Zimmerman(n) kills the Brewers

POSTGAME

> The Brewers did split this series, which is better than nothing against a team like the Nationals. But, considering the circumstances, they needed to do better; and it doesn’t help that both games they lost were complete blowouts. They were crushed today, 12-2. Marco Estrada proved he, for some reason, can’t pitch during noon games, and hammered for seven runs (six earned) in four innings against his former team.

They Nats used both of their Z’s to kill the Brewers, with Jordan Zimmermann tossing 6 2/3 strong innings and Ryan Zimmerman hitting a three-run blast off Estrada.

The Brewers only managed two runs, one coming on a Corey Hart homer.

MY TAKE

> Estrada had been able to avoid the big inning his last few starts, thus being able to go 4-1 with a 1.23 ERA in his six starts prior to this. But it came back to haunt him today. After getting two outs in the fourth, he allowed five consecutive baserunners, and that doomed the Brewers for the rest of the day.

THE NEWS

> The Cardinals took down the Astros, 6-1. The Brewers are now 3.5 games back with nine to go. It’s going to take a miracle- and probably a Cardinals collapse- to make it at this point.

THE NUMBERS

> Aramis Ramirez hit his 50th double of the season.

> Norichika Aoki has no hits in his last nine at-bats.

> The probables for the upcoming Reds series:

Mike Fiers (9-8, 3.38 ERA) vs. Johnny Cueto (18-9, 2.84 ERA)

Shaun Marcum (5-4, 3.86 ERA) vs. Bronson Arroyo (12-8, 3.63 ERA)

Wily Peralta (2-1, 3.04 ERA) vs. Mat Latos (13-4, 3.60 ERA)

Brewers take advantage of… the sun?

POSTGAME

> The score might not indicate it, but today was hard-fought win for the Brewers. They defeated the Nationals, 6-2, but a few of the Brewers’ key hits came courtesy of Nats outfielders losing fly balls in the sun.

The Brewers got on the board against Chien-Ming Wang in the fourth inning. Ryan Braun got a gift double after center fielder Bryce Harper misplayed a ball in the sun, then Jonathan Lucroy took advantage with an RBI single three batters later. Logan Schafer followed that up with an RBI double.

But the Nats tied it up in the fifth inning against Yovani Gallardo. Yo got himself into trouble quickly after walking Ian Desmond and allowing a double to Danny Espinosa. Chad Tracy put up an incredible at-bat against him, which resulted in an RBI single. Jayson Werth tied the game with a sacrifice fly.

The Brewers took the lead again in the seventh on Lucroy’s second RBI single. Carlos Gomez followed that with the second gift hit of the day- an RBI single thanks to the right fielder Werth giving up on the fly ball in the sun.

MY TAKE

> Schafer should be getting more playing time. He’s shown that he can hit when given the chance, with a clutch RBI triple against the Mets last week, and two more hits today.

But the way Schafer is playing gives the Brewers a world of options for 2013. It allows them to get rid of the left-handed hitting Nyjer Morgan- who isn’t getting playing time anyway- since Schafer is also a lefty. And, if Gomez winds up not working out as the everyday center fielder, we’ve got Schafer to fall back on.

> If Harper wins the Rookie of the Year Award, I’m going to explode.

THE NEWS

> Today was Schafer’s first big league start.

> Ken Rosenthal brought up the point that the Brewers spent about $180 million less on Aramis Ramirez than the Tigers paid Prince Fielder, but have gotten very similar production.

So where are the “Braun is going to be pitched to differently” haters now?

>The Cardinals defeated the Cubs again. They now start a three-game series against the Astros, then their easy nine-game stretch ends (not to mention the Brewers’ tough 10-game stretch will end as well).

As far as the teams behind the Brewers in the Wild Card race, the Dodgers and Pirates both won, while the Phillies lost.

