umphrey

meh just like Carlos Gomez and Mark Kotsay, Herrera is forced into the lineup and he and Roenicke get a bunch of hate as if they gave him a huge contract and designated him their guy. Braddock, Parra, Saito are the guys we wanted to pitch I'm sure.

I would be very surprised if Marcum missed more than 3 starts. Asking 5-6 innings from your bullpen once every 5th day when your other starters are going 6-7 is not a big deal or all that uncommon. Especially when you can bounce a few guys between AAA and the majors. Roenicke uses about 3 relievers the way it is anyway - Loe, Axford, and a replacement when Loe has pitched the last 12 days.

I am much more concerned that through 9 starts he's given up at least 2 runs every time. Also there hasn't been one thing you can really pin it on either. It hasn't been a meltdown in the 5th or 6th inning. It hasn't been something like Albert Pujols hitting a bouncing curve for a home run. The defense, well, the rest of our pitchers are doing well with it right now. It's very concerning the number of line drive hard hit balls from the middle of the strike zone. He hasn't flashed the potential I thought he had (pretty much completely in regards to command). I think his fast ball looks flat with little movement too, but I'd like to hear what other people think about that. It's even more subjective than the rest of what I said.

I just heard on the radio Nyjer Morgan was batting 9th. Don't know if they were wrong or this is.

Why do people keep posting this? Has everyone forgotten that he actually got 1 more minor league rehab start than he needed? He was fully stretched out when he came up to Milwaukee. Once again there is a disconnect between certain metrics that are mostly based on peripherals and the actual results on the field. People are going to tell us he's unlucky because of his LOB% over his last 40 starts, throw out xFIP which is meaningless in this context, compare his rate stats to other true aces, and so on. The only problem is that he's continually pitched below his talent with the exception of his CY season. All of the rate stats, metrics... all of that is true, Greinke does compare favorably to Sabathia and other top pitchers in every way but the actual result on the field. So why is that? Well if you dig a little deeper looking at his GSC, his game logs, and actually pay attention to how he pitches in the games then it's a not a mystery at all. It's not that he's unlucky, it's that he grooves way too many FBs. He get's away with a fair amount of them, in fact he keeps hitters off balance enough that they watch many go by without even taking a swing. However if a hitter is looking FB when he throws one... well you don't get to the majors if you can't consistently hit a thigh to belt high FB over the heart of the plate very hard. That's not Zach getting unlucky, that's Zach putting pitches in horrible location, regardless of the ultimate result, those are hitters pitchers. Simply put he gives up more runs than he should because his FB location is sloppy at times. I took quite a bit of flak for point out how uneven he's been over his career and that overall I viewed him as more of a #2 than a #1, and still believe my assessment of him was on the money. People around here over valued him based on his talent and his 1 CY season, but over the entirety of his career he hasn't pitched as well as a Halladay or Sabathia, though that's what people thought we were getting. Apparently that's what Melvin thought too because we gave up an avalanche of talent to acquire him, we paid much more for Greinke than we did for Sabathia and we aren't going to get nearly the same result. Zach will be unwordly for a couple of games, then he'll crash and post a sub 20 GSC... those extreme lows bring down his overall pitching line. All MLB pitchers are inconsistent to a certain degree, even the greats, compare his GSC in 2010 to Sabathia and you will see what I mean. The one thing he does very well on a consistent basis is pitch deep into games, which is something this team really needed. There's a ton to like about Greinke, but the excuses need to stop. Pitching is ultimately all about location... This, seriously. Greinke has a great SO/BB ratio and other things, but I don't really care if he does that and keeps giving up runs like he has. I think most of the time he goes up there and tries to pound the strike zone and throws way too many meat balls. It's not that hard to do that and get good strike out numbers and low walks while giving up runs. People need to stop looking at the more obscure stats and realize that there are a lot of hitters squaring up on him every game. Also it's not like pounding the strike zone is a bad thing but the way he's been doing it, it makes me wonder if he has command to hit corners.

yes Casey you should bunt because you are a GIDP machine when Prince is on first

Well the Cubs were smart to pitch to McGehee and Betancourt instead of Fielder and Hart, I guess, if loading the bases twice is smart

I think it's a good thing that Roenicke gives guys like McGehee a chance to break out of a slump. He's proven capable of it and if he can start hitting he would offer a lot more than a AAA call up. Moving him in the line up can't be a bad thing though, same with off days. Why live with the crappy production right behind Prince? Little adjustments like changing his spot in the order and off days are things worth trying to break a slump anyway.

Marcum at 108 pitches. Hawkins in the 8th and Axford in the 9th would be my pick to shut it down.

Feeling OK about Marcum getting out of bases loaded 1 out here. He's pitching well, just need no more bad luck.

I'm calling a McGehee home run here. Bold, so I'll feel smart if I'm right.

It's nice how, unlike April-May, I don't feel like we are out of this game at all with the 3 run deficit

Gallardo fastball and curve ball look like they are working so far

He'd have to be crazy to be that good

Nyjer Morgan's swagger > Mark Kotsay's grit

Casey McGehee - I believe

omg I <3 Prince

Hopefully the Mets crappy bullpen can help us out tonight random: I saw Rickie Weeks driving around Milwaukee in one of these today http://www.wallpaperpimpe...-Q96EHV2OYS-1024x768.jpg

If McGehee can't get it going against Cappy today I think it's time to take him out of the 5 spot until further notice. I hope he gets some hits though, XBH preferably.

Dave Sveum's prediction of fastballs and cutters for strikes looks pretty awful

tough loss but they did a lot of things that made me think they can win 90 games with this lineup and pitching - and coaching with some tweaks

are we trying to run them out of healthy catchers, piss them off as much as possible, lose, or all 3?

time to break out your lucky charms folks McGehee is in a serious home run drought

at worst, I like the bullpen stress we are putting on them right now

when it rains...