Archive for the ‘Milwaukee Brewers baseball club’ Category
Brewers News: George Kottaras Designated for Assignment; Greinke Trade Rumors
Folks, the Milwaukee Brewers have made four roster moves so far today, but the two moves that concern me right now are these: they’ve reinstated catcher Jonathan Lucroy from the disabled list, and designated for assignment catcher George Kottaras (.209 BA, 3 HR and 12 RBI) to make room for him. (The other two moves? The Brewers sent shortstop Jeff Bianchi, who hadn’t yet managed to get a hit in his major league tryout, back to AAA ball, and have brought up pitcher Jim Henderson from AAA, where he’d been having an outstanding year — 4-3 record, 15 saves, a 1.69 ERA in 35 outings (48 innings) with 56 strikeouts.)
Aside from that, everything else is all rumors — but the hottest rumor right now is that pitcher Zack Greinke may be going to the Texas Rangers for shortstop Elvis Andrus via the Brewer Nation blog. Neither player would be traded alone; supposedly, a relief pitcher and a position player would go with Greinke (anyone but Corey Hart, please!), while a pitching prospect or two would come from Texas along with Andrus. While other rumors insist that the Chicago White Sox and Atlanta Braves are still very interested in Greinke and will do anything to cut the rest of MLB out of the mix . . . as always, I’ll keep you posted.
Brewers Lose Three of Three to Phillies; K-Rod Implodes Again
The 2012 Milwaukee Brewers are having a dreadful year. Early on, injuries derailed the team; now, it’s the bullpen, the starting pitching, the lack of hitting, or again, the bullpen that tends to make the Brewers lose games. So what’s the culprit with regards to these latest three losses to the Philadelphia Phillies? I’ll give you one word: pitching.
You know your season is going bad when your team can’t even win one game out of three against a team with a losing record. This is where the Brewers are right now; they lost all three against the Phillies by the score of 7-6 (today’s loss being in ten innings; the other two were regulation nine inning games). These three losses show that the 2012 Brewers do not have what it takes to be a contending ball club.
And that’s sad, because as I said earlier this week, there are still some very good players on this team. Corey Hart. Ryan Braun. Yovani Gallardo. John Axford. Jonathan Lucroy, once he comes back from his rehab stint in the minors. And Aramis Ramirez, after a horrible start, has been playing much better lately.
After that, we start getting into good players (all pitchers) who won’t be with the team through 2013 — Zack Greinke, soon to be traded to a team near you. Shaun Marcum’s contract is up at the end of the year. Randy Wolf’s been treated so shabbily by the Brewers bullpen that there’s probably no amount of money that could possibly induce him to come back to the Brewers.
And then, we start to get to players who, while good at something, are bad at something else. For example, Norichika Aoki hits well, but his defense is suspect, and he makes way too many mental errors. Carlos Gomez is electric on the basepaths, has a bit of power, and plays good defense when his head’s in the game, but has a poor OBP and his average is never going to be above .240 unless he starts learning how to take a walk. Nyjer Morgan, while he can still be a sparkplug and plays good defense, just hasn’t hit very well this season.
And then, of course, there’s Rickie Weeks’s lost season, which is in a class all by itself. Weeks has tons of potential and should have a much higher batting average than .190 (his average at the start of Wednesday afternoon’s game). Weeks has been a liability at the plate, striking out way too much, and giving Hart almost no help as Weeks, in general, bats right behind Hart.
And what on Earth can be said about Francisco Rodriguez (K-Rod), who blew yet another save today — his sixth blown save in nine chances — snuffing out the Brewers chance to salvage one game from the Phillies by giving up two runs in the bottom of the tenth inning? (While I’m sure K-Rod isn’t trying to blow saves, he just doesn’t seem to have it right now.)
But it’s not just K-Rod who’s fallen apart lately. In each of the last three games, someone — or many someones — in the Brewers bullpen didn’t have it. This happens sometimes to every team, but it’s been more prominent with the 2012 Brewers because the bullpen was expected to be a source of strength, not a weakness.
And what’s sad today is the fact that three relief pitchers did have it after starter Marco Estrada had a forgettable day (giving up 5 runs, all earned, in four innings of work) — John Axford pitched two scoreless innings. Livan Hernandez, the “forgotten man” in the bullpen, pitched two scoreless also. And rookie Tyler Thornburg did his job, pitching one inning of scoreless relief. Those three pitchers did their jobs, which allowed the Brewers to come back from a 5-1 early deficit and take the lead in the top of the tenth, 6-5.
