SB Nation - Jorge Julio

Monday's Frosty Mug

KLSnow — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 14:39:22 -0000

Ryan Braun, Jody Gerut and Frank Catalanotto celebrate after completing a sweep of the Pirates Sunday.

Some things to read while waiting for a bartender.

The Brewers have a day off today to prepare for what might be their last opportunity to prove themselves relevant in the NL Central in 2009: A nine game stretch against the Cardinals, Giants and Cardinals again. Ken Macha says the Brewers have to be realistic about their position in the standings (which is why he's passing on the opportunity to skip a spot in the rotation this week), but also acknowledges that things could change if the Brewers can get hot this week and next. The Brewers are 23-24 this season against teams they'll see in September.

With roster expansion on the horizon, J.J. Hardy is expected to rejoin the team tomorrow, and we'll see if the issue with him blows over or boils over. Mike Seal, Hardy's agent, obviously appears to disagree with the decision to demote Hardy, but also called it "a shrewd move" by the Crew to send Hardy down and delay his free agency. J.J. Hardy's Nashville bio picture says a lot about his thoughts on the situation.

As you may have noticed, Hardy is swinging and missing a lot this season. In fact, he's also consistently failing to make weak contact: Plunk Everyone noticed that Hardy has the eighth lowest foul ball percentage in baseball. Jody Gerut, by the way, was tenth.

The Brewers are only expected to call a handful of players up from AAA, and they're expected to stagger the callups over the next few days. With that said, the Brewers also have three players getting ready to return from injury, as Corey Hart is getting ready to go out on a rehab assignment and Seth McClung and Jesus Colome both threw off a mound this weekend. If the Brewers call up six players from the minors and these three all return, they'll have 34 players on the active roster.

The Cardinals have opened up a ten game lead on the Cubs, and it's hard to imagine a scenario where they don't win the NL Central at this point. Murray Chass has a look at what happened to what was one of baseball's closest divisions a few months ago.

This race might be closer: With one month left to play, the Brewers rank 24th in wins in the 2000's. They're four games behind the Reds for 23rd, and 13 games ahead of the 25th place Tigers.

As hopes of contending in 2009 drift away, Doug Melvin is continuing to take a fair amount of heat for not assembling his roster differently, fair or unfair. Melvin responded to critics over the weekend, asking what they would have done differently. He's right, to a point: There weren't really any quick fixes available to the Brewers this offseason that would have dramatically improved this team. With that said, as many commenters have previously noted, Melvin was also responsible for the drafting and developmental strategies that left the Brewers with this hole in the first place.

Felipe Lopez had a rough weekend at the plate (2-for-17) but is continuing to try to play through a sore tendon in his foot. The most recent Elias rankings are out, and they have Lopez as a Type A free agent for the first time. If Lopez continues to struggle and the Brewers aren't careful with him, they could cost themselves a compensation pick next year by allowing him to play his way back down to Type B status.

The Brewers got a pretty good outing out of Jeff Suppan yesterday, as he gave up just one earned run in six innings and lowered his 2009 ERA to 5.20. In a world where we make near daily jokes about Sidney Ponson and Livan Hernandez, mgl wonders if Jeff Suppan is the worst veteran pitcher you never hear about. Meanwhile, Rob Iracane of Walkoff Walk says the Pirates, who couldn't beat Jeff Suppan, Manny Parra or Braden Looper over the weekend, will win the NL Central in 2011.

How much impact will Chris Bosio have on the Brewer pitching staff? Casa de Machado was at Thursday's game and saw Bosio doing some things with pitchers he never saw Billy Castro doing. The results haven't necessarily shown up yet, but that doesn't mean they won't.

Coaches are also working with Manny Parra to develop a cut fastball. As TheJay noted in this Fanshot, that's a bit of a philosophical switch from the past coaching direction.

