SB Nation - Ryan Sadowski

Fast Eddie Wade ends Astros' quiet offseason by signing pitcher Ryan Sadowski

HighLeveragePerformer — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 22:56:58 -0000

The Big Sadowski mows down the Astros this past July.

Oh, Ed. Just when we thought you were going to sit on your hands and do nothing during the early days of the hot stove season, you make a savvy, depth-conscious signing by bringing former San Francisco Giant Ryan Sadowski into the fold.

You may remember Sadowski from such games as the July 3rd, 13-0 beatdown where Sadowski pitched seven shutout innings against our boys. So I guess, if you can beat them....join...them? We'll assume that's what went through Sadowski's head this morning.

After being drafted by the Giants in 2003, "The Big Sadowski" (and yes, that nickname will stick around these parts) hung around in the minors for six seasons before getting called up last season to take the place of injured starter Jonathan Sanchez. Sadowski had mixed results in his six big league starts, finishing the season with a 4.45 ERA and a 17/17 K/BB ratio.

Without having a ton of information to go off of, the knocks against Sadowski appear to be a lack of control, and a mediocre repertoire of pitches. CHONE recently released their 2010 pitcher projections, and their outlook for Mr. Sadowski is as a reliever, but is fairly optimistic:

IP	R	BB	K	ERA
53	28	26	44	4.42

Not going to wow you, but could be a useful arm to have around come spring training. With Wesley Wright, Felipe Paulino and Wilton Lopez expected to compete for the fifth starter's slot, Sadowksi should have an opportunity as well. If he can't beat one of them out, it's not as if the starting rotation in Round Rock is overflowing with talent, so he will be ready if and when he is needed.

Not quite the big move we were hoping for at this point in the offseason, but this is the sort of under the radar acquisition that may end up paying fairly large dividends in the upcoming season.

Friday's Frosty Mug

KLSnow — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 14:46:08 -0000

More photos » by David J. Phillip - AP

Randy Wolf: 2010 Brewer?

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Some things to read while combining restaurants.

There's been a (likely unsubstantiated) rumor floating around that the Brewers have reached agreement on a three year deal for Randy Wolf. Again, odds are it's nothing, but it's still probably the top story on a slow news day, so here's some reaction to it:

In-Between Hops says the move would "make the Brewers starting rotation 50% better than it is right now."
Jorge Says No! thinks "this deal could turn into Jeff Suppan 2.0."

My reaction to the deal would depend on the price. If it'll take Suppan money to sign Wolf, then I'm not interested. But if the price is the rumored 3 years/$27 million, then we're getting close to the acceptable range. A third season for Wolf might be a bit risky, but the price is low enough to not be crippling.

Meanwhile, the Brewers are also still rumored to have interest in Gregg Zaun. FanGraphs has targeted Zaun as one of the players they'd like you to stop by and project today.

Assuming the front office isn't preparing to announce a Randy Wolf deal, they're most likely getting ready for next week's Winter Meetings. Adam McCalvy has a preview, including the Brewer needs, and once again raises the possibility that Jason Kendall could be back next season. McCovey Chronicles ranked Kendall seventh in their Future Free Agent Mistake Power Rankings.

Could Manny Parra be more effective out of the bullpen? I'm not sure I'm sold on it, but Keith Law said the Brewers should think about it in yesterday's chat, as noted over at View From Bernie's Chalet. Law also isn't too high on either Mat Gamel or Casey McGehee as a long-term solution at third base.

I know at least one BCB'er is already in line to get in, but if you were still trying to decide on checking out the Clubhouse Sale at Miller Park this weekend, John and Cait have a preview of the items that will be featured. After seeing it, I wish I had time to go.

If you're looking to do some Christmas shopping but you're more of the minor league type, the Brevard County Manatees also have some holiday specials going.

Alcides Escobar and Hernan Iribarren will be back in the states this weekend, as the Venezuelan Winter League plays a two game series in Miami to showcase Venezuelan baseball in the US. Escobar and Iribarren's Lara team will take on a Zulia team which used to feature Brendan Katin. I'm assuming Katin has left the team, as he hasn't appeared in a game in over a month.

Elsewhere in the winter leagues, Mat Gamel went 0-for-2 with a strikeout in his VWL debut for Caracas last night. You can read about that and more in today's Winter League Update.

Around baseball:

Astros: Signed pitcher Ryan Sadowski to a minor league deal.
A's: Acquired Aaron Miles and Jake Fox from the Cubs for reliever Jeff Gray and two minor leaguers.
Braves: Signed Takashi Saito to a one year deal.
D-Backs: Removed reliever Kyler Newby and catcher Luke Carlin from their 40-man roster. (h/t AZ Snakepit)
Mets: Signed Henry Blanco to a one year, $1.5 million deal.
Phillies: Signed Placido Polanco to a three year deal worth $18 million.
Rays: Released pitcher Ramon Ramirez.
Red Sox: Signed Marco Scutaro to a two year deal with a mutual option for 2012.

If some of the Brewers' current pitching targets don't turn out, might they be interested in Gil Meche? MLB Trade Rumors says the Royals are expecting to receive offers for him once the free agent market starts to heat up. Meche is owed $24 million over the next two seasons, but has posted a sub-4.00 ERA in two of the last three years.

All three of these guys will probably come up in connection to the Brewers again at some point: Lookout Landing has a look at the upsides of Rich Harden, Erik Bedard and Ben Sheets, and explains why Harden is in a better position than Bedard for 2010.

Happy birthday today to:

Carlos Gomez, who turns 24.
Harvey Kuenn, who would have turned 79.

Oh, and no matter how disappointed you are in the offseason so far, at least we can all be glad Doug Melvin isn't responsible for these robocalls.

Drink up.

NL West Report: Hispanic Nicknames

Poseidon's Fist — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 16:00:39 -0000

More photos » by Ross D. Franklin - AP

Article-subject language disagreement

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Earlier this season Giants, who played with a uniform featuring "Gigantes" across the front for Hispanic Heritage Night. The Diamonbacks utilized a similar tactic this weekend, taking the field with "Los D-Backs" emblazened across the front of their alternate black uniforms.

Unfortunately for Arizona, the Hispanic mojo didn't help them on the field, as they appear more like Los Lonely Boys in the NL West cellar after two terrible weeks. Or, as Jim McLennan from the Pit notes, the uniforms would be more apt had a "t" been added after the "Los."

The use of Spanish on uniforms got me thinking...what if the Rockies put on their uniforms and follow the lead of their divisional foes? There may be less of a Hispanic population in Colorado than Arizona or California, but it is certainly a noteworthy presence all the same. In addition, the Rockies payroll is increasing dramatically in the Hispanic sector. Tell me what you think in the poll.

NL West Report

Arizona (62-82, t5th, L3, 23 GB)

Last Week: 1-5. 1-2 vs Dodgers. 0-3 vs Brewers. Arizona was swept for the second straight weekend, sending them to three games below fourth-place San Diego after going 2-11 the last two weeks. The loss yesterday guaranteed the Diamondbacks of a losing season, quite the disappointment after being a popular 1st or 2nd place team in preseason predictions.

Pace: 70-92 (-2 from last week)

Divisional Change: Lost 3.0 games on LAD.

