Archive for the ‘Yovani Gallardo’ Category
Milwaukee Brewers 2012: Off to Another Slow Start
The Milwaukee Brewers, 2012 edition, do not seem to be firing upon all thrusters.
Now, you might be wondering, “Why say that, Barb? After all, there’s only three games in the books, and yesterday’s game was excellent!”
Indeed, it was; Zack Greinke pitched brilliantly, then the Brewers bullpen shut the Cardinals down for a 6-0 win.
But Opening Day — Friday — was a bust; Yovani Gallardo didn’t have it, gave up six earned runs (mostly because manager Ron Roenicke didn’t take him out soon enough), including four home runs, in only 3 2/3 innings. This is the main reason the Brewers lost, 11-5; the only reason the score looks even that good is because George Kottaras hit a 3-run pinch-hit HR in the bottom of the 9th.
And then, what about today? The Brewers lost again, 9-3; HRs by Corey Hart (who’s off to a fast start with 3 HRs already) and Braun weren’t able to do anything except perhaps salvage a teensy bit of pride for the hitters, as Randy Wolf, the game’s starter, didn’t have it, and neither did any of his replacements from the bullpen.
Tomorrow, the Brewers play the Chicago Cubs, managed by ex-Brewer Dale Sveum. It’s anyone’s guess as to what will happen at Wrigley Field (home of the Cubs), mostly because records mean very little this early (my carping aside). Usually, these games devolve into a slugfest of one sort or another, but as off as the Brewers have looked thus far, perhaps this year I should prepare for a pitcher’s duel.
Mind you, this is a bit of a stretch as the Brewers will start Shaun Marcum; he hasn’t looked very good thus far. But you never know in baseball, which is why it’s so endlessly entertaining.
See you at the game. (Or at least in front of the TV.)
Brewers win game 5 in 10 innings, Advance to NLCS
Game five of the NLDS between the Milwaukee Brewers and Arizona Diamondbacks is over, with the Brewers winning, 3-2, in ten innings. But let me set the scene for you, as this game was even more exciting than the scoring shows.
The Brewers led, 2-1, after Yovani Gallardo had pitched a smart and gutty game through six innings. Both relief pitchers, Takashi Saito and Francisco Rodriguez (K-Rod), pitched well enough in their innings (Saito the 7th, K-Rod the 8th) to keep the game 2-1. The Brewers went into the top of the 9th with Brewers closer John Axford, who hadn’t blown a save since April, brought into the game to close it out.
But sometimes, the best-laid plans of mice and men do not work. Instead, Arizona tied the game at 2-2, though Axford was able to get three outs and preserve the tie (he still got a blown save).
The ninth went by quietly, as only Jerry Hairston, Jr., hit the ball hard (and, unfortunately, right at Gerardo Parra in left field). No runs, no hits, no errors.
The tenth inning rolled around, and Axford was still in there. Axford had only pitched two innings seven times this past year; he usually is a strict one-inning closer, partly because of how successful he’s been. As Axford had not looked all that good in the ninth, I was very concerned — however, Brewers manager Ron Roenicke made the right move to leave Axford in as he breezed through the top of the tenth.
In the bottom of the tenth, J.J. Putz, the D-backs closer, was brought in to pitch to preserve the tie. Craig Counsell went up to bat; he lined out to right field. Carlos Gomez came up, and hit a single to left field. Now Nyjer Morgan stood at the plate, and he’s been a tough clutch hitter for the Brewers all season long; I’m sure D-backs manager Kirk Gibson knew this, but he also knew that Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder (the Brewers #3 and #4 hitters) were up after Morgan and so Gibson elected to take his chances with Morgan.
At this point, Gomez stole second base, but was unable to take third on a wild pitch by Putz.
Pitch after pitch went by; finally, Morgan got a pitch to hit and roped a single into center. Gomez is the fastest man on the team, so I knew if anyone could score from second base, Gomez could do it. And Gomez did it — he scored easily — which means the Brewers won, 3-2, and will advance to the National League Championship Series against the winner of the St. Louis Cardinals-Philadelphia Phillies matchup, which is currently in progress. If the Cardinals win that game, the Brewers will have home field advantage in the next round of the playoffs; if the Phillies win, the Brewers will not.