In the minors:

Chris Capuano is taking one small step back up the ladder to the major leagues. Now that the season has concluded for the Arizona League Brewers, Capuano is moving up to Helena to get a few more innings in before the minor league season concludes.
Several Brewer farmhands are getting ready for the Arizona Fall League. Prospects Paradise has an AFL preview, and lists Zach Braddock, Lorenzo Cain and Jonathan Lucroy among the top prospects on the Peoria Javelinas.

I mentioned The Book Blog's Fan Scouting Report once before as an opportunity for you to weigh in on the defensive abilities of individual Brewers. I'll mention it again, because so far only 35 Brewer fans have added their opinions. Take a moment to do so today, if you're so inclined.

On Power Rankings, playoff odds and miscellany:

Baseball Digest Daily ranked the Brewers #17 in their ASTRO Rankings.
CoolStandings has the Brewers' playoff chances holding steady at .3%.
Justin Inaz of Beyond the Box Score ranked Jason Kendall as the 22nd best catcher of all time.

Last week I mentioned Trent Durrington's 34th birthday, but forgot to acknowledge that he was the last Brewer position player to pitch in a game, back in 2004. Recondite Baseball has updated the full list of the last position players to pitch for each team.

Around Baseball:

Angels: Acquired Scott Kazmir from the Rays for two minor leaguers and a PTBNL that could be Brandon Wood.
Astros: Placed reliever Alberto Arias on the DL with a hamstring strain.
Dodgers: Acquired Ronnie Belliard from the Nationals for a minor league reliever.
Indians: Acquired minor league pitcher Johan Pino as the PTBNL in the trade that sent Carl Pavano to the Twins.
Mariners: Placed Russell Branyan on the DL with a herniated disc.
Pirates: Signed Jorge Julio to a minor league deal.
Rangers: Signed Ryan Freel to a minor league deal.
Red Sox: Acquired Joey Gathright from the Orioles for a PTBNL or cash.
Twins: Claimed Ron Mahay off waivers from the Royals, acquired Jon Rauch from the D-Backs for a PTBNL and designated R.A. Dickey for assignment.

Today, they're reserved for making up rainouts, but at one point doubleheaders were a key part of the baseball schedule. Seamheads has a look back at September 7, 1903, when all 16 major league teams were scheduled to play two.

If you watched the Cubs play over the weekend, you might have seen Ryan Dempster trying on the new helmet MLB is promoting to help decrease head injuries suffered via HBP. Player reviews of the new helmets have been almost universally negative, but baseball is going to require all minor leaguers to wear them next season.

The Brewers had pretty good luck convincing draft picks to sign this season, including one player, fifth rounder D'Vontrey Richardson, who had to be convinced to give up football at Florida State. Jonathan Mayo has a look at the decision two sport athletes face.

Ever wonder what broadcasters do to prepare for games? Alyson Footer has the details and pictures.

Before you go any farther, take a moment today to be happy for what you have and to remember how quickly it can all go away: Jonah Keri has the story of a rollover car accident he somehow survived over the weekend. Keri is due to become the father of twins sometime in the coming weeks.

Apparently it's been a good week for harrowing experiences: Hal McCoy has the story of Aaron Harang and a Reds' equipment manager's drive from Pittsburgh to Cincinnati prior to Harang's appendectomy.

Hall of Very Good recently interviewed Jeff Cirillo, who spent many years as a Brewer position player and one day as an opposing pitcher. It's a good read.

Speaking of Jeffs, if you need a Jeff Sackmann fix, he's got three posts up on his personal blog previewing the US Open, which begins today.

On this day in 1996 the Brewers made a pretty good trade, sending Kevin Seitzer to the Indians for Jeromy Burnitz, who hit 165 home runs over six season as a Brewer. On this day in 2002, though, they made a pretty bad trade, sending Mark Loretta (who would go one to become a two time All Star) to the Astros for Wayne Franklin and Keith Ginter.

Happy birthday today to former Brewers Gabe Kapler (34), Hideo Nomo (41) and Tom Candiotti (52).

