9-13: Doug Davis has a good couple of innings...then BAM!

Thank goodness I feel asleep at the end of the 2nd inning last night. I was beat from doing yard work and playing with my kids. I also watched the Hills (wife's show) and that got me all hot and heavy as well. So by the time that hell show was done, I had to hit the hay.

I was able to catch the first two innings of the Crew game last night. Man...did they look good in those two innings. I shouldn't say "they", rather Doug Davis looked good. He was on a tear.

Well...............That didn't last long I see. Doug Davis could turn out to be one of the worst signings Doug Melvin made since coming to Milwaukee. Granted, only time will tell. But thus far in to his SECOND boring campaign, he has been worth absolute shit.

Doug Davis is now known as the starting pitcher who can't last more than 4 innings; exactly what Milwaukee didn't want to happen. After all, he's an "innings eater" isn't he? Bullshit.

Good news though....Trevor Hoffman is still our closer.

Here's the deal with Milwaukee right now. Their pitching is absolutely worthless. Besides an occasional strong start by Yovanni and Wolf and a few bright spots in the pen, the overall pitching is pathetic. The offense is still there. Despite getting shut-out for the second time last night, their bats are still well-equipped and they are putting up runs (NL leading 126 runs) and have the 2nd best overall batting average (.278, next to SF Giants), the Crew's run support can't keep up with the amount of runs the pitchers are giving up....this isn't rocket science. All this while Prince Fielder is struggling at the plate (2 hr's/.250 or so batting avg). Despite the fact that they are going through a horrific slump with their pitching rotation and in the pen, Milwaukee still isn't the worst pitching team in the NL...no sir...they are 13th (out 16 teams in the NL)worst for team pitching. So it could get even darker, like Pittsburgh Pirates kind of bad.
This West Coast road trip is going to really put a lot of stress on the bullpen. Dave Bush should be able to go 6 or maybe even 7 innings tonight. Yovanni Gallardo throws tomorrow for the Crew, but his pitch count has been limited and he typically only lasts 6 innings...nothing more. The next two games will play a vital role in how Milwaukee does on this trip and both depends on how deep the starting pitching can go. Last night can honestly be a wash. It's a loss, but DD giving up 9 singles in one inning doesn't happen too often. Not to mention the team just got done travelling and the day prior was a full day's worth of baseball (14 innings).
Regardless, Milwaukee sure did struggle in San Diego last season (lost the series) and they are hurting now. The odd thing is that they still haven't had to deal with any injuries. Despite Jim Edmonds bad back, their hasn't been too many barring injuries. Imagine what this team will look like if a Rickie Weeks went out with a wrist injury or Wolf's shoulder giving out (he is known as Mr. Tommy John you know).
The good news is that Milwaukee doesn't have to play San Fransisco on this road trip! Instead, they play the lowly Padres, the powerless DBacks, and the team with no direction....the Dodgers. This could turn out to be a blessing in disguise. They have to return home with a winning record because they face Atlanta and Philly when they get back home (May 10-12/14-16). So, it could actually get worse, before it gets better. Milwaukee finishes May playing Cincy, Pittsburgh, and Houston on a soft note (the NL Central was pathetic in April, aside from the Cards who are 15-7). However, the schedule also throws in Florida, Mets, and the Twins as well.

Good luck to Bob Uecker today! His sugery is scheduled for this morning!

Milwaukee has sold 2 million tickets so far this season. This is right on track with 2009, when they sold 3 million. The last 1 million is going to be the hardest, although they should pull it off.

Deservedly so, the Milwaukee Brewers Racing Sausages were ranked the 5th most likable mascot in all of sports, by Forbes Magazine. Mark my words, next year at this time when Forbes does this ranking again...Bango Buck better be on that damn list. That damn buck is insane.

I read some where, forgot the source, that the Cleveland Indians are the most hated team in baseball.....are you kidding me? How off is that ranking? Nobody cares about the Indians. If anything, people still like them from the days of Major League (movie). The Yankees were 5th or 6th and the Red Sox were 2nd. The whole "study" is a load of crap.

9-12: Trevor blows another save....Ken Macha needs to go.

That's it....I am officially calling for Ken Macha to be fired. Today was the last straw.
Unbelievable how dumb this man is. Why in the hell would you allow Trevor Hoffman to close the damn game when LaTroy Hawkins just pitched a stellar 8th inning? Thus risking the possibility of Hoffman blowing YET another save and potentionally facing extra innings....when you're about to depart for a long and highly difficult road trip to the dreaded West Coast?!?!?

Trevor Hoffman blew another save this afternoon. This time was no different; he basically left a fastball right over the plate for (yet again) Ryan Doumit to send over the RF fence (barely, so it sounded like by Uecker). Unbelievable. This is worse than Gagne ala 2008. Why? Well, he didn't give up multi-long balls over such a short span of time.

Meanwhile, LaTroy Hawkins provided a sigh of relief (get it?) by notching a perfect 8th inning that set-up Hoffman's meltdown. He recorded 2 strike outs and a ground out. This good feeling lasted only a half of inning however. My guess is that Macha will give Hoffman the opportunity to close games in San Diego. If that explodes in his face and Hawkins continues to pitch remotely decent....Hoffman will go to the DL. It's a given. Too much at stake (this early in the season).
Attendance could start to drop, in my opinion, if the fans know that Hoffman will blow up any sort of game he's involved in.

What's even crappier about this whole situation? The Crew still has to fly-out to San Diego tonight for a 4-game series in San Diego that starts tomorrow! Even cooler is that they lose 2 hours in travel. This after they depleted their bullpen by using 6 relievers.

