year's, and although Burba Time and Bennett have been nice surprises, the bullpen needs some work. Hernandez and Ford aren't getting it done, so why not try some different AAA relievers? Matt Wise and Chris Michalek would work.

Eric Henderson's pitching line is one of the more bizarre lines we'll see this season. And agreed with Jim that this was a good (and much needed good) outing for Ryan Costello, and the Mavs have been playing not-horrible ball lately. Brewers' farm system is over .500 nearing the end of April for the first time I can remember. 4 games over. Woo.

Just because you made them cry doesn't make you a good heckler. The dude was wearing earmuffs. He deserved it! I liked it when the dude at concessions told us to stop it.

I bought three Powerball tickets the other day and matched exactly zero numbers correctly. So, let's see... Brewers win 12-5, and Davis pitches a no-hitter.

I want to say that one of Villanueva's starts should instead be listed as Pena's start, and that Villanueva's numbers are actually a little bit worse. For a few days in a row, Wilhelmsen was named as the starter in the box score at BA, and then when they corrected it, I think they gave one of Pena's actual appearances to Villanueva, and this makes sense, given that Villanueva has four starts and Pena has two. I want to say that Pena gave up one earned run in four innings pitched, but I could be wrong.

Albert Pujols on Saenz: "I don't think he had anything, he just got lucky, I guess." What's up with that? Gamesmanship. What did you expect him to say? "Yah, that rookie from AA really handed it to us." And there is probably some glint of truth to his statement - Saenz doesn't have the best stuff in the world, and Pujols and the Cards have beaten better. Still, when you make one of the best hitters in the game sound like a chump, you've done something

Are there any precedents where a player's major league performance has influenced his Power 50 standing? Not really. Most of the guys that have made it in the past were either already #1 (Sheets, Neugy), or tweeners with limited MLB success after promotion (Hall, Oby). Was bound to happen, though, and I hope it happens some more.

What on earth is going through Ben Hendrickson's mind right now? Saenz gets promoted right by him, and makes an impressive first impression on the Major League level despite Hendrickson's seniority on the food chain and equivocal success at AAA. It can't be anything about the 40-man roster spot, either, because Ben's there too. I guess Hendrickson just has to keep his head up and show that he belongs in the show, too. I wonder if this will have any influence on Chris' power 50 slot? He had already moved up a number of spaces before this start, and he's probably going to move up a few more now. We'll all know in about 5 hours.

Edit: aaaaaaaargh That pretty much sums up this game. 31 players used. Geesh.

This game also probably has reperussions on the Capuano situation. While it was a possibility that the Brewers could have gone in-staff with a start if Cap hadn't been able to go, this game probably melts away that chance. Vic Santos, here we come. Edit: On a related note, hat's off to Adrian Hernandez. He's struggled this season, but gave (has given?) his Bronswell Patrick all thus far.

Why, oh why, did Brenly let Cintron try to steal with two outs in the top of the 13th in a tie ballgame with the pitcher batting? This is why these games take so long. Edit: Which game will end first, this one or the ATL/CIN game?

The Brewers just have Moeller left. I left to do something else as Ford was giving up a run in the top of the ninth. I am the fool for the day.