SB Nation - Ben Hendrickson

Thursday's Frosty Mug

KLSnow — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 14:54:59 -0000

5 months ago: Minnesota Twins' Carlos Gomez can't come up with a double, hit by Milwaukee Brewers' Jason Kendall, as Carlos Villanueva (12) and Mark DiFelice (45) react in the bullpen during the eighth inning of a baseball game Wednesday, June 24, 2009, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

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Some things to read while making my breakfast.

In possibly the best news of the day, Braden Looper does not expect to miss a start after taking a line drive off his pitching arm in last night's game. Tom H. isn't as optimistic. I'm assuming we'll get another update in a day or two.

The Brewers could hardly afford another injury to a starter, as Mike Burns is already being pressed into service today and Seth McClung will start Saturday. If Looper can't make his start, the Brewers will likely have no choice but to recall Manny Parra from AAA. CZWief is starting to compare this year's rotation to the disaster that was 2002.

Speaking of today's game, the Brewers will likely face Denard Span, who the Twins are expected to activate, but will not face Nick Punto, who has been sent home to have his ribs examined.

Beyond the Box Score has Pitch F/x leaderboards. Several Brewers make appearances, but the most interesting stat belongs to Yovani Gallardo. Opposing hitters are swinging at just 40% of his pitches, the second lowest percentage in all of baseball.

Wow, are we ever awash in minor league notes today:

2009 first round pick Eric Arnett had quite the day yesterday. First, he ate at Pizza Hut, then he allowed a run on a hit, two walks and an HBP in one inning of work in his pro debut for Helena, and was later profiled in the Helena Independent Record. (h/t Brew Crew Online)
Alcides Escobar continues to draw notice in AAA. Jason Grey of ESPN listed Escobar as one of two prospects who may make a position switch to accelerate their rise to the majors. Matt Patterson of the Oklahoman profiled Escobar before a recent game against the RedHawks.
Adam McCalvy has a profile of Zach Braddock, who the Brewers recently promoted to AA. Braddock is working to overcome bipolar disorder.
The 2009 Nashville Sounds are a huge improvement over their 2008 counterpart and their stadium underwent some offseason improvement, but At The Old Ball Game notes that the Sounds are still averaging just 4,067 fans per game, the second lowest total in the Pacific Coast League.
New fan favorite Cameron Garfield continues to draw attention: Jonathan Mayo of MiLB.com says his 5-for-5, 3 RBI debut for Helena was easily the best debut so far.
Brewer 43rd round pick Kyle Dhanani was profiled in his hometown paper. The reporter went the extra mile by calling his mom for the "analysis" quote.
The Brewers also signed an undrafted free agent, pitcher Andrew Dunn of Southern Illinois University.
While those two players begin their professional careers, Chris Duffy might be ending his. He's been placed on the inactive list in Nashville. Apparently he left the team weeks ago for the birth of his child, and never returned.

Looking for another flooding update? Tom H. has you covered with notes on the DOT's reaction and continuing work to determine the cost of the damage.

Beyond the Box Score dropped the Brewers from 16th to 17th in their most recent Power Rankings, but that's still good enough for first place in the Central.

Around the league:

A's: Placed Josh Outman on the DL with an elbow sprain.
Braves: Kenshin Kawakami left last night's start after taking a line drive off his neck, but is not expected to miss a start.
Cubs: Placed Reed Johnson on the DL with back issues.
Indians: Acquired reliever Jose Veras from the Yankees for cash.
Marlins: Placed closer Matt Lindstrom on the DL with an elbow sprain.
Mets: Designated lefty Jon Switzer for assignment.
Nationals: Designated Kip Wells for assignment.
Yankees: Designated Angel Berroa for assignment.

There are also two former Brewer notes to pass along today: Baseball America notes that the Twins released Ben Hendrickson, and Bill Ladson of Nationals.com reports Ronnie Belliard is considering retiring after the season. Belliard has picked up just two at-bats since June 10.

Just when you thought it was safe to go outside, the Oklahoma City RedHawks have activated Orlando Hernandez to throw the banana.

I'm guessing there are probably a few people reading this site who consistently watch Brewer games, right? Any of you watch closely enough to identify which Brewers wear protection on their elbows? If you do, Plunk Everyone could use your help.

The movie is probably dead now so it's all a moot point, but the entire script for the Moneyball movie is available online, if you're interested. Sam Miller of the OC Register says the script "sort of works."

If you currently have a crappy sales job (selling sand in the desert, for example) and you're looking for a slightly easier gig, maybe you should join the Marlins Community Sales Force.

Oh, and today is the second anniversary of Manny Parra's AAA perfect game.

Drink up.

