Geez, the poor kid's favorite player is Chipper Jones. Ian Snell is jealous.
Big League News:
Let the rivalry begin or the whining. As I mentioned before, I really enjoy reading the opposing team's coverage after a Brewers victory. This time I was disgusted by how much whining is going on in the Pittsburgh locker room. It starts with Adam LaRoche, who essentially blamed umpire Marty Foster for Gallardo's gem yesterday. He then goes on to say that when you're hitting your spots, you're going to get balls called off the plate. So let me get this straight, you know he's going to get the calls but you don't swing? Oh, well I guess it's only okay when you're the team getting the calls. The fact of the matter is Foster was pretty consistent yesterday, though his zone was quite large. When you watch the highlights of his 11 K's, I see one curveball that wasn't a strike. The rest looked just fine.
In the same article Ian Snell, who got just as many calls, decided to bring up the plunking Ryan Braun yet again. He says, "Be professional about it... Don't go [speak] out in the paper... It's not good because karma comes right back and bites you in the butt." Wait a second. Is that veiled threat? If so, isn't tht a contradiction to you calling out Braun for speaking to the media about it? This is starting to build up and I hope it doesn't boil over because the Brewers really cannot handle any suspensions. If we do legitimately retaliate on Monday, let Julio do it.
The Post also has a nice little article about former Pirate Chris Duffy, who got his first chance to see his old buddies this week. Duffy, who got his first hit of the season yesterday, reminisces about how he was removed from his role in center field for the Bucs, and shows no hard feelings, especially for his replacement, Nate McLouth.
Chuckie Hacks asks us how high Gallardo's ceiling is. I don't know about a Cy Young Award as has been suggested by some experts, but Chuckie says the 'ace' word is allowed. I couldn't agree more.
My home paper, The Green Bay Press-Gazette, got the chance to speak with Ken Macha about his return to coaching. It's weird how much more well spoken Macha is than Ned Yost. Macha says that he had some doubts that he would ever coach again because of the way he left Oakland. Unfortunately it took him three long years to overcome the perceptions imprinted on him by Billy Beane and that Athletics squad, but he overcame them nevertheless. The important thing is he's comfortable now and is clearly getting the respect of his players.
Mike Rivera hit the DL yeserday after spraining his ankle covering home plate on Tuesday night. The play had me reminiscing of a couple of years ago when Sal Fasano covered home plate with his leg with Hardy on his way home. JJ slid feet first right into Sal and was never the same the rest of the year. Mike's play went the exact opposite way and looked almost as painful. Thankfully the x-rays were negative. To fill the active roster spot the Brewers brought up back up AAA catcher Carlos Coroporan. I'm sure every one would like to see Angel Salome up, but he's still not 100% after a back injury and needs every day ABs if the Brewers want him to make the progression to the bigs next season.
Bleacher Report wants to know why JJ Hardy is getting a free pass. I have to disagree with that. We went after JJ the last couple of games because of some poor defense and every one has been complaining about his rough bat. On top of that Ken Macha pushed him down in the line-up. Trust me, it was more of a demotion than a promotion. But here's the thing. JJ was awful early last year. In his first 19 games he hit .214/.276/.300 with just one HR. Compare that to this year's .174/.247/.319 with three bombs. It's not that far enough. You can't boot JJ for a rough 80 PAs. He's one of the streakiest hitters this team has and carry the offense for a couple of months when he's on. Moreover, Escobar is still a closed door when it comes to his Major League ability. Do we really want to risk that?
Baseball Prospectus agrees with me when it comes to JJ's slow start. In this Fantasy Beat, they take a look at slow-start bargains. Both JJ and Weeks make the list. The big thing is that Rickie is starting a little bit ahead of where he was despite his low walk rate. BP suggests this is because Weeks is swinging at a lot more pitches as a result of seeing more first pitch strikes. It sounds like the league is trying to adjust to Rickie's patience by hitting the zone more and Rickie is adjusting back by swinging more. Ah, the ebb and flow of baseball.
Speaking of patience, Adam McCalvy points out the welcomed walk rate of Corey Hart in his game preview. It contains my favorite quote of the day by Ken Macha: "It's OK to way." You bet it is. Macha knows that taking walks makes you a better hitter. It means you're swinging at better pitches, which often leads to much better production. Keep it up Corey.
Lastly, our good friend Radio at The Junkball Blues takes a look at the runs created by Rickie Weeks this season and in season's past. He found it a little surprising that he's on par to match last season despite his low OBP. This is a good example of showing that high average and low OBP is just as valuable as low average and high OBP. If Weeks can get the walk rate back up without sacrificing average, he'll have his most valuable season yet.
Minor League News:
The Post Crescent catches up with Timber Rattlers new catcher Corey Kemp. Kemp recently just joined the team after being activated from the disabled list. The former East Carolina catcher hit a first run three run blast on Wednesday and has moved up Rattlers' manager Jeff Isom lineup over the past week. Kemp hit .253/.345/.343 last season in the Pioneer league suggesting he's not much of a prospect, but the team will keep riding him while he's not. At the very leaston his intelligence behind the plate at East Carolina should be helpful to the Wisconsin pitching staff.
Other Big League News:
Edinson Volquez is doing everything he can to prove he's not a one year fluke. In fact, he out did Yovani on the mound by giving up just one hit over eight innings in a 3-0 victory over the Houston Astros last night. Volquez is 3-2 this year with a 4.45 ERA, but that's mostly due to a sky high walk rate. If Volquez can get that down, he'll be back to ace status.
Remember how the Mets said their new and improved bullpen was going to push them over the top? My fantasy team disagrees. Johan Santana went seven innings and gave up just two first inning runs to the Marlins yesterday. However, JJ Putz allowed to walks to score in the eigth and the Mets fell 4-3. That's got to be frustrating for Santana, who's carrying a ridiculous 1.10 ERA over his first five starts, but only three victories. He should have five but the offense failed him in a 1-0 loss and then the bullpen failed him in this one. He's still the Cy Young front runner if he stays healthy.
Kansas City Royals ace Zack Greinke is 5-0 and the MLB leader in wins. Yes, that's right, a Royals pitcher. Greinke was riding a 43 consecutive inning streak without allowing an earned before giving on up in the first last night. But his offense picked him up and destroyed Blue Jays starter Brian Tallet in an 11-3 route. With that win the Royals pulled to 11-10 and are in a three way tie for the AL Central. Are they legit? Maybe. They have a young squad that could push through in such a weak division.