Jonathon Lucroy’s defense has been a somewhat hot topic in recent months, mostly centered around Randy Wolf’s desire to work with somebody, anybody else.  Last night against the Yankees, when there was a man on 2nd base (thus needing to disguise the pitch call), it was very noticeable how long it took Lucroy to work through the signs and seemed to prevent Greinke from getting into any sort of rhythm.

I was curious, so pulled this year’s numbers of Brewer pitchers performance with runners in scoring position (thus the need to do the complex signs) and with no one on base.

***Quick disclaimer - I know these are crude stats and very small samples, this is more just a conversation starter as I was wondering if other people are thinking the same thing.  I know its something I'll be keeping an eye on the rest of the year.

• Naveson: .890 OPS against with RISP, .608 with bases empty
• Greinke: 1.058 RISP, .744 bases empty
• Marcum: .669 RISP, .567 bases empty
• Gallardo: .668 RISP, .784 bases empty
• Loe: .940 RISP, .563 bases empty
• Estrada: 1.028 RISP, .614 bases empty
• Axford: .552 RISP, .568 bases empty

For comparison:

• Randy Wolf (this year): .564 RISP, .710 bases empty
• Greinke career: .723 RISP, .724 bases empty
• Marcum career: .756 RISP, .680 bases empty

As I mentioned, these are full season numbers and with the time Lucroy missed and off days, probably lots of flaws and stuff that can be explained.  However, I found it pretty interesting that besides Gallardo and Axford, all pitchers are getting hit harder with guys in scoring position, oftentimes significantly so.

Let's get all the negatives out of the way.  Opening Day is indeed amatuer hour, the New Years Eve of baseball games.  It brings out all kinds of idiots who still think JJ Hardy is on the team and have no idea who they are playing. Overpriced tickets and 2-1 odds you get thrown up on.

I don't care about that.  Its the first opportunity to see the team at home, there is rumored to be up to 20 Packer players throwing out the first pitch (rumor is Rubie Q is going just to boo James Jones), and dammit - I have fun seeing friends I haven't seen in a while and hanging out in a cold parking lot for 3 hours drinking beer and blowing off work.

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Had a Amazon gift card from Christmas to use and picked up a couple of older John Sickels prospect books.  Thought it was interesting to see how the current Brewer team looked when they were in the minors.

Also worth noting is Jeremey Reed shows up as the #10 hitting prospect in 2004.

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Bo has brought on Lamont Paris to replace Howard Moore.  The big rumor was Freddie Owens, but Bo went outside the box with this one.  Don't know a lot about Paris - he has a lot of experience as an assistant, but from what I can tell, hasn't done any recruiting in the Chicago area where Moore specialized.  Paris has a strong Ohio background, so you have to wonder if that become more of a focus in terms of recruiting going forward or if Paris will focus on the Chicago area like Moore.

Link to Paris' bio

With the August 16th signing deadline for draft picks fast approaching, I thought I'd use this space to post updates on signings as they come in.

Today's news was the signing of 7th round pick Joel Pierce, who earlier this week was rumored to be honoring his commitment to the Chanticleer's of Costal Carolina.

That leaves the following picks unsigned (Thanks to Brewerfan for the list):

1st Round - Dylan Covey, RHP, Maranatha HS (CA)
13th Round - Michael White, RHP, Walters State CC (TN)
15th Round - Chris Bates, LHP, Regis HS (NY)
16th Round - Andrew Morris, RHP, Gulf Coast CC (FL)
19th Round - Rowan Wick, OF, Carson Graham HS (BC)
26th Round - Daniel Gibson, LHP, Jesuit HS (FL)
33 Round -  William Kankel, LHP, University of Houston
34 Round -  Conor Fisk, RHP, Grafton HS (WI)
35 Round -  Tc Mark, C, Pinnacle HS (AZ)
40th Round - Scott Matyas, RHP, University of Minnesota
43th Round -  Steven Okert, LHP, Grayson County CC (TX)
45th Round -  Lucas Moran, RHP, Lutheran North HS (TX)
46th Round -  Derek Goodwin, C, Diamond Ranch HS (CA)
47th Round - Billy Schroeder, C, Grand Canyon University
49th Round -  Alex Simone, OF, Christian Brothers Academy HS (NY)
50th Round -  Chad Jones, OF, Louisiana State University

Feel free to post updates or rumors as the August 16th deadline gets closer.