SB Nation - Adam Melhuse

Lazy Saturday Comparisons

TheJay — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 16:28:52 -0000

Have you ever read a baseball story about a pitcher that says something along the lines of when he's on the mound, he turns opposing hitters into [MLB hitter]? It's a fun way to bring up the pitcher's opposing batting average, OBP, and so on in an easily understandable context. Of course, that does not mean those comparisons are problem free. After all, major league hitters are not the same. Some are more patient than others, some drive the ball a long way, some slap hits all over the field, and some are in the majors for their gloves. No matter what you do, you can't turn Jason Kendall or Craig Counsell into Adam Dunn.

But even though that's the case, there's nothing stopping us from using our Saturday to make those sorts of comparisons. I thought it would be fun to look at the Brewers pitching staff and see who they turn opposing hitters into from the mound. In order to keep things recent and not penalize/reward guys like Jeff Suppan for what he did ten years ago, I have used major league stats from 2006-present both for pitchers and hitters (sorry, Mr. Kendall). In the case of Braden Looper, I used his numbers as a starter. For Seth McClung, I used his time in Milwaukee. Feel free to disagree, but I think that's fair. I've given a couple options for each pitcher so you can take your pick.

Brewers Pitcher	Opposing Hitter
Yovani Gallardo (.226/.298/.364)	Jeremy Reed (.253/.294/.369) Brian Anderson (.227/.289/.370)
Jeff Suppan (.292/.355/.461)	James Loney (.300/.353/.461) Miguel Tejada (.309/.353/.459) Fernando Tatis (.282/.354/.461)
Manny Parra (.281/.361/.425)	Fred Lewis (.279/.356/.424) Michael Young (.306/.354/.435)
Braden Looper (.274/.324/.440)	Garret Anderson (.286/.324/.442) Chad Tracy (.267/.328/.435)
Dave Bush (.259/.312/.447)	Jay Bruce (.240/.309/.457) Eric Byrnes (.261/.318/.446)
Seth McClung (.234/.337/.363)	Juan Pierre (.296/.337/.370) Scott Podsednik (.264/.328/.360)
Todd Coffey (.294/.355/.448)	Mike Fontenot (.279/.356/.446) Lyle Overbay (.278/.355/.453)
Carlos Villanueva (.241/.310/.417)	Kevin Mench (.265/.312/.418) Ivan Rodriguez (.283/.312/.418) Tony Clark (.226/.315/.415)
Mark DiFelice (.202/.244/.350)	Jason Smith (.205/.244/.352)
Mitch Stetter (.155/.308/.270)	Abraham Nunez (.220/.309/.276)
Trevor Hoffman (.210/.252/.332)	Jason Smith (.205/.244/.352) Adam Melhuse (.210/.267/.321)

If you want to take Carlos Villanueva's time as a starter out of the equation, his comparisons are akin to Yovani Gallardo's. I realize Kevin Mench isn't currently in the majors, but a) it's Kevin Mench and b) I didn't know Ivan Rodriguez hits like Kevin Mench these days.

Jason Smith shows up twice, mainly because it's really hard to stay in the majors for even 250 plate appearances if you make that many outs. I had to use Abraham Nunez, who last had more than a cup of coffee in the majors in 2007, for much the same reason. He played in the Brewers system last year, though, and he's kind of a modern standard for light-hitting infielders so I think it works.

Oh, and today's White Sox pitcher, Jose Contreras? His .277/.335/.424 since 2006 lines up nicely with Billy Butler (.282/.335/.423) and Gary Matthews Jr. (.271/.337/.425).

Monday's Frosty Mug

KLSnow — Mon, 11 May 2009 14:31:31 -0000

More photos » by Darren Hauck - AP

Ryan Braun had an up-and-down weekend.

Browse more photos »

Some things to read while getting the truth.

The Brewers took two of three from the Cubs over the weekend, but the main topic of conversation coming off the series is the second straight homestand where a pitcher has thrown near Ryan Braun's head. Ken Macha wants MLB to look into it. Baseball Musings likes the way Braun responded to it. Adam McCalvy noticed the difference between Braun's reactions to the Dempster pitch and the Jeff Karstens pitch from two weeks ago. The Brewers are tied for the major league lead with 17 HBP, and Braun, Prince Fielder and Jason Kendall have taken 14 of them.