THE NUMBERS

> Braun went 2-for-3 to bring his average up to .317. If he manages to get it into the mid-.320′s, I have no idea how you don’t give him the MVP- his other numbers are already so much better than the rest of the MVP candidates.

> The bullpen was lights-out. Brandon Kintzler, Francisco Rodriguez, Jim Henderson, Jose Veras, and John Axford combined for four scoreless innings with six strikeouts.

> Marco Estrada, tomorrow’s starter, is 4-1 with a 1.23 ERA over his last six starts. Prior to that stretch, he didn’t have a win all year.

> The Brewers have now won Gallardo’s last 11 starts (although Yo himself didn’t pick up the win today).

> Ramirez, who hit two doubles today, now has 49 for the season. That’s four away from breaking Lyle Overbay’s franchise record of 53.

> Tomorrow’s match-up:

Marco Estrada (4-6, 3.56 ERA) vs. Jordan Zimmermann (11-8, 2.96 ERA)

The Crew will have their hands full with the Wisconsin native Zimmermann, who has already defeated them once this year. Estrada, the former National, is the midst of his hot streak, but let’s hope he’s ready for his noon start this time.

THE EXTRAS

> OK, the Cardinals can do what they want in their clubhouse, but this is going a little far.

> So apparently Eric Chavez of the Yankees doesn’t approve of celebrating after home runs.

Brewers ride big fifth to sail past Cubs

POSTGAME

> The bats were alive and well in the Brewers’ 9-5 win over the Cubs. The night was highlighted by Jonathan Lucroy’s two bombs and Mark Rogers finally picking up his first career win.

Rogers was shaky early, giving up runs in each of the first two innings. He left the game after the fifth (at 90 pitches) losing 3-1, but his squad backed him up with an eight-run rally to give him his first win easily. The second of Lucroy’s home runs came during that rally, as did a Carlos Gomez homer.

INNINGS LIMITS STARTING TO TAKE EFFECT

> Rumors were circling prior to the game that this could be Rogers’ final start of the season before being shut down due to an innings limit. It was revealed this past week that the Brewers had put innings limits on a few pitchers, the rookies Rogers and Mike Fiers being the most notable ones.

For a while it sounded like the Brewers were just going to switch to a six-man rotation when Shaun Marcum returned, which would, in the long run, hold down every starter’s innings. But both Ron Roenicke and Doug Melvin sounded pretty confident that this would be one of Rogers’ final starts, and he’d only get one or two more on the year.

It also sounds like they’re going to shut Rogers down completely, when it would be easier to keep his arm loose- yet still control his innings- by moving him to middle relief. I’ve never understood shutting down pitchers for the year and not letting them throw another pitch until Spring Training of the next year. (Yes, I know Jordan Zimmermann, shut down by the Nationals at the end of last year, is currently leading the Majors in ERA. But that doesn’t change my stance on this.)

While I’m not in favor of pitch counts or innings limits, however, the Brewers have said that they may give other pitchers opportunities to start in September when rosters expand. Names thrown out there to start in September were prospects Tyler Thornburg and Wily Peralta, who could take the two rotation spots of Rogers and Fiers, if they’re both shut down. Since Thornburg and Peralta could also be vying for rotation spots in ST of next year, that might not be a bad idea.

THE NEWS

> Zack Greinke has been struggling with the Angels since the blockbuster Trade Deadline deal that sent him there, as he’s 1-2 with a 6.19 ERA in five starts with them (just one of them is a quality start). But, today, Roenicke weighed in.

“You take a guy like him, and he’s real structured in everything he does. He got real comfortable here with how things were going, and now you put him with a whole new coaching staff, a whole new team and that’s not easy to do. It’s not easy to just be yourself and go through the same routine you usually do when your surroundings are so different. I still think he’s going to have some good starts for them. I think that last month, he’s going to do well.”

If you haven’t been paying attention, the Angels have fallen to just two games over .500, and have the second-worst record in the Majors since the deadline.

> Roger Clemens could be making a comeback, after working out for a team in an independent league. The Astros, one of his former teams, reportedly had a scout there.