SO YES....I'm calling for Ken Macha's head.

Chris Narveson tossed a pretty decent game too! He gave up 3 earned runs in 5 hits in 5 innings of play. The bullpen (Villy, Coffey, and Hawkins) did their part, leading up to Hoff. They threw 3 scoreless frames allowing only 2 stinking hits.

Fielder went 0 for 5
Gomez and Hart each homered.
Gomez also doubled.

Casey McGehee will miss the San Diego series due to a birth of his child. Congrats to that stud.

Interestingly enough, Hoff returns to San Diego!

The Trevor Hoffman debacle is going to get even more difficult. Tomorrow the Crew starts a West Coast road trip.....first stop is San Diego. The Hoff will have to face his old team. First off, let's hope that the Crew can put themselves in to a position that will give Trevor a shot at closing the game....but if they do, I'm confident that he will seal the deal.
Macha is too....

9-11: Make that 3 straight blown saves at home for Hoff...

"He's the all-time saves leader," Brewers manager Ken Macha said after Hoffman surrendered five runs in a 7-3 loss to the Pirates. "I mean, I think he's got a pretty good feel for what he's doing out there."

Ken Macha to Adam McCalvy

So with that being said, don't count on Trevor Hoffman being stripped of his closing duties anytime soon. HERE is a good breakdown by McCalvy on Trevor's pitching woes....

I don't know how he does it, but the greatest closer of all time has just blown 3 straight saves at home. Even worse, the man gave up on his change-up (cornerstone pitch for Hoff) and he allowed 2 home runs last night...one a solo shot to the fluffy Ronny Cedano and the other to a d-bag named Lastings (stupid name player who will be a stud) who belted a grand slam. Let's face it....I think the world of Trevor Hoffman. But the guy is trying to break out of this slump with ALL FAST BALLS! I'm sorry, but a fastball in the mid 80's is not gonna cut it.

Here's how you fix it. You send him to the 15 day DL and hope that he can correct it. Make up some bush league excuse (stiff back) and stick him on there. Hand the closing role duties to LaTroy Hawkings (not much better as of late) and see what happens. If that fails, why not try something new with Todd Coffey or even Carlos Villanueva? Whatever the case is, this needs to be fixed by May 1. Why? I don't know why....I just know that the first month of the season is coming to a close and Macha is still shuffling the line-up around and has yet to solve the problem that is the closing position. I truly hope that Hoff can snap out of this, but I have a looming fear that he might be done. If that's the case, then you almost have to put him on the 60-day. Of course, I'm shooting from the hip here. I don't really know the rules on 60 day-DL stints. I do know however that players get placed all the time on the 15-day DL in order to get some rest and to snap out of a cold streak.

George Kottarus (I pronounce his name wrong all the time) is showing the Boston Red Sox what they gave up on.....he belted his 2nd HR of the season last night and played a pretty damn good game catching for Randy Wolf. The young catcher seem to call a good one and he also made some good stops. He was also walked last night as well.

Prince Fielder went yard for only the 2nd time this season. It would be nice to see Prince hit 2 HR's this month yet (3 days left). Although, in years past he's always had a slow start on the long ball.

Randy Wolf tossed a good game last night that was all for naught. He lasted 8 innings (2010 record thus far), giving up a dreaded 10 hits but only 2 earned runs, 1 walk, and a HR.

He showed his durability last night by lasting 116 pitches.

The brainiacs at Chicago Tribune feel that Prince Fielder will be on the market come July. I don't see it happening. Not until next season.....right? Imagine what they could get for him in return....I enjoy just thinking about it. Perhaps they could put together a 3-team trade and fill their ranks. Of course, this means them throwing in the towel for the 2010 campaign.

Chris Narveson will make his first start of the 2010 season, replacing Suppan. Easy enough opponent...now go out there and get it done young man!

Capuano's Single-A debut a success!

Chris Capuano tossed 5 complete shut-out innings tonight for Brevard County; he struck out 5 and gave up only 3 hits.

Don't count him to make an impact this season...but here's hoping that he continues down this path to recovery.

Bob Uecker to undergo heart surgery; out 10-12 weeks....

Sad day for Brewers baseball. Let's hope he pulls through this. Summer won't be the same with out him in the box. He's the best there is.

9-10: Ahhhh....that's more like it.

As cheesy as it may sound, I'm going to go ahead and say it anyways....
It's too bad the Crew doesn't play the Bucs more often.

With last night's 17-3 romping the Crew was able to get their feet underneath them again and regain some confidence.

Yovanni Gallardo tossed 6 innings giving up 2 runs (no earned-runs), 5 hits, 3 walks, and 4 K's.

Casey McGehee hit a grand slam
Alcides Escobar hit his first long ball of the season
Prince Fielder went 3-5

Greg Zaun, despite being unbable to effectively throw the ball back to the mound to Yovanni Gallardo, tied a career high game by going 4 for 4 at the plate with 5 RBI's (and a walk).
It's nice to see this starting happen....I'm getting tired of reading about Jason Kendall and his success at the plate this season. Dude's hitting over .300 right now. Go figure, I pick him up for my fantasy team (spot start) and he goes ofer.

Jeff Suppan made his first appearence out of the bull pen last night doing mop up duty. He tossed 10 pitches that resulted in 1 earned run against him. He will do fine out there in the pen.

Randy Wolf will take to the mound against Jeff Karstens (RHP).
Here are the probables for the rest of the week.

Although I haven't seen nearly as many bats being broken this season (still young in 2010)....Escobar's bat snapped in half and it struck a child last night. He walked it off on his power.