This is the first post-season series the Brewers have won since 1982. Like the ’82 Brewers, it took the ’11 Brewers five games to win the series; unlike the ’82 Brewers, they were ahead, 2-0 (the ’82 Brewers were behind, 0-2, even though they, too, had home field advantage; unlike this series, until game five, every road team had won the game). And in this one, the ’11 Brewers did not win a single road game — but they didn’t have to, either.
Now, the one thing you need to be aware of is that Sam Ryan, reporter for TBS, was on the field right after the Brewers won the game. Morgan dropped a few “f-bombs,” which I would’ve told you were quite predictable — but Ms. Ryan doesn’t seem to understand things like this.
This is the same reporter who didn’t seem to know who in the world Brewers Hall of Famer Robin Yount was when she spoke with him during game 2; Yount was very polite to her, but if I had been Yount, I would’ve pulled her aside and pointed to Yount’s retired number #19, which is prominently displayed at Miller Park (the Brewers’ stadium). I would’ve told her that I was a first-ballot Hall of Famer, too, and one of the few players to ever win Most Valuable Player awards at two different positions, shortstop in 1982, and center field in 1989. And next time, that she should do her homework or stay home and let someone who knows more about baseball get paid.
There are many female baseball reporters who would’ve done a better job than Ms. Ryan did, during game 2 and at the end of game 5; I do blame her for even putting a microphone on Morgan because while I really like Morgan as a player, he’s a high-strung guy who’s been known to lose his cool before.** (Granted, he was on a huge emotional high at this point. But he’s not like Brewers sluggers Ryan Braun, Prince Fielder, Corey Hart or Rickie Weeks; Morgan doesn’t have that level of self-control and everyone should know it unless they’re completely clueless, like Ms. Ryan apparently is.)
Anyway, Axford ends up with the ultimate rarity for a closer — a blown save, and a win. I’m sure he’ll take it, as will all Brewers fans.
What a game. What a finish.
Let’s hope the Brewers have something left for the NLCS, where Zack Greinke will be pitching game 1.
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** Now, does this excuse Morgan for dropping the “f-bombs?” No, not really. It makes it comprehensible, but it certainly isn’t excusable. Morgan should know better.
Ill; Watching Brewers in Post-season
For the past several days, I’ve been battling some sort of sinus issue, so getting up to watch the Milwaukee Brewers in post-season play was difficult even though it’s a real “happening” here in Wisconsin (partially due to its rarity; this is only the second time the Brewers have made the post-season since 1982).
While I’m not feeling at all up to snuff, I have to wonder what it’s like to play baseball when you aren’t feeling well, especially when it’s post-season time. For example, Brewers catcher Jonathan Lucroy admitted that he wasn’t feeling particularly well (he was quite hoarse) on the Brewers pre-game show carried by the Brewers Radio Network (I listen on the “flagship” station, WTMJ-AM 620 in Milwaukee), also with some sort of sinus issue. Lucroy called it a “cold,” but if it’s anything like what I’ve been dealing with for several days, it’s not a minor problem — it causes a great deal of fatigue, it’s hard to breathe, and it has definitely gotten in my way.
Lucroy is catching his first major league baseball post-season game ever; to be ill while doing something so exciting must be intensely frustrating. But so far, you’d never know he’s ill unless you listened to the Brewers pre-game show as the national announcers certainly haven’t said word one about it.
As for anything else, so far it looks like Brewers starting pitcher Yovani Gallardo is on his game; after a problematic first inning (where no runs scored only because Brewers left fielder Ryan Braun threw out an Arizona runner at home plate), he’s settled down and looks as good as I’ve seen him all year. Which is good, because the Brewers’ bats have thus far been rather quiet; the only rally we’ve had so far was in the second inning due to a walk to Rickie Weeks and an infield hit to Jerry Hairston, Jr., who’s playing in place of the light-hitting Casey McGehee at third (while Weeks is in his customary place at second).
Anything can happen in the post-season . . . heck, anything can happen in baseball, as was shown on Wednesday night with some of the wildest season-ending games in baseball history. But what I’d like to see are good, solid games that feature the Brewers at their best, with their pitchers and hitters both doing well.
I know the Brewers’ opponent, the Arizona Diamondbacks, are a tough team with excellent outfield defense and better infield defense than the Brewers have; the D-backs also have quite a few home run hitters (they’re similar to the Brewers in that) and much better than average pitching. But I believe if the Brewers play their best, they will vanquish Arizona; now, it’s just up to the Brewers to do what they do best, not have any mental let-downs, and play their game. Providing they do that, I will be content.
