Today was a tough game to watch.

I just want to say. People are blaming Doug Melvin for us not being 10 games up. He isnt out on the field. Hes doing his best. There isnt any pitchers we can aquire. He put his balls to the wall trying to get CC retained but it didnt work. There wasnt much after that. Now people are mad that the pitching staff sucks. What is there out there. Peavy is hurt. Halladay isnt going to be traded. Theres Pedro? But seriously who else?

Now when we have a potent offense. This offense can bail out our pitching staff when it has to. They are a streaky team we all know that. When this team is on you don't wana mess with them.

I'd just like to say to everybody DONT GIVE UP!!! We have the long summer nights a head of us. We arent even past the all star breaks. This is a hell of a team. 80 percent of us love these guys and it is our whole summer. So just don't give up. Its been a hell of a year and there is a lot of fun to go.

Thats my venting/motivation etc

Go Crew!

It's really tough to watch McClung get shelled in the Starting rotation and work very short starts then turn around and watch his replacement get shelled (Naverson) in addition to being down our best long man.  Meanwhile Chase Wright is down in AAA stretched out with a 2.66 ERA in his last 9 starts. 

 There may be some hope there and Dillard has also been pitching well. But let's face it, this team has Fielder. Braun, Gallardo, and from there on it is all a crapshoot. Trevor has struggled of late. JJ is in a perpetual state of being streaky, Counsell is bound to slow down, Hall has literally forgotten how to hit, or can no longer use the substance that got him paid, Hart is currently a one man rally killer, Kendall is old and worn down and in every sense of the term "below average", Gamel is not ready yet, and Cameron is what he always was.

I think that you either take a big gamble and get a number one ace or you hold on to your money and make a run next year. Fielder is likely here for one more year. If you don't think you can get enough to make that run, you have to trade Fielder and others of value for pitching and start the process all over again.

Melvin has just missed the obvious too many times for me to respect him. This team has had obvious flaws, including the weakness at catcher, which have never been addressed. We've needed a leadoff man for three years now and that was never addressed. (Yes, Weeks was fine this year, but do you remember him riding the pines while we struggled to find an answer at leadoff last year? And any GM that seriously thinks you can contend with 1 legit starter is nuts!!! Braden Looper, Suppan, Bush, and McClung are the sure fire way to the bottom of this division. On paper, you look at the matchups vs. the Cubs and wonder how the hell we'll even win one game in this series.

That said, they have outperformed so far this year in spite of it all and are a hell of a fun team to watch. But, you cannot get wrapped up in ridiculous playoffs talk with a team that would likely get pounded in a series against a great LA team or even the Giants with Lincecum and Cain being the 1-2 combo at the start of a series. Have fun, cheer for the long ball... but the Giants will win the world series this year!!! (Perfect since Bonds just departed)

jk

jkloklo

princeofpower:

Today was a tough game to watch.

I just want to say. People are blaming Doug Melvin for us not being 10 games up. He isnt out on the field. Hes doing his best. There isnt any pitchers we can aquire. He put his balls to the wall trying to get CC retained but it didnt work. There wasnt much after that. Now people are mad that the pitching staff sucks. What is there out there. Peavy is hurt. Halladay isnt going to be traded. Theres Pedro? But seriously who else?

Now when we have a potent offense. This offense can bail out our pitching staff when it has to. They are a streaky team we all know that. When this team is on you don't wana mess with them.

I'd just like to say to everybody DONT GIVE UP!!! We have the long summer nights a head of us. We arent even past the all star breaks. This is a hell of a team. 80 percent of us love these guys and it is our whole summer. So just don't give up. Its been a hell of a year and there is a lot of fun to go.

Thats my venting/motivation etc

Go Crew!

Prince, the positivity and motivation is well-received, but you gotta face reality.

The Brewers have no very good starting pitchers outside of Yo. You don't win in the majors without pitching. You just don't. Yeah, they can outslug teams on occasion, but offenses (all of them) are way too inconsistent for that to be a reliable way of winning. Just look at the last two games. Tonight they hit the ball pretty well, scored 5 runs (coulda had more, but 5 runs in a game is above average) and lost because of their pitching. Yesterday, Yo pitched great and they lost 1-0. That's the way it goes.

Consequently, you must have a good starting rotation to be a consistent winner, and this team doesn't have it. They desperately needed Parra to develop more this season. Instead, he regressed, and he's not even pitching well at AAA right now. They needed to stay injury-free, which is nearly impossible over the course of a season. They lasted awhile, but then Bush went down.

The only things that have gone right for this pitching staff are that Looper has been a solid pick-up and Yo has proven that he is a true ace. That's it. When you looked at the Brewers starters heading into this series (McClung, Suppan, Looper and Burns), did you honestly think they had much chance to succeed? Not in that ballpark.

I really think they'll get swept. They'll be lucky to win a game, for sure. The ONLY thing keeping them afloat is that it's not likely that anyone in this division will run away and hide. The Brewers will stay in the race by virtue of that alone, but ultimately, they don't have the pitching. Not close. And there probably isn't a move DM can make that's going to improve it significantly.