....And then there were 3......
With Ryan Howard's mega deal announced yesterday (5 years, $125MM) means that Albert Puhols, Adrian Gonzalez, and Prince Fielder are left. This deal is a good indicator of what Prince could expect to see if the Crew decides to make a serious offer. He's 4 1/2 years younger than Ryan Howard and therefore can expect to see a larger offer (think 200MM).

8-10: Brewers pretty much are horrible against the Cubs

8-9: Brewers really suck against the Cubs

8-8: Brewers suck against the Cubs

8-7: Crew outscores Bucs 36-1 in their series sweep!

7-7

6-7: Bush earns the rotation a win!

Finally.....a starting pitcher for the Crew had a good outing. Not just "good", I should say excellent. This only hours after JSOnline.com posted a story about Rick Peterson saying that he's close to fixing the problems Milwaukees hurlers. Well then, alrighty.

Granted, last night's victory came against the woeful Pirates. But taking a closer look at the Bucs one can see that they were ahead of the Crew in the NL Central; this despite giving up a butt load of runs.

Dave Bush tossed 7 innings giving up only 3 hits, 4 walks, and only 2 k's. He is now 1-0 on the season and a nifty 2.41 ERA. Honestly, he is certainly due for a break-out season. It was supposed to happen last year....until a took a liner off his arm in the first half of the season. C'mon man, the guy came so damn close a no-hitter in Philly....

Narveson and Parra each contributed an inning of relief, with Narv-dog giving up the only run.

Offensively the Crew was dominant at the plate from the get-go against a horrid Charlie Morton. Prince Fielder continued his slump however by going 0-4. Soon, very soon this man will ignite. Again, he's looking to kill the ball instead of making contact.
Zaun went 0-5
Weeks, Edmonds, and Gomez each had 2 hits. Weeks had a triple.
Corey Hart hit his 2nd HR of the year.

Keeping an eye on pinch hitters for Milwaukee (piss poor in 2009), Inglett and Gerut went 0-1 each. This area needs to improve drastically.

Tonight, Carlos Gomez returns to the line-up in CF.

Milwaukee finally won their first game of a series in 2010. Ugh.

Prince Fielder is a Home Run hitter who has yet to record a HR thus far. Odd.

Braden Looper is throwing for the Cubs in a (sort of) try out. He could be used in the bullpen or in the rotation. Although Ted Lilly is going to be back soon.

Three news bits

1. My wife and I had our 3rd son today! Ryan Scott is his name. Both my wife and the baby are doing well!

2. Jonathon Lucroy just got bumped up to Nashville (AAA) today. This is great news. It's only a matter of time before Macha will have to make up his mind....should he keep Zaun or George K, when Lucroy comes up?
Lucroy is hitting .452 through last week. Pretty damn impressive.

3. Stan Kyles, the bullpen coach, is going to be away for a number of week to deal with Prostate Cancer. Here's to a speedy recovery.

5-7: Can't feel too good about this victory....

For a moment, yesterday afternoon felt like it was going to be alright. The Brewers jumped to an early 10 run lead in the first inning. Heck, Craig Counsell even made up for his dreadful error (saturday's game) and smacked a grand slam HR.

*It was the first time in franchise history that the Crew scored 10 runs in the 1st inning.

*It was the 5th time in franchise history that the Crew scored 10 runs in a single inning.

Even still, Doug Davis was unable to record his first win as a Brewer (second time around). How sick is that? Honestly, it disgusts me that a team can give the starting pitcher a 10-run lead in the first inning....and still the pitcher can't make it out of the 5th inning. I can tell you one thing...Braden Looper would've lasted 7 innings and he may have given up a few HR's (as always), but he was dependable when given a solid lead.

Claudio Vargas earned the win, despite giving up 2 earned runs in 2 innings.

Manny Parra and Carlos Villanueva both pitched very well and provided the FINAL nail in the coffin.

Carlos Gomez had one bad play out in CF and two excellent plays. The first occurred in the middle of the game (can't remember the inning) when he dove head-first to try to catch a fly-ball. Instead, the ball dropped sharply in front of him, yet he was still able to glove the ball on a bounce. The other was in the 7th inning when he fielded a deep hit to center and threw out Ian Desmond. That play right there, was a gem and it displayed Gomezs' powerful arm.

Casey McGehee had a nice day at the plate; he hit a timely double and went 3 for 4 at the plate.

Rickie Weeks added a double and he went 2 for 4.

Prince Fielder went o'fer. He's now batting .244 on the year. Any day now one would think Prince is going to snap out of it. My only fear is that it may not be until May. Prince was the only one not to record a hit, other than the pitcher-spot.

Milwaukee has one more stop in their 3-city road trip, that being Pittsburgh. The Bucs just came off a 3-game sweep of the Reds and are 5-1 at PNC Park. Pretty impressive for this team of young players. We can all remember the win-streak that Crew had against the Pirates in 2007 & 2008. Well, that has since been replaced with the Pirates having the edge over the Brewers in 2009 (5 games to 3). When was the last time the Crew played Pittsburgh and they weren't ahead of them in the Central Division standings? The Pirates are 7-5 right now.

Dave Bush (0-0, 3.86) vs Charlie Morton (0-2, 13.50)

HERE are the probable match-ups.

Casey McGehee, thus far in to the season, is batting .366 with 4 HR's and 6 RBI's.

I honestly hate the National's ball park. It's horrible. It's ugly and the camera & commentator's angles are awful. Honestly, it's like you're on the 7th story of a building looking down trying to call the game. I hate the bird's eye view of the infield plays too. The worse thing I hate...is the lettering behind homeplate. It looks like it was typed using a 1992 version of MacDraw...with the underlining. This park blows.