But then came K-Rod. And there went the Brewers chances.
Look. While I’m frustrated with most of the Brewers relievers right now (excepting Axford, Hernandez, and Thornburg), I think part of their problem is that they’re tired. I am also starting to wonder as to why Brewers manager Ron Roenicke would bring in Manny Parra twice in two games (games 1 and 2 against the Phillies), when in both games Parra managed to load the bases due to walks; I wonder why Roenicke insisted on bringing in K-Rod again, when Axford’s been great in the set-up role since he was put into it about a week ago and K-Rod’s been terrible as a closer; I wonder if a few of these guys just need a different pitching coach, and/or a change of scenery, in order to get things straightened back out again.
So, what would I do differently with these players than Roenicke and his staff?
First, I’d try to see if any of the pitchers — the relief pitchers in particular — need to go to grief counseling due to the death of their friend (the long-time bullpen assistant). Perhaps going and talking about this would be beneficial — and if it’s not been done already out of humanitarian and compassionate reasons, it should be done for a performance-based one.
Second, I’d give guys like Parra and Loe a physical. Parra has had many back issues in the past, and if he’s having even minor back trouble now, that might be just enough to cause him major trouble throwing the ball, which would explain why he can’t seem to throw strikes. And Loe was so good in both 2009 and 2010 that I find it hard to believe that he’d have as much trouble as he’s had lately getting his sinker to work without some sort of nagging injury.
Mind you, if injuries were found, no matter how minor, I’d have the player (or players) in question go on the disabled list for 15 days in order to get some rest.
And for that matter, I’d bring in someone to look at everyone’s pitching mechanics, but most especially to look at K-Rod’s. While he had 18 holds in the set-up role, by far the most among the Brewers pitchers, K-Rod hasn’t looked quite right all year long. This might have something to do with why he’s not been effective — or even acceptable — as a closer despite his past success.
Bringing in a specialist isn’t a bad thing, because even the best pitching coach can miss things over time, especially if there have been gradual changes. And if nothing’s found, great! (But I’m betting there’s something there to be found — if not with K-Rod, perhaps with Loe, Parra, or one of the others.)
Third, I’d definitely bring in the best possible medical specialists to figure out why Marcum is not improving. He wasn’t supposed to be on the DL this long, so what’s going on there?
Fourth, I’d have a heart-to-heart with Randy Wolf. I’d tell Wolf that I know he’s done a good job for the Brewers — really, he has, as he should have at least seven and as many as eleven wins right now had the bullpen just done its job (his ERA is misleading, as I’ve said before). And I’d thank him for bearing up under an extremely tough set of circumstances; Wolf’s a very good pitcher who’s done his best, and has deserved a whole lot better than what he’s had thus far in 2012.
Fifth, I’d sit down with Rickie Weeks and ask him if he thinks anyone or anything could help him right now. (Granted, he did get four hits today. But Weeks’s defense also hasn’t been up to par; surely there’s someone out there who could give Weeks some pointers?) Weeks has the lowest batting average of any everyday player in the major leagues, yet he has tons of talent. I’d get to the bottom of whatever is going on with him, whether it’s with a sports psychologist, needing a new mentor (Willie Randolph helped Weeks greatly when he was here a few years ago), or whatever it is, in order to help him succeed again at the major league level.
Finally, I’d sit down with Hart, Braun, Lucroy, Gallardo, Ramirez, and Axford. I’d tell these men that I greatly appreciate what they’ve done. That while they’ve all had ups and downs — Braun’s had nagging injuries, Ramirez’s first month-and-a-half was Godawful, Hart’s had to re-learn how to play first base at the major league level after a several-year absence, Lucroy’s been on the DL, Gallardo’s been good but not lights-out, and of course Axford getting removed from the closer’s role only to shine as a set-up man — they are still valuable members of the Brewers. And that the Brewers will do whatever it takes to build a team around them; assure them that they aren’t going anywhere, and that owner Mark Attanasio is committed to putting a winning team on the field in 2013.
But since I don’t have that power and am not a member of the Brewers coaching staff, all I can do boils down to two things: hope for the best. And wait until next year.