Wednesday's Frosty Mug

KLSnow — Wed, 27 May 2009 15:01:29 -0000

More photos » by Morry Gash - AP

St. Louis Cardinals' Adam Wainwright (50) is congratulated by teammates after hitting a home run for the fourth consecutive season.

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Some things to read while I finish the last chapter of Help Wanted.

Actually, I probably won't have much time for video games today, as the first pitch for this afternoon's game is already about two hours away. Ryan Braun likely won't be in the starting lineup: X-rays came back negative on Braun's wrist last night (h/t FanShot), but it's still a quick turnaround from a night game to a day game, and resting him today would give him two full days off, with the off day tomorrow. Paul Noonan of Brewed Sports might not have to spend the rest of his life harassing Adam Wainwright after all.

J.J. Hardy, however, is expected to play. Today's game is listed in the top spot in Baseball Musings' Games of the Day.

Adam Wainwright shut the Brewers down last night, and has been lights-out lately. Fungoes credits a change in release point for his sudden dominance. Wainwright's home run last night also gives him one in each of the last four seasons.

Along with the good news, though, the Cardinals got some bad news yesterday: Troy Glaus is being given a 50-50 shot at returning to the lineup in 2009, and Kyle Lohse is expected to be scratched from Friday's start against the Giants.

This week's schedule has been pretty rough for the Brewers, with a road night game on Sunday followed by a day game at home Monday, then a night game last night and another day game today. One would think that would be enough, but Mat Gamel also found time to visit a grade school in Racine before yesterday's game.

Maybe he was campaigning for write-in votes. Ryan Braun and J.J. Hardy are the leading vote-getters at their respective positions in All-Star balloting. In fact, no Brewer position player is lower than second.

Looking back for a moment: The Brewers are 3-1 in 1-0 games this season, but Monday's was the only of the three games to go to extra innings. It was only the seventh 1-0, extra inning victory in franchise history, and just the second since 1989.

For the first time in several days, I don't have a note on Jake Peavy today. I do, however, have Two-Fisted Slopper's argument for Erik Bedard.

I have a handful of draft notes today:

FanGraphs reviews the Brewers' last three drafts and looks ahead to June. They list second base as an organizational need, despite the fact that Cutter Dykstra and Brett Lawrie have both been moved to the position in the last three months. (h/t FanShot)
Andy Seiler has the Brewers selecting Chad Jenkins, a RHP from Kennesaw State, in the first round along with Tommy Joseph, a HS catcher from Arizona, and Brody Colvin, a HS pitcher from Louisiana, in the supplemental round.
Jim Gantner will be the Brewer representative at the draft.

Somewhat related, here are today's minor league notes:

Wily Peralta has been named Midwest League Pitcher of the Week following a week that saw him go two starts without allowing a run with a 17:2 K:BB ratio.
Mike Jones, a former #1 pick who's become a bit of an afterthought, pitched six scoreless innings in his first start in Huntsville and hit 94 on the gun.
Chris Duffy accepted his assignment to Nashville and should join the team today.

Also, Adam McCalvy is looking for mailbag questions, if you have one in mind.

Around the league:

Angels: Placed Scot Shields on the DL with patella tendinitis.
Marlins: Signed Clay Hensley and Gary Glover to minor league deals.
Mets: Placed Jose Reyes (calf tendinitis) and Ryan Church (hamstring) on the DL.
Nationals: Designated Daniel Cabrera for assignment and must add Mike MacDougal to their roster today or lose him to free agency.
Orioles: Placed outfielder Lou Montanez on the DL with torn ligaments in his thumb.
Rays: Jason Bartlett has been placed on the DL with an ankle injury.

Jason Bartlett's DL trip in Tampa opened the door for former Brewer Joe Dillon, who has been called up by the Rays. On top of Dillon (and Gary Glover), here are some other former Brewers in transactions, courtesy of Baseball America:

Former Nashville Sound Abraham Nunez signed with the D-Backs.
The Reds acquired Justin Lehr from the Phillies for future considerations.
The Indians called up Greg Aquino.
The Twins brought Ben Hendrickson off the minor league DL. Hendrickson threw one inning in his 2009 debut, and has now pitched for four teams in the last six seasons in AAA, posting a 3.88 ERA in the process.

Also, Eric Gagne has signed with Quebec in the Can-Am League. Apparently he'll be a starter there, but if he's healthy he probably won't be there long.

Speaking of players who could be available: Ken Rosenthal says the Rockies could be looking to sell, but the Pirates are probably not.

Tomorrow will be a big day in Baltimore, as #1 prospect Matt Wieters is expected to make his major league debut. In a note that's probably not unrelated, the Orioles drew just 10,130 fans to Camden Yards last night, the smallest crowd in that ballpark's history.