4-7: Crew losing ground

The Crew has had a road trip to forget. You would think that the Crew would turn it around against the old-wipping post that is the Nationals. Well, the Crew turned out to be the Nationals bitch.

Let's take nothing away from the Nationals....they looked sharp in Friday's and yesterdays game. I have them picked as my sleeper team of the season.

I figure that I would just discuss the ass kicking that was yesterday afternoon's game....

It all went south after Craig Counsell misjudged a routine double-play grounder.
From there the Brewers pretty much handed the game over the Nats. F

-Fielders batting average has dropped to .262 with no HR's.
-Craig Counsell looked horrible at the plate yesterday...absolutely horrible (0 for 4)
-Randy Wolf didn't look horrible, but he didn't look good either....(1-1)
-Todd Coffey probably had one of his worst games as a Brewer. He gave up 2 runs on 3 hits, thus allowing the Nats to run away with the game.
-Casey McGehee continued his hot streak by doubling...yet again....The 3B has been on an absolute tear since the start of the season. He has a HR and 2 doubles so far in the series.

The Brewers broke a new record in the first 11 games of the season! The most HR's given up by a single team (19!!!). Unbelievable.

Yesterdays Cardinals-Mets game was 20 innings...but not as long as the Brewers-White Sox game

4-6: Milwaukee's bullpen coughs up another lead

4-5: Hart tries his best to blow Hoffman's save

Milwaukee narrowly escaped out of Chicago's northside with a win and stopped the Cubbies short of pulling off an early season sweep. Thankfully, Milwaukee only has 1 more series this season at Wrigley Field (August); although that's probably not the news that Ryan Braun wanted.

The early-season leader of the Milwaukee Brewers, Ryan Braun, continued his impressive career hot streak going at Wrigley Field yesterday. The right fielder belted what would prove-to-be the game winning HR in the 8th inning. Additionally, Braun added 3 RBI's and he reached 1B five-times yesterday (4 for 5, a walk). He is now hitting .378 at the plate through the first 1.5 weeks of the season.

Meanwhile....

Prince Fielder has yet to homer this season, but is still batting .294 at this point in the early season. I can't wait for him to explode....and you know it will happen any game now. My money is on this weekend's series with the DC Nationals.

Even more impressive....

Greg Zaun and his recent bout of success at the plate during the Cubs Series. He was flirting with sub-Mendoza Line hit/at-bats by going a pathetic 0-20 at the plate. Zaun went 3-5 in yesterday's win, one being a double.

Casey McGehee went yard as well, blasting a towering shot off of Carlos Zambrano (no decision).

Area for concern.....

None of Milwaukee's pinch hitters got a hit. However, Gomez did reach 1B on an error that was a result of a nicely placed bunt in between first base and the mound. That kid is fast.

Trevor Hoffman recorded his 594th save, which was almost blown by Corey Hart and his inability to wear good sunglasses.

-I absolutely love watching Carlos Zambrano fade from the top ranks of baseball. He's such a d-bag.

-Ben Sheets recorded his first win....in a uniform other than the Brewers. He looked sharp.

3-5: LaTroy Hawkins gets lit up

Well, thankfully I didn't get to watch yesterday's debacle because I had to work.

It's too damn bad that David Bush had a win stripped from him after putting together a pretty damn good outing. He gave up 2 earned runs on 7 hits, ZERO WALKS, 2 SO's, and tossed only 77 pitches.

Todd Coffey then came in to relieve Chris Narveson (who gave up a run after relieving Bush) and completely stopped the bleeding, stranding 3 men on base. Outstanding hold by burly beast.

Well, that was all thrown down the shitter with one horrific inning by LaTroy Hawkins. He gave up 4 runs on 3 hits. Just like that Bushs' efforts was tossed in the garbage and Milwaukee lost the series to Chicago.

Too bad, considering that Milwaukee had a pretty good day at the plate. Despite not having a HR, Milwaukee had 3 seperate players hit doubles and 1 that hit a triple (Escobar's first!). Carlos Gomez turned it around by going 2 for 4 (one was a bunt). Alcides Escobar went 3 for 4 and led all Milwaukee hitters.

Tidbits

Milwaukee gave up a NL leading 207 HR's in 2009, finishing only 2nd to the Kansas City Royals in the MLB (218).

Thus far in to the season, Milwaukee has already given up a league-leading 13 HR's. (jsonline.com)

The team's earned run average is a horrific 5.52 going in to today's game.

I'm going to call it....Jeff Suppan will pitch a damn good game on Thursday (first start of the season). He will give up no-more than 3 runs.

-Here is a nice summary on why Prince Fielder probably won't be playing much longer in Milwaukee by Tom Oates of Madison.com. I failed to realize that Ryan Howard, Albert Puhols, and Adrien Gonzalez are all hitting the market at the same time. Now granted, if for some strange and unknown reason Philly and the Cards are unable to lock up their players to contract extensions....well then, that could keep Princes' asking price down. But that's not going to happen. You can count on Gonzalez and Fielder hitting the market and the latter probably demanding a higher price. If anything, depending on the price, Gonzalez might be a good target? Although it's highly doubtful with the Brewers working hard on developing players like Brett Lawrie in to a first baseman. We also need to realize that Attanasio & Melvin aren't stupid...so why did they trade away Matt LaPorta (CC package) if they knew they had no shot of keeping Fielder? Of course, who would have thought that Prince would average 39 HR's and 110 RBI's in his first 4-years of service...not to mention, play every single game in 2009. There are some factors that could lead to him staying, but they probably hold no weight.

Relax, it's only been one week....

