Monthly Archives: May 2009

Looking back at the 2005 Draft

Posted on May 30, 2009 by | 3 Comments

Posted by Steve

The draft is just a few days away, so I’ve been reading up on draft stuff.  Along the way I looked back at the 2005 draft, which could go down as one of the greatest drafts in MLB history, at least as far as first rounds are concerned.  The 2005 Draft was probably the most I’ve ever followed a draft.  I remember watching it online, praying there was some way Alex Gordon might fall to the Brewers at number five.  Pretty funny to think about now, considering Braun should go down as the best or second best player from this draft.  Here’s a glance at some of the players taken in the first round.

1.  Justin Upton

2. Alex Gordon

3. Jeff Clement

4. Ryan Zimmerman

5. Ryan Braun

Might as well pause right here for a minute.  Wow, look at that top five!  It seems likely that at least three of those players will be/are superstars.  Braun is already there.  If Zimmerman isn’t, he should be soon–I’d choose him as the starting NL third baseman.  Justin Upton is having his breakout season and is still only 21–he could be a transcendent hitter.  Alex Gordon is the only one you could call mildly disappointing, and he still seems like he’ll be a good hitter.  Jeff Clement is still Seattle’s number one prospect and was Baseball America’s number 48 prospect in baseball.  He’s owning AAA.  I imagine he’ll be up in Seattle this season.  

That’s an outstanding top five, but take a look at the other good/useful players to come out of the first round.

6. Ricky Romero

7. Troy Tulowitzki

9. Michael Pelfrey

10. Cameron Maybin

11. Andrew McCutchen

12. Jay Bruce

13. Brandon Snyder (Blowing up in AA this year)

15. Lance Broadway

16. Chris Volstad

21. Cliff Pennington

23. Jacoby Ellsbury

25. Matt Garza

27. Joey Devine

That’s 18 players right there, and there are a few more who could still regain prospect status or become solid big leaguers.    That’s pretty incredible.

Aside from being a great first round for MLB, it was undoubtedly an A+ for Jack Z and the Brewers.  Take a look at the players the Brewers drafted in 2005.  Keep in mind GMs and scouting directors often say a successful draft is one that yields one good MLB player, and anything more than two is considered a great draft.

Round 1: Ryan Braun

What more to say here?  Braun will be an MVP candidate the next several years.  The Brewers lucked out a bit here.  If the 2005 draft was re-picked, Braun would probably be the first pick overall, so having him fall to fifth was fortunate.  It’s also unlikely that the Brewers would have taken him with the top pick at the time, so like I said, luck had a hand it it.

Round 3 (No round 2 choice): Will Inman

Interesting that Will Inman has plateaued since being traded to the Padres for Scott Linebrink.  While Linebrink wasn’t anything great, he brought two comp picks.  You could argue the Brewers traded Inman at the perfect time, as his value was peaked as the Brewers number two pitching prospect behind Yo Gallardo at the time of the trade.

Round 4: Mat Gamel

Brewerfan Power 50 Ranking: 1

Pretty incredible that the Brewers could get Mat Gamel and Ryan Braun in the same draft.  Regardless of his position, Gamel will be an impact hitter.

Round 7: Michael Brantley

Brantley was another great pick.  He profiled as a future leadoff hitter for the Brewers before being included as the second big piece in the CC Sabathia deal.  He was a top 10 prospect in the Brewers’ system at the time of the trade.

Round 8: Jemile Weeks

It’s too bad they couldn’t get Rickie’s little brother signed, but as far as talent, they got great value in this pick.  Weeks played college ball at Miami for three years and turned himself into a first round pick for Oakland last year.

Round 18: Zach Braddock

Brewerfan Power 50 Ranking: 10

Braddock is the number two pitching prospect in the Brewers’ system, and the way things are going for Jeffress this season, Braddock might move up to number one pretty soon.  He’s been limited to only 12 and a third innings this season, but he has 22 strikeouts and two walks.

Round 25: Taylor Green

Brewerfan Power 50 Ranking: 8

Cleveland had the choice of either Brantley or Green as the PTBNL in the Sabathia trade, and they chose Brantley.  Green would have been equally tough to lose.  He doesn’t have a ton of power, but he is a good contact hitter with a patient eye.  He will very likely be a major leaguer.

That’s seven players who either seem likely to be solid major leaguers (and obviously more in some cases) or helped the Brewers add value in a trade.  Pretty amazing.