As many have said, it's the Brewers' failure to develop any young pitching talent within the organization (besides Yo), which is a combination of bad drafting and bad luck. A small-market team simply cannot go out there and acquire proven pitchers season after season when they need them. The CC trade was once-in-a-lifetime for this franchise. It worked out great, and it was a wonderful thing, but that's not happening.

The sad reality is that the Brewers haven't developed any pitching prospects, so they're stuck with what they have. And the reality is that means there's no way they can be much more than a mediocre team, even with a potent offense and a solid bullpen.

stix:

even with a potent offense and a solid bullpen.

And with the starting staff, the pen is destined to be overused and guys like Mike DeFelice and Todd Coffey will eventually end up close to their career stats...which ain't good for the Crew.

Juiceman:

stix:

even with a potent offense and a solid bullpen.

And with the starting staff, the pen is destined to be overused and guys like Mike DeFelice and Todd Coffey will eventually end up close to their career stats...which ain't good for the Crew.

No, it's not.

But that will happen with any bullpen. You gotta have the pitching. As poor as the Cubs offense has been, they have the pitching to win the division. The Brewers don't.

stix:

As poor as the Cubs offense has been, they have the pitching to win the division

Starting pitching maybe.  The Cubs need to make a move or two in the bullpen. I bet they could get George Sherill from Baltimore and Heath Bell from SD.  If Jim Hendry wants to know how, he can give me a call.

The Brewers unequivocally need minimum two more "Number 2 or 3 starters".  they have YoGa but a bunch of number 5's after that.  No offense is good enough to overcome that.

I think some of these posts are right on.

Without being sarcastic or condescending, I have lost a lot of respect for Doug Melvin. Sure, you need some offense to win championships.

But, if you look at all the major sports, defense usually wins in the NBA and NFL and pitching is generally the key in MLB (especially with regard to starting pitching).

The Brewers went on that hot streak because they had a very long stretch of quality starts. They've struggled with that of late, with the exception of some games against bad or ailing offenses like the Mets, Giants, and Braves.

Any team with some type of good hitting has hit the Brewers very hard.

My frustration with Doug has been his inability to correct the teams glaring weaknesses. The two biggest ones for me are the starting pitching and an offense that relies too much on the long ball.

Every team has some holes in their lineup - but the Brewers can put together a few spots in the order at times that seem like automatic outs.

I'm not sold that Gamel is ready yet and the more I watch him, the more I'd like to see him at Triple A.

The Cubs have just enough starting pitching to get by. Reflecting on tonight's game, Derrick Lee was a one man show. However, the Cubs have enough starting pitching that they won't need to score 6-7 runs/game to win. With the current rotation, Milwaukee likely will have to do that.

If they go into any kind of prolonged slump offensively, they could completely fall apart (hopefully that won't happen).

Are the Cubs as good as they were last year?  Not even close.

Are the Brewers as good as they were last year?  Don't seem to be.

I guess the biggest disappointment has to be the regression of Hart, Hardy, and Hall. The 3 H's have really hurt this team more than  anything else.

Kendall is what he is - a backup catcher.

The Brewers have glaring holes, and hopefully management will soon realize this. Doug seems to struggle with the pitching concept. Texas had some amazing offensive teams under his supervision, but could never get the pitching to win - and he still manages his roster that way. I just don't know that this is feasible in this day and age.

Juiceman:

stix:

even with a potent offense and a solid bullpen.

And with the starting staff, the pen is destined to be overused and guys like Mike DeFelice and Todd Coffey will eventually end up close to their career stats...which ain't good for the Crew.

 

Good thing we don't have Mike DiFelice (a journeyman catcher who now manages rookie ball in the mets minors), but Mark DiFelice has matured and doesn't look like he will regress anytime soon, his cutter seems to fool righties pretty consistently, and no adjustments have been made against him yet. Coffey may get closer to career norms, but not because of overuse (Coffey is, like most sinkerballers [e.g. Solomon Torres] is better with consistent use because he gets more sink on his ball).

princeofpower:

Today was a tough game to watch.

I just want to say. People are blaming Doug Melvin for us not being 10 games up. He isnt out on the field. Hes doing his best. There isnt any pitchers we can aquire. He put his balls to the wall trying to get CC retained but it didnt work. There wasnt much after that. Now people are mad that the pitching staff sucks. What is there out there. Peavy is hurt. Halladay isnt going to be traded. Theres Pedro? But seriously who else?

Now when we have a potent offense. This offense can bail out our pitching staff when it has to. They are a streaky team we all know that. When this team is on you don't wana mess with them.

I'd just like to say to everybody DONT GIVE UP!!! We have the long summer nights a head of us. We arent even past the all star breaks. This is a hell of a team. 80 percent of us love these guys and it is our whole summer. So just don't give up. Its been a hell of a year and there is a lot of fun to go.

Thats my venting/motivation etc

Go Crew!

Be A Believer In Brewer Fever, and you'll be okay.  Just keep the faith!