Baseball Musings thinks the Brewers should have scored more runs yesterday. They went just 6-for-33 at the plate, but five of the six hits went for extra bases and the Brewers had six walks. Timing just didn't work out.

Some would argue that continuing to send Jason Kendall to the plate also doesn't help. Balking Traditionalism is working on a formula to determine when it makes sense to pinch hit for Kendall. We'll also have more on the topic later today.

The issue will probably come up more often once Mike Rivera is back. Rivera is in Omaha today to start a three-game rehab assignment with the Nashville Sounds, and if all goes well he's expected back in the lineup on Thursday when Dave Bush returns to the mound. The whole rehab assigment concept seems a little strange in this case: Certainly, Rivera is used to going 15 days between games, but it's been years since he's played in four straight, which is what he'll be doing on Thursday.

Speaking of Dave Bush: he picked up a no-decision on Friday, meaning he's still just 1-0 despite having pitched 40 innings this season, easily the most innings pitched by someone with just one decision.

Elsewhere in statistical anomalies: Saturday night's game featured a combined 40 strikeouts and walks, the sixth most since 1970.

Bill Hall is hitting .292/.364/.483 through 99 plate appearances, and while his numbers are significantly higher against lefties, he's not looking completely outmatched either, drawing ten walks to keep his line at .222/.329/.349. Ken Macha, though, is expected to start Craig Counsell at third when the Brewers open their series with the Marlins tomorrow. Take a moment to consider these numbers:

Counsell since Opening Day 2007: .233/.349/.322
Bill Hall against righties in 2009: .222/.329/.349

Hall has posted a .678 OPS against righties in 2009, so Macha is replacing him with Craig Counsell's .671 OPS? I'm confused.

The Marlins series will also mark the return of our old friend Wes Helms. Wes doesn't understand why he gets booed in Milwaukee:

"I don't know what they're going to do. They might throw rocks at me," said Helms, who is puzzled by the recent chilly receptions he has received. He played well in his three seasons as a Brewer (2003-05).

"I can understand Philly booing me because I struggled there, but Milwaukee? I had good years there," he said. "I never said anything in the paper. I never did anything, so I don't know. Part of the game, I guess."

Wait...what? Helms' best season as a Brewer was in 2003, when he was barely above average as a hitter.

One minor note today: Cole Gillespie continues to struggle in AAA after getting a late start due to injury, and At The Old Ball Game says he's not ready for AAA. Gillespie is the #10 prospect in our community rankings.

I expected people to notice the recent Brewer hot streak, but this might be a little much: Foul Balls has moved the Brewers up to second in the NL and third overall in their power rankings.

Here's one ranking that is deserved, though: Home Run Derby gave the Racing Sausages a #1 seed in their bracket to determine baseball's best mascot.

Around the league:

A's: Designated Ben Copeland, their 2009 Rule 5 pick, for assignment and acquired Adam Kennedy from the Rays for Joe Dillon (h/t FanShot).
Cubs: Placed Aramis Ramirez on the DL with a dislocated shoulder, DL'ed Chad Fox with elbow inflammation, and acquired Ryan Freel from the Orioles for Joey Gathright. (h/t FanShots)
Diamondbacks: Placed Yusmeiro Petit on the DL with a shoulder strain.
Mariners: Carlos Silva has been placed on the DL with stiffness and inflammation in his shoulder.
Nationals: Released Gary Glover.
Pirates: Signed catcher Adam Melhuse to a minor league deal.
Red Sox: Designated reliever Javier Lopez for assignment.
Royals: Placed Joakim Soria on the DL with shoulder soreness.
Yankees: Designated relievers Steven Jackson and Eric Hacker for assignment.

Chad Fox's most recent elbow injury will likely end his major league career. Fox, a former Brewer, has already had multiple Tommy John surgeries and has three screws in his elbow. He sounds like he's glad he gave it one last shot.

