Time To Solve The Road Woes

The Milwaukee Brewers had a successful home stand going 5-1, putting their record at home at 13-6. The Crew has been nearly untouched when they tap the keg at Miller Park. But when they leave the friendly confines of Miller Park, they struggle like a Double A Baseball team with a record of 6-15.  I am one not to worry about things too early, but I really think the Brewers need to start showing some promise on the road in the upcoming four games on the West Coast. To me, it would be a sign that this team isn't average and inconsistent at best.

I know the Crew does not play well on the west coast, I really cannot explain it either. I don't know if the players get caught up in nice weather, the strippers, or the Sunset Strip, but they cannot seem to lock down on the West Coast. With their record currently at 18-21, winning the last five of six, the last thing the Brewers could afford to do is lose 3 of 4 and then be back where they started at the beginning of May. The NL West right now is garbage, and the Brewers take advantage of it this week.

They did last week against the San Diego Padres who they play again for two later this week. I mean excuse the Wednesday afternoon implosion, they played pretty solid against the Spanish Fathers. The Brewers send out Shaun Marcum tonight who is the Brewers best pitcher right now, and Randy Wolf goes the following night who has been a mixed bag all year. But Wolf has always seem to pitch well in his home state of Californina.  I also know these two guys need to have solid starts to try to preserve this bullpen. The rate we are going, I think Kameron Loe's arm will fall off the mound in a horrifying scene at some ballpark in the middle of June.

My dad and I talk all the time about how the Brewers are a team of mental giants.  They overthink everything, and I do believe they think they cannot hit the ball outside of Miller Park. Both of these stadiums are tough to get the balls into the bleachers so it will take a string of singles for the Brewers to get victories this week before heading back to Miller Park for another large home stand. If the Brewers could say get three out of four, the Brewers could be looking at a great month of May. 

-Charlie.

Inside Miller Park: Greinke's Home Debut

Thanks to the sheer genius that is Curly, Murph, Seitz and I were able to attend last night's Brewer game for five dollars. As most of you know by now, it was newly acquired and fresh-off-the-DL Zack Greinke's home debut.

The Brewers' brass thought it would be a good idea to hand out white towels for the first 30,000 fans to cross the turnstyles last night. Unfortunately, there were only 27,000 and change in attendance but the atmosphere was pretty much there.


Greinke came out rolling with two Ks in the top of the first. Obviously, we were a little late arriving to Miller Park and kind of lost track of time while slamming beers and eating raw chicken in the parking lot so we missed the top of the first...barely. Zack made up for our stupidity though by striking out two more in the second inning on his way to 9 Ks for the night in six innings of work.

He was getting a little shaky by the sixth with his velocity dropping and things of that nature but he punched out the Padres' Brad Hawpe with men on with two outs in the sixth. At first, I thought they should have left him in but after thinking about it, Roenicke made the right decision getting him out. Of course, it's easy to say that when the bullpen holds up their end of the deal.

Kameron Loe got into a jam in the 8th when he immediate put men on the corners with no one out. Then Yuni Betancourt (a man not known for his leather) made the best play I've ever seen in person.

He tracked down a sharp grounder up the middle, did the ol' backhand flip to Weeks from his glove in which Weeks bare-handed and tossed to Prince at first for the double play. A run did score but he may have saved the game with that play. The crowd gave him a standing ovation for his web-gem.

It was nice to see John Axford come in and work a fairly clean ninth for the second time in three days. He worked around a one out single to earn his sixth save of the year in eight chances.

Greinke picked up his first victory (of many) and looked fairly sharp last night. You have to take it with a grain of salt since it was against the Padres who have been shutout 8 times this year and don't have any three-hundred hitters. It was good to see though.

Hoffman Closes The Door On His Career

Hoffman back in the day.

Former Florida Marlin, Milwaukee Brewer and long-time San Diego Padres closer Trevor Hoffman has decided to finally hang 'em up after 18 years in the Bigs. Hoffman is the all-time Major League saves leader with 601, had a 2.87 ERA and he was a seven-time all-star (six with SD and one with MIL). Somehow, he has never won a Cy Young.

Trevor got his start with the Florida Marlins after he was selected in the 1992 MLB Expansion Draft. He was then traded to the San Diego Padres during the 1993 Padres fire-sale in which they traded Gary Sheffield and Rich Rodriguez. The only prospect the Padres got in return to have an impact was Hoffman.

When he broke into the Majors his heater was in the low to mid 90's and he used a tight curveball to keep batters off balance. As of last year, he was using a mid 80's fastball and his patented palmball/circle-change hybrid (in which he developed in the strike shortened 1994 season) to be successful.


When he came to Milwaukee in 2009, I was pretty ecstatic. We finally had a proven and set closer to begin a season for the first time in a long time. Then he went on the disabled list until the end of April. He made great first appearance by earning a save the second day off the DL. He would go on to have a great year with an ERA of 1.83 and 37 of 41 in save opportunities.

2010 was a different story however.

