thablingster

Sadly, I can't blame Ned for this move. I still trust Torres on his third day in his second inning than I do anyone else left in the bullpen.

BILL HILL! Break out the jersey! Does Torres go 2? edit: apparently not.

Finally we are able to add on! Lincecum has worked in and out of jams all day, finally we have some insurance.

Way to strand the bases loaded with 0 outs, Astros. Good job. That strike 3 to Backe was a ball, but that's a make up call for the 2-2 where the first base umpire said he didn't go when he quite obviously did. Backe's reaction was pretty funny. I'm kind of surprised the umpire didn't toss him for it considering how quick of a trigger some umps have these days.

Wasn't all the hype about J.R. Towles that he is supposed to be a good hitter? He has looked like garbage all season and Dempster just schooled him like an A-baller with the bases loaded.

Fukudome looked ridiculous on that swing for the K against Santana.

Overall Team Grade: B+ -- You can't really complain about being 9 games over .500, but it definitely feels like we've had some games get away. Weeks: C-. For a guy hitting ..217, at least his OBP is .100 points higher. Hardy: B. Hardy has rebounded from a slow start to put up some decent first half numbers. Braun: B+. Braun has done very well for himself in his transition to LF and at the plate. Fielder: B. Prince is by no means having a bad season, although I think some people are disappointed due to their own expectations of him. Hart: A-. Can't really ask for more than what Corey has done this season. He's had a few defensive oopsies, but who doesn't. Hall: D. Even though he is heating up now and hitting .394 in July, his season has been a major disappointment. Cameron: C. Cameron has been about as average as can be. Kendall: B. If Kendall isn't a catcher, his grade is probably in the C range, but he's been good throwing out runners and has handled our staff very well. Rivera: A. For a guy who plays once a week at best he has sure been productive. Kapler: A. Gabe was a great find for Melvin and has been utilized well by Yost as to not over-play him. Counsell: C+. Craig has been Craig. Dillon: Incomplete. His numbers aren't great, but I don't really want to pass judgment too much on 65 at bats. Branyan: B. Branyan came in on fire, but is beginning to revert to being the Branyan we all know and love anyway. Sheets: A. He's been awesome. He had the early injury scare which forced him to miss a start but otherwise he's been rollin'. Sabathia: A. He's been as advertised so far. Suppan: C-. Suppan has been hit hard recently, and one can only hope there is some validity to his elbow soreness and it wasn't just a ruse to stall for CC. Bush: C. For as terrible as he was in April and May, Bush has turned it around in June and July. Parra: B. If you watch Parra pitch it is remarkably evident why the Brewers were so high on him. He needs to throw strikes more consistently, but he has had a good year to date. McClung: B. For a guy with a 5+ career ERA, his performance this season makes you wonder if he has finally figured something out, or if he is just getting guys out with smoke and mirrors. Whatever it is, he's been successful to date. Torres: A. The hidden gem of the bullpen retooling this offseason. How worse off would we be had he decided to actually retire like he hinted initially when he was traded? Gagne: D. His stats are pretty ugly, but for all that ugliness he did at least record 10 saves. Mota: D. Mota has gotten progressively worse as the season goes on. His luck seems to have run out. Villanueva: C. He has been better out of the bullpen, but he struggled in the rotation for whatever reason. Shouse: B+. Shouse has been his dependable self. Riske: C. We haven't seen enough of Riske to form a full opinion, but from what I've seen he seems pretty average. Stetter: B. He has been serviceable as a second lefty option for Yost.

I was afraid Braun was going to put up a bagel like Jason Bay after he got off to the poor start, but he made it to the second round.

I think I am in love with Missy Higgins' accent. Australian accents are ridiculously hot.

Yeah, I noticed that, too. It appears that we tend to struggle against soft tossing control pitchers, but that could just be due to the illusion of how fat the guy's pitches look in the zone with the Brewers not hitting them. When a guy throws a 97 MPH pea over the outside corner (see: Jimenez, Ubaldo) you don't expect to hit it, but when Josh Fogg and Glendon Rusch are shutting you down, it feels concerning.

If it is ever the 15th inning of a game and Mike Rivera is the only guy left on the bench, I can see Yost pinch hitting CC over Rivera-especially if the bases are empty. Other than that, probably not unless there is some freak accident or injury which would force Ned's hand.

No. Absolutely not. CC was on his game today, especially as the game went on. Ned showed a great deal of confidence in him sending him out for the 9th with 110+ pitches, but with Torres' workload the way it is and the bullpen's struggles as of late we couldn't have counted on winning this game with anyone else on the mound. Sheets maybe wins it, but CC definitely provided the best chance to win today.

That's exactly what we needed going into the ASB. If anyone but Sabathia is pitching that game, we lose. Book it.

Why do I have a sneaking suspicion that with Craig up we're going to try a squeeze play here.

It's about time someone other than our defense plays a bunt poorly.

If we don't score some runs in this next inning and CC gets a no decision, our offense should be completely ashamed of itself. Seriously.

As sad as it is, I have more faith in Kapler here than I would have in Prince. Score a run here guys. Ned is going to run CC out there for the 9th otherwise.

Our offense can be excruciatingly frustrating sometimes.

It's bold considering that we've got $13.2 million reasons to keep them around. That said, this team has dumped larger albatross contracts in recent years, so it's possible. More bold predictions: 1) Jason Kendall's batting average in the second half will be below .240. 2) Rickie Weeks won't see .240 all season.

The Mitchell Boulevard block party was cool. We got to the Manitoba park block party at about 9:30 and the lines were already really long and one of the staffers told us we probably wouldn't get any autographs so we decided to try the Mitchell block party. My friend and I took her friend's 3 and 4 year old, so we figured if they waited that long they'd be pretty disappointed if they didn't get anyone. The Mitchell party wasn't that full and they ended up getting Branyan autographs and getting to take an awesome picture with The Muscle. The man has a soul-crushing handshake. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif I wanted to meet Branyan anyway, but my friend wanted Hardy which is why we went to the Manitoba party first. Things end up working out for a reason!

I didn't have a post, but I'll make three bold predictions for the second half. 1) Bill Hall will play an integral role in the Brewers making the playoffs or not. 2) Guillermo Mota and Eric Gagne won't be on our active roster come September. 3) If the Brewers don't make the playoffs, Ned Yost and Mike Maddux will be fired.

http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o254/gjenkins05/wall.gif One of my favorite emoticons from the Reds board. I used to see this a lot when Bill Hall hit against them.

http://www.post-gazette.com/images3/20050523pdpirates0522c_450.jpg Josh Fogg is no longer a Pirate, we need not fear him.

I figured this was about the other Braun. Thankfully for me I've already been to the JS Blog today or you may have gotten me! http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif

Paul Bako for Henry Blanco. No, really. At least Blanco was stellar defensively. I second Hammonds and Berry. It looks like the Mota trade will end up a bust, even though it was garbage for garbage. Ricky Bottalico was a pretty bad signing.