The Cub Reporter has done the math and expects Aramis Ramirez to miss around 50 games. The Cubs, however, only play the Cardinals and Brewers in five of those games.

Major League Baseball briefly slammed on the brakes on a cool promotion yesterday, stopping players from wearing black and pink cleats which would later be auctioned off to raise money for a cancer-related charity. MLB had not approved the charity, so they ordered players across baseball, including Prince Fielder, not to wear the cleats. A resolution was later reached to allow players to wear them, but I didn't see if Fielder had his on.

Do you like living in the country and want to own a piece of baseball history? Cy Young's birthplace is for sale, and Let's Go Tribe contacted the realtor to ask some questions about it.

Ryan Braun still has a long way to go to reach this record: Carlos Delgado was plunked by Ian Snell yesterday and now has been hit by pitchers from 36 states, a major league record.

Want to work in baseball? The Book Blog has links to three internships with the Yankees.

Oh, and if you're an opposing closer in Denver, you may witness an episode of Mascots Gone Wild.

Drink up.

Monday's Frosty Mug

KLSnow — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 15:16:07 -0000

Some things to read while adjusting your optimism.

You're probably going to hear a fair amount of complaining about scheduling today, as the Brewers and Giants wait around to become the last two teams to open their 2009 schedules. Tom H. certainly wants the Brewers to play today.

The Brewer opener was pushed to tomorrow to give the Giants a day off between their last exhibition contest yesterday and their opener. Most teams schedule a day off for the middle of their opening series in case of weather, but the Giants are flying without that safety net, and it may become important because it's supposed to rain tomorrow. This week's series is the Brewers' only scheduled visit to San Francisco in 2009, meaning the game will either have to be played in poor conditions tomorrow or the Brewers and Giants will face a doubleheader in their first series of the year.

Weather could be an issue in other places as well. Today's White Sox/Royals game in Chicago has already been postponed, and there's talk of weather-related delays in Boston, St. Louis and Cincinnati.

When the Brewers finally do take the field, it will be 20 minutes later than previously expected. The Giants have pushed back the start time to allow for Opening Day festivities. Heaven forbid they'd start those before everyone is in their seats on a rainy day.

So, barring inclement weather, Jason Kendall will start his second season as the Brewers' catcher tomorrow. The second of how many, you ask? Well, Kendall says he'd like to play six seasons in Milwaukee, which would keep him in a Brewer uniform through his fortieth birthday and give him a good shot at being baseball's all time leader in games played at catcher.

When the Brewers finally do take the field, it will be without Trevor Hoffman, who will need more than 15 days to get ready to pitch in regular season games. He'll play catch today and take it from there. Murray Chass featured Hoffman in his look at closers in new places.

David Riske, however, will be there despite a dismal spring. Tom H. reports the Brewers have no plan to try to move Riske or hide him on the DL, but likely will not use him in important situations.

Alcides Escobar is getting a lot of attention as spring training comes to an end. Peter Gammons listed Escobar as one of the most impressive young players this spring and Prospects Paradise lists him as having the second best glove in the minors. A couple of other minor notes:

Beyond the Box Score says Caleb Gindl was 17 runs above average in the outfield last season.
They also rank Taylor Green as exactly average at Mat Gamel at two runs below average at third base.

I'm sure this will sound familiar to anyone who's been following the team for more than a few days, but Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated thinks Rickie Weeks and Corey Hart could have breakout years in 2009.

Are these more relevant than the other projections? It's hard to say.

None of the 20 experts at ESPN picked the Brewers to make the playoffs. They also have the Crew 14th in their power rankings.
Of the eight at The Journal Sentinel, none picked the Brewers to win the Central and only Tom H. picked them to win the Wild Card. The eight predictions average out at 84.6 wins for the Crew.
26 predictors at The Hardball Times were unanimous in picking the Cubs to win the Central. The Brewers finished third.
Ken Rosenthal has the Brewers finishing fourth.