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Posted in MLB Draft, Prospects/Minor Leagues

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Pitch Charting: Gallardo vs. Carpenter

Posted on May 26, 2009 by | 2 Comments

Posted by Steve

Considering all the high-scoring games yesterday, I was fortunate to be assigned to the Brewers-Cardinals game from yesterday. As you might imagine, it’s probably the best pitched game I’ve charted all season. I take some notes every game I chart, and I figured since it was such a good game I’d share them here.

Yovani Gallardo

Pitches and Average Velocity:  Fastball (91), Curveball (79), Slider (85), Changeup (84)

  • First time through the lineup used fastball, curve, slider.  Mixed in changeup beginning with the second time through the order.
  • His fastball location was great.  He was painting corners and regularly hitting his spots with the fastball.  He sat comfortably at 91-92 and touched 95-96 a few times.
  • His two plus pitches are a fastball and curve, but his location on the curve was shaky at times today.  He opted for the slider more than the curve in the earlier innings, which is a bit unusual for him.  He went back to the curve later in the game, and found more success.  He got Albert Pujols twice on curveballs in the dirt, including one in the eighth which was the worst swing I’ve ever seen Pujols take.
  • He was effective, but he wasn’t exactly efficient.  He needed 126 pitches to get through eight innings (Incidentally, I was angry that Macha sent him out to start the eighth.  Gallardo is the most irreplaceable player on the team, and throwing him that many pitches is really asking for trouble).  He had some trouble putting people away at times, and threw a few too many balls.  However, it says a lot about him that he was able to throw eight shutout innings without being his sharpest.
  • Pitch selection in this game: 65% fastballs, 17.5% curveballs, 9.5% sliders, 5% changeups, 3% no video (broadcast missed pitch).

Chris Carpenter

Pitches and Average Velocity: Fastball (92), Slider (88), Curveball (75), Changeup (84)

  • Gallardo was good, but Carpenter was just about perfect.  He had outstanding control of his fastball, curveball and slider and issued no walks.
  • He used his breaking pitches liberally, which was the right strategy against the Brewers’ righty-stacked lineup.
  • He was very efficient, as he pounded the strike zone and got many outs early in the count.
  • Easily could have thrown in the ninth, as he was at 93 pitches after eight innings, but Tony La Russa obviously is easing him back into things after coming off the DL.
  • Pitch selection in this game: 37.6% fastballs, 31.2% curveballs, 28% sliders, 3.2% changeups.

So there you have it.  Nothing too interesting, but having this for every pitcher I chart over the entire season should really help.

Hopefully Suppan can keep up the recent dominance of the Cardinals, but I’m not crazy about the matchup against Adam Wainwright.

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Posted in Crocodile Blood

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Brewers at Twins, 5/24/09

Posted on May 24, 2009 by | 2 Comments

Posted by Steve

As much fun as the last game blog was, it was pretty difficult following it with live comments.  A friend recommended CoveritLive, so I’ll give that a shot and see how it goes.  Barring a very long Arizona-Oakland game I have for work that starts at 4 EST/3CST, I will be back here for the start of the game.  Apparently this program is great for reader comments, so feel free to join in.  See you later tonight for what hopefully will be the salvaging of one game in Minnesota.

Click here for game blog

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Posted in Game Blog, Milwaukee Brewers 2009

The value of a name

Posted on May 22, 2009 by | 2 Comments

Posted by Steve

I spent a good portion of yesterday morning reading about the Peavy trade to the White Sox that he ended up vetoing, so I was caught off guard by the Tony Gwynn Jr.-Jody Gerut deal.  When I first heard about it, my thought was, “Who else besides Gwynn did they give up?”  I couldn’t believe the Brewers could land a solid outfielder for Gwynn.  The only way to describe the trade is a slam dunk.  It rivals the Corey Koskie trade a few year ago in which Melvin got Koskie for non-prospects while getting Toronto to pay the vast majority of Koskie’s salary.

To be blunt, Gerut is much better at baseball than Tony Gwynn Jr.  It isn’t even remotely close.  You know those so-called AAAA players, the guys who bounce between AAA and the majors but aren’t good enough to keep a steady MLB job?  Gwynn is even worse than that.  He has spent four years at AAA and his OPS that entire time was .720.  Gwynn cannot hit!  I don’t understand why he would have any value to any team for a baseball-related reason.