Hoffman really struggled to get anyone out in the beginning of the season. That had the Brewers stumbling out of the gate and, I think, ultimately derailing our season. He was only able to convert 3 of his first 7 save opportunities and just couldn't keep the ball in the yard. He then lost his closer role to journeyman/fan-favorite John Axford and his magic 'stache.

Despite Hoffman's early season struggles, he was able to finally get that coveted 600th save on September 7th, 2010, giving the fans in Milwaukee something to cheer about.

It's been real T-Hoff.

-Mitchy

Your Milwaukee Apocalypse: Padre Power

It makes sense that the team that has stood up to the evil forces of the Brewers ended up being the Padres. I mean, who has a bigger in with the big guy upstairs than a Padre? The Brewers were swept in the weekend series by three straight great pitching performances turned in by Greg Maddux, Justin Germano, and Jake Peavy. Now there are three guys willing to stand up in the face of the oncoming Apocalypse that is the Brewer's playoff push. So who is our next line of defense? None other than the Atlanta Braves my friends, and hopes are high that they can take two of three form Milwaukee this week and give St. Lo...Houst...Chica...grief, to give however the heck wakes up in the Central the chance to catch up. Here is a look at the pitching probables for the series with the Braves, along with a completely non biased graphic signifying the Brewer's current lead.

Game #1: C. Capuano (5-3) - C. James (4-4)

Game #2: B. Sheets (4-3) - J. Smoltz (7-2)

Game #3: D. Bush (3-5) - T. Hudson (5-3)

Getting to Know....Perfect Relievers

Here in the "Getting to Know..." universe we like to keep track of stats. Stats of interesting players, oddities, new kids on the block, that sort of thing. So as I was looking through some sortable stats on ESPN, I noticed a little statistical note that piqued my interest quite a bit: there are three relief pitchers (min 8 IP) that have yet to give up a run this season. One you have heard of, but the other two are young guns making a big splash on the Major League stage. Here is a look at the three pitchers still tossing doughnuts for the season:

Eric Gagne:
Games: 9
IP: 8.1
WHIP: .96
Notes: The Rangers took a bit of a flier on the oft-injured Gagne in the offseason, and thus far things seem to be panning out pretty well for them. After a brief stint on the DL this season Gagne has come back with a vengeance, allowing only one hit in five appearances since his return.

Jeremy Accardo:
Games: 18
IP: 20
WHIP: .80
Notes: The Jays picked Accardo up in the Shea Hillenbrand trade last year, and suffice it to say they are looking pretty smart for it. Accardo had a shaky run to end last season, but has stepped into the closer role for Toronto this season while B.J. Ryan has been on the DL. With Accardo pitching lights out, recording 4 saves in the past ten days, it will be interesting to see if he holds on to the closer's role when Ryan returns.

Kevin Cameron:
Games: 11
IP: 16.1
WHIP: 1.29
Notes: Cameron is a rookie, and not just in that funny MLB "he has not pitched X number of innings in a given season" kind of way, Cameron has been seeing his first major league action this year, and the 27 year old is one of the major reasons why San Diego has the lowest bullpen ERA in all of baseball. A notable point about Cameron's performance is that he has pitched 2 or more innings in a relief appearance five times already this season.

Getting to Know....Hot Rookie Pitchers

So you've been hearing about Dice-K quite a bit this season. Have you been wondering how some of the other rookie pitchers across the league are faring? Well if you have, than today is your lucky day. Here is a look at three other rookie hurlers that have been making waves so far this season:

Justin Germano, San Diego Padres :
W-L: 2-0
ERA: .47
WHIP: .74
Notes:Germano was drafted by the Padres in 2000, and then traded to the Reds in a deal involving Joe Randa. The Padres then claimed Germano off waivers from the Phillies in March, and has been paying immediate dividends. Germano has pitched three quality starts for San Diego while substituting for the injured Clay Hensley, and the San Diego Union Tribune has reported that Germano will stay with the big league team even after Hensley comes off the DL.
Next Start: 5-26 vs. Milwaukee

Jeremy Guthrie, Baltimore Orioles:
W-L: 2-1
ERA: 2.95
WHIP: 1.06
Notes:Guthrie has actually been even better than what his stats might seem to say. Guthrie started out the season in the Orioles bullpen, and has posted a 7.84 ERA as a reliever. In his four starts for Baltimore however, Guthrie has posted a 1.03 ERA and has not given up more than one earned run in any start. Guthrie recently threw 8.1 innings of three hit ball against the Red Sox.
Next Start: 5-24 vs. Toronto

Chris Sampson, Houston Astros:
W-L: 4-4
ERA: 3.31
WHIP: 1.37
Notes:Sampson has made eight starts for the Astros as their #5 starter and has posted quality starts in five of those contests. Sampson is an interesting story, since his baseball career started with him playing shortstop in the minors. Sampson then retired in 1999, only to return to baseball in 2003 as a pitcher after throwing batting practice for a community college team he was coaching in Texas. Honestly, you couldn't make this story up if you tried.
Next Start: 5-26 vs. Arizona