Please hold for the deluge of other predictions, projections and rankings:

Fielder's Choice has the Brewers in fourth.
The Tennessee Journalist has the Brewers in fourth.
Texas Rangers Trades has the Crew in fourth too.
Baseball & The Boogie Down has the Brewers winning 88 games and finishing in second.
We Will...Never Learn has the Brewers, and every other team in the Central, beating the Pirates.
Hear the Hurd has the Brewers in second.
Below the Beltway has the Brewers in third.
The View From The Dugout thinks the Brewers will win 85-90 and make a run at the Wild Card.
Bleed Cubbie Blue is picking the Brewers to finish second.
Happiness for Blessing projects the Brewers for 80 wins and a fourth place finish.
Sheldon Ocker of the Akron Beacon Journal ranked the Brewers 20th in his preseason power rankings.
By My Count has the Brewers fourth in the Central.
Patrick Sullivan of The Baseball Analysts thinks the Brewers will win more than 81.5 games.
One of the eleven contributors at Baseball Digest Daily picked the Brewers to win the division. The consensus pick was third, and no one had them below fourth.
Chicago White Sox Examiner picked the Brewers to finish fourth.
Jordan Bastian has the Brewers finishing fourth.
Talking Chop has the Brewers finishing third.
Viva El Birdos thinks the Brewers will end up in the middle of the division.
Phil Rogers' Power Rankings have the Brewers 16th, 15th among actual baseball teams.
View From The Bleachers has the Brewers third in the Central.
The Diamond Cutter also has the Brewers third.
Bill Chuck has the Brewers winning 90 games and finishing second.
Walk Like A Sabermetrician picked the Brewers to finish third.
Sully Baseball thinks the Brewers will slide back to mediocrity and trade Prince Fielder. He also predicts Ned Yost will take over mid-season as manager of the Blue Jays.
David Brown and Kevin Kaduk of Big League Stew pick the Brewers second and third in the Central, respectively.
Backseat Fan is picking the Cardinals to win the Central and the Brewers to finish third.
Brewed Sports has the Brewers winning the Central.
The Grand National Championships has the Brewers finishing second behind the Cardinals.
The Bucky Channel has the Brewers finishing second.
BC Sports has the Brewers finishing third.

Ok, I'm going to stop there. There were at least a dozen more, probably more, but I think we've seen enough. My apologies if I missed yours. Think you can out-predict these guys? Then you should enter Red Reporter's prediction contest and Beyond The Box Score's 32 predictions. You also have until the end of the day today to get your picks in for The Brew Crew Ball Over/Under contest.

So what happens if the Brewers do underperform in 2009? Between the Green Pillars explores the possibilities of a fire sale, but even if the desire to sell off assets arises, there may not be many buyers out there.

Sounds like Cory Provus is quickly settling into what might be America's greatest job: spending the summer seated next to Bob Uecker. The JS takes a look at their developing partnership.

If given the opportunity to sum up why you're a Brewer fan in one paragraph, could you do it? As part of a project for The National Review, Michael E. Hartmann gave it a shot.

Elsewhere around baseball:

Cubs: Released Chad Gaudin.
Mariners: Placed Ichiro Suzuki on the DL with a bleeding ulcer.
Mets: Signed Gary Sheffield to a one year deal.
Rangers: Released Casey Daigle, perhaps best known for being Jennie Finch's husband. They also released Adam Melhuse.
Reds: Jonny Gomes will not make the Opening Roster and is undecided on reporting to AAA.
Rockies: Acquired Jason Hammel from the Rays for minor league pitcher Aneury Rodriguez.
White Sox: The team has postponed its home opener against the Royals due to snow. They've also become Jimmy Gobble's third team this spring.

I'm not sure how this impacts one's ability to continue to own an MLB franchise, but it can't be good: Rangers owner Tom Hicks has defaulted on over $500 million in debt. If you'd like to own the Rangers, get your checkbook ready.

Even after 100 years, some may never learn: Goat Riders of the Apocalypse has a poll asking Cub fans how many games the team will win in 2009, and not a single voter has gone below 90.

On the other side, someone is finally starting to poke holes in the notion that the Reds are going to make a sudden surge. Surprisingly, that someone is Reds beat writer Hal McCoy.