Relax Milwaukee...it's only been one week. Yes, Doug Davis has looked horrible in his two starts and the sound of Hells Bells indicates that a blown save is about to occur. But I urge everyone to calm down.

Hoffman is the biggest question mark right now. An ESPN blog put it nicely...

In 2009 Trevor Hoffman gave up 2 HR's in 6 months.....in 2010 he has given up 3 HR's in 2 games!

I'm still convinced that Hoffman will be fine....however....

Macha would probably piss himself knowing that he would have to be the one to tell him that he's getting bumped to the set-up role....or.....an indefinite stay on the DL. How do you tell a guy who's about to rack up 600 saves that he has to hang it up and let LaTroy Hawkins take over? And what happens if Hawkins fumbles the closing duties? His current hot streak won't last forever. I mean, the guy has only walked (intentionally) one batter and given up one hit. You can't really argue about him being ready to assume the role.

Regarding Doug Davis, he'll snap out of it. If he doesn't, well, that's a lot of money to throw in the bullpen. Imagine if Suppan doesn't cut it and he too is sent to the pen with Davis....that's a lot of money used up in relievers.

Again, let's all take a deep collective breath....it'll be alright.

My biggest concern is Carlos Gomez. He looks like he's lost up there at the plate and he's about to crap his pants. I seriously think he doesn't know what to do in the batters box. The guy can bunt...so let him stick to that please. He'll gain confidence over time, but how long do you allow him with Corey Hart playing well and Jim Edmonds DEMANDING playing time?

We should all keep in mind that Milwaukee only has a short window of opportunity to make a late season run. There is no way in hell that Milwaukee will pay out 200MM to Prince Fielder, it's not possible and I would hope that Attanasio would refrain from making such a high-risk move. He's a business man, and he knows that this is a marathon, not a sprint. Yes, the time to win is right now...but Milwaukee can't afford to bet the house on one player, right?

I still don't know what to think about this one. I have always been against the idea of dealing with Boras.

3-4: Doug Davis get lit up....

Horrible....horrible game yesterday down at Wrigley. Thankfully, the Crew has the day off today to lick their wounds from their latest ass kicking.

Okay, that's off my my chest. Man...did they look bad yesterday. With that being said, it's only the second week of baseball. What concerns me is how well the Cardinals are playing. They could be this year's version of the LA Dodgers (2009). I could certainly see the Cards jumping to a double-digit lead in the NL Central. The season is young though.

Doug Davis was slapped around the friendly confines all afternoon....scratch that....he didn't last the whole afternoon, he only lasted 3.1 innings; pathetically giving up 7 hits, 6 earned runs, 2 HR's, and 2 walks.

Oddly enough, the bullpen threw pretty damn well. Although the game was pretty much out of reach. The only mistake was Claudio Vargas giving up a 2-run homerun.

Rickie Weeks extended his hitting streak to 7 games, going 1 for 4.
Ryan Braun homered in back-to-back games. That's always nice to see.

-Apparently Albert Puhols urged Jim Edmonds to make a comeback with the Crew.
"I hate to see him playing against us in the division," Pujols said.
"He's always going to be a Cardinal forever."

-Greg Zaun is approaching Brad Nelsons' 2009 mark of 0-21. In fact, he could hit that milestone tomorrow. Jonathon Lucroy is hitting .389 and is 7 for 18 in 4 games. What do you do when you have a veteran player in Greg Zaun who's sucking it up big time and a back-up catch (Kottares) who's playing pretty damn well? Especially if Lucroy continues his tear in Huntsville? You can't leave him down there forever.

Is it just me, or is the Catcher position really beginning to take shape as a place for future power hitters? Look no further than the Molina brothers, Joe Mauer, and Victor Martinez....but also take a peek at the Future Stars like Matt Weiter, Bryce Harper and Buster Posey. It must be nice to have a Catcher who could hit 3rd or 5th in your lineup. Heck, Brett Lawrie was even drafted as a catcher.

3-3: Hoffman gets lit up

There were a number of things that went tremendously well in last night's Cardinals-Brewers game. Rickie Weeks continued his hot streak by blasting a lead-off homer. Casey McGehee had probably one of his best games in his young professional career that included a double, game-winning HR, and a some excellent defensive plays. Corey Hart is starting to earn his keep again; he added a homerun but also contributed a horrifically played fly ball that sailed over his head. Lastly, Ryan Braun finally put one on the board by going yard.

Yes, Macha allowed Randy Wolf to talk him in-to staying out on the mound to face Albert Puhols in the 6th inning. You can't really blame him either, considering that Wolf has blanked Albert his entire professional career. So it surprised the hell out of me when Albert blasted a towering shot that fell in fair territory. Trevor Hoffman gave up a double to his ex-teammate, Felipe Lopez and then back to back HR's to Albert Puhols (2 HR's in the game) and Matt Holliday.
But in the end, everything worked out just fine when McGehee belted a walk-off HR.

There are many things to be worried about in Brew Town.

1. Trevor Hoffman and his 2 blown saves. Let's face it, his change-up is expected and his fast ball only clocks in the mid-80's. He will probably be fine, but if not, there's LaTroy Hawkins waiting patiently.

2. Prince Fielder. Clearly, he's frustrated with his performance at the plate. Again, this will all be fine in due time. He has a tendancy to start off slow and then turn it on in May. Remember 2008?

3. Carlos Gomez. He's not getting it done at the plate. Besides his 4 for 5 game on Opening Day, he's been quiet and painful to watch (no pun intended).

4. Probably the most important problem that Macha needs to fix is Yovanni Gallardo, for obvious reasons that don't really need explanation.