BenderTheOffender:

Good thing we don't have Mike DiFelice (a journeyman catcher who now manages rookie ball in the mets minors), but Mark DiFelice has matured and doesn't look like he will regress anytime soon, his cutter seems to fool righties pretty consistently, and no adjustments have been made against him yet.

Hate to tell you that I told you so, but....maybe Mike DeFelice, the journeyman catcher would have been able to throw strikes instead of Mark "Cy Young" De Felice...you know, the journey man pitcher who didn't make the majors until he was thirty something.  Looks like he regressed today.  Oh yeah, there was a little bit of pressure on him today...he wasn't pitching against the Nationals in a blow out.  But go ahead and keep running him out there in pressure situations.  I am sure he will be fine.  Einsteinhood, you hear me?  Piece of scum, out!

Juiceman:

BenderTheOffender:

Good thing we don't have Mike DiFelice (a journeyman catcher who now manages rookie ball in the mets minors), but Mark DiFelice has matured and doesn't look like he will regress anytime soon, his cutter seems to fool righties pretty consistently, and no adjustments have been made against him yet.

Hate to tell you that I told you so, but....maybe Mike DeFelice, the journeyman catcher would have been able to throw strikes instead of Mark "Cy Young" De Felice...you know, the journey man pitcher who didn't make the majors until he was thirty something.  Looks like he regressed today.  Oh yeah, there was a little bit of pressure on him today...he wasn't pitching against the Nationals in a blow out.  But go ahead and keep running him out there in pressure situations.  I am sure he will be fine.  Einsteinhood, you hear me?  Piece of scum, out!

Is that your way of signing off? Like "Seacrest, out"? It certainly is appropriate.

If you actually had a brain and one working eye, you would have seen that DiFelice retired two batters (the mighty Soriano and Lee), gave up a "hit" on a blooper that bounced off Counsell's glove, walked two hitters intentionally, and threw several strikes that Fox fouled off before the final one that the umpire refused to call.

Before today, DiFelice had 4 wins so he has pitched successfully in several pressure situations. He also had 5 walks and 28 strikeouts in 31 innings. Now that may not be the kind of pinpoint control that a topflight reliever (like, say, Carlos Marmol) would have, but he does seem to be able to throw strikes if an umpire is willing to follow the rules and call them. But, again, why would a brainless troll let facts get in the way of making a jackass of himself? You certainly have succeeded there.

wisblue:

Before today, DiFelice had 4 wins so he has pitched successfully in several pressure situations. He also had 5 walks and 28 strikeouts in 31 innings. Now that may not be the kind of pinpoint control that a topflight reliever (like, say, Carlos Marmol) would have, but he does seem to be able to throw strikes if an umpire is willing to follow the rules and call them. But, again, why would a brainless troll let facts get in the way of making a jackass of himself? You certainly have succeeded there.

That is quite a sample of work there.  31 whole innings.  When is his bust going to be up in Cooperstown? To my recollection, he lost the game today.  He didn't get the job done,  The Cubs scored the winning run due to his erratic pitching in a pressure situation.  He may have 4 whole wins this year but what were the circumstances?  A win against a lesser opponent than the Cubs in April is not quite the same as a game in July on the road against a team that has your number when it counts.  But that's fine.  Keep on defending him.  It still goes down as a victory for the Cubs and a loss for DeFelice and the Brewers and there is nothing you can about it.

Juiceman:

wisblue:

Before today, DiFelice had 4 wins so he has pitched successfully in several pressure situations. He also had 5 walks and 28 strikeouts in 31 innings. Now that may not be the kind of pinpoint control that a topflight reliever (like, say, Carlos Marmol) would have, but he does seem to be able to throw strikes if an umpire is willing to follow the rules and call them. But, again, why would a brainless troll let facts get in the way of making a jackass of himself? You certainly have succeeded there.

That is quite a sample of work there.  31 whole innings.  When is his bust going to be up in Cooperstown? To my recollection, he lost the game today.  He didn't get the job done,  The Cubs scored the winning run due to his erratic pitching in a pressure situation.  He may have 4 whole wins this year but what were the circumstances?  A win against a lesser opponent than the Cubs in April is not quite the same as a game in July on the road against a team that has your number when it counts.  But that's fine.  Keep on defending him.  It still goes down as a victory for the Cubs and a loss for DeFelice and the Brewers and there is nothing you can about it.

I wasn't so much defending DiFelice as I was pointing out what a moronic troll you are. So, thank you for making my case stronger every time you open your mouth.

Does this quote sound familiar? ' I don't come to gloat about the Cubs for the sake of gloating about them.  I don't post all that often but when I do, it is not for gloating. " In case your drunken state has caused you to forget things, this was you less than 24 hours ago trying to convince everybody that you aren't a common troll. So, not only are you a moronic troll, you are a flat out LIAR.

Juiceman:

That is quite a sample of work there.  31 whole innings.  When is his bust going to be up in Cooperstown?

It is a half season for a reliever.  What is with you and comparing every ML player to Hall of Famers.  Hate to break this to you but 98% of the players in the league right now are not going to make the Hall of Fame.  Are you really this stupid that you think players can be successfull and not go to the HOF.