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Note: Last evening, I was so frustrated with Parra walking the bases loaded twice in two days that I actually said I thought he should be designated for assignment (DFA’d) if he wasn’t injured in some way. I still think Parra would be better off with another team, where expectations might not be so high — he pitched a perfect game in the minors for the Brewers organization, which is why the expectations have been up there — but after a day to think about it, I’d rather have someone from outside the team give him a physical (if he’ll stand for it) and then have him visit a specialist in pitching mechanics to see if there’s anything that can be done.
Parra, overall, hasn’t been the problem this year. But walking the bases loaded two days straight was symptomatic of how snakebit the Brewers pitching staff seems to be this year. That’s why I’d do everything in my power, were I somehow transported to become a member of the Brewers coaching staff for even one day, to see if Parra’s back and knees were OK (I trust Parra to know if his arm’s OK, or if something major is wrong, but a very small problem might not be noticeable), and to check his mechanics.
I like Parra very much as a pitcher. But my hunch is that he’ll find himself successful in a different team’s uniform, much in the same way former Brewer pitcher Jorge de la Rosa found success in Colorado.
Milwaukee Brewers Lose in 9th to Phillies After K-Rod Implodes; 2012 Season Hopes in Jeopardy
The Milwaukee Brewers lost a very tough game Monday night to the Philadelphia Phillies; the final score was 7-6. The Brewers should not have lost this game, not after starting pitcher Randy Wolf pitched six strong innings, leaving the game with a 6-2 lead; that the bullpen (mostly reliever John Axford) was able to do well until the ninth, before closer Francisco Rodriguez came in and stunk up the joint, just makes this loss all the more heartbreaking.
Pity poor Randy Wolf. Wolf’s season stats look terrible — a 3-6 record, a 5.60 ERA starting Monday’s game — but they are misleading in the extreme. Wolf’s left eight other games when the Brewers have been ahead aside from his three wins — count ’em, eight. Yet he’s won only three times.
Why is this? Because the Brewers bullpen has been abysmal, blowing saves eight different times in games Wolf’s started and left with a lead. This is completely unacceptable.
Tonight, unfortunately, was no different, results-wise, than most of the rest of the season. But perhaps looking at what specifically happened can shed some light on this particularly painful loss.
In the bottom of the seventh, Manny Parra came on in relief of Wolf. Parra threw 27 pitches, but couldn’t get three outs; he walked three, struck out two, and while he didn’t give up any hits, did surrender one run.
With the game at 6-3, Brewers manager Ron Roenicke brought on former closer John Axford, who fortunately shut the Phillies right down again. Axford also pitched a scoreless eighth, recording his first official hold for the season.
Then it’s the bottom of the ninth. The Brewers were still ahead, 6-3. They knew that the Philadelphia Phillies, coming into Monday’s game, were a woeful 0-42 when behind after eight innings, so the Brewers had to feel fairly confident.
Yet the Brewers ended up losing again because Rodriguez (nicknamed K-Rod) didn’t have it. K-Rod was only able to get one out before getting into major trouble, but Roenicke didn’t have another reliever warming up in the bullpen. While Rodriguez eventually got the second out by inducing a fly ball, the Phillies ended up scoring the winning run off that fly ball. (A Pyrrhic victory at best.) This was Rodriguez’s fifth blown save out of eight chances; his record is 2-5.
The Brewers are now seven games under .500. They are in fourth place, eleven and a half games behind the front-running Cincinnati Reds, and have shown absolutely no signs of the major run they’d need in order to get to postseason play. Which makes me think, as a Brewers fan, that any hopes that remain for the 2012 season are just that — hopes.
And what’s sad about this is that there’s some real offensive talent on this team. Ryan Braun is having a great year, batting .309 at the start of Monday’s game, with 65 RBI and 26 HRs. Corey Hart, who’s played a good deal of first base this year (a position he’s not played much since the low minors), was hitting .258 at the start of Monday’s game, with 45 RBI and 17 HRs. Aramis Ramirez, who had a terrible first month and a half, was hitting .277 at the start of Monday’s game, with 55 RBI and 10 HRs. And normally light-hitting catcher Martin Maldonado, who was hitting under .200 at AAA ball, has been doing so well at the major league level (.280 BA, 18 RBI and 5 HRs, again as of the start of Monday’s game) that he might be considered legitimate “trade-bait.”