Rightfieldbleachers.com pointed out a nice take on the Levine-Attanasio feud by ESPN's Erik Kuselias. I believe the Brewers owner has gotten an unfair shake on this whole ordeal. Hell, it was torture listening to ESPN's Joe Morgan talk about the concept of a "Small Market Team". It's actually quite simple; Milwaukee's market (Milwaukee Metro) is the smallest, by far, in the MLB. That, right there, in and of itself is the definition of a small market team. Is Minnesota a small market team? I don't believe so because their overall population more than doubles that of Milwaukee. In my opinion, small marekt has everything to do with overall population; that entails said teams' market share. Milwaukee relies heavily on their ticket sales and revenue from Miller Park. They don't have a large following when it comes to Television. Compare that to the Yankees, who have 10+ million capabale followers.

Greg Zaun comments on his hitless season thus far....Makes sense, I like it that he hasn't lost his confidence. It will all work out. His week long slump is mainly due to some excellent fielding. It reminds of JJ Hardy last season where the guy couldn't buy a F$*#@* hit.

Milwaukee plays an afternoon game at the most expensive ball park in the MLB. That being Wrigley Field. Doug Davis takes to the mound against Ryan Dempster. Here is the list of probable starters.

2-3

National TV = Piss Poor Performance

Yovanni Gallardo looked absolutely horrible yesterday; this only 2 days after signing a contract extension with the Crew.

The entire offense looked fatigued and/or flat. Corey Hart was one of the only bright spots in the line-up (2 for 4, RBI). Braun & Fielder were both hitless.

The Crew plays on ESPN tonight for Sunday Night Baseball....I can only imagine how this one is going to go. Chris Carpenter takes to the mound against Randy Wolf.

-Greg Zaun is STILL hitless

-Carlos Gomez is already struggling at the plate

2-2

Well....last night's game made me want to puke. It's gonna happen, I know that; but Trevor Hoffman blowing a save because some minor league hack hit his 3rd career HR on a 2 strike change-up?!?!? Are you kidding me? That's why I hate the f'n Cardinals. I hate them.

With that being said, Dave Bush had a decent outing lasting 5 and 2/3 innings, giving up 3 earned runs and striking out 6 (2 walks, 4 hits). He got himself out a number of jams, including a couple with Albert Puhols. His only mistake was giving up a 2-run hommer to Matt Holliday on a pitch that he went inside with.

Greg Zaun has yet to collect a hit this season....which pisses me off because all I heard about was him tearing it up in Spring ball. One would think that George Kattares will get the start today.

Trevor Hoffman was denied #594 last night. He's going to blow games, it's a given.

Cardinals are coming...

Milwaukee and St. Louis share the same record going in to the first show down of the young season. Tonight we will see Dave Bush facing Kyle Lohse (RHP); HERE are the probable starters for the other two games.

Yovanni Gallardo signed a new contract with the Brewers yesterday. HERE are the details.
Nice to see Melvin getting this done. Save the biggest for last?

You want a good laugh this morning? READ THIS. Apparently Drew Olson from OnMilwaukee.com had a discussion with Jeff Suppan earlier this week. During that talk Suppan blamed the pillows he was using at his condo in Arizona (spring training). He even had to use a "rolled up towel". Brian Anderson (FSWisconsin) had a good chuckle about that in his booth with Rock,
"For $40 million, there could be a pillow store, you know, nearby" (the team's spring training complex in Arizona), Anderson said.
Almost simultaneously, Bill Schroeder — deposited his two cents.
"I was thinking that myself," Schroeder said. "You could get the greatest pillow of all time for the money these guys are bringing in."
"You could hire somebody to BE a pillow for you."
Schroeder, still incredulous, suggested that Suppan just use a pillow from home.
"Man. Jam it in your suitcase if you're worrying about his leaving it back in Phoenix," Schroeder said. "I'll take it back for him."
He also wasn't buying Suppan's cheap, vaguely homeopathic solution for the sleep discomfort.
"A rolled-up towel? I mean, you do that after a frat party in college, dontcha?" Schroeder said. "I mean, c'mon Soup."
Nice job Rock, tell it like it is!

Rob Parker of ESPN New York is a moron....HERE is why. Sorry Mr. Parker, but the Brewers have yet to win a title in their 40 years of existance. You compare them the "big-market Cubs" and argue that they don't wine about not having won a championship. They also have 9 x's the market! Moron.

Despite the Brewers being on the verge of hitting 3 million fans for 3 straight years....and Forbes Magazines' announcement that their value is rising....Attanasio is still budgeting for a loss this season!

Trevor Hoffman has 2 saves already in the first series. Only a couple more before he reaches 600!

2-1

Finally, the Milwaukee Brewers won a series against the Rockies. The rubber match was quite the thrill show; considering that the Crew used the entire team to win!

Doug Davis made his 2nd debut with the Milwaukee Brewers...and it was in typical Doug Davis fashion (3+ hour game). He lasted only 4 innings and struggled early on giving up 4 earned runs, 3 walks, 1 HR, and struck out 4.

It was the bull pen that stole the show however!

Chris Narveson was the only pitcher to give up a hit (2) out of 6 total relievers. Everyone else pitched perfectly. Most impressive was Todd Coffey (1-0) tossed two hitless/scoreless frames and really turned the momentum for the Crew. Hoffman collected his 2nd save as well.

It was a well balanced offensive attack this afternoon. Jim Edmonds was the only Brewer to collect 2 hits, while 6 other players tallied a hit a piece. In a game this close, I was hoping to see at least one stolen base....no luck though.