The Nationals have the #1 pick in June's draft and have a wide variety of needs, but perhaps they should look for someone who can spell. Roosevelt has two o's and one s.

I'm not sure what's worse, a "Teddy Rossevelt" bobblehead or a Scratch and Sniff Cap.

Oh, and happy birthday to John Jaha, who turns 43 today.

Drink up.

The Milwaukee Brewers' Last Trade With Each Team

TheJay — Sat, 09 May 2009 15:48:24 -0000

More photos » by H. Rumph Jr - AP

A long time ago, in a league 98 miles away, this guy was part of the Brewers' last trade with the Yankees.

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One of my favorite parts of each year's team media guide is the page listing the Brewers' last trade with all the other major league teams. Maybe it's because it's so esoteric, maybe it's because of all the "some-team-wanted-him?" thoughts it prompts, or maybe it's the idea that for years Brewers and Mariners management had a bitter blood feud getting in the way of amicable trading. I don't know. Either way, let's take a trip down memory lane, transaction-style:

(note: PTBNL below stands for "Player to be Named Later," defined here)

The Milwaukee Brewers' Last Trade With...

Arizona Diamondbacks - 11/25/2006
Traded LHP Doug Davis, LHP Dana Eveland, and OF Dave Krynzel for C Johnny Estrada, RHP Claudio Vargas, and RHP Greg Aquino
Atlanta Braves - 12/7/2005
Traded RHP Wes Obermueller for RHP Dan Kolb
Chicago Cubs - 8/31/2004
Traded OF Ben Grieve for LHP Andy Pratt and cash
Cincinnati Reds - 1/14/2000
Traded OF Alex Ochoa for OF Mark Sweeney and a PTBNL (RHP Gene Altman)
Colorado Rockies - 12/13/2004
Traded RHP Marcos Carvajal in exchange for cash
Florida Marlins - 11/25/1996
Traded RHP Eddie Collins for LHP Joel Adamson
Houston Astros - 9/11/2007
Traded RHP Dennis Sarfate for cash
Los Angeles Dodgers - 3/26/2007
Traded OF Brady Clark and cash for RHP Elmer Dessens
New York Mets - 11/20/2007
Traded C Johnny Estrada for RHP Guillermo Mota
Philadelphia Phillies - 7/28/2006
Traded RHP Wilfrido Laureano for 3B David Bell
Pittsburgh Pirates - 12/7/2007
Traded RHP Marino Salas and RHP Kevin Roberts for RHP Salomon Torres
St. Louis Cardinals - 8/22/2003
Traded RHP Mike DeJean for two PTBNL (RHP Mike Crudale and RHP John Novinsky)
San Diego Padres - 7/25/2007
Traded LHP Joe Thatcher, RHP Will Inman, and LHP Steve Garrison for RHP Scott Linebrink
San Francisco Giants - 7/20/2008
Traded OF Darren Ford and LHP Steve Hammond for 2B Ray Durham
Washington Nationals - 9/4/2007
Traded a PTBNL (1B Andrew Lefave) for LHP Ray King

The AL teams are after the jump.

Baltimore Orioles - 7/16/1999
Traded a PTBNL (RHP Al Reyes) for RHP Rocky Coppinger
Boston Red Sox - 7/31/1998
Traded IF Eddy Diaz for RHP Joe Hudson
Chicago White Sox - 12/13/2004
Traded OF Scott Podsednik, RHP Luis Vizcaino and a PTBNL (IF Travis Hinton) for LF Carlos Lee
Cleveland Indians - 7/7/2008
Traded OF Matt LaPorta, LHP Zach Jackson, RHP Rob Bryson, and a PTBNL (OF Michael Brantley) for LHP CC Sabathia
Detroit Tigers - 7/1/2007
Traded RHP Jose Capellan for LHP Chris Cody
Kansas City Royals - 3/27/2007
Traded RHP Ben Hendrickson for a Marxist Empire
LAnaheim Angels - 7/31/2002
Traded OF Alex Ochoa and C Sal Fasano for C Jorge Fabregas and 2 PTBNL (RHP Pedro Liriano and IF John Raburn)
Minnesota Twins - 11/15/2002
Traded RHP Gerry Oakes and RHP Matt Yeatman for RHP Matt Kinney and C Javier Valentin
New York Yankees - 8/23/1996
Traded IF Pat Listach and LHP Graeme Lloyd for OF Gerald Williams and RHP Bob Wickman
Oakland Athletics - 5/23/2007
Traded RHP Alec Zumwalt for cash.
Seattle Mariners - 5/19/2005
Traded C Pat Borders for cash.
Tampa Bay Rays - 4/22/2008
Traded OF Gabe Gross for RHP Josh Butler
Texas Rangers - 7/28/2006
Traded OF Carlos Lee and OF Nelson Cruz for RHP Francisco Cordero, LHP Julian Cordero, OF Kevin Mench, and OF Laynce Nix
Toronto Blue Jays - 1/6/2006
Traded RHP Brian Wolfe for 3B Corey Koskie

This information comes out of the Brewers' 2009 Media Guide. I believe all listed trades include someone on the 40-man roster for one of the teams. Any errors are mine in transcription or not diligently checking MLB's work.