I know Clemens could be a roider (despite the fact he won all his court cases), but there’s always been something about him that’s made me respect him. It’d be cool to see him come all the way back.

THE NUMBERS

> Norichika Aoki went 3-for-4. He’s quietly becoming a very streaky hitter.

> Rogers’ first win comes after the bullpen blew three games he had a chance to win.

> This was Lucroy’s second multi-homer game of the year.

> Tomorrow’s match-up:

Chris Rusin vs. Marco Estrada (0-5, 4.52 ERA)

Estrada is still looking for his first win of the season. Rusin, meanwhile, is making his big league debut.

THE EXTRAS

> The baseball reality show “The Franchise” decided to cancel the show early this year. It debuted last year and followed the 2010 World Champions, the Giants. This year they decided to follow the Marlins, but they’re sulking in last place of the National League East, hence the reason the show has been cut short.

 

Nothing doing against Zimmermann as Brewers fall

> Well, nothing new here. The Brewers lost to the Nationals today, 4-1, a game in which offense was once again hard to come by for the Crew. They might have had an excuse today, but this is still annoying to watch day after day.

Randy Wolf didn’t pitch particularly bad, but it was the long ball that did him in. He went seven innings while giving up four runs on nine hits. He walked one and struck out six. But, all of the runs Wolf gave up came on home runs, something we’ve become accustomed to seeing.

Jordan Zimmermann, on the other hand, was dominant, as he’s been all season, so there’s nothing new there either. He went six innings while giving up a run on five hits. He walked one and struck out six, lowering his ERA to 2.28. I wouldn’t be surprised if you haven’t heard of Zimmermann- he seems to be forgotten in D.C., probably due to Stephen Strasburg and Bryce Harper, despite his great numbers. He’s the most consistent pitcher on that staff, and there’s no argument about it.

After Wolf went through the Nats’ lineup without giving up a hit the first time through, the Nationals struck quickly. Corey Brown got his first career hit in the fourth inning, an opposite field solo shot. Later in the inning, Tyler Moore hit a two-run homer to extend the lead to 3-0. The Brewers did answer in the bottom of the inning on an RBI single by Rickie Weeks, and it looked like they were in for a big inning. But, the .205-hitting Cody Ransom got them out of the inning with a double play. The Nats tacked on one more in the fifth on Ryan Zimmerman’s solo home run.

> If there was one good thing about today’s game, it was that the bullpen didn’t implode like it’s prone to doing. Jim Henderson threw a scoreless inning with two strikeouts, and his high-90′s fastball/dirty slider combo makes him look very promising. Kameron Loe threw a scoreless ninth.

> The Brewers made another trade today, sending George Kottaras to the Athletics. The trade is still pending, but appears likely to happen. Kottaras was designated for assignment two days ago with the return of Jonathan Lucroy. You can read my more detailed story on this at Reviewing the Brew here.

> On another catching note, the Brewers signed former Astro Humberto Quintero to a Minor League deal today. Quintero was traded from the Astros to the Royals this past offseason, but was released before the All-Star break after hitting .232 in 43 games with them. He’ll go to Triple-A Nashville and give the Brewers some catching depth in the system with Kottaras likely gone.

> And that’s about it. The Brewers will go for a series split tomorrow, sending Mark Rogers to the mound. He’s making his season debut, and his first Major League appearance since late 2010. He made four appearances (three starts, one relief appearance) that season: a relief appearance against the Cubs, a start against the Marlins, and two starts against the Reds. And I have to admit he didn’t look too bad then. Rogers is just 6-6 with a 4.74 ERA at Triple-A this year, but is pitching better lately.

The Nats will counter with Gio Gonzalez (13-5, 3.13 ERA), another starter who has had success with them this year. But, since the start of June, he has an ERA over 4.00.

Anyway, thanks for reading.