This Week: 3 game road series @ Padres, 3 game home series vs Rockies. The schedule doesn't get any easier for Arizona, who has to go to Petco to play a team riding a 6-series win streak before hosting all the awesomeness that is the Colorado Rockies.

News: Inside the D-backs: Decision on coaching staff to come later

Ken Rosenthal suggests Arizona third base coach Chip Hale or former manager Bob Melvin as a fit for the Nationals managerial position next year, though interim manager Jim Riggelman has a legitimate shot to retain his post.

Top prospect Jarrod Parker will begin a throwing program tomorrow. Arizona's 2007 first-round pick was shut down in July after feeling discomfort in his elbow. After reassessing him in coming weeks, the Diamondbacks will decide whether he requires surgery or not. Says Josh Byrnes:

"Anytime an injury doesn't respond, I think you have to consider surgery...But again there's reason to believe the conservative course will get him back to where he was." - Steve Gilbert, MLB.com

Jarrod Parker

#77 / Pitcher / Arizona Diamondbacks

Height: 6-1

Weight: 180

Bats: R

Throws: R

Born: Nov 24, 1988

Kevin Mulvey, a waiver trade pickup from Minnesota, made his first career start Saturday. He struggled mightily in a 9-2 loss to the Brewers.

Transactions: Recalled OF Trent Oeltjen and C Luke Carlin.

Injuries: Activated LHP Scott Schoeneweis (depression) from the 15-day DL. Nothing new was found in recent bloodwork for Conor Jackson, but he's likely to miss the rest of the season, making it difficult for last year's cleanup man to earn his roster spot back for 2010.

Arizona Diamondbacks Injuries

15-Day

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Chris Snyder	lower-back	08/23/2009

60 Day DL / Out for the season

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Chad Qualls	knee	08/31/2009
Conor Jackson	pneumonia	05/12/2009
Brandon Webb	shoulder	04/07/2009

Los Angeles (85-59, 1st, L1)

Last Week: 4-2. 2-1 @ Diamondbacks. 2-1 @ Giants. Los Angeles failed to complete the sweep in both series after winning the first two games both times. It was a strong turnaround after failing to win either series the previous week agains the division's worst teams.

Pace: 97-65. (+2)

Divisional Change: Lost 0.5 game lead on COL.

This Week: 3 game home series vs Pirates, 3 game home series vs Giants. While the Rockies try to win a game at AT&T Park, the Dodgers can force the Rockies to be focusing on the wild card by sweeping the Pirates. It is the first time the Dodgers and Pirates have played this season.

News: Ronnie Belliard is providing an excuse for the Dodgers not to pay Orlando Hudson. In starting in place of Hudson 5 of the last 13 games, Belliard is robbing Hudson of the $10K/PA the starting second-sacker is due to receive per his contract.

Orlando Hudson

#13 / Second Base / Los Angeles Dodgers

Height: 6-0

Weight: 190

Bats: B

Throws: R

Born: Dec 12, 1977

	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	K	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG
2009 - Orlando Hudson	135	514	70	147	31	4	9	58	53	92	8	1	.286	.354	.414

Say what you will about a collapse - holding a divisional lead for practically the entirety of a season is something to be commended, and only a team with several strong contributors are capable of such a feat. So who is the MVP of the team? The answer from a few players may surprise you.

Brad Penny and Larry Bowa made amends in a private meeting this past weekend. The two were at ugly odds over several issues after Penny's departure from Los Angeles.

Ken Rosenthal also suggests the Dodgers may be interested in Dan Uggla.

Transactions: Called up IFs Chin-Lung Hu and Blake DeWitt.

Injuries: Activated RHP Hiroki Kuroda from the 15-day DL. Clayton Kershaw missed his Friday start with a bruised shoulder. He won't be on the DL and should return soon. Jim Thome is day-to-day with a right heel issue, and Randy Wolf is day-to-day with left elbow stiffness. He is scheduled to make his start tomorrow against Pittsburgh. Will Ohman is still attempting to return to the Dodgers this month after being on the DL since May 28 with a left shoulder injury.

Los Angeles Dodgers Injuries

Probable

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Randy Wolf	elbow	09/13/2009

Questionable

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Clayton Kershaw	shoulder	09/13/2009

15-Day

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Will Ohman	shoulder	05/28/2009
Guillermo Mota	other-excused	08/30/2009

60 Day DL / Out for the season

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Xavier Paul	ankle	05/21/2009
Jason Schmidt	shoulder	08/06/2009

San Diego (60-78, 5th, L2, 22.5 GB)

Last Week: 4-2. 2-1 @ Giants, 2-1 vs Rockies. The Padres have become the ultimate spoilers. They have now won six straight series, five against the top seven playoff contending teams. Despite winning the series against Colorado, however, the Rockies mathematically eliminated San Diego from the division title Friday.

Pace: 70-94 (+1).

Divisonal change: No change.

This Week: 3 game home series vs Diamondbacks, First 3 games of a 4 game road series @ Pirates. Will there be a letdown now that they will be playing two of the three teams that are more than a game worse than them?

News: The Padres are out to thwart contending teams, and that is no joke. The only consolation for playoff teams is that they have been a thorn in every team's side, defeating every playoff contender they have faced in the last seven series two games to one.

Nick Hundley drove in a run in walk-off fashion, in his first career pinch-hit AB. And he didn't even have to make contact.

An AL Scout says Kevin Towers fleeced Billy Beane with the Scott Hairston deal, the trade in which he recieved RHPs Sean Gallagher, Ryan Webb and Craig Italiano. That's hard to argue against when Hairston has a worse OBP than any Rockie position player, including Omar Quintanilla.

Scott Hairston

#12 / Left Field / Oakland Athletics

Height: 6-0

Weight: 195

Bats: R

Throws: R

Born: May 25, 1980

	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	K	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG
2009 - Scott Hairston	52	205	21	49	10	1	7	32	8	32	3	2	.239	.269	.400

Ken Rosenthal says the Padres' payroll could be as low as being in the neighborhood of $25million next year. For that to happen, Adrian Gonzalez and Heath Bell would have to be moved, along with Brian Giles leaving the payroll. Those three moves have a decent chance of happening.

Baltimore is averse to trading their top prospects, so they are out of the running for A-Gone, not that I saw much of a fit there to begin with.

Transactions: Recalled RHP Sean Gallagher and LHPs Aaron Poreda and Cesar Ramos from AAA Portland.

Injuries: Rookie OF Kyle Blanks will likely miss the rest of the season with a partial tear in his right plantar fascia (part of the foot). Kevin Kouzmanoff is still day to day with a strained calf.

San Diego Padres Injuries

15-Day

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Brian Giles	knee	06/19/2009
Kyle Blanks	foot	08/29/2009
Mike Adams	shoulder	08/22/2009

60 Day DL / Out for the season

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Mark Worrell	elbow	03/27/2009
Cha Seung Baek	forearm	03/30/2009
Shawn Hill	elbow	04/26/2009
Chris Young	shoulder	06/15/2009

San Francisco (77-66, 3rd, W1, 7.5 GB in Div, 4.5 GB in WC)

Last Week: 2-4. 1-2 vs Padres. 1-2 vs Dodgers. I would consider it a failure of a week to lose two games in the wild card standings in which you lose a home series against the Padres then fail to capitalize when the Padres swiped a series from Colorado.