As for the pitchers — Yovani Gallardo has been up and down, but has been acceptable, going 8-7 with a 3.72 ERA in 121 innings pitched. Wolf has had a hard-luck year, no question about it. (The Brewers defense has been atrocious, but you’d never know it due to the fact that the Brewers have the kindest official scorer in the majors. But even if our official scorer were kinder to the pitcher by calling more errors on the Brewers defense (as he should), the fact is that the bullpen has not done its job, most particularly in Wolf’s games.) Zack Greinke, who’s likely to be traded as soon as tomorrow evening, has pitched reasonably well — his record’s 9-3, he has a 3.57 ERA in 116 innings pitched — but I’d be astonished if he were with the team much longer. Then, of course, the other two starting pitchers at the beginning of the year were Chris Narveson — out for the year — and Shaun Marcum, who’s been on the DL since June 15.
So what’s been the bright spot, if there is one, with regards to the Brewers rotation? A guy by the name of Michael Fiers. Fiers wasn’t expected to do anything this year for the big-league club, yet he’s pitched extremely well. While his record is a deceptive 3-4, his ERA is a terrific 1.96 in 59 2/3 innings pitched. Fiers is a guy who reminds me of Ben Sheets (currently on the comeback trail with the Atlanta Braves); he’s a tough-minded competitor, and he gives the Brewers an excellent chance to win every time he picks up the ball.
The main reason the Brewers’ season hasn’t gone well is because of the many injuries they’ve suffered (to Alex Gonzales, Mat Gamel, Narveson, Marcum, Travis Ishikawa, Cesar Izturis, and catcher Jonathan Lucroy). I accept that, as injuries are a fact of life.
However, the players who are still there must produce. Some of them aren’t, most particularly Rickie Weeks, who as of the start of Monday’s game was hitting a dreadful .195, with 33 RBI and 9 HRs, and while Nyjer Morgan continues to have value due to his stellar defense and good baserunning skills, he’s not doing that well hitting-wise either, batting only .229 at the start of Monday’s game with 5 RBI and 2 HR in 80 games.
While it’s not General Manager Doug Melvin’s fault that so many players came up injured this season (or just aren’t as good as they should be — witness Weeks), it is his fault for trading away two good, solid shortstops — Alcides Escobar and J.J. Hardy — in previous years. It is his fault for giving Roenicke an extension, when last year’s National League Championship Series showed how dogmatic Roenicke could be when it came to pulling — or not pulling — pitchers. (I will never understand why Marcum, who had absolutely nothing left in the tank, got two starts in the NLCS.) It is Melvin’s fault for not trading for a few more relievers, as most of ours are played out — and it is Melvin’s fault for believing that this team, without Prince Fielder, and with three starting pitchers all having contracts expiring at the same time (Wolf, Greinke, and Marcum), would be a contender this year.
I’m sorry to say it, folks, but unless Melvin can pull a rabbit out of his hat, the Brewers look like they’re right where they should be this year. In fourth place. Way out of playoff contention.
And that’s sad.
Second Blog-i-versary . . . Some Quick Hits
Folks, my second “blog-i-versary” passed on July 10, 2012, without comment, mostly because the weather in Wisconsin has been extremely hot. While I’ve continued to blog here and there, certainly this hot and humid weather we’ve had — which has destroyed crops, damaged lives, and caused all sorts of financial problems, as our 2012 summer is being compared to other, difficult summers like the summer of 1988 and worse, the “Dust Bowl” summer of 1936 — has gotten in the way.
That said, I’m very pleased that my blog is still here, two years after I started it (two years and a week, to be precise). I hadn’t anticipated this, but I suppose this blog still being in existence shows a good side to the Law of Unintended Consequences after all.
Here’s a few quick hits as to what’s going on right now in Wisconsin, aside from our dreadful weather:
Last night, the Milwaukee Brewers dropped a heartbreaker, 3-2, to their arch-rivals the St. Louis Cardinals. Particularly troubling in this loss is the fact that the Brewers led, 2-0, in the top of the ninth; closer John Axford got the first two outs (though both were long fly balls caught close to the fence, meaning both hitters nearly hit the ball out of the park rather than made these long, loud outs), then loaded the bases. Eventually, three runs scored, and Axford was removed from the game; Kameron Loe got the last out.