Maybe they need more sweet potatoes? Jason Giambi swears by them.

Sometimes I wonder if newspaper profiles are sparked by the discovery that someone else in the office doesn't know something: A few weeks after Tom H. followed a mention of Giants prospect Ryan Rohlinger with the phrase "whoever he is," Dave Boehler has a profile of the West Bend native.

I have four links left, and three of them are FanGraphs:

They're trying out Twitter Feeds to keep you updated on your favorite team's Win Expectancy during games.
They're also looking at the merits of the Rays' decision to platoon former Brewers Gabe Gross and Gabe Kapler.
And they're sharing my opinion on the ethics of service time manipulation.

Oh, and you're never too old to play with Micro Machines.

Drink up.

Melhuse told he won't make the team

Adam J. Morris — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 00:51:06 -0000

Adam Melhuse has been informed that he won't make the Rangers' Opening Day roster, with Jarrod Saltalamacchia solidifying his claim to the starting job and Taylor Teagarden slated to be the backup.

He is apparently going to explore his options, and the Rangers are checking around to see if there is any interest in him with other clubs.

Undefeated Juggernaut: Cubs 10, Rangers 4

Al — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 23:11:38 -0000

That ought to get your attention. Yes, I know the results of these games are mostly meaningless, and three wins doesn't make a juggernaut, an astronaut, or any other kind of naut.

Though the result was for naught, the Cubs beat the Rangers 10-4 at Surprise today, running their 2009 exhibition record to 3-0, in front of another smallish spring crowd of 5,413 (less than half the Surprise Stadium capacity.

It was strange trying to follow the game on the spring training Gameday, which is a stripped-down version of what we'll see in the regular season, with no audio available today. (There won't be any tomorrow, either.) But from what I could tell:

Ted Lilly looked fine in his couple of innings of work. Have a nice trip, Ted, and see you in a few weeks. Aaron Heilman gets the start tomorrow against the White Sox (Rich Harden still isn't ready, and that's not a cause for worry, because it's so early).
The Micah Hoffpauir Fan Club had another banner day, as Hoffpauir hit a three-run homer and singled and took over (for whatever this number is worth) the major league spring training lead in RBI with 7. The Sam Fuld Fan Club (I'm looking at YOU, Jessica) should also be happy today; little Sammy hit a homer off Warner Madrigal (love his singers!).
Little Babe Ruth, aka Mike Fontenot, also homered, and in addition, smacked a two-run triple. As long as he's not going to face any lefthanded pitching, he ought to be just fine. (The Rangers threw all RHP while Fontenot was in the game.)
The Cubs' miscellaneous minor leaguers who served as the bullpen today threw well enough, allowing seven hits and three earned in seven innings of work, while striking out seven. (We won't mention the six walks -- oops, sorry.) The one pitcher I really would have liked to see do well, Rocky "Raccoon" Roquet, gave up a two-run double to Adam Melhuse (who was in Cubs camp a couple years ago. How old is that guy, anyway?)

While we await Milton Bradley's next appearance on the field (you have photographic evidence, below, that he actually did so once), check out this cubs.com article about him, with much praise from his manager at Texas last year, Ron Washington.

Right-hander Jeff Marquez, who the White Sox acquired in the Nick Swisher deal from the Yankees, will start for the Sox tomorrow, and the Sox intend to bring starting players Carlos Quentin, Josh Fields, Jermaine Dye, Cub fan anti-favorite A.J. Pierzynski and Jim Thome over to Mesa tomorrow.

Adam Melhuse back?

Adam J. Morris — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 16:52:09 -0000

According to BA, Adam Melhuse has been signed to a minor league deal by the Rangers.

I suspect that Melhuse will be going to AAA and will back up Max Ramirez there, unless Taylor Teagarden or Jarrod Saltalamacchia is dealt, in which case he'll probably be the backup at the major league level.

Monday's Frosty Mug

KLSnow — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 15:43:11 -0000

Some things to read while acknowledging that these pumpkin chocolate chip cookies may be the greatest ever.

