The stache

Something interesting from the FOX SPorts Southwest TV broadcast: http://imageshack.us/a/img689/2478/braunyinterleague.jpg Also, with his hit tonight, Ryan Braun now has a 29 game interleague hitting streak, third longest in MLB history.

From the March 5-19 Baseball America: Best GOSO (ground out/strikeout) rate in all of AAA baseball: Trevor Bauer 72.4% Wily Peralta 72.3% This is one of the main reasons why I think Wily will be effective, even pitching half his games at Miller Park. The strikeout rate hasn't been there really yet, but he's going to get a lot of ground ball outs. And he should have a good number of double plays, too.

Peralta batting .273 on the season? Not a lot of at bats obviously, but still. Wow.

Harvey perfect through six.

That's not what I'm wanting to see from Peralta.

It's always fun when the offense explodes to start the game. Let's keep it up, more runs would be cool with me. I love it when Braun and Segura are hitting. Great for my fantasy team

Wow! Yunibomber. Holy crap, that's 8 home runs already! Wow!!!

GoGo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Woo hoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Carlos Gomez has definitely arrived!!!!!

Ugh, Matt Harvey is throwing a no hitter for my fantasy team, right now, but the Mets haven't scored any runs.

please do not speak of that awful season. i still have nightmares about that NLCS I'm happy to have a recent memory of the Brewers playing in a League Championship Series

Brauny up to .317 right now. He always gets the his average back up.

I'm waiting for the Brewers to come down here to Texas later in the season. Bad back and all, I am still going to at least one game. The Brewers only make it down here every three years.

I was just thinking the same thing.

Getting to watch the game on Fox Southwest + Having to listen to Tom Grieve drone on - Three straight hits to start the game. Let's keep it up!

Sadly, I agree.

Well said. I think that is holding us back. Developing young hitters is a good thing. Trading them to get pitchers that won't stay long term doesn't lead to long term success. Look at the other teams in our division from a Minor League/young talent standpoint. Obviously there's no guarantee any of these guys will become huge stars, but we're at a distinct disadvantage here: Very recent Minor Leaguers (some of whom are now in the Majors) St. Louis: Oscar Taveras, Shelby Miller, Kolten Wong, Trevor Rosenthall, Carlos Martinez, Michael Wacha (#1 system in baseball) Cincinnati: Devin Mesoraco (watch out for this kid once he puts it together), Todd Frazier, Billy Hamilton, Robert Stephenson, Tony Cingrani Pittsburgh: Starling Marte, Jameson Taillon, Gerrit Cole, Josh Bell, Luis Heredia, Alen Henson, Gregory Polanco Chicago: Anthony Rizzo (via trade), Jorge Baez, Jorge Soler, Albert Almora, Arodys Vizcaino, Brett Jackson We got an absolute steal in Jean Segura, and Hellweg will contribute. I like Hunter Morris. I think Scooter Gennett can be a piece, at least from a depth standpoint. But I think the young talent drafted by the other teams in our division is way ahead of our own.

I don't know, I guess I look at other franchises in the same kind of boat financially, and many of them seem to have some very highly rated pitchers in the pipeline. The Brewers have a $91 million salary for 2013 Teams with a salary below the Brewers, and their recent top rated pitching prospects: Arizona: Tyler Skaggs, Archie Bradley Atlanta: Julio Teheran New York Mets: Matt Harvey, Zack Wheeler, Noah Syndergaard Seattle: Taijuan Walker, Danny Hultzen, James Paxton Cleveland: Trevor Bauer San Diego: Max Fried, Casey Kelley Oakland: Jarrod Parker, Brad Peacock, A.J. Cole Minnesota: Alex Meyer, Kyle Gibson Colorado: Drew Pomeranz Pittsburgh: Gerrit Cole, Jameson Taillon Tampa Bay: Matt Moore, Jeremy Hellickson, Taylor Guerrieri, Jake Odorizzi, Chris Archer, Mike Montgomery Miami: Jose Fernandez From this group, Harvey is dominating for the Mets, Matt Moore is dominating for the Rays, Hellickson was the Rookie of the Year two seasons ago (having a bit of an off season), Parker was really good last year, having an off season. Teheran is up and down thus far. Pomeranz has yet to live up to expectations. But all these teams have some pitchers with real upside. If Wily Peralta doesn't pan out, is there anybody in our system that excites us on the mound?

Did you mean Jed Bradley? Also, it's "Hellweg" Sorry to nitpick but spelling a new player's name wrong drives me nuts for some reason, like how people spell Rogers as Rodgers, even though I know why they do it. I know it's Bradley, not sure why I typed Lowrie. Brain fart. My muscle relaxer was kicking in, and I was half asleep when I was writing this post. Sorry about that.