Gerut, meanwhile, brings a lot of value to a major league team, particularly the right-handed heavy Brewers.  Gerut had an .845 OPS last year (while playing at cavernous Petco Park).  He’s now going from perhaps the most extreme pitcher’s park in the league to a hitter’s park in Miller Park.  Gerut can play all three outfield positions, and is now the second best defensive outfielder on the team outside of Mike Cameron.  He is a left-handed hitter, and he hits righties better than Mike Cameron or Corey Hart– Against RHP: Gerut .816 OPS, Hart .773, Cameron .771.

Chris Duffy has technically been the Brewers’ fourth outfielder, but he’s hardly been used.  Gerut will be a fourth outfielder who should be used quite often.  I liked the way a BF poster said it: Gerut is basically Duffy with more pop, which is funny because Duffy is basically Gwynn with more pop.

I’d like to see Gerut get 2-3 starts a week, spelling mainly Cameron and Hart against tough right-handers.  He should get a plate appearance almost every game off the bench when he isn’t starting.  He even gives the Brewers a realistic option as a full-time center fielder for next season if they end up not bringing back Mike Cameron.

I really can’t say enough good things about this trade.  I should add that I don’t actually believe the Padres are happy to have Tony Gwynn Jr. the baseball player.  At this point, there shouldn’t be one team in the league who would be.  What proves this is the fact that the Padres, or any other team could have had Gwynn before the start of the season when he was DFA’d by the Brewers.  The Padres did this strictly to dump salary.  Gerut will earn 1.7 million this season, so they save about a million bucks in the deal.  They literally gave Gerut away, but bringing in the big name in Tony Gwynn Jr. allows them to save face and get some positive PR for awhile (before San Diego fans realize he can’t hit).

Gwynn went straight to the majors, which gives you an idea of how little the Padres care about trying to win this season.  He received a standing ovation before his first at-bat, drew a walk and scored the winning run.  Good for him, but I really don’t see things ending well for him.  He’ll have a ton of pressure on him, and Padre fans will realize soon enough he isn’t a fraction of the player his dad was.

It was annoying that Gwynn Jr. was drafted so high based on name recognition, but at least the same name recognition still managed to eventually bring in a good player.  I know I’d be irritated if I rooted for the Padres.  Gerut almost certainly could have brought back an actual prospect, but they chose to go for the name instead of talent.  As a Brewer fan, I won’t complain one bit.

Two players are in hot water at the moment:  Jorge Julio and Chris Duffy.  I imagine one of these players will be removed from the roster to make room for Gerut.  The Brewers already sent Hernan Iribarren back to AAA and brought up R.J. Swindle, which is a move I like.  Swindle should be much more effective than Julio; I continue to be confused as to why Julio has lasted this long.

More good news:  we’ll get to see Mat Gamel in three games over the weekend.  I was pretty irked that Bill Hall got the start over Gamel against Roy Oswalt last night, which seems to indicate that they won’t give Gamel much of a chance at third.  Hopefully he’ll rake over the weekend and force the Brewers’ hand a bit.

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Posted in Milwaukee Brewers 2009, Transactions

Replacing Weeks

Posted on May 20, 2009 by | 5 Comments

Posted by Steve

I feel I’ve taken the proper amount of time to grieve.  It helps that the Brewers can’t seem to lose.  It also helps that PECOTA now has the Brewers as NL Central favorites.

So, how should the Brewers replace Rickie Weeks?  There are several possibilities, and each one has its downside.  It’s important to realize no option will be as good as if Weeks never got injured, so it’s just a matter of making the best out of a crappy situation.

One option is to make a trade.  Teams aren’t going to be selling off pieces just yet, but I do expecting losing teams to pull the plug on the season earlier than usual.  With the economy, many teams are going to shed salary if they’re not in contention. Incidentally, this should make it a great buyer’s market for teams like the Brewers (hey, just like in real life!)  I think we could see the first trades being made in two or three weeks.  This seems convenient, because it seems the Brewers are first going to see if they can adequately fill second base in-house.  If it’s not working out, there will be options for a trade.

A trade for a second baseman would be tricky because, as Doug Melvin already alluded to, they’ll have Weeks back next year.  They really only need someone for one year.  A Brewerfan poster called for a Brian Roberts trade, but that won’t work for a few reasons.  Roberts is more than a stopgap.  He’s a very good second baseman who would demand a lot in a trade.  I’d rather save my trading chips for another starting pitcher rather than a second baseman.  Furthermore, Roberts is under contract for three more years after this season, which doesn’t work with Weeks getting back next year.  Finally, Baltimore doesn’t even seem to want to trade him.  They’ve had several chances to in the past.