 

Greinke dealt as Brewers snap skid

> It was certainly a day of mixed feelings. The Brewers finally won a game, shutting out the Nationals, 6-0. Mike Fiers was absolutely dominant once again, the Brewers offense came alive (like it actually was in Philadelphia), and the bullpen didn’t blow it. But, not even an hour before game time, the Brewers made the inevitable move of trading Zack Greinke.

Before we get to that, though, let’s talk about the bright side. Fiers evened his record at 4-4 (although it should be much better), and lowered his ERA to a rookie-leading 1.77. He went 6 1/3 scorless innings while giving up just four hits, all singles. He walked three and struck out nine.

The offense, on the other hand, wasn’t bad itself. The Brewers got in the board in the fourth inning against Ross Detwiler on Corey Hart’s two-run home run. They then added four in the fifth on RBI singles by Carlos Gomez and Ryan Braun, and a two-run blast from Aramis Ramirez.

The bullpen also finally didn’t blow a huge lead. Livan Hernandez got Fiers out of trouble in the seventh, and wound up going 1 2/3 scoreless innings. Jose Veras finished the game with a 1-2-3 ninth.

> The Brewers did all this with a rather depressing cloud over their heads. About a half hour before game time, Jon Morosi reported that the Angels were extremely close to landing Greinke, and that held true. In return, the Brewers will receive three prospects: shortstop Jean Segura and pitchers John Hellweg and Ariel Pena.

There were a multitude of teams in on the Greinke sweepstakes, including the Angels, Rangers, White Sox, and Braves. But, according to Doug Melvin, it came down to the American League West rivals, the Angels and Rangers.

Supposedly, the Rangers were very interested in Greinke, but just weren’t willing to put together the prospect package. They didn’t want to part with prospects Jurickson Profar (shortstop) or Mike Olt (third base). The Brewers may have inquired on a package including Olt, but their main interest was starter Martin Perez, as I predicted. But the Rangers weren’t even willing to deal him, which makes me wonder how interested they actually were in acquiring Greinke.

So now the tables are turned against the Rangers, as the rival Angels wound up grabbing him. Greinke will only improve a rotation that already features Jered Weaver, C.J. Wilson, Dan Haren, and the struggling Ervin Santana (who is typically good, he just hasn’t found it this season).

The prospects the Brewers received are somewhat interesting. They were all ranked in the top ten prospects in the Angels’ farm system: Segura was #1, Hellweg #4, and Pena #9. But, keep in mind the Angels do have a rather weak system.

Anyway, the Brewers may have solved their shortstop problem for the long-term in Segura, who is a threat on the bases. He was hitting .294 with seven home runs and 40 RBIs at Triple-A. You can also throw in his whopping 33 stolen bases (although you have to imagine the running game is easier in the Minors). Segura was with the Angels for a few days before the trade, but doesn’t have much Major League experience other than that.

Hellweg and Pena are both Double-A pitchers. Hellweg supposedly has a great upside and Pena, along with Segura, participated in the Futures Game (basically a Minor League all-star game). At the same time, though, the Angels aren’t known for having much starting pitching depth, which is why they needed to go out and get Greinke. So we’ll see how they pan out.

All three of these players were sent to Double-A Huntsville to “get used to the organization.” In Segura’s case, I was hoping he’d come straight to the Majors and fix our shortstop situation, but now the Brewers are talking like he’ll be a September call-up. I don’t really see the logic in that, but, at the same time, it’s not like we’ll be contending any time soon this season, so I suppose there’s no need to rush him.

Farewell, Greinke. I wish he could have stayed longer, but the Brewers put themselves in the position to get rid of him. To me, Greinke was already gone a week ago, so I’m not going to lose sleep over this. But it’s still going to be different without him around.

> Greinke was scheduled to start Sunday, but everyone knew he wouldn’t be making that start. Instead, Mark Rogers will come up and make the Sunday start. If you know Rogers’ story, you’d know it’s amazing that he’s made it all the way back after all he’s been through.