Pace: 87-75 (-2).

Divisional Change: Lost 2.0 games in NL West (LAD), lost 2 games in WC (COL).

This Week: 3 game home series vs Rockies, 3 game road series @ Dodgers. If the Giants don't take advantage of their mound triumverate and at least win the series against Colorado, it will be hard to continue considering them in contention for the wild card, as they would be 5.5 games back at best with 16 games left.

News: Timcecum missed his last start but should be back tonight. He'll face Jason Hammel, who quite literally is the best fifth starter in MLB.

Several Giants are nearing career numbers, not greatly surprising given their youth. However, one player worth highlighing is Jeremy Affeldt, who raised eyebrows by signing a quick lucrative deal in the offseason. He has already shown why he deserved that contract. He leads the league in holds, for what you will make of that.

Jeremy Affeldt

#41 / Pitcher / San Francisco Giants

Height: 6-4

Weight: 225

Bats: L

Throws: L

Born: Jun 06, 1979

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2009 - Jeremy Affeldt	1-2	65	0	0	0	0	0	53.0	40	13	11	2	28	45	1.87	1.28

I hate to point this out - I really do - but after beating the Dodgers last night, Brad Penny is 3-0 with a 1.64 ERA in three starts since joining the Giants' rotation. That's good for a 0.4 WAR, giving him a strong shot to pass Randy Johnson's three month body of work (0.5 WAR) in just a month. It is worth noting he won the Giants' only game against the Padres as well as defeating two strong offenses and two of the best teams in the National League.

Top prospect Madison Bumgarner made his MLB debut Tuesday. The promotion was a surprise but oddly mirrors the Rockies move to try out Esmil Rogers against the Padres in an effort to delay their hobbled ace for the Rockies series. Bumgarner San earned a no-decision, allowing two runs in 5.1 IP including five hits, two of them home runs.

Transactions: Called up LHPs Madison Bumgarner and Alex Hinshaw, RHP Joe Martinez and 2b Kevin Frandsen. Outrighted RHP Ryan Sadowski to AAA Fresno and DFA'd RHP Osiris Matos. The Washington Nationals claimed P Jesse English from the Giants on waivers.

Injuries: Activated Freddy Sanchez from the 15-day DL, finally. Tim Lincecum missed his last start with back spasms but is expected to take the mound tonight against Jason Hammel and the Rockies. Randy Johnson has seen no setbacks of yet in his attempt to return to action with the Giants in their bullpen.

San Francisco Giants Injuries

Probable

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Tim Lincecum	lower-back	09/12/2009

60 Day DL / Out for the season

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Randy Johnson	trapezius	07/06/2009
Noah Lowry	ribs	03/27/2009
Kelvin Pichardo	shoulder	06/28/2009
Emmanuel Burriss	foot	09/01/2009
Henry Sosa	shoulder	08/05/2009

Poll

If the Rockies were to have a Hispanic Heritage Night, what would they put on their uniforms?

Las Montañas

51 votes

Los Rockies

28 votes

Las Montañas Rocosas

26 votes

Rockies

28 votes

Red

10 votes

Other/Tell me in the comments

4 votes

147 votes | Poll has closed

Thursday's Frosty Mug

KLSnow — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 14:32:43 -0000

by Jeff Roberson - AP

Dave Bush is pulled out of the game by Ken Macha as Jason Kendall stands by during the fourth inning Wednesday.

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Some things to read while overextending yourself.

The Brewers managed to get eleven baserunners in six innings off of Chris Carpenter last night, the second most he's allowed all season, but the pitching staff couldn't keep the Brewers in the game long enough to give the team an opportunity to win. There's no shame in being outpitched by the bionic arm of Chris Carpenter. Jeff Passan of Yahoo has a profile of the Cy Young candidate and his dozens of surgical scars.

Dave Bush couldn't beat Carpenter last night, so he plunked him instead. That HBP was the 50th of Bush's Brewer career, making him the new franchise leader. He also picked up his 51st later in the game. After the game, Bush brushed off the suggestion that he could have used more time in the minors to prepare for his return. With the Brewers now below a 1-in-1000 shot of making the playoffs, they've got plenty of time to give Bush a few more starts and see if he straightens himself out.

Mike Cameron might be back next season after all: He told reporters he would be willing to make a sacrifice to remain in Milwaukee for 2010. FanGraphs has Cameron at 3.9 WAR for the season, the third highest total on the team.

Corey Hart is ready for a rehab assignment, and will spend the weekend with Nashville to see if he's ready for a return to big league action. He won't exactly be bumping aside a whole lot of vaunted prospects in the outfield in AAA: Yesterday's Sounds outfield featured both Corey Patterson and recent independent leaguer Tike Redman, with Jon Knott, another recent indy leaguer, pinch hitting. The Sounds lost to Memphis for the second straight day, dropping a game and a half behind in the division.

The Brevard County Manatees are playoff bound, and after months of living in the dark, we finally have a site covering them. Space Coast Baseball will be doing live audio broadcasts from Manatees games over the weekend and in the playoffs. The site is still pretty new, but it's great to have resources like it out there.

J.J. Hardy has gone 1-for-4 each of the last two nights since returning to the major leagues. What do you expect the Brewers to get for him this offseason? The Blue Jay Hunter would like to see him in Toronto, and is willing to offer relievers Jeremy Accardo and Jason Frasor, who would do a lot to help solidify the Brewer bullpen for next season but would still leave a gap in the rotation.

Meanwhile, Chris Capuano pitched well in his first appearance in Helena, throwing two scoreless innings. His velocity is down a bit, but that's to be expected from someone who's undergone Tommy John surgery twice. It'll be interesting to see what happens with Cappy after the season: He probably owes something to the Brewers, who spent all season rehabbing him despite very faint hops he'd pitch in 2009, but he'll also be a free agent.

The Brewers are commissioning focus groups to discuss what fans liked and didn't like about this season's Brewer team and ballpark experience. I'm guessing "more winning," "lower concession prices" and "cheaper parking" will be the suggestions.

The Brewers are up two spots to #18 in MLB FanHouse's Power Rankings.

Around baseball:

A's: Claimed pitcher John Meloan off waivers from the Pirates.
Giants: Designated pitchers Ryan Sadowski and Jesse English for assignment.
Nationals: Acquired minor league reliever Victor Garate as the PTBNL in the Ronnie Belliard trade.

We've hit September, so it's time to start talking about mathematical eliminations. As Jon Heyman noted, the Nationals were eliminated from contention in the NL East last night. The Orioles have already been eliminated from the division race as well. A Nats loss or a Rockies win today would eliminate them from contention for the Wild Card as well.

As a rule, I typically skim over or skip most things written by athletes on the web: They rarely have anything interesting to say, and would get themselves in trouble if they did say something worth noting, for the most part. With that said, I'm glad I didn't skip over this post at Baseball Analysts by A's prospect and Harvard grad Shawn Haviland, discussing the statistics that minor league pitching coaches do and don't care about, and how fluctuation in BABIP can impact them.

