Highlights-Lowlights: Brewers-Pirates (6/6-6/8)

This is SnoTap's version of recap of the two, three or four game series Milwaukee Brewers will play this season. We focus on the positives and negatives with topics about the game and topics that were nowhere near close to part of the game.

Highlights
Yovani Gallardo - What a bounce back performance for Yovani. We started to wonder if it was okay to worry about him with having a 6.55 ERA for the last six starts, and he proved all doubters wrong on Sunday. Brewers starter dominated with seven strong innings, only allowing four hits, striking out eight and walking only one. Gallardo also worked out of a massive bases-loaded jam in the seventh inning. Given how the final inning turned out plus Gallardo throwing 121 pitches, it might be one of the most impressive Brewers start of the season.

Jonathan Lucroy - It does get really repetitive to have the same player on here multiple times, but Johnny Luc had another great series. Sunday, Lucroy provided three of the four Brewers hits including the double which helped score the only run for the Brewers. He also helped frame the called questionable strike three in the eighth. Lucroy had a big day Saturday with two hits with a run driven. He will probably not be a starter, but no one on this Brewers team deserves to be an All-Star more than Lucroy this year. What a season thus far.

Lyle Overbay - I wondered about what Overbay's role on this team could be if the Brewers ended up signing up Kendrys Morales, but he signed with Minnesota so we didn't have to cross that bridge. Overbay once again came up big in the clutch on Saturday. Clint Hurdle decided to intentionally walk Scooter Gennett paving the way for Overbay to be up with the bases loaded. He delivered with a two-run single, and Milwaukee had the lead which they never gave up for the rest f the game. He might not be this clutch all the time, but Overbay has had moments with this team in 2014.

Francisco Rodriguez - There are certain closers whom you would never associate with four-out saves. One of those would be Francisco Rodriguez. But he got an opportunity on Sunday with the bases jammed in the eighth. He struck out Russell Martin and moved to the ninth inning. Rodriguez didn't make it easy on himself as he walked both Sterling Marte and Ike Davis yet he got out it with a Travis Snider force out and Josh Harrison lining out to center. Great resolve by Frankie on Sunday getting the much-needed save.

Jean Segura - Along with Rodriguez, Segura played a large part in Sunday's win late.  Segura made a diving stab a hit up the middle by Travis Snider which would have scored a run without question. Before Segura made the majors, people thought he would be destined to be a second baseman, and he has done a great job at proving people wrong.  He didn't really have a good weekend at the plate but still, his defense paid dividends.



Mitch's Facebook Status - I know I am one for hyperbole at times, but our SnoTap writer Mitch Pratt had a great Facebook post involving his parents. Worth noting, his dad didn't end up wearing a Hank The Dog t-shirt but still funny nonetheless. I will let Mitch take it away from here, but I couldn't agree more with him.

Lowlights
Tyler Thornburg and his injury - Hopefully, it is just a strained forearm and nothing more serious. Thornburg heads to the Disabled List after having his worst outing of the season giving up five runs on only three hits. It was ugly in all ways possible for him, and it was unfortunate Ron Roenicke left him in to fry when he clearly didn't have it on Friday. Hopefully, it is a short stint on the DL for Thornburg and he will be back to his dominant ways.

Kyle Lohse - It is almost like everyone put the proverbial jinx on him with much hype about Lohse's commanding start against Chicago two Sundays ago, and then he goes out having his first bad start of the season. Only second time this year where Lohse wasn't able to finish the sixth inning, and he ended up giving up eight runs in total. Sometimes, you just don't have it as a pitcher. I see it as a blip on the radar. Blowups happen from time to time.

Russell Martin - Honest question... Why does Martin always start shit when the Brewers are in town? He was involved with the tussle around April and said he wanted to fight Martin Maldonado in the offseason. This time around, he overreacts to a called strike three late in the game getting himself and his manager run from the game. Martin always seems to ramp up the theatrics when he is playing the Crew. He also looks like Jack Parkman with those shades on.

Blow out weirdness - Brewers have only lost by five or more runs five times this season. Two of those times have been at the hands of the Pittsburgh Pirates in very lopsided wins. But it is humorous because these are only two of the Pirates three wins against Milwaukee this season as they have dropped 10 games to Milwaukee already this season.  I think Pittsburgh would take two more close wins instead of just having three victories over their older brothers of the National League Central.

Charlie.

The Growing Disagreement on Wei-Chung Wang

Wei-Chung Wang is one of the biggest storylines of the Milwaukee Brewers season thus far. We already know about why he is an intriguing player, and the consequences that come with him being off the team. Wang had another terrible outing giving up five runs in one inning making his ERA around 17.61.  This is unfair to Wang. He really should be in Single or Double A working on his craft but instead he gets trotted out once every two weeks to get hit around by MLB talent. Milwaukee is in a tough place with a General Manager whom wants him there and a Manager that doesn't. We don't know the latter part of that statement, but it sure feels like it.