Tuesday's Frosty Mug

KLSnow — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 15:07:18 -0000

Some things to read while lining up in a scrimmage kick formation.

The Brewers had a short day in camp yesterday to get the players some rest before an intrasquad game today and the official Cactus League opener tomorrow. As noted in this FanShot, Braden Looper, Mark DiFelice, Sam Narron, Omar Aguilar, Chase Wright, Tim Dillard, Chris Narveson and R.J. Swindle are scheduled to pitch in the intrasquad game today, which is expected to go around five innings.

Now here's an intrasquad game I could get excited for: Sully Baseball compares the All-Time Home Grown and Acquired teams for the Brewers, and picks the Home Grown team, led by Robin Yount and Paul Molitor, to win the series.

Meanwhile, Jeff Suppan will start on Wednesday as part of a spring rotation that will go Suppan-Gallardo-Parra-Looper-Bush. This may or may not be the regular season alignment, and of course injuries could change it dramatically. If this is the rotation, though, Miller Park Drunk says the Brewers might as well forfeit Opening Day's Jeff Suppan-Tim Lincecum matchup.

Macha also let us in on his strategy regarding bullpen usage. He plans to remove pitchers while they're ahead, and let them try to battle their way back in from behind. There are worse philosophies, I suppose.

I would guess the tough part about being a spring training reporter is that you have to write everyday, even on days when nothing's going on. With that said, Adam McCalvy has a profile of Omar Aguilar, who he says has been impressive in camp. Aguilar worked out this offseason with Brian Fuentes, and reportedly told Fuentes not to come to Milwaukee, so Aguilar wouldn't have to steal his job.

Among more likely candidates for closer in 2009, Carlos Villanueva is one of FakeTeams' NL Sleepers for Saves.

Finally, speaking of closers: Trevor Hoffman took out a full page ad in the San Diego Union-Tribune to thank Padres fans for their support.

Elsewhere in camp, Cory Provus arrived yesterday to begin a crash-course on the team before his first broadcast Wednesday. The game will be broadcast on WTMJ and Brewers.com.

While Provus will be ready to go Wednesday, Bill Hall, Mat Gamel and Tony Gwynn will not. Gamel and Gwynn are still hampered by shoulder impingements, and of course Hall is still rehabbing his partially torn calf.

Corey Hart is the latest Brewer profiled in the JS spring training preview. Hart blames fatigue for his dramatic September collapse. That's fine, and I hope that really did motivate Hart to come to camp in great shape this season. With that said, the words "patience" and "discipline" don't show up a single time in the profile, which leads me to believe Corey still may not get it.

Is J.J. Hardy one of baseball's most underrated players? You could make a case for it. Beyond the Box Score has a graph comparing Hardy's value to that of 2008 AL MVP candidate Carlos Quentin. (h/t FanShots)

Down on the farm, Right Field Bleachers has an interview with 2008 draft pick Blake Billings, who is hoping to pitch for Wisconsin this season at just 19 years old. (also noted in FanPost)

Elsewhere on the farm, here are some of the former Brewers noted in Baseball America's Minor League Transactions:

Tony Graffanino signed a minor league deal with the Indians.
Scott Podsednik and Glendon Rusch both re-signed with the Rockies.
Ben Hendrickson signed with the Twins.

Some notes from other camps:

Cardinals: Todd Wellemeyer will not miss any spring training time despite being clipped by a crab on his throwing hand.
Nationals: Released Odalis Perez, who had not reported to spring training.
Orioles: Felix Pie is having visa issues and is still not in camp. He may get to Miami today.
Pirates: Signed Ruben Gotay to a minor league deal.

Over the last few months we've had a lot of new visitors to the site, and if you're one of them, welcome. If you're wanting to get involved and wondering how to use some of the tools we have here at BCB, click over to South Side Sox for more info. I've also added that link to the reference box in the sidebar on your left.

Oh, and if you're here, odds are you like Wisconsin sports, so you may be interested in Bucky's 5th Quarter, SBNation's new Badgers blog. I've added them to my reading list.

Finally, if you see Tim Kurkijian on TV today, odds are he's not wearing pants.

Drink up.