Oh, and with summer coming to a close, you're running out of opportunities to use your car as a dehyrdrator.

Drink up.

Bucs Option Brian Bixler, Sign Jorge Julio

Charlie — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 21:40:25 -0000

More photos » by Morry Gash - AP

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The Pirates have sent Brian Bixler back to the minors and signed Jorge Julio to a minor league contract.

I'm not usually inclined to draw conclusions from 33-at-bat samples, but Bixler's amazingly poor showing in 33 at bats this year just confirms what we should have already known--he's terrible. Bixler's spectacular 23 strikeouts in those 33 at bats are reminiscent of strikeout king Mark Reynolds, if you shrunk Reynolds to half his normal size, put a blindfold on him and spun him around until dizzy before guiding him to the plate. Bixler's performance this year has been something special, rivaling Mike Benjamin's 2002, Don Kelly's 2007 or John Van Benschoten's whole career for hilarity. (Even aside from Bixler's performance, there's also the fact that he pretty much always looks like a deer in the headlights, which isn't his fault but which heightens the already overwhelming impression that he has no idea what he's doing out there.)

I predicted that the Pirates would sign Julio as a free agent last offseason; that didn't happen, and it's a good thing, too, because Julio stunk it up in both the bigs and AAA this year. He's exactly the sort of hard-throwing, control-challenged reliever Neal Huntington loves to take chances on, though. I wonder why they're signing him at this late point in the season; Indianapolis only plays through September 7, and they won't be heading to the International League playoffs. I sincerely hope we aren't going to see Julio in Pittsburgh.

UPDATE: And Brad Lincoln will take Daniel McCutchen's spot on the U.S. World Cup team. Scott McCauley is all over all this Indianapolis news.

Tampa Bay Rays Sign Jorge Julio, Release Chad Orvella

R.J. Anderson — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 20:23:37 -0000

Some Triple-A bullpen news today. Chad Orvella has been released and Jorge Julio signed. For Orvella, he just hadn't pitched very well upon returning from surgery and he seemed to be filler more so than a legitimate option. Given his former ‘closer of the future' tag, I'm guessing he'll latch on somewhere, but there's a certain possibility that his last major league appearance has already been made.

As for Julio, he's bounced around a lot over the last three seasons. He's spent time with the Marlins, Rockies, Braves, Indians, and Brewers while compiling 109 innings, 65 walks, and 103 strikeouts. That means Julio has struck out 21% of the batters he's faced and has an unintentional walk percentage of 12.2%, that's not too bad. Unfortunately for Julio, this has been his career worst season. He's not quite as bad as the ERA suggests, mostly because of a 54.5% strand rate, but his time in Milwaukee was atrocious nonetheless.

Listed from 2006-2009:

K%: 30.8, 20, 25.8, 14.8

uBB%: 11.6, 10.4, 12.9, 17

If you were looking at his previous three seasons last off-season to determine whether he would be a worthwhile addition or not, you would be thinking this year was a ridiculous outlier to date. His FIP over those last three seasons were: 4.09, 4.76, 4.17, 6.40. ZiPS is projecting a 4.5 FIP from here onward, which is on par with what ZiPS expects from Joe Nelson and Jason Isringhausen.

Snide remarks made about this move are going to be full of misunderstanding. Julio is free talent. A lively arm with a track record of success at little cost is a worthwhile and ultimately low risk maneuver. The absolute worst thing that can happen here is that he bombs in Durham and we never talk about him again. The best would be he works out whatever issues he had and go on a tear like 2006 or 2008. If not, no biggie.

News Roundup: Pirates Looking at Pitchers for Draft

Charlie — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 05:00:20 -0000

Here's my test drive of SB Nation's new clippings feature, which makes these link posts incredibly easy...