After being swept at home by the Cardinals, I started to think about the young arms they have on the way, and the young arms we have on the way. Now, don't get me wrong, I think Wily Peralta is going to be a pretty good pitcher. He needs to develop some consistency, but he's got the stuff to be a very solid Major League starter. He's going to pitch a lot of innings, and could be a nice 2 or 3. I also think some of the guys we still have in the minors have promise: Tyler Thornburg, Taylor Jungmann, and Jed Lowrie should end up being productive for us. How good they'll be remains to be seen. I think Johnny Helweg has closer potential. He certainly has the body type, and raw stuff to overpower hitters. But we can't claim drafting him if he turns out to be a good pitcher. Since Doug Melvin arrived in Milwaukee, Yovani Gallardo is really the only pitcher we've developed that has had success in the Majors. I think Jake Odorizzi has a chance to be the second (as Tampa certainly know how to develop pitching). Unfortunately, he's not here. So, I ask. Where are we falling short? It's hard to really know what Mark Rogers might have been if not for his injuries. I still think he is going to make an impact for the Brewers, but that remains to be seen as well. But for a team that has until recently not had postseason appearances, we've had the opportunity to draft high upside pitchers. We've done pretty well with hitters, but pitching remains a black hole of sorts. Is it our scouts letting us down? Is it Doug Melvin being a poor judge of pitching talent? He's been here since 2002. Or do our pitching coaches just do a poor job of developing our arms? Or, is it a combination of all of the above? Look at the Cardinals. Right now they have four starters in the top 100 prospects: Shelby Miller (who has given up one run to us in 13 innings), Carlos Martinez, Trevor Rosenthal, and Michael Wacha. Then, take a look at the pitchers they have drafted, and developed. Adam Wainright is an ace, winning 39 games the last two seasons and finishing second and third in the Cy Young. Jamie Garcia is looking great, as is Lance Lynn, who was 18-7 last year, and is 5-0 this season. Then, look at the pitchers they traded for, or signed, and turned into stars. Chris Carpenter was a career .500 pitcher with a near 5.00 ERA in 6 years in Toronto. A year after coming to St. Louis, he's a Cy Young winner. He goes from 49-50 with a 4.83 ERA and a 1.510 career line in Toronto to a 95-44 (.683) win-loss record, with a 3.07 ERA and 1.125 WHIP in 9 seasons with the Cards. They turned Kyle Lohse around, too. We wouldn't have to trade away our top prospects to rent C.C. Sabathia, or sign Zack Greinke for a few years if we could develop pitchers ourselves. What are the Brewers not doing?

I think we had back to back winning seasons, a playoff series win...in spite of Roenicke, not because of anything he did.

Ive only seen RRR lose his cool once in his career with Milwaukee and it was a couple weeks ago when he was arguing with the ump. Same. I was shocked when it happened.

Remember when we were 14-11? Ya, that was great. The Cardinals are our daddies. Just a poor excuse of a showing. Going to get swept at home.

Ouch. Things are not going well.

TheCrew07 is right. They kick our butts in scouting, and especially at developing pitchers. That's why I think Miller will live up to the hype. A team that knows good pitching talent when it sees it, and knows how to properly develop that talent, drafted him. Every single review I've read about Miller has been very, very positive. Baseball America Listed Miller as the #11 prospect in all of baseball in 2011, #8 in 2012, and #6 in 2013. In his Major League career thus far (including last night), he's 5-2 with a 1.79 ERA. In 50.1 innings pitched, he's struck out 54 batters, walked 15, his WHIP is 1.03. He's given up 3 home runs. Baseball America named the St. Louis Cardinals minor league talent as the best in baseball (one month ago). Their player rankings: OF Oscar Taveras they ranked as #1 on the team (#3 prospect in baseball), RHP Shelby Miller #2 (#6 prospect in baseball), RHP Carlos Martinez #3 (#38 prospect in baseball), RHP Trevor Rosenthall #4 (#39 prospect in baseball), RHP Michael Wacha #5 (#76 prospect in baseball), 2B Kolten Wong #6 (#84 prospect in baseball). Baseball Prospect Nation: http://baseballprospectnation.com/2012/02/17/scouting-report-shelby-miller-rhp/ Written in February of 2012 BLUF (bottom line up front): Big time fastball-curveball combo that could land him as a number one starter with some elite seasons. Overall grade on pitches (current/future): Fastball: 60/70 (70/70 on wind-up and stretch, 60/60 on fastball movement) Curve: 60/70 Change-up: 40/50 Control: 50/70 Command: 40/60 Those are on the 20-80 scouting scale. Elite fastball and curveball, average to above average change-up. Elite control, above average pitch command. Baseball America's scouting report on Miller: Scouting Report: Miller has an overpowering fastball that averaged 94 mph in the playoffs and can touch 97 mph. It has late, heavy movement that makes it more difficult to square up. He learned in 2012 that his heater is more effective when he utilizes his plus curveball and developing changeup. He went from throwing the fastball four out of every five pitches to 70 percent of the time in the second half. His control and command improved late in the year as well. St. Louis was concerned that he adopted a diet and workout plan that cost him muscle, so it helped him choose a different approach that will strength and stamina. He's got more than just the fastball, and against us anyways, he hasn't needed much of anything else. How highly do I think of him? I spent $115 to buy a 9.5/10 Beckett Graded 2010 Bowman Chrome certified auto card. It's one of only two in existence with all 9.5 sub grades. http://imageshack.us/a/img267/6574/2010chromesmillerbgs.png

I forgot to add these to the discussion when I got them in. Love these, and they should go up in value nicely now that Jean is showing his worth :p http://imageshack.us/a/img254/5059/2010chromejsegurabluere.png http://imageshack.us/a/img20/1990/2010donrusseliteemerald.png The Chrome blue refractor is numbered to /250. The Donruss Elite Emerald auto is /25.