brewers02

I actually like Hardy being optioned as frankly I don't trust Dale Sveum and I think Hardy may have a chance to turn things around under Sandy Guerrero. I'm really surprised that that Castro got it before Sveum did, and that Hall got cut before Kendall did. Hall was flexible defensively, hit lefties well, and seemed to be on the uptick from his earlier minor league experience.

vs LHP: (2B) McGehee (Yes Hall is decent against LHP but I just think it is important to get McGehee more AB's) (1B) Fielder (moving him up to get him more AB's on average per game) (LF) Braun (yes Fielder doesn't have that great of speed, but he has the better OBP because he is a walk machine. Once the defence reacts to cover Fielder on first holes open up in the defense that Braun can better exploit with his better batting average) (CF) Hart (Cameron is too old, too overpaid and too slumpy...let's prepare for the future) (3B) Gamel (he hit LHP in the minors...he just needs a chance and it would help him to hit everyday) © Rivera (spelled 1-2 times a week by Angel Salome...I'm over Kendall) (RF) Heether (yes this would be a conversion but I think it would be worth the effort. Wouldn't mind seeing Katin or Bourgeois getting some at bats here as well). Pitcher (the 2-3% more AB associated with the 8 spot get canceled out somewhat by batting substitutions and it doesn't waste the RBI potential of your leadoff guy) (SS) Escobar (How long do we have to wait for JJ to snap out of it? JJ can get the occasional AB to see if he makes a recovery) vs RHP: Same deal except Hart and Gamel trade spots. No big changes because I'm playing Fielder and Gamel anyways and Counsel was among the players I sent packing to make room for all the farm players I promoted http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif . Plus there are just so many more RH pitchers then LW picthers I'm not a huge fan of lefty/righty platoons.

The Brewers have had so many players slumping (Hall, Hardy, Hart, Cameron, Kendall and pretty much all the bench players other then McGehee) that at some point don't we have to wonder about our new hitting coach? We know Sveum is really emphasizing patience at the plate but to an extreme? JJ almost never swings at the first pitch and pitchers are taking advantage of this to get ahead of the count. Isn't it Sveum's job to spot and fix this? To top it off guys who leave like Branyan and Gwynn are doing pretty well on their new teams. I don't know if Sveum deserves the "Gerald Perry" treatment yet, but I think he may be part of the problem. Thoughts?

From Yahoo Sports: Ryan Braun will not pretend to fall in love for your amusement

According to this article it is actually an interesting optical illusion: http://www.newscientist.c...-are-so-hard-to-hit.html Here is an animation to illustrate: http://www.newscientist.c...sual-illusions-curveball

http://www.unitedcountrie...images/UCOB-1280x960.jpg Interesting map of fan loyalty...it would be curious to know how accurate it is though.

The third ballot update for the NL all-stars has come out today and you can see the results at the bottom of http://mlb.mlb.com/news/a...009&fext=.jsp#nlvote . The most notable change is that Braun has slipped from #1 to #2.

It's going to be interesting to see if Prince makes it as a reserve. He's the best hitter for one of the best teams in baseball with a .427 OBP and 2nd overall in the NL with 52 RBI's so you can make the case he is having an allstar season. Gonzales unfortunately probably has the #2 spot behind Pujols because of his homers, slugging percentage, better defense and his being able to represent SD as their their sole player. So Prince's best chance will be if the NL teams fields 3 first basemen and I don't think this is likely. What is interesting is if this were up to the fans Gonzales would only be the fifth best 1b according to early voting results which is funny... Speaking of near miss first basemen allstars, how about Russel Branyan? Granted he isn't going to make it, but he is putting some nice numbers... 423 OBP and slugging 609. Wouldn't he be nice to have as a Brewer... Braun while maybe technically isn't starting material this year due to the competition, he should start thanks to fan voting which has him topping all other outfielders. For those curious, check out the early fan results at http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/allstar/voting . Milwaukee players are represented VERY well. Bill Hall is 3rd in fan voting at 3b and Kendal is 2nd at catcher!