Pirates putting premium on pitching - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

The Trib reports that the Pirates are looking at college pitchers Kyle Gibson of Missouri and Mike Minor of Vanderbilt, as well as indy-league pitcher and former Missouri starter Aaron Crow, for the fourth pick in the draft next week. The top hitter in the draft, North Carolina's Dustin Ackley, probably won't be available, but I wouldn't say never on that. The Mariners are supposed to like Ackley, but, as someone around here (Vlad, maybe?) pointed out a couple weeks ago, M's GM Jack Zduriencik could be unpredictable in the draft when he was the scouting director of the Brewers. For example, the Brewers' selection of Matt LaPorta in the 2007 draft was a bit of a surprise. If the Mariners don't take Ackley with the second pick, he could fall to the Pirates.

Padres will settle for second choice with their first pick in the draft

The Padres, picking at #3, could take Ackley, Crow, Minor, or either of a pair of Georgia high schoolers, outfielder Donavan Tate or pitcher Zach Wheeler.

Milwaukee Brewers Release Jorge Julio

Speaking of the Brewers, they've released reliever Jorge Julio, who had a 7.79 ERA for them. The Pirates need relief depth, and Neal Huntington favors hard throwers; I haven't read anything linking Julio with Pittsburgh, but he could do worse for himself than to sign a minor league deal with the Bucs.

American Chronicle / Power Catcher's Roots in Hockey

Nyjer Morgan isn't the only player in the Pirates organization with a hockey background.

Tuesday's Frosty Mug

KLSnow — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 13:38:23 -0000

More photos » by J Pat Carter - AP

Dan Uggla tags Mike Cameron during an inning where two Brewers made outs on the basepaths.

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Some things to read while watching out for whammies. (h/t C. Trent Rosecrans)

With any luck, this could be the last morning I'll ever have to wake up and discuss a disastrous Jorge Julio outing. Here are what some others are saying about him:

Quevedo at the Buffet wants him gone.
Brewed Sports wants him gone.
CZWief wants him gone.
Between the Green Pillars wants him gone.

Julio did, however, become just the second pitcher named Jorge to hit a batter named Jorge in MLB history. So there is that. Jorge Cantu, by the way, was the victim in the other case too, getting hit by Jorge de la Rosa.

But, it might all be over today. The Official Site says the team is expected to call up a pitcher and it could be Mike Burns, who is 6-2 with a 2.98 ERA for Nashville. It won't be David Riske, who will undergo Tommy John surgery today.

Even with Julio's disaster last night, the Brewers had too many opportunities to come away with just four runs, including one inning where Prince Fielder and Mike Cameron both made outs on the bases, with Fielder getting caught trying to steal third.

Also, Mike Cameron and Ryan Braun left last night's game early with injuries suffered in the sixth inning. Cameron is suffering from "knee irritation" and is day-to-day, while Braun says he's fine after fouling a ball off his leg.

Meanwhile, the Marlins will make a couple of roster moves before tonight's game. Cristhian Martinez, who won last night's game, has been optioned to AA to make room for Anibal Sanchez, who is expected to start tonight. They also optioned catcher Brett Hayes to AAA and are expected to recall Alejandro de Aza. (hat tips to Fish Chunks and TheJay in last night's recap)

Could Corey Hart be on the move? The Detroit Free Press mentioned a quote from Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe suggesting the Tigers might be one of several teams interested. Tom H.'s Twitter, however, said Doug Melvin called the notion "pure nonsense." Just another case of Cafardo being Cafardo.

Here's something cool from down in the minors: At The Old Ball Game has frame-by-frame photos of the delivery of Joshua Butler, who's quickly regaining prospect status this season.

Need your daily draft fix? Andy Seiler has a new mock draft of the first three rounds, and has the Brewers selecting RHP Drew Storen (Stanford), 3B Matt Davidson (California HS), RHP Alex Wilson (Texas A&M), SS Daniel Fields (Michigan HS), 2B Josh Kobernus (U. of California) and RHP Eric Smith (Rhode Island).