To find realistic trade options, look for losing teams with second basemen on short-term contracts.  There are two that jump out at me: Felipe Lopez and Mark DeRosa.  Both players are free agents after this season, so the Brewers would hand second base back to Weeks next season.  DeRosa is the better offensive player, but Lopez is the better defensive player.  Either would be a viable replacement and shouldn’t cost a lot in terms of prospects.  Both Cleveland and Arizona are off to bad starts and will likely just be looking to shed some salary as we move further into summer.  One thing to keep in mind is that aside from giving up prospects, the Brewers would be adding salary.  If you believe Mark Attanasio, they don’t have much room left.  They probably prefer to save that space for another pitcher, so a trade is probably not the first choice.

Free agents are other options.  Mark Grudzielanek and Ray Durham are both still unsigned.  Both are older players, and neither has much defensive range left.  Durham would be a solid bat, but his defense is pretty rough at this point.  Going from Weeks to Durham defensively is a huge downgrade, especially considering what Weeks was doing this season.

The most likely option, and what the Brewers hope works out is to fill the position with their own players.  There are a number of possibilities here, and it’s difficult to determine which would be the best.  They could use a Counsell/McGehee platoon, but I don’t like the idea of Counsell starting more than two or three times a week.  Counsell has good value as a bench player who can play any infield position, and it’s important the Brewers keep him fresh all season.  The Brewers called up Hernan Iribarren, who can play second base as well.

There is another option that I really want to embrace, but I’m just not sure if I can.  That would be to keep Mat Gamel up for good and hand him third base most every day.  You’d give Bill Hall most of the starts at second base, and use Hall against third once in awhile against lefties.  This solution would likely be the best result for the Brewers’ offense, but there are still some serious problems with it.  First, it screws with Bill Hall once again.  He’s playing a great third base, and I’m not crazy about having him switch positions again.  More importantly, though, moving Hall to second and using Gamel at third could kill the Brewers’ defense.  The defense had been very good this season with Hall, Hardy and Weeks on the infield.  Hall should be alright at second, but as we saw in his first start, Gamel could be a circus act at third base.

I’m inclined to give Gamel a try at third and hope for the best, but if that doesn’t work out you’ve screwed with Hall once again and might have hurt Gamel’s development.

This is really a tough decision with no 100% right answer.  If I had to guess, it would be that we’ll see Gamel once or twice more at third before interleague play is over, along with his starts at DH.  If Gamel is hitting well, he’ll probably get more starts at third and we may eventually see Hall play some at third.  I’m guessing we’ll see four or five different players play second base for the Brewers before the season’s over.

I’m scoring the Brewer game that’s starting in less than a half hour, so I have the rare treat to watch a game live in its entirety.  I haven’t seen the lineup yet, but it’s Yo against Wandy Rodriguez (great matchup, by the by) so I’m guessing it’s Hall at third and McGehee at second.

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Posted in Milwaukee Brewers 2009

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Brutal

Posted on May 18, 2009 by | Leave a comment

Posted by Steve

Just terrible news for the Brewers today, as Rickie Weeks is lost for the season with a torn tendon sheath in his wrist.  Amazingly, he has now suffered this injury on both wrists.  It will require surgery with 4-6 months of recovery time.

I’ve been getting calls and texts all day.  People are talking to me as if someone just died, which is a bit embarrassing to be honest.  Either way, I’m incredibly bummed out over this.  I was worried, but this was even worse than I figured.  This is a big blow to the Brewers, but I feel terrible for Weeks as well.  He was finally putting it all together.  He would have made the All-Star team.  Not only was he crushing the ball, but his defense had been very good this season.  Fangraphs had Weeks on pace to be worth about $30 million this season, which shows he’s been well above average on both sides of the ball.  That’s an insane number similar to CC Sabathia’s value last season.  He’s been more valuable than Ryan Braun (again, that’s factoring defense).

The Brewers are about to sweep the Cardinals (up four heading to the ninth), and I hardly even care.  Mat Gamel’s home run was exciting, but I felt better for about two minutes.  I have thoughts on what the Brewers can/should do to replace Weeks, but I think I’ll hold off on that.  I don’t feel like discussing that at length yet.  I’ll allow myself to be bummed tonight and add more thoughts on replacing him tomorrow.