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Personal update stuff:
As for me, despite feeling terrible, I managed to get a story off to the Writers of the Future contest yesterday about eight hours before the 9/30/11 11:59 PST deadline (no idea how good or bad the story is, but at least I finished it and sent it off). I did some editing this week, too, and wrote one review last night; that, and this blog, and a few others on Wednesday (when I was feeling a little better) will probably have to stand for my writerly output this weekend unless something really outrageous, outlandish, or upsetting happens.
Mind you, that doesn’t mean the rest of my life just stops, but it does have to slow down when I feel like this. (Live to fight another day, and all that. Or in my case, write another day.)
Brewers Play Giants; My Thoughts
My late husband Michael was a San Francisco Giants fan.
Of course, this isn’t surprising, considering he was a long-time San Francisco resident. That his father and mother both supported the Giants, as did his brother and sister . . . well, that probably helped a little, though Michael wasn’t the type to join in just for the sake of joining.
Nope. He loved baseball because it was — and is — a game that can be measured. Baseball statistics make sense, to the degree that different eras can be compared and contrasted, as are various players, their situations and their teams.
Michael loved his Giants. Which is why me watching my Milwaukee Brewers team play them is ever so slightly bittersweet.
I keep thinking about how Michael would enjoy this year’s Giants team as much as he would’ve enjoyed last year’s — the 2011 Giants once again have stellar pitching, defense, and play well as a team, all things Michael appreciated as a long-time baseball fan. But, of course, it’s my Brewers playing the Giants — the Brewers, who mostly live and die by the long ball. By the big inning. Who aren’t exactly known for their skills at base-stealing, small ball, or for any of their starting pitchers.
I mean, think about it. Who do you know on the Giants pitching staff that’s a big name? Tim Lincecum. Matt Cain, who’s pitching tonight. Barry Zito, though he’s not done well this year and hasn’t justified the huge amount of money the Giants spent on him a few years ago. Jonathan Sanchez, perhaps the best #5 pitcher in baseball. And previously-unknown Ryan Vogelsong, perhaps the best story in baseball this year as he went from getting his outright release in 2010 to having the best ERA in baseball — 2.02 — in 2011, with a 7-1 record in fifteen starts.
Whereas the Brewers have two pitchers who’ve pitched reasonably well throughout — Shaun Marcum, who’s pitching tonight, and Randy Wolf. Then, we have two wildly inconsistent pitchers who can be either really good or really bad — Zack Greinke and Yovani Gallardo. And, finally, we have Chris Narveson, a guy who is better known for his bat than his pitching, though he’s had a decent year thus far. And let’s not even start about the Brewers defense, as I could go all day about how many ways the infield in particular needs improvement (only Rickie Weeks is relatively solid at second, though he does not have great range; Casey McGehee has had some good moments but mostly isn’t known for his glove; Prince Fielder’s fielding has regressed this season, so he’s once again a well below average first baseman who holds his position due to his fearsome bat; and, of course, Yuniesky Betancourt, who hits better than he fields, but doesn’t exactly hit a ton considering his overall .250 batting average coming into tonight’s game).
I have mixed feelings here, because I see how the Giants are by far the superior team. The Giants have pitching, defense, and overall team chemistry, even if they don’t hit particularly well . . . their pitching makes up for a great deal, which is how they win games. While the Brewers have hitting, hitting, and more hitting, with some good outfield defense (Corey Hart in RF is good, Ryan Braun has really improved in LF but hasn’t been healthy recently, while Nyjer Morgan plays a decent center field and has speed — mind, losing Carlos Gomez due to a broken collarbone hasn’t helped), some good to better pitching amidst massive inconsistency, and more hitting.
So it’s a battle of two different styles of baseball being played out tonight in this Brewers-Giants game (currently, as I write this, the Brewers lead 3-1 in the top of the sixth). Good to excellent hitting versus good to excellent pitching and outstanding defense. A worthy game, one which I’ll enjoy as best I can, wishing all the while that my wonderful husband were still alive to share it with me.
Still. I am here, and I see at least some of what Michael would’ve seen in the Giants, as I’m also a long-time baseball fan who appreciates excellent pitching and defense. I can’t recreate a conversation which didn’t have a chance to happen, though I know what sorts of comments Michael made when he and I watched his Giants play in 2002, 2003 and 2004 . . . I suppose because I’m thinking so much about what he would’ve seen had he been here to observe it, at least a small part of Michael has survived.