Milwaukee will have the day off tomorrow before facing their main division rival, the St. Louis Cardinals. Lucky for the Crew, they won't have to face Wainwright...only Carpenter! The Cards have won two straight over the Reds and play the rubber match tomorrow (thursday) during the day.
Hopefully, the Milwaukee fanbase will "booooo" the hell out of Mark McGwire this weekend.

1-1

Milwaukee took game 2 last night and snapped a 7-game losing streak to the Rockies. Milwaukee's prized off-season signing made his debut last night. Randy Wolf had an excellent spring and he looked to carry that over to the regular season. It was an uphill struggle during his 6 and 2/3 innings however; giving up 9 hits, 4 earned runs, a homerun, and 0 walks. Most importantly, he fanned 8 Rockies...which isn't too shabby for the seasoned lefty. His biggest mistake was leaving one hanging for Ian Stewart to crush out of the park in Left-Center (2nd in as many games for Stewart). The one-man wolf pack was none too excited about his performance either. It was a perfect start, but drastically better than the previous big new comer, Jeff Suppan and his debut in 2007. I like to compare these two hurlers...it's a good way to tell if Wolf is worth all the money.

Casey McGehee led the Brewers with a towering 3-run hommer in the 1st inning to give the Crew the early lead.

He along with Prince Fielder had 2 hits a piece (Prince had a double). Weeks & Braun both collected singles.

Weeks had a SB.

*Corey Hart went ofer (he did walk though), Greg Zaun was ofer as well (0-4). Edmounds pinched hit for LaTroy Hawkins in the 8th and left runners stranded.

Milwaukee kept their shirts tucked in....apparently that fad left Milwaukee with Cameron.

Sadly enough, I was unable to see this game because FSWisconsin was televising the Bucks clinching a play-off spot. I would imagine that the Bucks' playoff schedule will also boot Brewers' games from their time slots in May. That's okay with me though. It's nice to see the Bucks winning even with out Bogut.

Jeff Suppan is going to be the #5 starter...it's practically a gimme. He is going to make a minor league start and then probably take to the mound in a week or so.

Mark Attanasio responded to NY Yankees' president (Levine) about his whining comments. Although this whole argument is quite petty...it's nice to see Attanasio defend his use of revenue sharing dollars. I don't think there's a baseball fan out there (outside of the Boston, NY, or Chicago...and Philly who can't help but side with Milwaukee's owner).

News bits

Randy Wolf will make his Brewers debut tonight vs Greg Smith of the Rockies. Let's hope that this goes smoother than the last time a new pitcher made his debut after signing a huge contract!

(Jeff Suppan's 2007 debut against the Dodgers that resulted in a loss )

Corey Hart is starting in RF tonight. Hopefully it's the start of a resurgence....I truly hope so.

Oddly enough....Macha has Hart batting in the 7th spot and Zaun in the 6th.

Interesting note on MLBTraderumors.com this afternoon. General Manager Billy Beane was interviewed by Athletics Nation where he commented on the fact that if his Athletics aren't contending prior the trade deadline, he would be open to trading his top players....which would include Ben Sheets. I said it when he was first signed....I would not be shocked to see Ben Sheets back in Milwaukee if the Crew was in the hunt. Stranger things have happened. Yes...it is a long shot.

The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers have a plethora of young pitchers on their team to start off the season. Rising stars like Eric Arnett, Karl Heckathorn, Jake Odorizzi, and Maverick Lasker. Should be exciting to see all of those hopefuls playing just up the road from Milwaukee this summer.

Ryan Braun opened his new restaurant last night after the game. It's the old Fratello's that's located on the river in the Third Ward. A pretty damn cool location that has a lot of potential but little parking. That shouldn't matter though. An old friend of mine from Wausau created the bar, among other things (pictured below). He runs a team called Invidia Design out of Milwaukee.

Seems as though the old storied rivalry from the 70's is coming back in to the picture! Back when the Brewers played in the AL EAST their main rival was actually the Yankees! Believe it or not. Well, it appears that Yankees president Randy Levine is lashing back at Milwaukee Brewers' principle owner Mark Anttanasio today while doing a phone interview with ESPN New York. Attanasio has gone public a couple of times now complaining about the size of NY's payroll. It's evident that he's still pissed off that the Yanks came right in and swept CC Sabathia away prior to the 2009 season. As can be expected, Mr Levine likes to bring up the revenue sharing program and even goes as far as questioning Attanasio about how he uses all that money....Wisely enough, ESPN points out the huge market share that the Yankees play for (10 million+ people) and Milwaukee's (2 million +).

It should also be noted that Mark Anttanasio donated 1MM to local causes today.

0-1

Opening Day has come and gone. The bus loads of drunken amature-fans has now left the parking lots of Miller Park. Aside from the cars left over-night by those who were too intoxicated to drive home after the game, it serves a reminder to the fans of Milwaukee that some things never change....like the circus that comes to Miller Park every Opening Day...and...

Case in point: Milwaukee stranding 11 base runners while collecting 12 hits. This being their thorn in their collective side in the 2009 season.

Greg Zaun had a horrid night at the plate going 0-4 and leaving 3 runners on base.
Jim Edmonds, who started over Corey Hart, left 5 runners on base and collected only 1 hit.
Meanwhile, Braun & Fielder left 6 total runners stranded.

Granted, it wasn't all doom and gloom. Carlos Gomez made his Brewers debut by collecting the team's first HR of the 2010 season and going 4 for 5 (meanwhile, JJ Hardy went 1 for 4).

Prince Fielder came inches away from going yard. It ended up being a double.