Rob Neyer and Wezen-ball offer their insights on old time pitchers, and how hard they actually threw. Neyer's analysis seems about right to me: they threw hard enough to earn a living today, but wouldn't dominate as they did then.

Getaway days in San Diego are going to suck next season: The Padres are moving the start of weekday day games from 12:35 Pacific Time to 3:35, meaning East Coast and Central Time Zone teams probably won't get out of San Diego until 7 or later local time, then face a cross country flight where they'll lose several hours in the air.

Congratulations are due out to former Brewer farmhand Michael Brantley, who picked up his first major league hit last night.

On this day in 1901, the original Milwaukee Brewers (who would later become the St. Louis Browns and Baltimore Orioles) lost both ends of a doubleheader, 10-0 and 6-1, to the original Baltimore Orioles (who would later become the New York Yankees). Joe McGinnity pitched complete games in both games for the Orioles.

On this day in 1976, Mike Hegan hit for the cycle as the Brewers beat the Tigers, 11-2. On this day in 1991, Jim Gantner homered (ending a 1762 AB homerless streak) and the Brewers scored three runs in the ninth to beat the A's, 5-3.

Happy birthday today to two former Brewer bullpen arms: Chad Fox, who turns 39, and Eric Plunk, who turns 46.

Oh, and yesterday was probably the only time William Ernest Henley will come up in baseball conversation this season.

Drink up.

The Wild Card Lead is on the line at Coors this weekend. Sort of.

Poseidon's Fist — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 15:41:32 -0000

More photos » by Gregory Smith - AP

This picture amused me. If Sandoval makes the Hall of Fame someday, I nominate this as a model for his statue.

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Little Giant series

I don't know about you, but I circled today's date on my calendar at the All-Star break. The Rockies had pulled within 2 games of the wild card leading Giants, and this weekend was the chance to take over the lead at home. Of course, that's not the storyline anymore, but at least it's not because we were the ones to blow up over the past week.

We probably should have known - at the ASB, no team in MLB baseball had won more home games than the Giants. They were padding their record at AT&T and struggling on the road. So naturally, the Giants dropped 5 of 7 on the road to begin the season's second half while the Rockies won 5 of 7.

The result: not only have the Rockies caught the Giants, but we are a full game ahead of them. At this point, the only way we aren't at least tied for the WC lead is if the Giants sweep us. Even losing the series 2-1 results in a tie.

Adding to the loss of luster for the series would be two MIA All-Star pitchers. Jason Marquis has been scratched from tonight's start due to lingering blister issues, and Tim Lincecum is not scheduled to start this weekend.

So with some of the juiciness dried up, is it time for a letdown? Not likely. While we might have been looking forward to this showdown of a series, the Rockies were taking care of business against lesser opponents. And of course, these games are still important, as there is only a shaky one game lead in hand, and we have the charging Braves, Marlins, Astros and Cubs to deal with. Plus the Dodgers have won five straight, so there must be not mercy on the Giants if there are still any pipedreams of making up nine games on Los Angeles.

The Giants have won 3 of the 5 games in the season series so far, so after this series, there's still 10 head-to-head games among the 64 left, so while important, this weekend will be far from deciding anything. It would still be nice to knock them 4 games off the pace though.

If you have been overwhelmed by how busy the Row has been lately, check out McCovey Chronicles, the NL West's beacon of bustling activity.

San Francisco Giants (51-44, W1, 3rd, 1 GB WC, 10 GB Div)

Friday-Sunday: 3-game series at Coors Field

The Bats: F

The Rockies are hitting .259, good for 17th in MLB - the Giants slide in at .258, 18th in MLB. Surprised? I was too - then again, batting average isn't everything. San Fran has scored just 384 runs, 5th worst in the majors. They did themselves no favors by scoring 16 runs in the 7 games since the All-Star Break. They have also managed just 63 home runs, 10 worse than every MLB team sans the almighty Mets.

Most telling is their team wOBA of .302, powered by a league-worst .307 OBP. Their Fangraphs hitting value puts them at -77.0 runs, dead last in the majors by a wide margin. So basically, they can get singles, but can't hit home runs and can't get on base. And aside from the Kung Fu Panda, there isn't a single hitter in the lineup that is more of a threat than Dexter Fowler (seriously - cross-reference wOBAs). And this is despite playing in a hitters' park - yes, AT&T Park has a Park Factor of 102 historically, 103 this year. It kills home runs but inflates everything else. No excuses.

Bruce Bochy has a musical chairs project of six outfielders for the three outfield spots, while his starting shortstop and center fielder have been injred recently. Both should return this weekend. Alas, it makes it difficult to know what Bochy's A lineup is, but here's a guess:

LINEUP	Avg	HR	RBI	OBP	SLG	wOBA
Randy Winn - LF	.278	2	38	.324	.391	.319
Edgar Renteria - SS	.254	2	38	.308	.316	.279
Pablo Sandoval - 3B	.322	15	56	.371	.551	.390
Bengie Molina - C	.267	11	50	.279	.437	.303
Nate Schierholtz - RF	.291	3	19	.319	.413	.313
Aaron Rowand - CF	.274	9	41	.334	.436	.338
Travis Ishikawa - 1B	.262	7	30	.314	.413	.315
Matt Downs - 2B	.186	1	2	.280	.302	.261

By wOBA metrics, the lineup features one All-Star caliber players (Sandoval), one slightly above average hitter (Rowand), four below average (Winn, Schierholtz, Molina and Ishikawa), and bad hitter (Renteria) and one absolutely terrible hitter (Downs).

Juan Uribe (.294, 4, 21) is the utility infielder. John Bowker (4-for-28, 1 HR) can play first base or outfield, while Fred Lewis (.243, 4, 12) and Andres Torres (.239, 2, 11) are backup outfielders. Bowker , Lewis, Torres, and Schierholtz have played musical chairs for one outfield spot, or more during injuries. Rookie Eli Whiteside (.231, 0, 3) is Molina's backup catcher.

Hop after the jump for the scouting report on the arms, the D, the pitching matchups and the hot/cold players.

The Arms: A-

The Giants are tied with the Dodgers in leading MLB with a 3.57 ERA. They lead the league by a ridiculously large margin in strikeouts with 756. They are tops on the leaderboards in complete games and shutouts. Then again, almost half of their rotation value comes from Tim Lincecum, who we will miss in the series. Thus, Timcecum will be factored out in rating the staff. Overall, the rotation has an ERA/FIP/tRA split of 3.67/3.79/4.16, while their bullpen comes in at 3.37/3.75/3.96. They are a legitimately strong staff, even sans the CY winner.

Behind inconsistency (Sanchez), luck (Cain), and inexperience (Sadowski), the rotation doesn't pose an insurmountable task, even if we miss their only two below average starters (Zito and Johnson).

The back end of the bullpen is anchored by closer Brian Wilson, followed by Jeremy Affeldt, Sergio Romo and Bob Howry. Merkin Valdez, Justin Miller and Brandon Medders fill out the bullpen.

The D: A

Who would believe that San Francisco is leading MLB in UZR/150, especially in that ballpark? Only seven teams have made fewer errors, and Fangraphs rates them as the 3rd best defense. Huh. Pablo Sandoval and Edgar Renteria are the only fielders rated out as below average.