On Power Rankings:

Inside the Majors has the Brewers holding steady at #3.
Richard Griffin of the Toronto Star moved the Brewers up from ninth to sixth.
Foul Balls moved the Brewers down from third to fourth in the NL, but kept them at #6 overall.
WhatifSports moved the Brewers up from seventh to fifth.

The Brewers are asking you to help them make Miller Park a better place to watch a game, one belligerent drunk at a time. Follow this link to learn how to text security re: that douchebag in your section. Extra points for the first person who uses it to report/eject The Happy Youngster.

Around the league:

Giants: Designated reliever Pat Misch for assignment.
Indians: Released David Dellucci.
Mets: Placed Angel Pagan on the DL with a groin strain.
Phillies: Mike Koplove exercised a clause in his contract allowing him to become a free agent.

The Reds bullpen got a bit of a workout last night too. Edinson Volquez, in his first start back off the DL, left after one inning with numbness in his pinkie and ring fingers. Hal McCoy says Volquez is headed back to Cincinnati to get it checked out but does not believe it's serious.

Yesterday might have been Manny Acta's last game as manager of the Washington Nationals. Chico Harlan has a quote from Nats acting GM Mike Rizzo that he thinks implies Acta could be done.

Sean Berry, though, is back with the Astros after surgery to have cancer removed from his kidney. Good to see he's back and doing well.

If you're a frequent FanPoster (or would like to be), be sure to check out the new improvements to the FanPost editor, including the ability to autopromote your FanPost on your Twitter page.

Oh, and I only got four of the answers on Keith Law's stolen base quiz, but in my defense, I took it at 6:35 am.

Drink up.

It's nice to not fear the bullpen

tristarscoop — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 18:00:21 -0000

Sitting at today's game, we noted that at no point were we concerned about the lead that was amassed in the first three innings despite the fact that the Brewers failed to score any runs for the rest of the game, gave up seven hits, recorded three errors, and went to the bullpen in the sixth inning.

Being that sure of the bullpen was the most surprising of the reasons. It feels like it's been forever that there isn't a pitcher that I fear entering the game. There were quite a few guys last season that made us want to turn the game off, hide our eyes or just plain gave us the shivers while we worried how bad the damage would be.

Many would still argue that they fear Jorge Julio entering the game, but his ERA is now a manageable 5.71 - down from 8.40 just four appearances ago - and he's had a few successful outings of late, taking his scare factor way down.

That's a far cry from the bullpen situation at this time last season.

Take a look at the pitching stats from March/April and then May of last season. (from FanGraphs)

May's numbers are a little less scary, but March/April features Eric Gagne's four blown saves and Derrick Turnbow's 15.63 ERA

Compare that to the pitchers' numbers so far this season:

Riske and Swindle's numbers are from minimal appearances and they aren't even on the current roster, so you're talking about a full lineup of pitchers who's ERA's are under 6.00. ~~If you include Swindle and Riske, we have a team ERA of 5.28. Without them, it's down to 3.52.~~

Edit: turns out my stat skills are still far below par

From PagsBrewCrew:

relief ERA: 3.22 (includes one 2 ER in 1 IP appearance by Bush)
starting ERA: 4.41 (obviously does not include the Bush outing above)

Overall: 4.01 (our starters have pitched more than our relievers, so that’s why our ERA is higher than the average of the two above)

One of the biggest changes? Trevor Hoffman. Since he came off the DL on April 27, the bullpen's ERA is just 2.18. He has brought stability to the relievers. Apparently his mere presence in the bullpen is enough to scare Jorge Julio straight!

Friday's Frosty Mug

KLSnow — Fri, 29 May 2009 14:45:24 -0000

More photos » by Gus Ruelas - AP

This is not Seth McClung.

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Some things to read while eliminating your accomplishments.

Last year it was C.C. Sabathia, and in 2009 Trevor Hoffman is filling the role of well-known player who brings national attention to Milwaukee. Hoffman was profiled in the New York Times this week, discussing life in Milwaukee (or in his case, his lack thereof) and his impact on the bullpen.

