Eye Black

Chase Anderson has now started 96 games for the Brewers which ranks as the 25th most games started in team history. He is one start short of moving into a tie for 24th with Jeff Suppan.

[sarcasm]Brewers should trade him to the Reds for Derek Johnson.[/sarcasm]

Tough luck on that Grandal hit that was snagged by Puig. Glad Yelich got the HR, just wish Grandal was on after what looked like a no doubt base hit off the bat.

Unfortunately the Rangers are still in the playoff hunt because the versatile player that comes to mind out of the Jerry Hairston mold is Logan Forsythe. He can play any of the four positions across the dirt and could occasionally take some innings in the outfield. He has a league average wRC+, a .360 on base percentage, and is only signed through this season.

I think Dubon and another player closer to the backend of the Brewers top 30 prospects list would get it done. Something like Dubon and Je’Von Ward.

My prediction is Álex Colomé, but my reasoning is no better than the number of former White Sox bullpen arms that the Brewers have acquired through either trade or waiver pickup/signing is seemingly endless. The list of relief pitchers that were employed with the Brewers during Stearns’ tenure after pitching at some point in their career with the White Sox includes Anthony Swarzak, Joakim Soria, Xavier Cedeño, Matt Albers, Junior Guerra, Dan Jennings, Boone Logan, Jake Petricka, Juan Mariñez, Carlos Torres. There may be more, but you get the idea.

[pre]Brewers Lineup Reds Lineup 1. Yasmani Grandal (S) C 1. Nick Senzel ® CF 2. Christian Yelich (L) RF 2. Joey Votto (L) 1B 3. Mike Moustakas (L) 3B 3. Eugenio Suarez ® 3B 4. Ryan Braun ® LF 4. Scooter Gennett (L) 2B 5. Eric Thames (L) 1B 5. Yasiel Puig ® RF 6. Lorenzo Cain ® CF 6. Jose Iglesias ® SS 7. Keston Hiura ® 2B 7. Phillip Ervin ® LF 8. Chase Anderson ® P 8. Kyle Farmer ® C 9. Orlando Arcia ® SS 9. Tanner Roark ® P[/pre] Chase Anderson: Batter (Reds) vs Pitching Stats Tanner Roark: Batter (Brewers) vs Pitching Stats

Not disputing that he hasn’t been great lately, but as pointed out on the telecast tonight’s run allowed was a byproduct of the defensive indifference allowing the runner on 1st base to advance to 2nd.

The Brewers are now 15-5 combined against the Pirates and Reds in 2019. Nice to see them beating up on those division foes so far this season.

I don’t have much to add other than MLB Network Radio replayed a recent interview with Tyler and it was joy to listen to while being heartbreaking at the same time. A friend of mine works for the Angels, I can’t imagine what the team and staff will be going through over the coming days and weeks. Edit: Tyler was one of the participants in the California Strong celebrity softball game this past winter with Braun, Moustakas, and Yelich (photo link).

Some additional comments on the signing in the Minor League Transaction thread. I feel like the signing should be worth it’s weight in gold in terms of pun possibilities, but I’m having a heck of time coming up with them.

Nice to see the offense immediately respond with some big-time hits. I like Gamel a little more every single day.

Slightly ironic that it’s the right-handed hitters with the two bombs off Mahle tonight who has been much tougher on right-handed bats this season. Has given up a .897 OPS to lefties coming into tonight.

It seems like a winning formula could be Houser twice through the order (~5 innings) followed by Freddy Peralta for a few innings.

Let’s hope so, that would be an incredible success story for both Smyly and the Brewers.

Cubs rookie pitcher Adbert Alzolay getting lit up apparently, 8 hits and 7 earned runs allowed through the first 1.2 innings pitched.

Tues. will be the 7th day. I believe they are trying to work out a trade because somebody claimed him. No evidence, but I think somebody would want him. If not HP goes to San Antonio to keep his pay. The DFA occurred last Thursday evening, so wouldn’t the 7th day be Wednesday?

Meanwhile two of the players they traded away for Goldy have thrived in Arizona. Each has produced nearly twice the value of Goldschmidt through the first half of the season. Prior to being injured Luke Weaver had a 3.03 ERA (3.09 FIP) over 62.1 inning and catcher Carson Kelly is currently carrying an .881 OPS (as a catcher!). It is certainly within the range of possibilities that Goldschmidt goes on a second half tear, but to this point that trade, and subsequent additional 5 year extension, aren't looking so great for the Cardinals.