Probable Pitchers:

Tonight, 7:10 pm MDT

	W-L	ERA	WHIP	K	BB
2009 - Matt Cain	11-2	2.32	1.23	103	48

All-Star Matt Cain rebounded from his elbow injury to allow one run in 7 innings in his last start. In fact, he's allowed one run or less in 6 of 7 starts and 10 of 12. But in a factoid sure to rile up the SABR-haters, Cain listed as less valuable this year than Jorge de la Rosa by Fangraphs and Statcorner. Seriously though, check DLR and Cain's K and BB totals. It's interesting. Cain is enjoying a ludicrously high strand rate (along with Affeldt and Miller) with a career low BABIP, in spite of an above career average line drive rate. Translation: Cain is getting very lucky.

	W-L	ERA	WHIP	K	BB
2009 - Jason Hammel	5-4	4.26	1.45	68	24

It is the first of consecutive tough draws for Hammel, who will face Johan Santana on Wednesday. Since his gem on July 1, he has struggled with either pitch count or getting hit hard in his last three starts, to the point of being the universal Rowbot candidate for demotion to the bullpen in favor of Jhoulys Chacin. Still, he's been a reliable starter at the back end of the rotation and has the ability to stymie the Giants' lineup and give the Rockies a chance, even at Coors Field.

Saturday, July 25, 6:10 pm MDT

	W-L	ERA	WHIP	K	BB
2009 - Jonathan Sanchez	3-8	4.68	1.45	87	47

Jonathan threw a no-hitter. So did Anibal once. Due congratulations, but big whoop. The lefty had been relegated to the bullpen and was only reinstated due to Randy Johnson's injury. When he's on, he's very talented, but he's been erratic, evening out as an average to slightly above average pitcher. He's also just 1-2 with a 7.47 ERA in his career against the Rockies.

	W-L	ERA	WHIP	K	BB
2009 - Jorge De La Rosa	7-7	4.95	1.40	105	47

The Rockies counter with their own electric, inconsistent lefty. He has quietly been improving of late, tossing four consecutive quality starts, while the Rockies have won the last six times he has been on the hill, and eight of nine. His slider was recently rated as the #4 most difficult pitch to hit in the majors, and his fastball is top 15 in MLB in velocity. Not a bad fifth starter.

Sunday, July 26, 1:10 MDT

	W-L	ERA	WHIP	K	BB
2009 - Ryan Sadowski	2-2	4.15	1.43	12	11

The 2002 13th round pick actually replaced Sanchez in the rotation in June. He allowed just 2 runs in his first three starts, but he didn't really face a threatening offense. Then Atlanta hung eight runs on him in his last start. He's a five pitch pitcher, throwing a fastball (89), slider (86), cutter (86), curve (77) and changeup (83), though only the fastball and cutter are above average pitches. Nothing about his stuff is overpowering, and he'll be facing the strongest offense in the best run-scoring environment of his career.

	W-L	ERA	WHIP	K	BB
2009 - Aaron Cook	9-3	3.94	1.42	67	39

Cook has a very good stat line, but tRA and FIP don't like him - in fact, they haven't all year, as is the case with a lot of contact pitchers. Certainly, his double play ability and veteran mentality should give him a better stats than peripherals would suggest - I won't deny that. Just keep in mind he's doing all this with a career high strand rate, career low BABIP, and a sinker he can't seem to keep down in recent starts.

My take

Tonight's game should be a Giant challenge (I groaned at that one myself). ESPN's AccuScore gives SF 11:9 odds to win, while oddsmakers have Colorado as -125 moneyline favorites. The Rockies have the advantage in starting pitching in Saturday and Sunday's games, with the obvious offensive advantage. If the Rockies can manage to eek out a win tonight, it makes it almost impossible to lose the series,while making a huge sweep likely. This should definitely be a series win, with a win tonight being far more likely than it would appear.

Matt Cain has given up more than one run just once in his last 7 starts. Brian Wilson has allowed just two base runners in his last 5 innings, all scoreless. Nate Schierholtz is 9-for-24 in the last week, helping to secure playing time in the crowded outfield.

The entire team is on a 7-game homerless drought despite playing away from AT&T Park in all seven games. Pablo Sandoval, Juan Uribe, Edgar Renteria, John Bowker and Fred Lewis are all hitting under .200 since the ASB. Only Randy Winn and Schierholtz have posted post-ASB OPS' above .700.

Randy Johnson (shoulder) and Rich Aurilia (toe) are both on the 15-day DL. Noah Lowry (ribs) and Joe Martinez (concussion) have been on the 60 day DL since at least Opening Week, and pitcher Kelvin Pichardo (shoulder) joined them late last month.

Poll

So whadduya think?

Cain has only won 2 games at Coors in his career. We'll ambush him tonight, Hammel will handle their anemic offense, and we will go on for the sweep. The Giants are who we thought they were.

68 votes

Can't predict a swep with a Cain vs Hammel matchup, but we definitely should take the series and increase our WC lead.

172 votes

The Giants take 2 of 3 to even up the WC standings

41 votes

Wave goodbye to the Wild Card lead. The Giants take it from us with a sweep despite Lincecum never leaving the dugout.

34 votes

315 votes | Poll has closed

Game 94 Recap: Giants 1, Braves 8

gondeee — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 02:01:13 -0000

More photos » by John Bazemore - AP

Atlanta Braves starter Derek Lowe throws in the first inning of a baseball game against the San Francisco Giants in Atlanta, Tuesday July 21, 2009.

Browse more photos »

Whatever we're doing, let's keep doing it. Baseball Musing had a great headline about the outing by the Giants' starter, Ryan Sadowski, that read, "Sad Night for Sadowski." How true. The Braves seem to be doing everything right the last few days. Tonight, 6 of the Braves 8 runs came with two outs -- 4 by Brian McCann, who chased Sadowski with a 3-run jack to straight-away center field in the fourth inning.

Derek Lowe kept his run of good starts going with a quality start in which he had his sinker working -- 11 groundouts to 3 flyouts. He wasn't lights out, but he pitched a very Derek Lowe-esque game by managing the trouble and holding the opposition to mostly singles.

The bullpen got some good work in and finished out the win for Atlanta. I could go on, but it was just a good overall game. Hitting from everywhere in the order, and once we got even a 4-run lead I felt we had the game won with the way the Giants offense is. After it was 8-to-1 it was a cakewalk. Let's hope we can keep the momentum rolling against one of the best pitchers in baseball tomorrow.

Final - 7.21.2009	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R
San Francisco Giants	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1
Atlanta Braves	1	0	3	4	0	0	0	0	X	8

Complete Coverage >

NL West exceeds expectations as a whole in 2009's first half

Poseidon's Fist — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 17:00:14 -0000

So we have reached the All-Star Break. The mid-way point. I guess it's a good time to reflect on how the season has played out in the NL West. The Rockies have the most wins in franchise history by the All-Star Break and are the most games over .500 since 1995. So how does this bipolar Rockies season stack up in the NL West?