So, what happened to the Brewers in the bottom of the ninth? The hitters put too much pressure on themselves, that’s what. Corey Hart, who’d hit his 17th HR of the year earlier in the game, went to a 3-2 count before striking out. The next hitter, Rickie Weeks, took a few pitches, but also ended up striking out. And Martin Maldonado — well, he didn’t do anything, either. So the Cardinals closer, Jason Motte, got the three outs he needed, while the Brewers closer, Axford, was wild in and out of the strike zone and didn’t pitch effectively. Now, it looks like Axford may have been removed from his job as Francisco Rodriguez (K-Rod) has 19 holds and 1 save, and has looked far better than “Ax,” and no one can blame Brewers manager Ron Roenicke for wishing to try someone else at this point.
Oh, yes — the guy who started the game, rookie pitcher Mike Fiers, pitched extremely well (again), but didn’t get the win due to Axford’s meltdown. (I like Axford a great deal, and believe part of his troubles with command of his fastball and breaking ball come down to the usual problems relief pitchers have from time to time. But I have to call ’em as I see ’em.)
Otherwise, I’m continuing to work on AN ELFY ABROAD, and have some reviews planned this week at Shiny Book Review for Stephanie Osborn’s third book in her “Displaced Detective” series, and for Rosemary Edghill’s VENGEANCE OF MASKS . . . I may even review another book on economics, to keep my hand in the game. So stay tuned.
Finally, I played a concert with the Racine Concert Band last Sunday; for the record, I played second alto saxophone, and didn’t have any solos, though I did have a few good parts. I was glad I was able to play the concert despite the heat and humidity; the crowd at the concert (which was free, as it always is) was a bit diminished, possibly due to the heat, but we still had a couple of hundred people there and that’s encouraging. This was my fourth service for the band this year; I have a few more planned later this month and into August, though I hope to be playing clarinet at that time (I say “hope” because originally I’d been scheduled to play my clarinet on the last concert).
But whether I’m playing in the group or not, if you live in Southeastern Wisconsin and love free, live music, you owe it to yourselves to get out to the Racine Zoo and take in the Racine Concert Band. Concerts are at 7:30 p.m. on Sundays in July, and are at 7:00 p.m. on Sundays in August through August 19. There’s a wide variety of music, including marches, show tunes, light operas/operettas, and more — and best of all, it’s free.
Now back to our regularly scheduled sweltering, already in progress.
Ben Sheets On the Comeback Trail; Wins First Start Since 2010
Today, Ben Sheets won his first start since 2010 — his first start since returning from the most extensive arm surgery in the history of major league baseball in mid-2010 — as he led the Atlanta Braves to a 6-1 win over the New York Mets. Sheets pitched six scoreless innings, threw 88 pitches (57 for strikes), gave up two hits, walked one, and struck out five.
As Atlanta SB Nation.com put it, “Ben Sheets probably couldn’t have imagined a better debut.”
Carroll Rodgers, writing for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, said this about Sheets’s debut start:
Sheets threw a 91 mph strike to Ruben Tejada to start his day, setting up his first strikeout, and finished it with a 91 mph fastball to strike out David Wright for his fifth. Sheets allowed only two hits in between, while walking one, and threw 57 of his 88 pitches for strikes. He outdueled Johan Santana to win his first game since July 10, 2010 with Oakland against the Angels.
Rodgers also mentioned this toward the end of his blog post:
Sheets, who hadn’t pitched since July 19, 2010 for the Athletics, showed what the Braves have been raving about in his work on the side and in the minors. His fastball velocity was back to 90-92 mph, and he reached back and found 93 mph a few times, which he used to retire Wright. He also mixed in a sharp curveball that he was known for on those days like the one when he struck out 18 Braves in 2004.
Rodgers also had quotes from Sheets in this article, also from the AJC:
“It was pretty incredible,” Sheets said afterward. “Honestly in my mind, two years ago I was done, which was fine. I gave myself ‘coach of the year’ award in youth ball. Somebody asked me ‘Who gives that?’ I said ‘I give it to myself.’”
(Note that Sheets has never been known for his humility, which is why this quote made me laugh out loud.)
Another quote from Sheets, also from Rodgers’s second article at the AJC:
“I feel like myself,” said Sheets, who out-dueled Johan Santana for his first win since July 10, 2010 with the Athletics. “That’s one thing I can say I never felt like in Oakland.”