One of the pitchers Hoffman has helped is Todd Coffey, but he apparently hasn't found a way to help fans tell the difference between Coffey and Seth McClung.

Maybe a new haircut would help. Mark DiFelice is the man for the job.

Adam McCalvy's new ~~mailbag~~ inbox is up, and features notes on Chris Capuano, Alcides Escobar, Geoff Jenkins, Jake Peavy, Jorge Julio and Ryan Braun.

Another homestand, another ghost story: This week, Cardinals SS Brendan Ryan reported some paranormal activity at the Pfister Hotel, but later recanted the story. Tony LaRussa says the ghosts are good friends.

Not everyone made friends in Milwaukee this week. Cute Sports has the video of Jason LaRue narrowly avoiding getting trampled by sausages.

"Sausage tramplings" were probably not among the criteria considered when the Brewers were nominated for SportsBusiness Journal's Professional Franchise of the Year.

Frank Catalanotto has already done a fair amount to endear himself to the fans in Milwaukee, but Beyond the Box Score lists him among 23 players who have seen significant big league time despite being below replacement level.

The Journal Sentinel has added a searchable, sortable database of every Brewer home run in the Miller Park era. I haven't had a chance to go take a look at it yet, but I'm glad they're making the effort. Baseball Reference also recently added a database of every home run in major league history.

Down in the minors, Cole Gillespie, BCB's #10 prospect, is struggling a bit with the adjustment to AAA. Gillespie is hitting .212/.342/.323 in Nashville and At The Old Ball Game is calling for his head.

Just one power ranking to report today: Yahoo has bumped the Crew down from sixth to seventh.

Around baseball:

Dodgers: Placed Will Ohman on the DL.
Phillies: Brett Myers has fraying in the labrum in his hip that will likely require surgery and cost him the rest of 2009.

As you've probably heard (and as noted in the comments in yesterday's Mug), Carlos Zambrano has been suspended for six games for making contact with an umpire and generally making a scene earlier this week. Jorge Says No! says six games wasn't enough. The Chicago Tribune is reporting Zambrano won't skip a start, and will instead be pushed back two days.

Elsewhere in transactions, it was a rare "coming and going" day for former Brewers in Cleveland, as Zach Jackson was sent to AAA and replaced by Tomo Ohka.

Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic wants D-Backs third baseman Mark Reynolds to be in the Home Run Derby this year, citing the entertainment value of watching Reynolds hit massive home runs. That got me thinking: while the Home Run Derby is fun as it is, I'd probably be more likely to watch it if the rules were changed, and hitters were looking to hit the longest home run, instead of the most. Imagine Mark Reynolds, Prince Fielder, Russell Branyan and the like competing to see who can be the first to launch one out of Busch Stadium. I'd watch it.

Speaking of Branyan, since moving into a full-time role in Seattle he's hitting over .300 and striking out less, and Lookout Landing is pretty excited about it.

Looking to make a list of players who might be available in the trade market? MLB Trade Rumors has a list of eleven teams whose postseason chances have fallen below 10%. BP's PECOTA-adjusted projection gives the Brewers a 38% chance at winning the Central, higher than any other team.

Roy Halladay is old school. On Wednesday, he pitched seven full innings in his eleventh consecutive start, tied for the fifteenth longest streak to start a season since 1954. Among the others with 11 are former Brewers Bill Wegman, Chris Bosio and Jerry Augustine, and legendary Milwaukee Brave Warren Spahn.

A few weeks ago, Jeff previewed the D3 World Series in Appleton. He was joined in attendance by Kirbir, who live tweeted the event and made it the focus of her Pictures of the Week post. Now, Jeff has a review of the event, and a look at how his prediction models fared.

Here's a cool feel-good story: Rock band They Might Be Giants is sponsoring a little league team in Seattle. (h/t C. Trent Rosecrans.)

Oh, and happy birthday to Charlie Hayes, who played for the 2000 Brewers and turns 44 today.

Drink up.