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Posted in Milwaukee Brewers 2009

The Fanboy Curse

Posted on May 18, 2009 by | 1 Comment

Posted by Steve

I’m becoming convinced that something about me is dangerous.  Like any Brewer fan, I like most of the players.  There are, however, some who I like a lot more than most fans.  For years my favorite player has been Ben Sheets, who has to be one of the unluckiest players in the game.  For the last several years he has been plagued by some of the most obscure ailments: a herniated disc, vestibular neuritis, a torn lat, blisters, a groin strain, an inflamed finger ligament.  Finally the big blow came in the form of shoulder surgery.  Through all of that I stood up for Sheets when those ailments clouded the fact that whenever he was healthy he was elite.

If you’ve been here before, you know another player I like a lot more than most is Rickie Weeks.  Weeks has had his struggles ever since the Brewers rushed him to the majors, both offensively and defensively.  I stood by his potential and stayed patient, always feeling he’d become a good player.  Over the years he has battled wrist and thumb injuries.  A few weeks ago he was hit in the face with a 94 mph fastball.  Yesterday, he injured his wrist again.  There is still no word on the severity of the injury, but he already left St. Louis to get it checked out.  If this is serious, it’s incredibly frustrating.  He was on his way to a very good season; he even had a decent shot at the All-Star Game if he kept it up.  I’m still hoping this was precautionary, but a 15-day DL stint at minimum seems likely.  I don’t see why they’d have immediately sent him to get it checked if it wasn’t at least that serious.

If I was Mark DiFelice, I’d stay away from cutlery, lawn mowers, ovens, salad tongs, etc. as much as possible.

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Speaking of DiFelice, word is starting to get out around the Major Leagues.  Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports has a great article on DiFelice out today.  His quote is my favorite part:

“There’s something to say for how slow I throw,” DiFelice said. “Guys hate hitting against me, because they wonder if I’m going to throw anything else, if I’ve got something up my sleeve. Nope. Sorry.”

Love it!  I also love the exchange with Edinson Volquez.

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We had GamelWatch, but there is no need for EscobarWatch for the Brewers’ supposed top prospect.  Escobar is off to a very slow start at AAA, with an OPS of .677.  This reiterates how foolish it would have been to trade Hardy and hand the shortstop position to Escobar without having him earn it first.  Escobar would have been an automatic out in the lineup (i.e. Jason Kendall at best) if he was in Milwaukee to start the year.  He’s still young, and Hardy is still under contract through next season, so there’s absolutely nothing wrong with giving Escobar at least a full season in AAA.

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Might as well at least mention that the first place Brewers are absolutely on fire, huh?  A sweep of St. Louis tonight would be outstanding.  Ever since their whining last year about the Brewers’ having the audacity to untuck their jerseys after a win, beating the guardians of baseball etiquette has been at least as enjoyable as beating the Cubs.  The self-proclaimed “best fans in baseball” who can’t even sell out a Saturday game against the team they share first place with need to get over themselves.  It was suggested at brewerfan that Brian and Bill untuck their shirts for the postgame today if the Brewers win.  I wholeheartedly support this.  Let’s make it two sweeps in a row!

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I should know better than to even look at PECOTA’s playoff odds at this point after the Brewers’ collapses the last few years, but I simply can’t help myself.  Currently PECOTA gives the Crew a 58.6 % chance at making the playoffs, compared to 62% for the Cubs.  I believe they only gave the Brewers around a 25% chance at the start of the season, but they are currently projecting 93 wins.  And that’s all I’m going to say about that at this point. 

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Posted in Cornucopia of thoughts, DiFeliciousness, Milwaukee Brewers 2009, Projections, Prospects/Minor Leagues, The legend of Rickie Weeks and his titanium skeletal system

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My body too DiFelicious for ya

Posted on May 15, 2009 by | Leave a comment

Posted by Steve

broom_big.jpg

Obviously, the Brewers are playing well in pretty much all facets of the game over the last couple weeks, but the bullpen in particular has been tremendous.  Since Hoffman came off the DL, everyone has fallen into place and pitched very well.

Hoffman’s numbers this season are hilarious: 8 innings, 3 hits, 0 walks, 8 strikeouts, 0 earned runs and a .231 OPS against.  He has been flawless.  That’s not all, though.  Take a look at how other pitchers have thrown since Hoffman took over as closer.

