Ah, access.  It's what makes the sports reporting world go 'round.  It's why guys like Haudricourt and Witrado are considered point men on the Brewers, and why blogs are just guys shooting off their mouths in front of a computer.  Never fear, TH is doing his best to bring uninformed fanspeak to the pages of the JS, without contaminating his post with any information he could gather by virtue of his "access."

This morning, I stumbled across this post on Gallardo's performance yesterday.  Notice that TH throws a little red meat out there for the fans:

Gallardo's pitch count climbed when leadoff hitter Joey Gathright worked him for a walk and so did No. 3 hitter Milton Bradley (who, by the way, exited after that walk. Guess they don't want to overtax the new guy).

Ha!  It's funny because it's Milton Bradley, and it's always fun to take a shot at Milton Bradley.  Welcome to the blogosphere, Tom!

Unfortunately, those wet blankets over at the AP decided to ruin the punchline by doing some actual "reporting" (whatever that is).  Via the Brewers page over at Yahoo! Sports, I discovered that maybe there was something more to Bradley's quick exit.

Milton Bradley’s spring training debut was cut short by an injury.

Well, jeez.  That's not nearly as funny as making something up.  I don't know how those guys at the AP sleep at night.

How about if we see how well we know Dale?  According to a headline which points to the always-broken JS blogs, the postseason roster should be announced today.  So, let's put forth some guesses!

Disclaimer - I don't know nearly as much about playoff roster rules as some other people.  I'm assuming Dale can insert Stetter by taking advantage of someone's spot on the DL.

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Dale doesn't have a lot of time to pick out new curtains for the clubhouse, or have that industrial coffee maker removed.  He's not even at Miller Park for his debut;  he's dodging the rats at Wrigley Field.  He seems like the kind of guy who prefers the trough, so maybe it'll work out.

The very first managerial task that we get to critique will be Dale's lineup.  I know Jeff is going to be excited to see a post on lineup construction, so let's get to it!

Regular Lineup, post-ASB OPS

2b Weeks .804
ss Hardy .807
3b Braun .951
1b Fielder .850
rf Hart .724
cf Cameron .887
3b Hall .621
c Kendall .637

Melvin and Attanasio made a point yesterday that the onus is now on the players to perform, so Sveum won't want to get too crazy with the lineup.  However, based on the post-ASB numbers for the regulars, there is clearly room for improvement.  Also, it wouldn't hurt to get some lefties in there against Dempster.

Dempster 2008 OPS against
vs RHB  .606
vs LHB  .669

Who are the possible substitutions?

Durham .824 post ASB, .805 season
Counsell .653 season
Lamb .596 season
Gwynn

These guys don't have enough PA to go on post-ASB numbers, and Gwynn just got called up, so I'm not looking at their numbers as much as I am trying to get some lefties in against Dempster.  Even though it's a new era, a few of the regulars need to sit.  It's a no-brainer to bench Hall and Weeks, and Hart has been circling the drain for a while now.  Maybe a day or two off will help these guys.


2b Durham
ss Hardy
3b Braun
1b Fielder
cf Cameron
rf Gwynn
3b Counsell
c Kendall

And Kendall sits tomorrow.  No excuses.

Prince Fielder is the leader of the Brewers clubhouse.  The broadcasters repeat it ad nauseum, the sports writers throw it in there for color, and the manager and coaches talk about how important it is.  So, why is the new guy off message on this?

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