Ken Macha left me wondering "what the hell is he thinking?". Gomez collected the only SB for Milwaukee. There were two occassions, from what I remember, where Rickie Weeks was on 2B and Gomez was on 1B...yet Weeks didn't steal. He got a jump on one pitch, but that was a foul ball. With that being said, I understand the difficulty of putting runners in jepordy when the 1-2 punch is coming up to bat. Why risk getting an out when you already have a runner in scoring position? I still think that Milwaukee will need to be aggressive on the base path in order for them to compete with the Cardinals and Reds this season. It's only one game, but I thought for sure that there would be at least 3 SB's.

On the other hand, Macha was brilliant in calling for a bunt when Ryan Braun was up to bat later in the game. Braunie executed a somewhat-decent bunt that 3B Stewart fudged, thus resulting in runners at the corners for Prince Fielder. Not one single Rockies infielder expected that bunt!

Despite Yovanni Gallardo struggles (7 hits and 3 ER), he did only walk 2 batters and struck out 5. Chalk this one up to Opening Day jitters. Kudos to the pitching coach Rick Peterson and Ken Macha for only using 2 pitchers during the game. Chris Narveson pitched 2 complete and gave up a run and a walk. It's nice to have a couple of starting pitchers in the pen.

There was some good news yesterday.....the Cubs lost to the Braves 16-5 in their worst Opening Day loss in 126 years....pure awesomeness. Even better was the fact that Carlos Zambrano got whipped badly!

Apparently contract talks with Prince Fielder are still going-on in to the season. The brass is keeping pretty quiet
MLB.com has a new "recap" for each game that's played. Pretty sweet charts and video clips.

Opening Day

**Update** Jim Edmonds is going to start in RF today for the Crew (sorry Hart)

****Update II****Here is the 2010 Opening Day roster

Rickie Weeks 2B
Carlos Gomez CF
Ryan Braun LF
Prince Fielder 1BJim Edmonds RF
Casey McGehee 3B
Gregg Zaun C
Alcides Escobar SS
Yovani Gallardo RHP

My take: This line-up will look drastically different come June.

____________________

It's been a long wait; but after 6 months of anxiously awaiting the arrival of the Twenty-Ten baseball season....it is finally here.

Sadly enough, I will be unable to make to the game today despite "winning" the lottery and purchasing 2 excellent seats for today. Instead, the wife and I decided to sell them because our 3 is expected over the next couple of weeks. What really pisses me off is that the roof will be open today. This is the first time in the history of Miller Park where they had the roof open on Opening Day!

Milwaukee's new ace, Yovanni Gallardo, will take to the mound today against the Rockies and Ubaldo Jimenez. HERE are the probables for the forthcoming series against the Rockies.

There are NO SURPRISES with Milwaukee roster.

Praise for Escobar from The Chicago Tribune. He went error-less in 19 games this spring....impressive.

Brewers' Projections

Projections for Starting Rotation, Closers, and fielders

Gallardo:200+ innings, 210+ K's, 180+ innings, 3.25 ERA, 16-10
Wolf: 180+ innings, 3.50 ERA, 15-12
Davis: 200+ innings, 4.75 ERA, 12-12
Bush: 150+ innings, 4.50 ERA, 10-9
Parra: 100+ innings, 4.50 / Jeff Suppan: 100+ innings, 5.25 ERA / Chris Narveson (RP)

Hoffman: 25 saves
Hawkins: 10 saves

Rickie Weeks: .290 avg, 50 RBI, 10 HR, 10 SB(he will make it 3 months this season!)
Carlos Gomez: .250 avg, 40 RBI, 8 HR, 25 SB
Ryan Braun: .315 avg, 115 RBI, 40 HR, 25 SB
Prince Fielder: .310 avg, 120 RBI, 45 HR, 3 SB
Jim Edmonds/Corey Hart/Jody Gerrut: .260 avg, 30 combined HR's
Casey McGehee: .270 avg, 50 RBI, 15 HR
Elicides Escobar: .290 avg, 65 RBI, 12 HR, 20 SB
Greg Zaun: .270 avg, 10 HR
P

Craig Counsell: .280 avg, 2 HR, 40 RBI
Joe Inglett: .290 avg, 4 HR, 30 RBI

Opening Day is 5 Days Away!

The beloved Brew Crew is on their way back to Milwaukee! Tomorrow night they will take on the Detroit Tigers in exhibition play at Miller Park.

Chris Narveson & Manny Parra have been sent to the bull pen today. Too bad, I really thought (on paper) that Narveson would be named the #5 starter. Ken Macha's thinking is that he doesn't need a starter until April 14th. So that will allow some time to sort this matter.

"He has a tendency to stay with guys who have been here throughout camp because you know what you've got. That is, unless it's an upgrade. With that being said, he's still checking out some things." -Ken Macha on Doug Melvin

Ken Macha might be on to something here. Do I see him pulling off a trade to start the season? One never knows with ol' Doug. Considering the fact that Suppan is owed 12MM+ this season, who in their right mind would take that on? So....that leaves me with the thought of Parra getting packaged (perhaps with Hart)....It appears that Milwaukee showed some interest in Jermaine Jackson...I mean Dye as well.

This STORY goes out to all those morons who argue that Milwaukee needs to increase it's payroll......They ranked 4th in the MLB in spending this off-season. Take that and smoke it.
As a fan faithful, I'm happy that we have solid ownership.

Although Macha hasn't set his line-up yet for Opening Day....it's looking like Jim Edmonds is going to start over Corey Hart. Considering the fact that this choke artist has gone 7-52 this spring.....This, I personally like. Hart needs to check himself. It's looking like his rant against the fans back in 2008 is going to haunt him for years to come. What a nice thank-you to us fans for voting him in to the All Star game.