And here’s a quote from long-time Braves star (and likely Hall of Famer) Chipper Jones:
“We are ecstatic,” Jones said. “We get contributions like that from him, I see us winning a lot of games here in the second half.”
See, the Braves see Sheets as what he is: an ace. Sheets also is the type of guy who would not have come back unless he felt he could pitch extremely well — it’s either all or nothing with Sheets, and it’s always been that way. So the Braves, who apparently kept a close eye on Sheets once Sheets’s agent Casey Close started putting out feelers earlier this year regarding a potential comeback, has shown itself to be extremely prescient in signing Sheets.
As far as the Milwaukee Brewers go (Sheets’ old team), they won today, too. Yovani Gallardo had 14 strikeouts in a 4-1 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates. Gallardo is one of two aces on the Brewers current staff; his record raised to 8-6.
But the day belonged to Sheets, all the way along . . . and this Brewers fan couldn’t be happier. Way to go, Ben!
Former Brewer Pitcher Ben Sheets to Make Comeback at age 33
In August of 2010, I wrote a blog about former Milwaukee Brewers starting pitcher Ben Sheets, who had just had a major surgical procedure on his right arm (called at that time the “most massive surgery in the history of pitching” by the Hardball Talk blog.) At that time, I said that I hoped Sheets would be like former Brewers pitcher Chris Capuano, who has come all the way back after two “Tommy John” procedures and is now pitching extremely effectively for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
About one year ago, I wrote a blog after finding out that Sheets was doing rehabilitation in Arlington, TX. I said at that time that it would make no sense for Sheets to be doing rehabilitation if he wasn’t planning on making a comeback.
Well, my blog posts have been trumped by Tim Dierkes of MLB Trade Rumors, who wrote that on June 13, 2012, Sheets threw in front of scouts in Monroe, Louisiana. The four teams represented were the Philadelphia Phillies, the New York Yankees, the Los Angeles Angels, and the Atlanta Braves.**
The team that signs Sheets will have a proven ace who in the past made four All-Star teams (Sheets started the All-Star game for the National League in 2008). Because Sheets is a hard-nosed, tough-minded competitor, he should be able to help just about any team win some ballgames down the stretch if he’s able to pitch effectively.
Sheets’ road to recovery most likely will start in the minor leagues, as that’s the path every pitcher who’s been able to make a comeback (such as Capuano) has taken. But providing Sheets is patient and works his way back into top form, it’s possible for Sheets to become the same, effective pitcher as before (perhaps with a little less heat on the fastball, but he should be able to compensate for that with guile).
Chris Capuano has proven that it is indeed possible for a pitcher in his early 30s to come back from an extensive surgical procedure and pitch just as well if not better than ever. So if Sheets takes “Cappy” as a model, and gives himself time, he could still have several more years in the big leagues left.
Here’s hoping.
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** Note that the team that originally signed Sheets, the Brewers, was not on this list. I’m not pleased about that, but my best guess is that the Brewers need so much other help that they don’t see how Sheets could possibly fit into their plans. I view that as shortsighted, shoddy thinking, especially because the Brewers did sign Capuano to a minor league deal in 2010 (which worked out extremely well), which is why the Brewers know that it is indeed possible for a pitcher who’s sustained horrific arm injuries more than once to come back stronger than ever.
But I’m not the ones making the calls in the Brewers front office.
Brewers Fans: Leave Lucroy’s Wife Alone
I never thought I’d have to write this blog, folks. I never thought that anyone — much less a fan of the Milwaukee Brewers — would criticize any of the players’ wives for anything, as any given wife has little influence (if any) on her husband’s performance on the field.
But it appears some ill-bred Brewers fans are criticizing Mrs. Jonathan Lucroy due to the odd, off-the-field accident he suffered, resulting in a broken hand. Lucroy was reaching for a sock that had fallen under his hotel bed when his wife dropped a piece of luggage; this luggage landed on his hand, resulting in a very unusual “boxer’s fracture.” Mrs. Lucroy, by all accounts, feels terrible about this, because of course she never wanted to injure her husband.
Yet because Lucroy was hitting a ton, doing well as a Brewers catcher, and was garnering some national support for the National League All-Star team, these same ill-bred Brewers fans appear to believe that Mrs. Lucroy hurt her husband on purpose. And because they apparently believe this mistaken view should be shouted from the rooftops — or at least listed at Facebook, where Mrs. Lucroy apparently has a page (I haven’t been able to find it) — Mrs. Lucroy has actually received hate mail over this.