NL West Standings

	W	L	PCT	GB	STRK
Los Angeles	56	32	.636	0	Won 1
San Francisco	49	39	.556	7	Lost 1
Colorado	47	41	.534	9	Won 1
Arizona	38	51	.426	18.5	Lost 1
San Diego	36	52	.409	20	Won 1

(updated 7.12.2009 at 6:49 PM MDT)

Of course, those standings hardly surprise you I'm sure, given you probably keep good track of this daily. Besides, the order of the teams placed in the division are pretty well in line with popular opinion prior to Opening Day. In fact, they fall perfectly in line with Baseball Prospectus' pre-season projections. Yawn. We knew the Dodgers would be good and that the Padres would be terrible.

What might be more interesting is measuring the teams' record against what was expected. Which team is overachieving their expectations? Which team is performing far worse than anyone thought? And how has that changed over the course of the season?

This is why graphs are cool. I put together the graph below that depicts the number of games over (or under) the projected win percentage for each NL West team, after every game of the season. Each individual team's graph will mirror their win percentage graph, but this is normalized to each team's expected playing level. So any team above zero is exceeding projections - any team below is disappointing.

Blue denotes the Dodgers, green the Padres, orange the Giants, purple the Rockies, and red the Diamondbacks. Click wide view to see the graph in all its primitive glory.

A couple things to take from this, most of which you already know:

The Dodgers have been playing at a high level since mid-April, lost very little during Manny Ramirez' suspension, and are currently outperforming projections more than any current team. In fact, this is their best record at the All-Star Break since 1977.
The Padres have spent less than five days in the black. Despite their abysmal record, they've been above BP's expectations practically the entire year. That means two things: 1) We all knew the Friars would be terrible, and 2) Bud Black has done a fantastic job despite losing 60% of his games. In fact, if this was your criteria, Black could be Jim Tracy's best competition for Manager of the Division.
The Rockies' start to the season was BAAAAD, but winning streaks do serious damage in the standings no matter how you look at it.
The Diamondbacks have underperformed the entire season, but the Rockies were the team to hit rock bottom, a full seven games below their expected record, six games after Jim Tracy took over.
AJ Hinch initially recovered after a lull, but Arizona is worse off now than they ever were with Bob Melvin.
Other than the Diamondbacks, the NL West has been surprisingly successful to date. The other four divisional teams sit at least a win better than their expected record at the All-Star Break.

So we've covered the present and the past. Might as well complete the trifecta by looking at the future. How about Baseball Prospectus' projected final standings, which takes the first half's games into account.

NL West PROJECTED Standings

	W	L	PCT	GB	PLAYOFF ODDS
Los Angeles	100	62	.617	0	98.94%
Colorado	87	75	.537	13	42.60%
San Francisco	86	76	.531	14	35.43%
Arizona	73	89	.451	27	0.34%
San Diego	67	95	.414	33	0.01%

(updated 7.12.2009 at 6:49 PM MDT)

So there you go. The Giants and Rockies are given 32.34% and 39.04% chances of winning the wild card, while no other NL team has more than a 3.65% chance. Compare that to the Rockies' 3.56% chance of winning the NL West. Mr. Kruk, BP says the Rockies have twice the chance to win the NL West than the Mets making the playoffs...Hmm...

For a smaller timescale, check the week in review of the NL West after the jump.

NL West Report

Arizona (38-51, 4th, L1, 18.5 GB)

Last Week: 5-2. 3-0 vs Padres, 2-2 vs Marlins. In spite of a strong 5-2 week, Arizona gained just a half game on Los Angeles and gained no ground on Colorado or San Francisco.

This Week: ASB, 3 game road series @ Cardinals.

News: Arizona finally cut the cord and released the ineffective Tony Clark. The big pinch-hitter has looked completely overmatched this season, except for Opening Day of course. AZ SnakePit reacts.

Tony Clark

#31 / First Base / Arizona Diamondbacks

Height: 6-7

Weight: 245

Bats: B

Throws: R

Born: Jun 15, 1972

	AVG	OBP	SLG
2009 - Tony Clark	.182	.295	.424

(Note: As bad as that stat line is, it's still better than Chris Young)

Jon Heyman of SI says offers for Chad Qualls may be "too tempting to ignore." However, Arizona might lean towards keeping Doug Davis, as they won't get the 1st to 2nd round talent they desire in a trade and would gain from a compensatory pick should Davis leave in free agency.

The Diamondbacks traded reliever Tony Pena to the White Sox for power hitting first baseman Brandon Allen. Allen will DH or play 1B in AAA, especially now that Josh Whitesell can play with the big club with the Clark transaction.

There is no new injury news to report. Arizona did option Ryan Roberts to AAA and recall Leo Rosales

Arizona Diamondbacks Injuries

15-Day

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Eric Byrnes	hand	06/26/2009
Chris Snyder	lower-back	06/21/2009

60 Day DL / Out for the season

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Tom Gordon	hamstring	05/04/2009
Conor Jackson	pneumonia	05/12/2009
Brandon Webb	shoulder	04/07/2009

Los Angeles (56-32, 1st, W2)

Last Week: 4-2. 2-1 @ Mets, 2-1 @ Brewers. An impressive road trip helped close out the Dodgers' best start in 32 years.

This Week: ASB. 4 game home series vs Astros. Houston has quietly climbed to .500 and sits just one game below .500 on the road, so this series isn't necessarily as cupcakey as one might think.

News: All-Star closer Jonathan Broxton will miss the All-Star Game with a toe injury. There's no word on how long he'll be out, but with Ronald Belisario injured as well, two of the Dodgers' top three relievers are on the shelf with injuries.

Jonathan Broxton

#51 / Pitcher / Los Angeles Dodgers

Height: 6-4

Weight: 290

Bats: R

Throws: R

Born: Jun 16, 1984

	W-L	ERA	WHIP	K	BB
2009 - Jonathan Broxton	6-0	3.10	0.93	65	17

Bill Shaikin of the LA Times suggests a package of Russell Martin, Josh Lindblom and Devaris Gordon to land Roy Halladay, then suggests LA wouldn't even do that deal because Gordon is "untouchable" and "the coaching staff would be reluctant to lose Martin." Yeah okay.

Apparently, there were two LA scouts at a Toronto game, but not for Halladay. For Scott Rolen.

LA is still interested in Mark Mulder.

Manny Ramirez tied Mickey Mantle for 15th on the career HR list with 536 Friday.

Brendan Scolari at TrueBlueLA has exceprts from a Ned Colletti radio interview regarding the Dodgers and the trade market.

TrueBlueLA's Week in Review.

Eric Milton's 15-day DL stint will expire over the All-Star Break, but the Dodgers have yet to make a roster move accordingly that I can see. Integral rookie reliever Ronald Belisario landed on the 15-day DL with an elbow injury last Monday. Cory Wade was called up to replace him in the bullpen, and has since thrown 1.2 scoreless innings. Scott Elbert also joined the pen.

Los Angeles Dodgers Injuries

15-Day

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Will Ohman	shoulder	05/28/2009
Jason Schmidt	shoulder	03/30/2009
Xavier Paul	knee	05/21/2009
Ronald Belisario	elbow	07/06/2009

60 Day DL / Out for the season

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Doug Mientkiewicz	shoulder	04/17/2009
Hong-Chih Kuo	elbow	04/30/2009

San Diego (36-52, 5th, W1, 20 GB)

Last Week: 1-6. 0-3 @ Diamondbacks. 1-3 @ Giants. San Diego has won just 3 of their last 14 and is falling fast in the division, as no other NL West team won less than 4 games last week. They now have the worst run differential in MLB.