The Brewers don’t have many at-bats against the 24 year old Reds starter, Tyler Mahle, but Eric Thames has a nice line facing him in just 6 plate appearances (2-for-4, 2 HR, 2 BB).

[pre]Brewers Lineup Reds Lineup 1. Yasmani Grandal (S) C 1. Jesse Winker (L) RF 2. Christian Yelich (L) RF 2. Joey Votto (L) 1B 3. Mike Moustakas (L) 3B 3. Eugenio Suarez ® 3B 4. Lorenzo Cain ® CF 4. Scooter Gennett (L) 2B 5. Eric Thames (L) 1B 5. Nick Senzel ® CF 6. Keston Hiura ® 2B 6. Derek Dietrich (L) LF 7. Ben Gamel (L) LF 7. Jose Iglesias ® SS 8. Adrian Houser ® P 8. Curt Casali ® C 9. Tyler Saladino ® SS 9. Tyler Mahle ® P[/pre] Adrian Houser: Batter (Reds) vs Pitching Stats Tyler Mahle: Batter (Brewers) vs Pitching Stats

Found this article on Marcus Stroman from the Astros blog The Crawfish Boxes interesting... Taking another look at a potential Stroman trade As JosephC mentioned earlier it isn’t difficult to envision the Brewers being outbid on a player like Stroman, but for some of the same reasons mentioned in the article I could see the Brewers being one of the teams very interested in making a run at trading for him this month. It would almost assuredly cost them either Turang or Lutz and additional good pieces to acquire the final 1.5 years of team control for Stroman. Ultimately teams such as the Astros or Braves are likely to have a more attractive headline piece, unfortunately.

Another off the radar target, Orioles starter Andrew Cashner has been phenomenal in the month of June. He only made four starts in the month (against the Astros, A’s, Mariners, and Indians), but in those starts his line was the following... [pre]G GS IP H R ER BB SO HR HBP ERA BF BA OBP SLG OPS 4 4 25.0 16 6 4 4 14 0 1 1.44 95 .180 .221 .247 .468[/pre] He’s a free agent at season’s end, so it would merely be a low cost short term commitment. He wouldn’t really provide the top of the rotation addition the Brewers are looking for, but he would be another guy that could be plugged into the rotation to hopefully give some quality starts down the stretch (sort of similar to what Jordan Lyles provided the bullpen late last year).

When the calendar flips to July every player on the Brewers immediately flips the switch on and improves. The Brewers go on a massive tear over the ensuing six weeks. On Sunday, August 4th the Brewers complete a sweep of the Cubs at Wrigley and improve to an incredible 67-46 (a 22-7 stretch since the beginning of July). Yelich has gone on a torrent HR pace after his Home Run Derby championship actually improved his swing. Sitting on 44 home runs he is now on pace to hit more home runs in a single season than any non-PED user in history. The Brewers proceed to then go 7-1 over the next 10 days culminating in a two game sweep of the AL’s hottest team, the Twins, on Wednesday, August 14th. In the process of improving to 74-47 the Brewers have surpassed the stumbling Dodgers to take over the distinction of having the best record in the NL. The Brewers have an off day followed by a planned trip to D.C. when word spreads of an impending player strike. The 9th work stoppage in MLB history wipes out the remainder of the season. The Brewers and their fans are left feeling like the 1994 Expos... this should have been OUR year. Despite having two years left on the collective bargaining agreement, in an unprecedented move the owners agree to completely restructure the agreement. By late December a resolution inevitably comes in the labor strife. On New Year’s Eve the Wilpon’s fire GM Brodie Van Wagenen in what is deemed a failed experiment. Despite a clearly dysfunctional organization, the draw of pulling the strings for the team of his childhood proves too strong. On January 3, 2020, David Stearns is announced the Vice President of Baseball Operations for the New York Mets. Following his introductory press conference Stearns tells disgraced manager Mickey Callaway there will be no tomorrow, he’s out. The next day Stearns names Derek Johnson the 22nd manager in the history of the New York Metropolitans. Johnson cites looking to take a break from family as a motivation to spend his summers in the Big Apple. The End. —————————————————————————

# of All Stars per National League team: Brewers - 4 Dodgers - 4 Rockies - 4 Braves - 3 Cubs - 3 Mets - 3 Nationals - 2 Dbacks - 2 Padres - 1 Giants - 1 Reds - 1 Pirates - 1 Cardinals - 1 Marlins - 1 Phillies - 1

All Star Game teams...