And that, at least, is a good thing. As is the enjoyment I get from watching my Brewers and Michael’s Giants.
Odds and Ends — including the End of the WI State Supreme Court race
I have so many different things to discuss right now that I’ve decided to make this an “odds and ends” post — otherwise known as a “quick hits” post.
The first is that the race for the Wisconsin state Supreme Court has come to an end as JoAnne Kloppenburg conceded. The recount, which I viewed from the beginning as a mandatory one due to the closeness of the vote and the chicanery going on in Waukesha County in particular, brought her a few hundred votes closer to David Prosser but not nearly enough for her, apparently, to keep on fighting despite the hundreds of irregularities and errors found in Waukesha County alone. Ms. Kloppenburg is a very good lawyer and knows the law regarding recounts much better than I do, so she must’ve felt that it was unlikely she’d win a court case, so prolonging the race any further made no sense to her.
My reaction to all of this, however, is that while I found out by observing the recount in Racine County for a day that our election proceedings here are on the up-and-up, I really think the election was stolen and that Ms. Kloppenburg was the true winner. I cannot prove this, and it’s possible no one will ever be able to prove it — or maybe someone will after the fact, as some observers did in Florida after the Bush v. Gore incident, or in Ohio with the numerous problems there in the 2004 election — but it’s how I feel.
I also feel that the state of Wisconsin has missed out, because Ms. Kloppenburg had an outstanding record and would’ve made a great judge. Republicans, especially of the Scott Walker variety, liked to paint Ms. Kloppenburg as a “liberal,” but what she really was happened to be an independent, someone who’d worked for both Republican and Democratic Governors. We needed a centrist on our extremely polarized Supreme Court, and we didn’t get it — what a terrible day for Wisconsin, and what an awful thing to have to say . . . but it’s all true, and it’s sad.
Now onto a happier update. Vinny Rottino hit .373 in May for the New Orleans Zephyrs (the AAA affiliate of the Florida Marlins); this was after suffering a 1-for-26 slump to start the season. Rottino has stolen 7 bases, being caught stealing twice; he’s hit 20 RBI, 2 HR, has 10 doubles and one triple, and his current on-base percentage is .407. Rottino now appears to be playing every day in right field and is playing excellent defense and a fine overall game while putting together another quiet, but good season as a contact hitter.
Here’s a story from nola.com that was written on May 15, 2011, about the Zephyrs and the hot-hitting Rottino in particular:
Vinny Rottino continued his hot hitting Saturday night, and New Orleans Zephyrs relievers continued their shut-down pitching.
The result was a 5-4 Zephyrs victory against Tacoma at Zephyr Field.
Rottino, who has reached base in 21 consecutive games, drove home the go-ahead run in a three-run rally in the sixth inning and also scored two runs.
And here’s what Rottino had to say about it all, especially his 1-for-26 start:
“I never panicked,’’ he said. “That’s the key. I’ve gone through spells like that before at the beginning of the year. … Now I feel pretty good at the plate, just waiting for the pitcher’s mistake. That’s the main thing.’’
Rottino’s game is similar to someone like the Brewers’ Nyjer Morgan; he’s speedy (though not as speedy as Morgan), he plays excellent defense and has a strong arm, and he’ll rarely make mistakes on the basepaths. Rottino plays all positions except pitcher and second base (unlike Morgan) including catcher (though he’s more of an emergency catcher due to taking it up late) and would be an asset to any major league team whose General Manager is using his brain today.
Finally, there’s the Milwaukee Brewers update. They actually won their first game against Cincinnati last night and Corey Hart hit yet another home run, raising his season total to five. Hart’s still not all the way back to last year’s All-Star form, but he’s looking good in the outfield and is hitting steadily now, with some power . . . though I’m a big fan of Hart, the best thing about the ’11 Brewers is that so far, their pitching has been anywhere from OK to outstanding, with Shawn Marcum and Randy Wolf in particular pitching much better than expected. (Yovani Gallardo is still a little inconsistent, though his last two-three games have been great, and Zack Greinke is still rounding himself into form. As for Chris Narveson, while he’s a very nice man and can pitch, he’s had some really rough outings lately. And I keep thinking the Brewers would’ve been better off to keep Chris Capuano, who’s doing well for the Mets despite a 3-5 record because of how poor the Mets are playing as a team.)