Mark DiFelice: .375 OPS against

Carlos Villanueva: .534 OPS against

Mitch Stetter: .467 OPS against

Seth McClung: .570 OPS against

Todd Coffey: .757 OPS against

Jorge Julio: .646 OPS against

I realize we’re only talking about a handful of innings for each pitcher, but the point is that literally every reliever on the team has thrown well since Hoffman came off the DL almost three weeks ago.  I’m feel confident with any reliever outside of Jorge Julio, and to a lesser extent, Seth McClung(and if R.J. Swindle replaced Julio I’d feel confident in every reliever).

Ken Macha deserves credit for understanding the strengths of each of his relievers.  Stetter is tough on lefties, but unlike Brian Shouse, can get righties out at a decent rate.  Villanueva is the best option against switch hitters or a staggered lefty-righty lineup because he can use his slider to righties and his changeup to lefties.  DiFelice and Coffey are death to right-handers.  More often than not, Macha has put his relievers in favorable conditions that play to their strengths.  Again, it’s only been six weeks (I feel like I’ve said that a hundred times), but Macha has been a huge improvement over Ned Yost as far as bullpen management is concerned.

This doesn’t really have anything to do with the rest of this post, but I just wanted to further illustrate how well the team has been playing.  Here are MLB rankings over the past week in my fantasy league: Trevor Hoffman 21, Rickie Weeks 28, Ryan Braun 29, Prince Fielder 45.

Before I wrap this up, I once again need to harp on the amazing job Mark DiFelice has done.  He has come out of nowhere to become a lockdown setup man.  It’s really an great story; the guy spent ten years in the minor leagues, and after adding one pitch (the cutter) to his repertoire a couple years ago he has just taken off.  His control is outstanding.  He has issued one unintentional walk in 17 2/3 innings while striking out more than a batter per inning–absurd!  I love the way he does it too–with a slow, low-to-mid-eighties cut fastball that must drive hitters crazy when they can’t hit it.  It’s not like he’s pumping mid-90s heat and wicked sliders up there.

The mancrush I have on him is approaching frightening levels.  Aside from sponsoring his B-Ref page, my facebook profile picture is a photo of him.  I have to imagine I’m the only person on the planet (aside from DiFelice himself, possibly) who can say that.  I may have to order a DiFelice jersey as well.  What can I say?  I can’t help myself.  Just look at him.  He’s better than you, he knows it, but he’s not about to make a big deal out of it or anything.

I dont think you ready fo this jelly, National League.

I don't think you ready fo this jelly, National League.

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The end of GamelWatch

Posted on May 13, 2009 by | Leave a comment

Posted by Steve

GamelWatch

GamelWatch!

GamelWatch seems to be over before it really even got steam.  Tom Haudricourt reports on his blog that the Brewers have called up Mat Gamel from AAA Nashville.  The timing of this is a bit odd, because the Hall/Counsell platoon at third base has been performing at a high level, both offensively and defensively.  Until Counsell cools off, I don’t see Gamel getting many starts at third.  Before you accuse me of insanity that would be keeping Gamel on the bench for Craig Counsell, I want to point out that the Brewers would lose a lot defensively right now going from Hall/Counsell to Gamel.  A Gamel/Hall platoon the rest of the year sounds mighty tempting, but Gamel’s defensive problems may make that a poor decision at this point.

I’m very curious to see how the Brewers plan on using him.  My guess is some might be a little disappointed in how little playing time he actually gets.  They may end up using him the way the Brewers first used Prince Fielder when Lyle Overbay was still manning first base: As a DH in interleague play and the top pinch hitter, with a rare start sprinkled in.  He may even only be up until the first round of interleague play is over, go back down to AAA and take regular starts again at third for awhile.

The Brewers are in Minnesota next week, so I expect Gamel to be in the lineup each game of that series.  If nothing else, it will be just a smidge better than their DH at times last season.  I think this is more a testament to how unhappy the Brewers are with the production of guys like Casey McGehee and Brad Nelson than Bill Hall or Craig Counsell.  The Brewers also just signed veteran lefthanded hitter Frank Catalanotto to a minor league contract, which presumably puts Nelson even more on the hot seat.  It would be a shame to see him waived, but that might be the move that’s made after tonight’s game.