Rogers only Major League time came at the end of 2010, when he put up a 1.80 ERA in four games.

> And that’s about it. Tomorrow’s match-up is between Randy Wolf (3-6, 5.46 ERA) and Wisconsin native Jordan Zimmermann (7-6, 2.31 ERA), who is by far one of the most underrated pitchers in baseball.

Anyway, thanks for reading.

Latest Fielder rumors…

> Last week was an odd week, as far as the rumors for free-agent first baseman Prince Fielder go. First, it was reported that the Nationals said that they weren’t going to bid on Fielder, at least at his current asking price. Then, the Rangers met with Fielder in Dallas (after specifically saying that they weren’t going to be in on him, but I’ll talk more about that later). But, last night, it was reported that the Nationals were still in the running for Fielder.

I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty confused at this point.

The Nationals are seemingly a good fit for Fielder. They have Adam LaRoche under contract until the end of 2012, and have an option on him for 2013. But, he hit just .172 in 43 games last year before going on the DL. There have been speculations about a possible trade to get rid of LaRoche, hence allowing the Nats to sign Fielder, but it doesn’t appear that anyone wants him.

There are also some question marks on whether or not that Nationals are going to contend over the next few years. They have a capable- but injury-prone- rotation in Stephen Strasburg, Gio Gonzalez, Jordan Zimmermann, Chien-Ming Wang, and John Lannan and Ross Detwiler fighting for the last spot. Their bullpen is stellar, headed by Tyler Clippard and Drew Storen. But, there are a lot of questions about their offense, even if they signed Fielder. Ryan Zimmerman and Michael Morse are their only consistent hitters right now, and the rest of their offense is very inconsistent, which is why they were near the bottom of the NL in team batting average. And, in a division where the Phillies, Braves, and Marlins are all expected to be contenders next year, that Nationals chances at the postseason aren’t the best.

And then there’s the financial situation. The Nationals are considered a large market team. But, if they sign Fielder, to, say, a deal close to what Albert Pujols got, they could be in financial trouble very soon. They’re already dealing with what could turn into a disastrous deal with Jayson Werth, and a lot of the pitchers I listed earlier will soon be arbitration-eligible and could become much more expensive by the time they become free agents. So, in my opinion, the Nationals signing Fielder could really hurt them financially in the future.

Nolan Ryan said the Rangers weren’t going to go after Fielder this offseason, but, in the back of my mind, I knew they’d become contenders for him at some point. With Mitch Moreland out for the first few months of 2012, Fielder would make sense for the Rangers. And, if they did add him, that would be by far the most devastating lineup in the Majors.

But, it’s been said that the Rangers are just using the Fielder discussions as bait to accelerate the Yu Darvish negotations. This is the last week the Rangers can negotiate with Darvish, or else he returns to Japan. The Rangers could just be saying to Darvish, “If you don’t accept this money, fine, we’ll use it somewhere else.” That “somewhere else” being Fielder.

> Speaking of Japanese players, it sounds like the Brewers and Norichika Aoki will reach an agreement after all. The Brewers appear to like what they saw at Aoki’s workout in Maryvale, Arizona, and offered him a deal. We’ll have to wait and see if it’s to Aoki’s liking, though.

> This has nothing to do with the Brewers, but, the day before yesterday, it was reported that the Mariners and Yankees made a blockbuster trade for two young players with high potential. Pitcher Michael Pineda is headed to New York for catcher Jesus Montero. This gives both the Yankees and Mariners exactly what they needed- the Yankees got pitching to bolster their rotation, and the Mariners finally have some offense after finishing last in runs scored in 2010 and 2011.

The Yankees also signed Hiroki Kuroda to a one-year deal, so their rotation is set.

> And that’s about it. Sorry for not posting for awhile, but BW has really been going down the tubes lately, even when I have been posting. Hopefully that changes soon…

Anyway, thanks for reading, and feel free to leave your thoughts.