Today's collection of links is actually the largest since the end of the season, so let's get right to it.

If you've been reading the site over the weekend you likely know all of this news, but in case you've been away all weekend, here's what you missed:

Dale Sveum will be back for 2009 after all, as hitting coach. (as noted in this FanShot)
Craig Counsell's option for 2009 was declined. He could still return as a free agent, of course.
Mike Maddux won't be back either, after being "overwhelmed by a huge deal" to take over as pitching coach in Texas. The Brewers reportedly offered him a multi-year deal. (Noted in this FanShot) The Newberg Report has a story from the Rangers' side.
Joe Dillon also won't be back. The A's claimed him off waivers after the Brewers DFA'd him last week.
Ken Rosenthal is reporting the Brewers' offer to CC Sabathia was in fact for $100 million, but the contract was for five years, not four. For me, this removes any possibility Sabathia will return. (noted in this FanShot)
The Brewers have until tomorrow to decide if Mike Cameron will return in 2009.

Now, other stuff. The Fall GM meetings begin today, giving Doug Melvin the first chance to sit across the table from new Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik. Murray Chass seems to think hiring Zduriencik was the wrong decision, mainly because he had a profile of Kim Ng all ready to go. Of course, everyone expects most of the conversation at the meetings to be about Jake Peavy, but it sounds like Hank Blalock's name will come up as well.

One would assume Doug Melvin is at least listening to offers for J.J. Hardy. The Junkball Blues, meanwhile, crunched the numbers to figure out what kind of production would be needed from Hardy and Alcides Escobar to justify moving Hardy to third and Bill Hall out of the lineup.

Planning on making a trip to Vegas? Current odds have the Brewers at 15-to-1 to win the 2009 World Series. The odds would have to get a lot better before I'd be interested. Right now, 15-to-1 is a better shot than 19 other teams have, and tied with the Dodgers and Twins. (h/t Redleg Nation)

Tim Kurkijian says the Sabathia Sweepstakes is the third most interesting story of the offseason. With Sabathia the Brewers had the sixth best starting rotation in all of baseball, according to Beyond the Box Score.

Sabathia, Ray Durham and Russell Branyan all filed for free agency over the weekend, joining these players:

Angels Darren Oliver, Juan Rivera
Athletic Alan Embree
Cub Kerry Wood and also Henry Blanco,
Mariners Raul Ibanez, Willie Bloomquist, Miguel Cairo
Marlins Mark Hendrickson, Arthur Rhodes
Mets Pedro Martinez, Luis Ayala, Tony Armas, Moises Alou, Ricardo Rincon, Ramon Martinez and also Orlando Hernandez
Phillies So Taguchi, Tom Gordon
Pirates Doug Mientkiewicz, Chris Gomez, Jason Michaels, Luis Rivas
Rockies Brian Fuentes, Matt Herges, Livan Hernandez, Adam Melhuse, Scott Podsednik

At this point I feel obligated to remind you that Orlando Hernandez is free to throw the banana for other teams.

FanGraphs has built the All Free Agent Bargain Team. There are some decent players on there, but that team would lose most of the time.

As we look into the future, few things are abolutely certain, but we can say this: despite boatloads of other teams making the exodus from spring training sites in Florida to Arizona, the Red Sox are committed to training in Florida through 2038.

It's a good thing we'll probably have some time to learn to say his name: The Pirates have signed an 18-year-old shortstop from South Africa named Mpho Ngoepe. There has never been a South African player in the major leagues. Have there been any from anywhere in Africa? I do not know.

Indians minor leaguer Randy Newsom's blogs from Venezuela are really making me want to go see a game there.

Finally, let's say you're the Washington Nationals. You lost 102 games in 2008, the franchise's first 100 loss season since 1976. You set a modern era single season record for lowest attendance in a new ballpark. You could count the number of fans listening to your games on the radio or watching them on TV on your fingers and toes. Do you honestly believe people are going to come out in hordes to buy your new jerseys? You're invited to join them at the unveiling Thursday. Bring a friend, otherwise you might be there all alone.

Drink up.