ReverendBrewmeister

Jay better be Narveson's last batter faced tonight. Edit: K to end the inning! Excellent.....

I don't see why they wouldn't just bring him up on June 17 then. Why wait a week and waste three games he could've pinch-hit in?It doesn't make sense to wait. But then again, there are things management does that don't always make sense.I'd like to have Gamel promoted to start the road trip on June 13 and drop Craig Counsell, but I doubt that will happen.

Bring up Gamel to DH / play 1B and have Fielder DH. I'd like to see Gamel up in time to face the Red Sox in Boston (June 17-19). But if management wants to wait a couple more weeks and promote Gamel for the rest of the season as a bat off the bench, then it should be in time to face the Twins beginning on June 24. That would allow him to see their pitching before facing them again during the road series (July 1-3).

In my mind, the standard makeup of an NL team's bench should be: (1) Backup C [starts 20% of games; plays in case of injury] (2) Reserve OF [gives starter a day off; pinch runs, defensive sub] (3) Reserve 2B/SS/3B [defense first; gives starter a day off] (4) "Professional Hitter" [starts rallies; hits in 6th inning+ when pitcher's spot comes up with men on base] (5) "Instant Offense"/"2nd Professional Hitter" [power threat; likely backup 1B/OF] Compare that with the current bench, we see that #2 and #3 are set; the problems are with #1 and #5; #4 is so-so. (1) Backup C Currently a black hole. Solution = bringing up Kottaras and cutting Nieves. (2) Reserve OF Gomez is provides great defense and speed. That's his niche and should be used accordingly, starting 1 game/week. No change needed. (3) Reserve 2B/SS/3B There's redundancy with Counsell and Wilson. The problem is that neither fits the "professional hitter"/"instant offense" mold, Wilson's two HRs notwithstanding. So we have two glove men, when only one defensive IF is needed. Solution = Drop either Wilson or Counsell to open up a spot on the 25-man roster. (At this point, I would drop Counsell.) (4) "Professional Hitter" This is Kotsay's spot right now on the bench. Room for improvement, but not the end of the world if not improved. Figure on riding out the year with Kotsay......or how to clone Frank Catalanotto circa 2005. (5) "Instant Offense"/"2nd Professional Hitter" Not found on the current bench. This is what we've been griping about once the team got to full-strength in May. Looking back, this is where the failure to sign Eric Hinske in the offseason really hurts. Solution A = Call up Mat Gamel to start road trip on June 13 / after 250 PA in AAA. (I have a hunch that that this might have been Melvin's plan from the start.) Solution B = Obtain a veteran bat before the July 31 trade deadline. (e.g. Thome, Ludwick, Francouer) The bench isn't great now, but it's improved from the "awful" status it had in April. One of the negative spots is easily fixed by ending the love affair with Nieves. The other true hole in the bench might be filled from within the organization. For a team with the budget like the Brewers, that isn't a bad spot to be in with mid-June arriving and the team headed towards 10 games over .500.

Setup men blowing saves makes Prince MAAADDDD!!!!

Roenicke needs some bullpen sense pounded into his head.

A 2-1 loss and a wasted 6 inning scoreless start is what craptacular situational hitting gets you. 0-5 with RISP; 10 LOB.

That's the start, Prince!

I'd guess either Grant Balfour or Derrick Turnbow get the ball for the 9th. Seriously, it would probably be Braddock or Hawkins (assuming availability).

Someone needs to go down to STL with garlic, wooden stakes, silver bullets, gallons of holy water, etc. The Classies just won't die.

Definitely. In fact, the two catchers in tonight's game should be the NL catching tandem. Unfortunately, it will probably be Brian McCann and Yadier Molina.

Runnin' Ron Roenicke giveth and taketh wins away.

Time to take Bigredrobbo's advice from Tuesday night's (5/24) game thread. Enough questionable baserunning decisions to dissect. The lineup looks positive going forward, but running into outs and scoring only 4 runs instead of possibly 6 or 7 will mean more losses like tonight.

Another very good job by the bullpen keeping the game where it was. Get some runs and steal the win!

Who designed the hat the foul-ball fan was wearing? Maybe a matter of taste, but ugh.

Even if both runners had advanced, wouldn't that have put the intentional walk of Fielder into play? Really not much to gain by the attempt.

There's aggressive base running, and then there is foolishly aggressive base running.....

Can Marcum play SS?

Good turn by Marcum for the DP. Pitchers who can field well and handle the bat decently. Nice to have a rotation of starters like that.

Weeks sure can hit a ball hard.

Doubt we'd ever see it, but I'd like a lineup like this considered: Morgan - CF Hart - RF Braun - LF Fielder - 1B Weeks - 2B Lucroy - C McGehee - 3B Betancourt - SS PITCHER (Perhaps Weeks could move to #2 and Hart to #5.)

Some wins are sweeter than others. This is one of them, even if it is against a team they should beat.

HR hat trick for Hart!

Sure is great to see Lucroy hitting well so far. If he can be an A.J. Pierzynski-type offensive catcher, that's a huge boost from a position that's been a tough spot for the Brewers in the past decade.

Having one that could field would be good, too.