Thursday's Frosty Mug

KLSnow — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 14:16:45 -0000

More photos » by Darren Hauck - AP

If you're a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates, it's possible this is the last thing you saw before becoming one of Yovani Gallardo's eleven strikeout victims yesterday.

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Some things to read while wondering if the apocalypse would be that bad.

A day later, Yovani Gallardo's performance from yesterday is still drawing notice all over the place. Some highlights:

Chone Smith was reminded of a Steve Carlton performance from nearly three decades ago, and reminds us all that this performance wouldn't be possible in the AL.
Babes Love Baseball has a comment from Ken Macha after the game.
Chuckie Hacks wondered about Gallardo's ceiling and noted that he now has as many total bases (10) as Jason Kendall.
View From Bernie's Chalet says Gallardo's starts are becoming must-see.
Gallardo's performance inspired Tyler Maas of Bugs & Cranks to include him on the list of the 10 best active hitting pitchers.
Matthew Pouliot of Circling the Bases thinks Gallardo could win a Cy Young Award sometime in the next few years.
Charlie from Bucs Dugout tipped his cap to Gallardo.
Sully Baseball asks if eleven strikeouts weren't enough.
Baseball Musings says it's the first 1-0 game won by a pitcher's home run since 2002 when Odalis Perez did it, and just the eighth in the last 50 years.
The Bucky Channel is having a hard time coming up with words to describe the performance.

After the game yesterday the Brewers made a roster move, placing Mike Rivera on the DL with an ankle sprain and calling up Carlos Corporan to take his place. The Brewers had one empty spot on their 40-man roster, so no one had to be removed to make room for him. Corporan is seen as a good defensive catcher, but more or less anyone who knows how to put on the equipment and warm pitchers up in the bullpen can do what the Brewers are asking for from a backup catcher.

So, put yourself in the shoes of a Pirates fan for a moment. You've just seen your team swept at Miller Park, your fifteenth consecutive loss to the Brewers, and your lineup was dominated by Yovani Gallardo yesterday. What do you do now? I guess you could keep complaining about Ryan Braun, like Raise the Jolly Roger is doing.

After one month of baseball, Dan Szymborski of Baseball Think Factory has updated his 2009 ZiPS projections, and now projects Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder to finish second and third in baseball with 45 and 41 home runs, respectively. He also projects Braun to finish tied for second with 133 RBI.

Meanwhile, Dave Bush is leading the league in a less prestigious stat. Bush became the first pitcher in the major leagues to hit three batters in one game Tuesday night, and now leads the league with 5 hit batsmen.

Also via Plunk Everyone, Rickie Weeks needs six more HBP to take over the all-time lead at Miller Park. Geoff Jenkins is the current leader.

Dave Bush's three hit batsmen Tuesday weren't nearly as rare as Corey Hart's three walks, a new career high. The last time Hart walked three times in the same game was in a 24 inning contest in AAA.

Jorge Julio, on the other hand, has demonstrated the capacity to rack up walks at a much faster pace. Anthony Witrado has a story on Julio's relationship with Bill Castro, and what they've been working on since Julio's disastrous appearance in Philadelphia. The early results are good.

Maybe the Brewers will be underrated all season. Despite having won 7 of 8 games, getting back over .500 and moving into a tie for second place, MLB FanHouse moved the Brewers down from 24th to 25th in their power rankings. What a joke.

On the subject of jokes, Right Field Bleachers posted the audio of Bob Uecker's discussion of Twitter during yesterday's game. Good stuff. If you Twitter and you're not yet, you should be following BCB.

Here's a promotion the Brewers should use: Choose your Bobblehead night. The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers are letting the fans vote to pick the bobblehead given away on September 3. Rattler Radio lists the candidates, which include some classic Rattlers as well as Brett Lawrie and Cutter Dykstra.

