Oxy

At least the missed strike three call on Chipper cost them a run.

Yeah. Pitch two to Freeman was definitely a strike (ball two). Pitch three was questionable (strike one). I guess it evened out.

I believe the rule is that if he gets credited with the win in game one he gets to stay in the dugout. If he gets a no-decision he can hang out in the bullpen or the clubhouse if he likes. If he gets the loss he's gotta hit the road.

I would think that in order to get an accurate picture of how he is pitching from the stretch you'd have to exclude his numbers when first base is open, as there is no question that pitchers pitch around certain guys in that situation. I would guess that almost all pitchers would have higher walk rates with guys already on, actually. Especially ground ball pitchers and guys with very good walk rates overall (not that Gallardo is either one of these).

If these are the guys he is going to put in the lineup, I actually like the order quite a bit. Alternating R/L bats throughout.

Is Hanson particularly good against righties or particularly bad against lefties compared to Hudson? Wouldn't you want at least one left handed bench bat? This also means that in game two we will likely have all left handed bench bats. The exception is Boggs, but does he really count? Not to mention the OF defense is much weaker with both Morgan and Kotsay in at the same time.

I'm not exactly sure I would cite Pete Rose when speaking about rules. He didn't have many qualms about breaking the written ones, so I'm not sure why the unwritten ones would faze him. It might actually be an endorsement for the rules existing if Pete Rose did that.

So, Francisco Liriano might have been the worst starting pitcher in baseball in April, but he goes out and throws 5+ (and counting) no-hit innings against the White Sox, albeit with 4 BBs. Baseball is a funny game. Also, I posted this in the in-game thread, but I'll ask here too-- Is there any reason why we wouldn't go Marcum-Greinke tomorrow? And then use Estrada to back up Greinke in order to keep Zack on a strict pitch count? This could likely save the bullpen a bit too.

Is there any reason why we wouldn't start Marcum tomorrow, and then use Estrada to back up Greinke? Keep Zack on a strict pitch count and be able to save our bullpen some strain?

It's a tricky issue. Players are private citizens with personal rights just like anybody else. Is there really any legal reason that a person should be disallowed from doing their job for a first time DUI/DWI? However, players are also public figures and role models for our children (whether they want to be or not), so I understand wanting to be very strict in matters like this.

If I am not mistaken (a big IF), xFIP works under the assumption that every at bat is independent from another at bat, i.e. A pitcher doesn't change the way he pitches no matter how many outs there are or how many guys are on base. Hopefully that is the case, and Gallardo has just been unlucky. There's been so many single inning implosions this year that it seems like Gallardo "loses it" when things get sticky though. Over his career it always seemed like it was the opposite to me, however, in that YG would bear down and get key outs when he really needed them.

After my post earlier, I just want to give the best of luck to whatever Zach is dealing with. It wasn't meant to be malicious in any regard; more of a comment on the bizarre-ness of of many maladies and roster moves the Brewers have made recently. I wish it was only a sore neck from bad pillows, but it sounds like it may be a bit more involved. In matters like this, I think a manager like RRR is a great asset to the organization. From all accounts he really seems to be able to work with people well, and I have no doubt that Zach will come back strong sooner rather than later.

A-what? Sleep disorder? How was he able to make it through the game last night with his eyes closed? And how is going on the DL going to help him get over his "sleep disorder." Did he pick up the wrong pillows from Macy's like Suppan? If so, perhaps Gallardo should go shopping with him... This is the most blatant abuse of the DL I think I've ever seen.

I understand where you are coming from on the grand scheme of things, Crew, but it's too late for that right now. Our "impact" players of the future are Weeks and Braun with Hart and Gallardo helping out. We likely aren't going to be able to sign any impact players, and we don't have any impact prospects on the farm right now. So, there are only two ways to get more impact prospects: trade for them and draft them. If we are under .500 in July I hope we can flip Prince for some quality prospects, but I just don't see that happening. As far as why the strategy didn't work with Sheets, Sabathia, Linebrink, Lopez(who? Felipe?), it's partially because Sheets was hurt and didn't sign, and because the Yankees signed Teixera. You know that. But it's MOSTLY because our scouting apparently stunk and we drafted duds. Sorry to say, but if that is the case, our farm system will NEVER be good. You have to draft well, and the more picks you get, the more likely it is that some of them work out. If we can trade filler prospects for quality rentals and subsequent draft picks, I don't see how that could be a bad thing. We got 4 years of all-star (if not Cy Young) quality pitching by basically giving up Lawrie, Odorizzi, and 3 filler guys. I don't think it is totally out of the question to be able to be able to get .5 years of someone like Reyes for a 2-4 filler type players. Heck, we got Nyjer Morgan for basically nothing. Not that Nyjer is great shakes or anything, but those are the types of deals that would make a lot of sense right now, especially for some reserve defensive infield help. How could you argue with that? I realize that you don't like the philosophy of a small market club trading prospects, but we did, and we (should) have a good team right now. We also have a crappy farm system. How do YOU propose that we change that now? If we can hold on to our top 3-4 pitching prospects, I'd basically trade the rest of the farm for rentals with expiring contracts who will net us more picks. I don't really see any other way to improve the system, and hopefully it will improve our current major league ballclub as well.

Wow, Gomez bunts a lot better when he swings.

That's exactly the opposite of what people said last night, especially after he made that great play in the hole. I don't think he moves "ok" in either direction; at least for a starting ML SS.

Late to the party, but I love the camera angle. You don't have to guess nearly as much when trying to tell if a pitch caught the corner or not. At first it might look like the pitcher blocks the view but his follow through opens the view up nicely.

At this point, we should basically be trading away all of our bats in the minors, yes, if it nets us a half year of Reyes (or another good rental) PLUS two draft picks. It is likely that the two draft picks themselves would be more valuable in the long term than any of our bats in the minors right now. We have the core of our team signed and under control for the next few years. The guys in the minors right now aren't any better than waiver wire material anyway except for MAYBE Gennett (and our pitchers). If some team is willing to take on a bunch of them hoping somebody works out better than they are projected to I absolutely think we should empty the cupboard. We are trying to win a World Series, and if we can stockpile draft picks at the same time all the better. We need to re-stock the farm through the draft; not hold on to the scraps that we have hoping that they develop tools that they just don't have.

When do we get to face Halladay and Lee again? I'm sick of Wandy and Bud.

They synched it with Gomez' catch on FSNWisc, and he left early by a hair

Almost everybody understands what you are saying. But the whole point of sports is results and winning and losing and enjoying the idiosyncrasies of the day-to-day game of baseball. That can be talked about too! We discussed the merits of Yuni for pretty much all of January, February, and March. That was all well and good, and most people came to similar conclusions (except perhaps Doug Melvin). However, now that the season has started all that discussion really means diddly squat unless you are trying to compare YB to a viable alternative to replace him. It is possible to have BOTH perspectives that TheRealMattKain described; I feel like I do and many other posters here do as well. Apparently you feel like only the first perspective is even worth mentioning to the point of not even wanting to discuss baseball at all with people who hold onto the second perspective.

This thread needed to be locked after TheRealMattKain's post (#453). He nailed it.

Gomez and Betancourt walk in the same game. Now THAT's rare.

LuCroy's been terrible tonight. Not sure if he could've gotten Bourne there anyway but the first two steals would've been outs with good throws.

Yuni finally displays one of his only true assets as a player. Good to see. 9 game hitting streak too.