BrewFlame

I live in Canada, and have been using MLB.TV since '03. Until then, I could typically only see the Brewers when they would play the Cubs, Mets or Braves, or the Blue Jays in the AL days, save the occasional random broadcast that one of our national sports channels would show (maybe 2-3 games per year). In the early days, it would freeze up a lot, but it has improved greatly since then. Last year, I can only think of a couple of instances when it froze up, but it was rare. I would say that the picture quality is nowhere near that of a standard defintion broadcast, but it is still decent. I typically put it on full screen and sit back far enough from the monitor, and it looks pretty good, better than it did 6 years ago. The one thing I really don't like is that while the games were archived, they are not available till 4am the next morning. This means that if I am not home for the live broadcast, I can't tape it or watch it later that evening. This would be really use for games in the Eastern time zone, which usually start at 5pm here. The other thing that kind of irritates me is the way they handle commercials. In the first couple of years, we would get the actual commercials of whatever feed we would receive, so it was like you were actually watching in that market. Now you ether get dead air (which I really hate), or a rotation of about 3 or 4 MLB produced ads. With MLB.TV, you can't really channel surf, which is what I would normally do, which would be another advantage of Extra Innings. Unfortunately, the cable company here does not offer Extra Innings, so that is not an option. If it was, I would definitely switch to that. But MLB.TV is sure nice compared to the old days of having to watch nothing but Blue Jays broadcasts.

I think Suppan is okay at the bottom of the rotation. Early in the year, Gallardo was hurt early, Bush and Villaneuva struggled, and Parra was barely able to go 5 innings. At that time Suppan and Sheets were the only guys able to go deep enough in games to help preserve what was at the time an overworked bullpen. While Suppan was not necessarily lights out, he was very valuable early on for that very reason. He is not a great pitcher by any stretch, and I would agree he is overpaid, but I would take him over most teams #5 starters.

I might consider swapping Hart and Cameron in the order. I think Hart's struggles are entirely mental, and perhaps putting him in the leadoff spot would change his overall approach to hitting. Perhaps he could worry more about getting on base than driving guys in....possibly using the occasional bunt, and trying to be more of a slap hitter, using his speed. Sometimes, just being in the leadoff spot will cause a hitter to take that approach. I do hate the idea of having a guy with Hart's tools bunting, and playing small ball. But at this point, that may be the lesser of two evils until he snaps out of this.