Around the league:

Cardinals: Are expected to place infielder Brendan Ryan on the DL today with a hamstring strain.
Indians: Placed Travis Hafner on the DL with a sore shoulder.
Nationals: Acquired reliever Logan Kensing from the Marlins for a low-level pitching prospect.
Orioles: Ryan Freel, acquired from the Reds this spring, is unhappy with his role with the team and would like to leave.
Rockies: Placed infielder Jeff Baker on the DL with a sprained hand.
White Sox: Released reliever Mike MacDougal.

When I unveiled my NL Central predictions a month ago, I was called out for underrating the Cubs, who (at least in some eyes) could not possibly be considered anything less than a lock to dominate the NL Central. Obviously the season isn't over, but as the Cubs close April in fifth place and View From The Bleachers is calling for changes, I feel pretty good about my assessment.

Oh, and now that Joe Torre has batted his pitcher eighth, can we go back to calling it a good idea?

Drink up.

Brewers 6, Pirates 5

KLSnow — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 03:18:58 -0000

More photos » by Jim Prisching - AP

7 months ago: Milwaukee Brewers' Corey Hart, left, and Craig Counsell congratulate Rickie Weeks after his two-run home run off Pittsburgh Pirates' Jesse Chavez during the sixth inning of a baseball game Tuesday, April 28, 2009, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Jim Prisching)

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W: Jorge Julio (1-0)
L: Jesse Chavez (0-1)
S: Trevor Hoffman (1)

HR: Bill Hall (3), Rickie Weeks (5)

MVP: Rickie Weeks (+.195)
LVP: Dave Bush (-.259)

Win Expectancy Graph
SBNation Coverage

In a turn of events none of us would have seen as likely a week or two ago, the Brewer bullpen kept the Brewers in the game and carried them to victory tonight.

It wasn't Dave Bush's best night, to be certain. He allowed five runs (four earned) on six hits in five innings, and the Pirates scored in the third, fourth and fifth innings to run out to a 5-1 lead. But the Brewers scored two runs in the bottom of the fifth and three more in the bottom of the sixth (including a go-ahead two run homer by Rickie Weeks) to take a 6-5 lead, and Jorge Julio, Mitch Stetter, Todd Coffey and Trevor Hoffman each pitched an inning of scoreless relief to close out the game.

The top of the order carried the load tonight offensively, led by Corey Hart, who went 2-for-2 with a double and three walks. All told, the top three spots in the Brewer lineup went 6-for-12, were on base ten times, scored four runs and drove in four. Six Brewers drew a walk in the game, as the Pirates gave out nine free passes.

With the win, the Brewers have inched back to .500 at 10-10, and get another chance for their first sweep of the season tomorrow.

Phillies 11, Brewers 4

KLSnow — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 03:27:03 -0000

More photos » by H. Rumph Jr - AP

Ryan Braun hit two home runs tonight...so I guess there's that, right?

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W: Jamie Moyer (2-1)
L: Manny Parra (0-3)

HR: Ryan Braun 2 (3), Pedro Feliz (1)

MVP: Ryan Braun (+.230)
LVP: Manny Parra (-.317)

Win Expectancy Graph
SBNation Coverage

The weather in Philadelphia was almost as miserable as the Brewers' performance tonight. Ryan Braun gave the Brewers a 1-0 lead in the top of the first with his second home run of the season, but Manny Parra allowed four runs in the bottom half on four hits and two walks, effectively removing the Brewers from the game.

The Crew was briefly back in the game in the top of the fifth when Ryan Braun's second home run of the game brought the Brewers back within two at 5-3, but Jorge Julio emptied a gas can onto the fire, allowing four earned runs on two hits and three walks in two thirds of an inning.

In other news, Rickie Weeks left the game in the second inning after colliding with J.J. Hardy when both were in pursuit of a ground ball. Weeks was complaining of dizziness, and will likely be re-examined tomorrow.

In good news, Ryan Braun's two home runs were part of a 5-for-5 day for the left fielder, setting a career high in hits. It was just his second multi-hit game in the Brewers' last eleven contests.