adambr2

Hey, it's our very own Steve Bartman.

I just realized that's the first time in my life that I've seen Jenkins make a great catch and been mad.

I know what you're saying, but it seems like there is almost always a small group of fans at the stadium that think, "Former Brewer, not a Brewer anymore = bad person."

Throwing from 2nd to 1st is sure an adventure for us this year.

Yeah, that was great. I was a little worried that there was going to be a pretty decent-sized group of 1,000 or so idiots that were going to make their boos heard. Really glad that wasn't the case.

That would be hilarious. We'd have to think about starting pitchers in the field just to field a full team. I do hope that we carry 13 pitchers regularly, though.

McClung was on 3 days rest. So what? Are we now saying that because of McClung's last outing we trust him now? That he has passed Turnbow? I don't think so. I'm not going to comment on the other comments, mainly because I didn't hear them, and if he did say that about Riske, then I just don't agree anyway, but it is obvious that the BP was tired. I said, in the following sentence, that the LATTER two were better options than Turnbow. (Riske and Torres). I didn't say McClung was a better option or that he had passed Turnbow.

The great part about this is that Yost probably won't trot Gagne out there 4 straight days anymore. That's what makes him a good manager. He learns from his mistakes. Case and point is Turnbow not seeing the 8th inning anymore and putting Prince back to the cleanup spot where he feels most comfortable. I'm not trying to call you out or anything, I can see where you're coming from. It just almost looks to me like Ned saw your quote and said, "Learn from my mistakes?? Oh yeah?? I'll show him! Gagne goes for the 5th straight day if it's a save situation and Turnbow gets the call if it's tied!"

Honestly, I'll tell you what my problem with Yost is this year. I'm tired of hearing like Turnbow pitched the 9th "because he needed to get his confidence up again." When the game is in progress, I don't care about Derrick Turnbow. I care about the Milwaukee Brewers, and if I'm the manager of the Milwaukee Brewers, my brain is telling me that Turnbow is definitely not the best choice to keep the game tied for my offense to have another chance to win. Nothing else really matters at that point. You play to win the damn game. If Turnbow isn't your best chance to do that at that point, you go with the guy who is. You use Turnbow once you've exhausted all better options to that point and the game still isn't over. Look, I know Yost loves his players, and that's a good thing. Invite them over for a barbecue on your day off. Talk to them. But when the game is on the line, don't let your relationships with your players affect your judgement on your game decisions. That's not acceptable. Ned's concern isn't to make Turnbow happy when he complains to the media or try to get Gagne his 40 saves this year. Ned's concern is to win baseball games. I want to see him go with his best options during the game to try to accomplish that. I don't want to see him trying to balance that with what his players want. I am also tired of hearing people tell anyone that criticizes Ned that we would have done the same if another move was made. Why on earth would I have criticized him for doing a move that I had been hoping he'd do? It's not like I have a personal vendetta against Ned Yost. I wanted Riske in the 9th and I said that before Turnbow was put in. I agree with some of the moves he made tonight, like pulling Villy after the 7th and PH'ing Soup in the 8th.

So much for the idea that Yost won't send Gagne out there for 4 straight days anymore. Is it at all surprising that Yost was at the fence, pants down, ready to pee on the electric fence two nights in a row?

But Yost is really start to get me po'ed. What inning was it when it was 0 out with Rickie on 2nd? In that situation, you need to have Hardy bunt. Sure, Rickie ended up scoring on Braun's single but thats not the point. Why not insure a run by having Rickie on 3rd with 1 out than on 2nd with 1 out? I actually don't really like the bunt in that situation. Runner on 3rd with 1 out doesn't ensure a run, as we saw in the 8th inning tonight. Braun strikes out or pops up, and suddenly we've given up an out for nothing. In the bottom of the 9th, tie game? Sure, I can see it then. But I think giving outs away is generally a bad idea, especially the way we've been struggling to score runs.

-Riske was being saved for the 10th inning Hmm. I think it would have made more sense to have a chance to get to the 10th or win the game first, then go to our lesser relievers if we failed to take the lead and absolutely had to. That's just me. -Turnbow needed to pitch in a close game to get confidence Right, who cares about what gives the team the best chance to win? Derrick needs to pitch in a close game. -Turnbow also needed to pitch because everyone was tired McClung was on 3 days rest. Torres had pitched 1/3rd of an inning yesterday and had the day off before. Riske hadn't pitched since Friday. The latter 2, at least, were better options than a cold T'Bow who hadn't pitched in a week. -Gagne was going to pitch in a save situation Ah, and Gagne, on his 5th straight day, apparently was not tired, while the above guys were. Maybe McClung, Torres, and Riske need to eat and drink whatever Gagne's having to have all that energy. -Why do we put up with this? Our manager is baffling. Absolutely baffling.

He was warming and was going in the game if we took the lead in the 8th. If you think this board is angry tonight, imagine the uproar if he would have gone with Gagne in the 9th for the save and Gagne ended up blowing it.

I'm not blaming Skaalen specifically, but if that's the problem throughout the lineup, I would hope that it's a problem that he has been addressing regularly.

Is it just me, or are the Brewers paying JSOnline to give the company line on questions regarding Ned Yost? It's not even worth questioning Yost whatsoever in their mailbag, much less debating whether he should be replaced. They'll bluntly act like his job security is as good as ever, regardless of what might be happening in the games, and move onto the next question.

Every regular starter besides Hart and Kendall is below or within 37 points of the Moeller-line (.200). Braun looked like he's starting to see the ball better, but Prince is really underperforming right now. His AB in the 8th was terrible. He showed no discipline at the plate with 1st base open when he was unlikely to see much to hit. Then he failed to take off for 1st after the strike 3 passed ball. Really, there's not a single hot hitter in the lineup right now. There's about 5 cold hitters and 3 that are just hanging in there. I'm not sure how much of this falls back on Skaelen, but I'm stunned that this talented of a lineup could collectively be this bad over 3 weeks into the season. Seeing young guys like Villanueva and Gallardo go out there and give us 7 IP giving up 1-2 runs and not be able to get them a win is going to get very old very soon.

Ricky Bones = All Star pitcher. Also, maybe this should go in the Silver Lining thread, but I think we should all be feeling excited about how qualified we might really be to manage a major league baseball team. I know that pitching your worst reliever in a tie in the 9th is probably a bad move. I know that pitching your closer who has an injury history for a 5th straight day probably isn't smart. I know that bunting with 2 strikes with a position player multiple times in a week isn't usually productive.

Ned constantly saying, "It happens." Firings happen too.

Well, I'm certainly looking forward to Yost's nightly condescending, defensive interview. Reporter: "Was Derrick really the guy you wanted there in the 9th after nearly a week off and problems so far this year?" Yost: (sneers) "Of course he was. That's the guy we wanted in that situation last year. That's what he did. There was no reason to think he couldn't do it tonight." Reporter: (pauses) Yost: (stares) Reporter: So...Villanueva pitched pretty well tonight. Yost: "Oh yeah. I was very pleased."

So, is that going to be it for the whining from Turnbow that his 10+ ERA only gets to come in during garbage time?

Bad approach by Prince. It's like he wasn't thinking anything on that AB besides, "I'm going to give us the lead here." Have to be paying attention on the passed ball, too.

If Braun is getting hot, look out...

I wasn't thrilled about the decision to bring in Shouse to start the inning, I wanted Mota, but the run that inning is solely on the shoulders of Corey Hart.

Crap. Hang onto that Kendall.

Popped right off his glove. Should have made the catch.