So that’s it for updates . . . what I’d encourage you to do is to keep your eye on Rottino (when he finally makes it to the majors to stay, that’ll be one of the best human interest stories of the past several years as he’s now thirty-one years old and has been the apparent victim of what I like to call “age prejudice” as most teams would rather look at a really young guy than an older one with a steady batting eye and a steady presence in the field), keep an eye on the Brewers (especially their pitchers), keep an eye on Capuano, and watch for the upcoming Wisconsin recall elections in July.
Yovani Gallardo’s Gem of Saturday
Folks, I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out Yovani Gallardo’s eight-inning, one-hit masterpiece of Saturday afternoon. The Brewers broke a seven-game losing streak because of Gallardo and John Axford (the Brewers’ closer, who came in even though it wasn’t a save situation). The Brewers won, 4-0, and it’s the first time in over three weeks that Gallardo has pitched not only well, but brilliantly (he also had a great game on 4/5/11).
I keep thinking — and saying — that Gallardo isn’t yet an “ace” pitcher, then he goes out and does something like that. Maybe Gallardo is about to mature into that unstoppable force most baseball fans call an “ace” sooner than I thought. (And good for him, if so.)
Ken Macha out as Brewers manager; more on Brewers.
The Milwaukee Brewers, who finished with a 77-85 record, fired manager Ken Macha today by the simple expedient of not picking up his option for next season. Macha said here (http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/104276948.html):
“Nobody likes to be let go, but I understand baseball, too,” Macha said. “I’ve been around a long time and been through this stuff. I told (Melvin) this Milwaukee experience for me was tremendous.
“It’s too bad we didn’t win more games, but I appreciate him bringing me here. … The expectations were to put up more wins and we didn’t do that. That’s the game.”
Macha’s words were classy, especially as he found out he’d been fired last evening via the media rather than by his good friend, Brewers General Manager Doug Melvin. Macha continued:
“When you sit down and build your club … you really got to compare your club to the other teams that have won,” Macha said. “How do we stack up with say St. Louis? We signed Randy Wolf and LaTroy Hawkins. … Yeah we filled some holes, but are we on the same level with (Chris) Carpenter and (Adam) Wainright? So maybe the expectations were a little high but you still have to win.
“We lacked that No. 1 guy going out there. That’s my thoughts. If you could put someone at the top (of the rotation) and move everybody else down, you’d give yourself a much better chance to win.”
Now, this is something I, as a fan of the Brewers, said all year long. Yovani Gallardo is not an ace. He is a good pitcher and would probably be just fine as the second pitcher on the Brewers staff, but he is no ace. And Randy Wolf, who’s a fine number three pitcher, has too much pressure on him as a number two pitcher — all of those roles, ace, number two pitcher, number three pitcher, are clearly defined now in major league baseball, and the ace of the staff is expected to be the guy who shuts down the opposition no matter what’s been happening with the rest of the club. (In other words, if the Brewers had lost six or seven in a row and Gallardo’s turn was up, he was expected to keep the other team in check while he was out there and get the Brewers a better chance to win thereby. Gallardo can do this, but he mostly doesn’t — that’s why he’d be better as the number two pitcher on the staff because he’d have far less pressure on him thereby.)
Going on in Anthony Witrado’s blog from today’s Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel:
Macha also acknowledged his trying relationships with stars Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder while noting that several other players he had good relationships with thanked him after yesterday’s season finale, including Corey Hart, Casey McGehee and Wolf among plenty of others.
Skipping ahead in the blog:
“If the effort wasn’t reciprocated, then there’s not a whole lot I can do about it. You can’t force guys to do that,” Macha said. “Some guys were open to discussion and some guys weren’t, I guess, but that’s the same with every club.
“I talked a lot to Ryan, almost every day, but he does his own thing. He’s going to do what he wants to do.
“With Prince, I think he had some issues this year to deal with, the contract probably being the main thing, and at times he was hard to talk to. I don’t know if there were any guys on the staff that talked a whole lot to him this year.
“Those are the two guys, but the rest of the guys it was all positive. I opened up to (Braun and Fielder) but you have to have a back and forth. The faces of the franchise, that’s what they are.”
After reading all this, while I remain convinced Ken Macha was always the wrong man for this job, I feel rather sorry for him. I’ve been in positions where I came into a job and wasn’t really given a chance, and it sounds like that’s exactly what happened between Macha and Brewers’ stars Prince Fielder and Ryan Braun, who were both extremely angry after Ned Yost was fired in 2008 with only twelve games remaining in the season. (For the record, I was, too. I liked Yost a great deal.)