Here’s a link to the story from Fox Sports Wisconsin:
And here’s a relevant quote:
“It’s tough for me because it’s already a freak thing as it is,” Lucroy told WSSP. “My wife has been getting hate mail on her Facebook, messages and stuff. It’s really sad that these kind of things happen from a freak thing. She didn’t do it on purpose, man. It was an accident. Stranger things have happened.
“It’s been a battle for me, personally, because there’s no one to blame, and my wife is getting killed by this. It’s not like she’s not hurting enough already, feeling guilty enough already. I really wish people would leave her alone, leave us alone, just let us try to move forward and get this behind us.”
Now, this shouldn’t even need to be said, but since this has happened, apparently it does. Brewers fans, no matter what you think about Jonathan Lucroy’s accident, please leave Mrs. Lucroy alone. She feels bad enough as it is.
Now, let’s get back to watching the Brewers play rather than criticizing a player’s wife, shall we? Because as Brewers fans, we should have the class to leave players’ wives out of it.
Brewers Win, 3-2, over Dodgers; Lucroy to DL
These days, even when the Milwaukee Brewers win a tough baseball game, they still manage to lose out. Take today’s game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, for example; the Brewers played a good game in all aspects (especially defensively) and won, 3-2. Shaun Marcum pitched well; so far this year, he’s been the Brewers’ most consistent pitcher. John Axford picked up his 8th save, while catcher George Kottaras, never known for his defense, played exceptionally well behind the plate despite being hobbled by a hamstring injury. Shortstop Cody Ransom, a recent addition to the Brewers (claimed off waivers from the Arizona Diamondbacks), third baseman Aramis Ramirez, and first baseman Corey Hart all had good defensive games as well.
But despite tonight’s win, yet another player must go to the disabled list (DL). This time, it’s starting catcher Jonathan Lucroy, who broke a bone in his right hand by a freak off-the-field injury (his wife dropped a suitcase on his hand); the Brewers will officially place Lucroy on the DL tomorrow. Lucroy is expected to be out four to six weeks. This is particularly damaging to the Brewers because Lucroy has been hitting a ton thus far (.345 batting average with 30 RBI), and has also been steady behind the plate.
According to Fox Sports Wisconsin’s “Brewers Live” program, the Brewers will call up catcher Martin Maldonado from AAA Nashville along with pitcher Mike Fiers. Both Maldonado and Fiers will start on Tuesday despite the fact that if the Brewers were not so badly injured, neither one of them would’ve seen a whiff of the majors. (Fiers, while not terrible, has a 1-3 record with a 4.41 ERA; here’s the rest of his minor league stats.)
Here’s Maldonado’s current minor league offensive stats; as you can see, Maldonado isn’t hitting very well at only .198. But the Brewers don’t have any other options; had Lucroy not injured himself, Kottaras was probably headed to the DL. Now, Kottaras is going to have to be like several other Brewers who are playing through injuries — Ramirez (hit on the elbow last Friday by the D-backs), Ryan Braun (injured his Achilles a few weeks ago, hasn’t been able to rest it long enough for it to heal), Carlos Gomez (isn’t running well since he’s come off the DL due to a hamstring strain), and Kameron Loe (elbow tightness) — because the Brewers just can’t put any of these guys on the DL even if they normally would go there because the team is just too banged up.
This is why Hart is playing first base despite preferring right field. This is why Ransom is even on the team (the two shortstops the Brewers had on the roster to start the year were Alex Gonzalez, out for the year with a torn ACL, and Izturis, who’s on the DL with a hamstring strain). And this is one of the main reasons why Rickie Weeks, who’s hitting in the .150s (you read that right), hasn’t been sat down, either — he seems healthy, so he’s still playing even though he’s not been hitting well all season long. And that doesn’t even get into first baseman-outfielder Travis Ishikawa’s problem, who was put on the DL yesterday with an oblique strain!
Right now, the Brewers have seven guys on the DL (once Lucroy is added), and have three more who probably should be there (Kottaras, Braun, and Gomez) or should’ve been left on the DL longer (in the case of Gomez). The Brewers have fewer than six position players who aren’t playing with some sort of issue, and of those six, one isn’t hitting (Weeks) and one is playing out of position (Hart).