This Week: ASB, 4 game home series vs Rockies.

News: Susan Slusser of SFGate reports that the PTBNL in the Scott Hairston deal is Sean Gallagher, the same pitcher that was regarded as the centerpiece of the Rich Harden trade last year. Gallagher has upside but his stock has fallen due to injury. He will switch to San Diego's disabled list with a knee injury. Reaction from A's fans, and the reaction from Padres fans.

Sean Gallagher

#39 / Pitcher / San Diego Padres

Height: 6-2

Weight: 235

Bats: R

Throws: R

Born: Dec 30, 1985

Former 2002 Blue Jay first round pick Russ Adams has signed a minor league deal with the Padres. The infielder was DFA'd July 3rd by Toronto and has reported to San Diego's AAA affiliate. Also signed and assigned to AAA was catcher Yamid Haad.

GasLampBall apparently has video of Matt Bush being arrested.

Adrian Gonzalez is a good dude. The Padres' 1B will be in the Home Run Derby tonight and will donate $200 to charity for ever home run hit. His NL compadres are all first basemen - Prince Fielder, Ryan Howard and Albert Pujols.

In a Ken Rosenthal piece, Kevin Towers compares Everth Cabrera to Rafael Furcal.

Cliff Floyd is still on the 60day DL - I'm not sure why the widget lost him. Luke Gregerson was activated from the 15day DL Tuesday setting off a flurry of other roster moves. San Diego recalled Mike Ekstrom, placed David Eckstein on the 15day DL with a hamstring injury, optioned Joe Thatcher to AAA, added Ryan Webb (he of the Hairston trade) to the roster, DFA'd Walter Silva and called up RH SP Tim Stauffer.

San Diego Padres Injuries

15-Day

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Jake Peavy	ankle	06/09/2009
Chris Young	shoulder	06/15/2009
Nick Hundley	forearm	06/18/2009
Brian Giles	knee	06/19/2009
Henry Blanco	hamstring	07/05/2009
David Eckstein	hamstring	07/06/2009

60 Day DL / Out for the season

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Mark Worrell	elbow	03/27/2009
Cha Seung Baek	forearm	03/30/2009
Shawn Hill	elbow	04/26/2009

San Francisco (49-39, 2nd, L1, 7 GB)

Last Week: 2-1 vs Marlins, 3-1 vs Padres. The only thing to complain about the Giants lately has been their inability to slam the door. They have lost the final game of their last four series.

This Week: ASB, 3 game road series @ Pirates. IT doesn't look like it, but this could be a good place to make up ground on SF. The Rockies draw the paltry Padres for four games while the Giants take their 18-24 road record to PNC Park, where the Pirates are 22-17.

News: You have surely heard it by now, but if not, Jonathan Sanchez threw a no-hitter Friday. If it hadn't been for an 8th inning error on Juan Uribe, it would have been a perfect game. It was just the 6th time in MLB history a pitcher got 11+ K's, zero walks and zero hits. Sanchez' start was the only non-perfect game of the bunch. Not bad for a guy who was 2-8 with a 5.30 ERA coming in. He had been banished to the bullpen and only got the start due to a Randy Johnson injury.

Jonathan Sanchez

#57 / Pitcher / San Francisco Giants

Height: 6-2

Weight: 190

Bats: L

Throws: L

Born: Nov 19, 1982

	W-L	ERA	WHIP	K	BB
2009 - Jonathan Sanchez	3-8	4.69	1.50	79	46

The no-hitter is a boon for Sanchez' trade value (maybe), and Henry Schuman at SFGate suggests he could be part of a trade bringing back Freddy Sanchez and perhaps All-Star Zach Duke.

Tim Lincecum will start the All-Star Game. He was the only NL All-Star not to appear in 2008 due to illness, so this is a nice way for the Cy Young winner to jump in.

Dave Allen at Fangraphs has a great read on former Rockie Jeremy Affeldt and his newfound propensity for getting ground balls with the best in the league.

Not enough people voted from the West coast. Shane Victorino beat out the Kung Fu Panda for the last slot on the All-Star Team. Jayson Werth replaced Carlos Beltran on the roster, so Philadelphia now has five of their eight hitters on the All-Star squad. That is disgusting. Only Jimmy Rollins, Pedro Feliz and Carlos Ruiz were left out. Sick.

Two of the Giants top three starters in their rotation are injured. Randy Johnson's shoulder injury has landed him on the 15day DL, while Matt Cain is being monitored after taking a line drive off the elbow. X-rays are negative. He hasn't been put on the DL - watch this. Kevin Frandsen was called up. The Giants won't need a fifth starter until July 20, so they optioned Ryan Sadowski to Single-A and recalled John Bowker.

San Francisco Giants Injuries

Questionable

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Matt Cain	elbow	07/12/2009

15-Day

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Randy Johnson	shoulder	07/06/2009

60 Day DL / Out for the season

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Noah Lowry	ribs	03/27/2009
Kelvin Pichardo	shoulder	06/28/2009
Joe Martinez	concussion	04/10/2009

NL West Morning Links: Wednesday Edition

Eric Stephen — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 13:00:21 -0000

More photos » by Ben Margot - AP

Kung Fu Panda urges you to vote for Matt Kemp!

Browse more photos »

Here's a look around the web at some news involving the Dodgers' NL West opponents:

Never fear, (All-Star?) Sandoval is here
Gwen Knapp of the San Francisco Chronicle takes a look at Kung Fu Panda (Pablo Sandoval), Matt Kemp's competition for the All-Star Final Vote (vote for The Bison!). After reading the following from Shawon Dunston, I'm very glad he's a coach with the Giants:

An infield coach for the Giants, Dunston went beyond defending Sandoval's tendency to swing freely, reaching back into another era and risking the wrath of Bill James cultists everywhere. "I'm sorry, but you walk 80 times a year, and you don't hit .300 ever in your career, you're not that good," he said. "But he's up there, putting it on the line. Guys who walk a lot, they say they have a good eye. Maybe they're just protecting their average. They're protecting their average, cheating the game."

SFGate: The Splash : The money might be there for a bat, but maybe Sabean will stand pat
Henry Schulman handicaps the Giants and their likelihood to land an impact bat like Jermaine Dye later this month:

This is what I've been led to believe from various conversations: The money might be there to make a deal, but the cost in prospects to acquire an impact bat might be prohibitive.

Rockies edge Washington 5-4 - The Denver Post
An error by Old Friend Joe Beimel opened the door for the Rockies to win their second straight game Tuesday night.

Marquis, Hawpe star in Rox win over Washington - The Denver Post
The mesmerizing Jason Marquis won again on Monday night, for his MLB-best 11th win. However, the most important nugget from Troy Renck's article was this:

Marquis can dunk a basketball

Is there anything Marquis can't do?

azcentral.com blogs - Nick Piecoro: Pena dealt to White Sox for Brandon Allen
Reliever Tony Peña was traded by the reeling Diamondbacks for slugging first baseman Brandon Allen. The 23-year old Allen was rated as the 6th best prospect in the Sox system by Baseball America before the season.

