SB Nation User Blog: badgermaniac

Corey Hart

badgermaniac — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 23:26:22 -0000

For all the time that Brewer fans have spent bashing Weeks and Gagne and Suppan and Yost and Hall and so forth, it is the play of Corey Hart that has perhaps disappointed me the most.

At the All-Star Break, I actually made the case that he was AS deserving as Braun for All-Star honors.

Now, with a week left in the year, his OBP is approaching .300 and his power has dwindled as the year has gone on. His OBP last year of .353 is a distant memory as he has become a total hacker and it could be argued that it has been a lost year of development for him.

His OPS has dropped 100 points from last year and his second half numbers (.251/.280/.427) are closer to Jason Kendall than Ryan Braun.

While we are dishing out blame, I think it can be argued that Hart's lack of production is perhaps more significant than anything that guys like Weeks or Gagne or Hall have done...at least relative to expectations.

Joe Dillon vs. Richie Sexson

badgermaniac — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 17:29:58 -0000

One of my worries about the Brewers is their bench, particularly their lack of pop. There are times in a game where you really need to have the threat of a the HR in order to get back in a game quickly. Hall/Branyan provide that punch, but that is really it.

Dillon, Counsell, Gwynn, Kapler, Iribarren, etc. have not really offered that threat.

Now, Counsell and Kapler have that value as the first sub off the bench (while I think Kapler is WAY WAY WAY over his head, you can't argue with his production) and Hall/Branyan are in a platoon of course.

Gwynn and Iribarren are in the minors leaving Dillon as the most replaceable guy. In my book, he offers more or less the same type of skill set as Kapler and Counsell, and it would nice to have that extra oomph off of the bench.

For the most part, Dillon isn't really needed on defense (esp. with Hall not starting every day and available to play second or short in a pinch), so getting Richie wouldn't really impact that.

Sexson not only would provide a lot more pop, but he could also spot Prince against really tough lefties every so often. Sexson's splits against LHP are great (..344/.423/.623), at least this year.

Ideally, I would like a lefty thumper to balance things out, but I would be ok with Sexson in the absence of that.

(I don't know what Sexson would cost or what his contract status is, but if he can be had cheaply JUST for this year, I think it is a move that makes sense.)

Proposal for Brewer Pitching Staff (w/CC)

badgermaniac — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 01:37:04 -0000

I might like to see the Brewers use both McClung and Parra in a co-starter situation, with the other becoming a swing man.

1. You could play some matchups (lefty-righty) with opponents.

2. I don't think they want either to be up around 200 innings given their history (age or work history). This would give each a chance to keep the wear and tear down so they could ride the hot one down the stretch.

3. I know people are going to scream about not starting Manny full time, but his numbers are due for some self-correcting. He has been lucky to a degree based on some of his peripheral numbers, so I don't think he is quite as good as he has appeared recently, making him a candidate to move into this sort of swing role.

It would be a novel way to handle the situation, though obviously unconventional.