Macha had nothing to do with Ned Yost’s firing whatsoever, but I think because he was known to be such good friends with Brewers GM Doug Melvin, those two players in particular never gave Macha much of a chance. But what really surprises me is that apparently no one could reach Fielder this year — which explains Fielder’s extremely poor year, where he dropped in home runs from 46 to 31, dropped in RBI from 141 to 83, and dropped in batting average from .299 to .261. Fielder is the Brewers clean-up hitter, yet he had the fewest RBI of anyone who batted in the top five of the Brewers batting order, as you’ll see by this quick list:
Brewers RBI leaders:
Casey McGehee, 104 (bats fifth) — .285 BA, 23 HR, .464 slugging percentage
Ryan Braun, 103 (bats third) — .304 BA (led team), 25 HR, .501 slugging percentage, .365 on base percentage
Corey Hart, 102 (bats second) — .280 BA, 31 HR (8th in league), .525 slugging percentage (led team)
Rickie Weeks, 83 (bats first) — .269 BA, 29 HR, 184 strikeouts (led team), .366 on base percentage
Prince Fielder, 83 (bats fourth) — .261 BA, 32 HR (sixth in league), .401 on base percentage (led team), 114 walks (led team)
Now that you’ve seen that list, here’s some more information. Corey Hart started the season on the bench because he’d had a horrible Spring Training; he played so well Macha had to play Hart, and eventually Hart not only made the National League All-Star team, he took part in the Home Run Derby as he was among the league leaders in home runs at that time. Corey Hart finished with career highs in home runs and RBI and greatly improved his defensive play in right field; pretty good for a guy who started out on the bench, eh?
Then there’s Casey McGehee, who in his second full season led the team in RBI. McGehee is a third baseman who was an older-than-average rookie last year that GM Doug Melvin picked up prior to 2009 — McGehee had been buried in the farm system of the Chicago Cubs, but was a good, solid hitter and Melvin knew it. Signing McGehee, who started 2009 on the bench and eventually became the starting third baseman, then continued on in that role in 2010, was probably one of Melvin’s best — and most unheralded — moves of the past two years.
The other three guys — Weeks, Braun and Fielder — were all expected to do well. But Weeks, in the past, had trouble staying healthy due to problems with his wrists that required operations; that he finished a whole season credibly, improved his defense, and led all major league lead-off men in RBI was impressive. Braun got hit on the hand by a fastball thrown by Braves pitcher Tommy Hanson early in the season, had a huge dip in all batting stats during the summer, but rallied to have his usual excellent year in RBI, batting average and on base percentage (this includes hits, walks, and getting on base via errors). It was only Fielder who had a rotten year, especially by his standards — and as Macha said, that’s probably due to contractual reasons as Fielder is eligible next year for arbitration, then is a free agent, so for the moment does not have financial stability assured. (That Fielder is a client of hard-nosed agent Scott Boras is another concern, but of course Macha would never mention that even though everyone knows it’s part of the problem. The Brewers offered Fielder $100 million for five years — $20 million a year — but Boras said that wasn’t enough. That didn’t go over well with Brewers fans at all, though no one blamed Fielder, a bluff, genial, good-hearted man, for Boras’s actions even though Boras works for Fielder, not the reverse.)
Since this will probably be my final blog about the Brewers for a while, I may as well give my end of the season awards now.
Brewers Most Valuable Player: Corey Hart (Casey McGehee, second) — this is because when the Brewers still had a shot to get back in the pennant race and everyone else slumped, Hart carried the team through much of May and June.
Rookie of the Year: John Axford, who took over the closing job from Trevor Hoffman and never looked back, going 8-2 with a 2.48 ERA, and saving 24 out of 27 games.
Brewers Most Valuable Pitcher: John Axford.
Comeback Player of the Year: Chris Capuano — Capuano’s stats of 4-4 with a 3.95 ERA in 24 appearances (and nine starts) are a little misleading, though they’re perfectly fine. As it stands, “Cappy” is the first player to effectively pitch in the major leagues after a second “Tommy John” ligament replacement surgery on his pitching arm. He also is a study in perseverence, as his second comeback required nearly two full years of rehabilitation. Capuano deserves serious consideration as major league comeback player of the year.
The Brewers had many good players who had fine years for them in 2010; they just did not jell as a team. Here’s hoping that next year, the Brewers will be much better and give the fans a great deal more excitement overall.
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