Despite that, the Brewers won a tough game today over the Dodgers. But as a Brewers fan, I can’t help but wonder which domino (that is, which player) is going to fall next?
May 2012 Milwaukee Brewers: Not Hitting on All Cylinders
As I write this, the Milwaukee Brewers are losing, 5-4, in the bottom of the 11th inning against the Minnesota Twins; so far, they’ve lost three in a row and are at the bottom of the National League Central Division standings. But even if they win this game, the Brewers obviously aren’t firing on all thrusters just yet (or hitting on all cylinders, either; take your pick of clichés). They aren’t hitting well, fielding well, pitching all that well, and their baserunning is suspect.
Now, as former Brewers first base coach Davey Nelson said last night on Brewers Extra Innings on WTMJ-AM 620 radio last evening (he was host Dan O’Donnell’s guest), it’s difficult to win games when you can’t hit, pitch, or field. (Nelson put it a bit more diplomatically, but this is the substance of what he said.) A caller added that the Brewers couldn’t run the bases overly well, either, as even big stars like Ryan Braun and Corey Hart have made odd baserunning errors in recent days; Nelson then added poor baserunning to his assessment.
All I could do when I heard this was laugh.
As for today’s game, it’s now over. With two outs in the bottom of the 11th, the Brewers had the light-hitting Cesar Izturis up, and all he could do was send a line-out to the shortstop. Brewers lose, 5-4, due to a home run hit by the light-hitting Twins SS Trevor Plouffe (he had been hitting .143 before he hit the game-winning HR in the top of the 11th).
At any rate, today’s game featured some clutch hitting by Ryan Braun and Aramis Ramirez, and some good table setting by Nyjer Morgan and Corey Hart. But it also featured two errors (one odd one by RF Hart where he may have lost the ball in the sun; he should’ve caught the ball in foul territory, but it instead bounced off his glove), some questionable baserunning, and a dearth of clutch hitting as six Brewers were left on base.
The Brewers have now lost four in a row, twice to the lowly Twins, twice to the lowly Astros. Their current record is 16-24; they are one game ahead of the Chicago Cubs due to the fact that the Cubs haven’t yet played their game against the White Sox so the Cubs’ record is currently 15-24. Most likely, the Brewers will be in last place again tomorrow. (The Twins’ record has improved to 14-26 due to their two wins over the Brewers.)
I don’t know what the Brewers can do at this point to improve as a team, except work on fundamentals such as bunting, baserunning, and fielding. Rickie Weeks is hitting well below .200, while Aramis Ramirez is stuck in the low .200s; these two hitters were expected to do far better than they’ve done thus far. (Even with Ramirez’s well-known penchant for slow season starts, he was still expected to have more than 21 RBI at this point.) Even the guys who are hitting, like Braun, catcher Jonathan Lucroy (a surprising .333), Nori Aoki, and Corey Hart (hitting only .252, but with 8 HR and 18 RBI, which is fourth-best on the team), can’t make up for the guys who aren’t doing much of anything.
Brewers manager Ron Roenicke says that the Brewers need to show more personality on the field, basically blaming the whole clubhouse for being quiet and reserved. I’m not certain how showing more personality would win games, considering the 1962 Mets had loads of personality, yet won only 40 games. But that’s Roenicke’s story and he’s sticking to it.
The usual way to fire up a team is to fire the manager, but the Brewers gave Roenicke a two-year contract extension earlier this season so that’s highly unlikely to happen. The second way would be to fire a coach — perhaps pitching coach Rick Kranitz, as the Brewers’ team ERA is 5.20 — horrible — and the Brewers are dead last in the majors in this particular statistic (which probably is the main reason they’re not winning too many games). Individual pitchers, such as Zack Greinke or Shaun Marcum among the starters, or Kameron Loe and to an extent Manny Parra among the relievers, have been OK; it’s the fact that others who were expected to do well like Yovani Gallardo have done very poorly that has caused the team ERA to balloon up.
The Brewers need to get something going in some area. Whether it’s clutch hitting, fielding, pitching (definitely pitching) or baserunning, the Brewers need to improve. Until or unless it does, the Brewers will remain mired in the bottom of the NL Central.
Barb Caffrey's Blog 