Silva's stint with club officially over
Early season feel-good story and former Palm Desert Outback Steakhouse employee Walter Silva was designated for assignment, says Bill Center of the San Diego Union-Tribune.

SD Union-Tribune: Bush facing more criminal charges
One of the #1 draft picks in recent memory, Matt Bush, continues to have off-the-field problems. He is scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday on many charges, including driving under the influence, resisting arrest, driving on a suspended license, and vandalism. Hey, at least he's not Ryan Leaf.

Wednesday's NL West Games (all non-Dodger games are day games):

12:10pm: Washington (Ross Detwiller) at Colorado (Jorge De La Rosa)

12:40pm: San Diego (Chad Gaudin) at Arizona (Max Scherzer)

12:45pm: Florida (Chris Volstad) at San Francisco (Ryan Sadowski)

4:10pm: Dodgers (Hiroki Kuroda) at NY Mets (Oliver Perez)

Tuesday's Frosty Mug

KLSnow — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 14:36:26 -0000

More photos » by Morry Gash - AP

5 months ago: Milwaukee Brewers' Casey McGehee (14) is congratulated by J.J. Hardy, left, and Prince Fielder after hitting a grand slam during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the New York Mets Monday, June 29, 2009, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

Browse more photos »

Some things to read while fixing your shirt.

Trevor Hoffman notched career save #572 against the Mets, a day after Mariano Rivera picked up his 500th save against them. The Elias Sports Bureau (via TheJay) reports that the Mets became the first team ever to be closed out by Hoffman and Rivera on back to back days. Rivera also picked up an RBI during his save: Baseball Reference remembers Hoffman's first RBI.

Last night's win combined with a Cardinal loss to give the Brewers sole possession of first place in the Central. It was also one of the more memorable nights in the career of Casey McGehee, giving Tristarscoop over at Cute Sports all the more reason to love him.

Mike Burns gets another shot to prove he belongs in the rotation tonight, when he'll have the unenviable task of facing off against Johan Santana. Now that Manny Parra struggled in his last start in AAA and Dave Bush is still out until after the All Star Break, both Burns and Seth McClung could be in line for extended auditions.

Ken Macha defended the Brewers' advance scouting operation after Ryan Braun suggested the Brewers struggled on Sunday because they didn't know much about Giants starter Ryan Sadowski. There's probably some truth to both sides: I'm sure the Brewer advance team is doing the best they can, but there's only so much they can tell you about a guy who's never appeared in the majors.

Whatever they're doing for Prince Fielder, though, they should keep doing. The Hardball Cooperative lists Fielder among their "3 Up" this week: Fielder entered play yesterday hitting .352 with seven home runs in June.

Another busy day down on the farm:

Jeremy Jeffress is serving a 100 game suspension for what was previously reported as his second failed marijuana test, but it's actually his fourth. Jeffress was given a warning and education for his first positive test and a fifty game suspension for his second positive test. While serving that suspension, he failed another team-administered test before receiving his most recent suspension for a fourth positive.
Eric Arnett pitched two shutout innings last night. He says he'd like to pitch more but the Brewers are taking it slow with him.
Brewerfan.net has a new Power 50 up. There's not much change at the top, but this is the first one to include several of the 2009 draftees.
Cameron Garfield is Between the Green Pillars' prospect of the week.

Should Yovani Gallardo be an All Star? It might turn out to be a moot point. Matthew Pouliot of Circling the Bases left Gallardo off of his projected NL roster because, assuming the rotation continues as projected, Gallardo would be unable to pitch in the game. Pouliot does predict Ryan Braun, Prince Fielder and Trevor Hoffman will make the squad.

On Power Rankings:

The Brewers jumped 8 spots to #6 in WhatifSports' Power Rankings.
Richard Griffin of the Toronto Star moved the Brewers up from 12th to 11th.
Inside the Majors has the Crew falling 3 spots to #9.
Souvenir City has the Brewers at #12.
Kerry Whisnant has the Brewers at #17.

Around the majors:

Astros: Brandon Backe declined an assignment to the minor leagues and will become a free agent.
Cubs: Placed Aaron Miles on the DL with a hyper-extended elbow.
Phillies: Placed Antonio Bastardo on the DL with a shoulder strain.

The Brewers won't see it in this series, but the Mets are trying something interesting with their rotation: When Oliver Perez comes off the DL, he's going to piggyback starts with Tim Redding. This is a relatively common practice in the minors, but it'll be interesting to see how it works out in the National League.

The Ian Snell saga continues in Pittsburgh: While Snell has clarified/backtracked on some of the things he said following his first AAA outing, Pirates GM Neal Huntington is calling the decision to sign Snell to a multi-year deal a mistake and it looks like Snell will be changing addresses sooner rather than later. Over in the FanPosts, 16 Lezcano wants the Brewers to pull the trigger on a move for Snell.

Interleague play is over (except for one makeup game) and the end couldn't come soon enough for several teams, including the Brewers. If you'd like to see a permanent end to interleague play, though, don't hold your breath: Brian McTaggart has the reason why it'll never go away:

Major League Baseball drew 8,371,002 fans during Interleague games this season for an average of 33,351 per game. The 2009 Interleague average is 16.1 percent higher than this season's current intraleague average of 28,727 per game. Since its inception in 1997, Interleague Play has drawn 12 percent more fans than intraleague games; Interleague Play has averaged 33,260 fans per game, compared to the intraleague average of 29,706 fans per game during the same span.

He's a former Brewer farmhand, has a freakish trait and throws a knuckleball. If I know anything about the average BCB reader, I know those three qualities make this story on RA Dickey a must read for them. (h/t Twinkie Town)

Oh, and happy birthday to Tony Fernandez, who played in 28 games for the 2001 Brewers and turns 47 today.

Drink up.

New Arms of the Week - Tim Wood and Ryan Sadowski

Harry Pavlidis — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 01:36:23 -0000

Just two newbies this week, the Marlins Tim Wood and Giants rookie starter, Ryan Sadowski.

Pitcher
pitch (speed) # vs. lhh/rhh

Tim Wood

Change-up (86.4) 10/0
Sinker (93.1) 11/6
Fastball (93.6) 3/10
Slider (86.5) 0/4

Sinkers and changes against lefties
Fastballs and sliders against righties
Two speed pitcher
Maxed out at 95.5

Ryan Sadowski

Change-up (84.4) 1/1
Curveball (77.5) 7/12
Sinker (89.4) 6/15
Fastball (90.3) 0/18
Cutter (89.8) 1/3
Sliders (87.3) 11/10

Sliders, curves and sinkers against lefties
Fastballs, sinkers, curves and sliders against righties
Throws everything close to the same speed, except the curve
Maxed out at 93.1

Sadowski shut down the Brewers for six innings, combining with the bullpen for a 7-0 win. Wood has made a pair of relief appearances for Florida, flashing his power arm. PITCHf/x flight paths after the jump.

Click to enlarge

I want to see more of Sadowski before I'm sure on the change and cutter, so I left them out of the graph.

Remember, Wood is fastball/slider against righties, sinker/change against lefties.