Despite the issue of how to use Gamel, this is a good problem to have.  The Brewers are spoiling us, because it seems like every year or two for the last several years they’re adding a stud prospect to the big league club (Hardy, Hart, Weeks, Fielder, Gallardo, Braun, Gamel).  Having Gamel’s bat in the lineup with semi-regularity makes the Brewers’ already good offense that much more dangerous.  This is definitely an exciting move.

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Posted in Milwaukee Brewers 2009, Prospects/Minor Leagues

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You down with OBP? Yeah, you know me.

Posted on May 12, 2009 by | 1 Comment

Posted by Steve

I know I continue to harp on the Brewers’ excellent patience so far this year, but that’s only because it was so bad last season.  I said before the season that I felt the loss of CC Sabathia and Ben Sheets would be offset more by the offense than the pitching.  We’re only about five weeks in, but so far that’s definitely been the case.  The improved discipline has made a huge difference so far, and is seen in just about every player.

Rickie Weeks

Current OBP: .343

OBP at this time last year: .320

2008 OBP: .342

Pretty much everyone seems to prefer 2009′s Rickie Weeks to the Weeks of years past.  I’m not sure I do, although I’ll save my reasons for a different post.

Corey Hart

Current OBP: .345

OBP at this time last year: .358

2008 OBP: .300

What’s encouraging about Hart is that he isn’t even really hitting well.  His average is only .262, but because he’s walking at a career-best rate, his OBP is still alright.  If he gets his average up, the OBP will only improve (assuming he continues to be patient).

Ryan Braun

Current OBP: .463

OBP at this time last year: .311

2008 OBP: .335

Braun has been an absolute beast this season.  Like Hart, Braun is another player who struggled with plate discipline last year.  He’s been vastly improved so far in 2009 in that area.  My brother pointed out the other day that his numbers this season are basically what Albert Pujols has put up the last few years.  Again, I realize it’s only been a little over one month, but if he keeps within shouting distance of this pace he’ll be a top three MVP candidate (and actually deserve it this time).

Prince Fielder

Current OBP: .410

OBP at this time last year: .348

2008 OBP: .372

Prince has already taken 27 walks and is on pace to destroy the team record.  His batting average is only .255!  Just wait until he gets that up to the regular .270-.280 range.

Mike Cameron

Current OBP: .395

OBP at this time last year: .269 (had only played in 11 games at this point)

2008 OBP: .331

Up until a couple days ago, the Brewers had three starters with OBPs above .400, which is impressive even if it’s only May.  It’s unreasonable to expect this to continue with Cameron, whose career OBP is .341, but a .341 OBP combined with his slugging and defense adds up to an extremely valuable player.  Right now that valuable player is playing out of his mind.

J.J. Hardy

Current OBP: .289

OBP at this time last year: .338

2008 OBP: .343

Well, they couldn’t all be hitting at the same time, could they?  Hardy is definitely off to a rough start. He’s had slow starts before though, so I’m not very worried.  The good news is he’s really the only one who has been disappointing to this point.

Bill Hall

Current OBP: .364

OBP at this time last year: .276

2008 OBP: .293

By this time last season, Hall was already careening towards a terrible offensive year.  He still isn’t hitting righties (.678 OPS) but he is absolutely mashing lefties (1.269 OPS).  Hall has been very good defensively this year as well (save for the occasional holding onto the ball too long to show off his arm).  If he plays at this rate all year he’ll justify or possibly outperform his contract, which is something he certainly did not do last season.

Jason Kendall

Current OBP: .315

OBP at this time last year: .369

2008 OBP: .327

Kendall can’t hit, but it’s not a disappointment because we weren’t expecting him to.  I continue to not understand why the team refuses to pinch hit for him late in the game in big spots.  I hoped this would change with Macha replacing Yost, but we’ve yet to see it.  I went on a pretty good rant on Sunday when he let Kendall hit with two outs and the bases loaded against Carlos Marmol with Craig Counsell and Brad Nelson both available.

Craig Counsell

Current OBP: .429

OBP at this time last year: .308

2008 OBP: .355

He’s not a starter, but I included Craiggers in here because he’s been hitting out of his mind.  He’s always been a good on-base guy, but recently he’s done it despite a low batting average (hit just .226 last season).  What gives me a little hope is his new, non-ridiculous batting stance he’s using this season.  Not that I expect him to hit .333 all season like he is right now, but .275 or even .285 might be within reason.

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