adambr2

Just wonderful. Our pitching is giving us no chance at this point in the season. Our best starter is a 21 year old rookie who got shelled for 12 runs last time and just gave up 3 in the first against the Cardinals. What does that tell you about our pitching?

Now that really irks me. That 0-1 and 1-1 pitch from Vargas to Loretta was right on the corner and called a strike the entire top of the 1st. Now all of the sudden, it's a ball.

Honest question -- When there is a day game following a night game, opposing one lefty pitcher and one righty pitcher, why doesn't Ned just always start Miller against the lefty? Matchup-wise, wouldn't that make more sense? I don't get it.

Well, statistically, we are 13th in the NL in batting average with runners in scoring position, 14th in the NL in runners in scoring position and 2 outs. So I think the statistics definitely show that we struggle in that aspect. Surprisingly, we are 3rd in the NL in average with the bases loaded, and around the middle of the league (8th) in batting average in what is defined as "close and late" situations.

The problem with the strategy used in that situation, is that it assumes 2 things -- #1 - We'll get a successful sacrifice, putting runners on 2nd and 3rd with 1 out. #2 - With the extra out remaining, we'll manage to do something to get that runner in from third. (Fly ball, slow ground ball, basehit, etc). Needless to say, on a typical night this season, we've been pretty unsuccessful accomplishing both tasks in successive AB's. As typical baseball strategy, I would say bunting is definitely the right move there. For the general makeup of this team, I'm not sure it's the way to go. It's good that we continue to try, but we've been abysmal at manufacturing runs for the most part.

And in addition, Carlos Lee watched his former batboy hit a towering homerun way over his head tonight.

I was going to bring this up yesterday, but I find it quite humorous that yesterday, Carlos Lee was robbed of a basehit by his former batboy.

I saw the play once, but it wasn't really clear to me at what point he turned around. If he turned around between 1st and 2nd, is it maybe possible that he was just looking to make sure the ball had gotten past the right fielder so he could safely advance to 3rd?

The Colorado Rockies are officially my least favorite baseball team. Besides the Cubs, of course. I mean, what the hell? You go up against us and look like All-Time Champions of the Universe, then the Cubs come into town, weakened and injured, and all of the sudden you're completely hapless?

And just like that, Hardy's HR drought is over on the same day. Hopefully this will end up being the thread that ends the power droughts for all 3 guys. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif Hardy got the fastball middle-in from Jennings. Guess he didn't get the memo.

We're a team built on power. This has been shown in the past few months signficantly by Prince, Braun, and Hart. Nonetheless, there are still a few important players on our team expected to show some power that have, for whatever reason, struggled to do so. Hardy: Expectations: The only good thing about Hardy's HR drought, is that we never really expected 30-40 HR's out of him. He should still get 20, which is fine. However, the way he came out of the gates early on, leading the league in HR's throughout most of the first 2 months, it seemed a given that he was on pace to put up significant power numbers this season. In addition, we could have lived with the power drought, as long as his average continued to ride high in the .280 range. What happened: Hardy cooled off, and hasn't homered in nearly 2 months. Unfortunately, his average took a nosedive with the power drought, and hasn't been much to speak of since he was hitting HR's. Why: Hardy is primarily a fastball hitter. Don't give him heat on the inner half of the plate, or he'll make you pay. Very rarely will he take one the other way. The word has gotten out, and Hardy rarely sees something good to hit on the inner half of the plate. Weeks: Expectations: After putting up good power in college and the minors, Weeks broke into the big leagues in June '05 with possible projections as a 40/40 guy. He started off looking like that guy, and as some may remember, hit a 500 foot moonshot at the old Busch Stadium, one of the longest HR's they had seen since the McGwire era, which brought even the Cardinal fans to their feet. Whether he has the ability to hit HR's has never been in question. What happened: Showed off that power early in April, and hasn't shown it since. No HR's since April, which has also plagued his average. Why: Weeks' wrist injury has definitely forced him to play in pain and made it difficult in taking anything the other way. He should be pain-free from the wrist injury by the 2008 season. In addition to Hardy, Weeks tees off on fastballs, but is baffled by breaking balls. He, as well, will need to learn how to hit the curve before he'll start seeing more fastballs. Hall: Expectations: The 2006 Brewer MVP led the team in HR's in '06, even surpassing Prince, with his 35 HR's. Still a young player, it was seen by many that 35 HR's may be his ceiling, but he was still expected to demonstrate a good amount of power in 2007, starting off the season primarily batting cleanup. What happened: In mid-August, still yet to hit double-digits in his HR total. His average is still around his career numbers, about as expected, but he's no longer driving the ball. Seems to have belted plenty of "warning track" hits in 2007 but lacking the extra power that enabled him to hit 35. Why: This one is a bit more of a mystery to me. Hall hasn't had a significant dropoff in average, but he was signed for his power and extra base hitting ability. It's not clear where his power has gone. The best guess I could make is that 35 HR's was a bit over his head, will wind up being a career high, and despite his struggles this year, he'll typically be a 20-25 HR guy every season.

It definitely is a factor that we started 24-10 and are 60-55 right now, because momentum is an enormous part of baseball. Had we started 10-24, and were 60-55 right now, and our starting pitching was coming on, and bullpen wasn't showing signs of tiring, I'd feel a lot better about the situation. You have to look at where our players are compared to where they were back in April and May, certainly not as fresh, perhaps gassed. Could they still turn it around? Sure they could, but right now they aren't exactly riding high.

No, I doubt it, the Cardinals still just flat out aren't good enough. They make our pitching staff look like Cy Youngs. Heck, who knows, the Astros could make a run at this point Some believed that our best chance to hold off the Cubs was to have Kerry Wood return. Like a curse or something. Take it for what it's worth. The Cubs are 1-5 since Wood's return.

So why does Capuano not belong, but Suppan does? They have almost identical ERA's and WHIP's. Capuano had more quality starts than almost almost any other pitcher in 2005 and 2006. It's not like Suppan has a better track record than Capuano, despite his age.

Chicagosports.com: Working the Wires, 2007-08-09 May not be making the trip to Colorado, going to be seeing a doctor to get his wrist examined. It's not certain yet, but he may end up on the DL. Soriano is gone for the next month. Ramirez' status is unknown. The division is literally being handed to us on a silver platter. We cannot fail to take advantage. (added tag; added text to link --1992) (consolidated tags --1992)

From where we've been in the last 15 years, no. From what 2007 expectations were, yes.

Except in 2004, we were still a few years away from having all the pieces to the puzzle. There isn't an excuse for this team.

The 2007 Brewers Motto: "Dun da dahh!!" ----- Continued from: viewtopic.php?p=212407#p212407 Original Lead: viewtopic.php?f=63&t=382

Well, so much for that.

Yawn. Another day, another road game, same results.

Maybe we are setting our sights and expectations too high. I'll just go ahead and hope that our lineup can muster more than 4 hits at Coors Field today, and our pitchers can hold the opposition to less than 8 runs, and be pleasantly surprised if they manage to do more than that.

That would make us 10 games over .500. Are those numbers as of a few days ago?

I don't know. I know we were unbelievable early this year in games where Miller started. I don't know what the split is anymore. And I don't know if Miller still has enough to be starting 4 straight games or so. But I guess it's not completely out of the realm of possibility. I just can't think of any good reason that the pitching has struggled so tremendously across the board. Starters, relievers, you name it -- if our pitching was as expected, we'd be running away with the Central.

21-34 on the road after today. LOL. Seriously? A team with Braun, Gallardo, Prince, Sheets, Capuano, Suppan, Hall, Hart, Hardy, Cordero, Turnbow, Linebrink, and others is 21-34 on the road. This is ridiculous. This team has so much talent. And it's all going to waste. 36-44 since the hot start. I mean, are you kidding me? We seriously just played that badly over the last 80 games? That's a little more than a slump, folks. That's half a season. But hey, at least we're in first place!

I am still in agony after today, but at least the Cubs lost. I am still trying to decide whether to be happy that we're still a game up in the division, or mad that we blew a chance to be 2 up in the division.