Doug Melvin made all sorts of comments about how the Brewers are committed to Wang, long-term. We talked on the blog before about how it feels like Wang is first-round draft pick to replace them losing a pick to have Kyle Lohse. Melvin believes he will be a great pitcher, and he is terrified to let go of young pitching. It comes from him giving up on Jorge De La Rosa and Dana Eveland whom didn't become All-Stars post-Brewers life, but they did end up having solid years here and there. Further, Melvin waited until he absolutely last moment to let go of Manny Parra because he believed there still was a chance of him being successful.

No one likes to be wrong, and it seems like Melvin might top the list. For a long time, he brought in former Texas players, he had either drafted or traded for at some point, almost like he wanted to be proven right. Additionally, it doesn't help things that Hector Rondon, a Rule 5 guy like Wang, has become the closer of the Chicago Cubs after spending a year on the Chicago roster. Melvin looks to that and probably knows he cannot let go to Wang especially to rival Pittsburgh. But the difference between the Cubs and Brewers is Chicago spent a majority of the season below .500 while Milwaukee is in a pennant race. Having a liability in the bullpen like Wang is making things difficult on Ron Roenicke and it's starting to show through.

Last night, the Brewers trailed Atlanta by one run in the eighth inning coming off a half inning featuring a Ryan Braun home run. Will Smith, Milwaukee's usual set-up man, hadn't pitched since Friday, but Roenicke went with Wang. It became an entire dumpster fire with a six-run inning in the eighth leading to Milwaukee's third straight loss. Many people including me perceived as Roenicke waving the white flag because they were likely hopeless against Craig Kimbrel, one of the best closers in the game. But now that I had a chance to stew a little bit on this topic, Roenicke did this as a big giant FU to Melvin.

Why would Roenicke have Wang face Ryan Doumit, Jason Heyward, Justin Upton and Freddie Freeman? Wang wasn't going through the bottom of the order here. Further, he wasn't facing a low-tier team rather a likely playoff contender. Roenicke wanted to show Melvin how not ready this pitcher is and wants to have Jimmy Nelson or Mike Fiers in the big leagues, two guys completely dominating Triple A right now. Roenicke didn't mind losing the game to prove a point. Is that spiteful?  Yes. Will Roenicke get his point across to Melvin?  No probably not, but Roenicke wanted to make it clear Wang doesn't belong here. It's not really fair to Wei-Chung truthfully, but there is a clear division between the Manager and General Manager. Although Roenicke has seemingly lost his marbles trying to figure out what works with this baseball team so who knows it could be the manager doing something different.

What happens from here?  Who really knows. Wang is known liability. Does he go on the Jeff Suppan Disabled List with a 'shoulder' or 'elbow' injury that causes him to miss a month or so?  I don't think Melvin makes the move to give him back to Pittsburgh honestly, at least not yet. But Milwaukee is heading to an iceberg they cannot avoid especially if other pitchers struggle in the coming weeks. If Marco Estrada hits the skids and clearly does not look like a starting pitcher, what does Milwaukee do?  It becomes damn near impossible with Wang in the bullpen if Estrada starts showing signs of struggling as a starter.

Maybe there isn't a growing disagreement with Manager and Front Office, but it sure as hell is starting to feel like it a bit. Wang hasn't pitched in two weeks, but still, it seemed calculated. Almost like a moon door for Wang's career in Milwaukee.

Charlie.

Highlights-Lowlights: Pirates-Brewers (5/11-5/13)

This is SnoTap's version of recap of the two, three or four game series Milwaukee Brewers will play this season. We focus on the positives and negatives with topics about the game and topics that were nowhere near close to part of the game.

Highlights
Marco Estrada - When Marco gave up a first inning home run to Known Brewer Killer Neil Walker, I thought here we go again with Estrada in the month of May. But he proved me wrong taking control of the baseball game from there with six strong innings giving up only five more hits and no more runs after the Walker solo shot. Estrada giving up nine home runs is concerning but expected. He is a fly ball pitcher and he works a ton of change-ups. If one of those hang, it will head out of the ballpark. Estrada's ERA is down to 3.28 after Tuesday's performance, and that's pretty damn good for a back-end starter.

Rickie Weeks - Did you know Weeks is hitting .625 for the month of May? Do you know people still hate Weeks like the plague? Do you know he is the better option at second base right now? Weeks is playing his ass off. He had two opposite field hits on Thursday afternoon with a double and a home run. Weeks had a big RBI pinch hit on Tuesday night. He is on complete fire folks. Either get with it, or get behind. Also, let's stop with the trade nonsense right now. I will write about this next week whether Weeks is still hot or not but it's the wrong move by the Brewers.

Wily Peralta - We need a losing effort horn like The Solid Verbal Podcast because Peralta dazzled again knocking his earned run average to 2.05. Peralta pitched great going seven innings only allowing one run and gave up five hits with striking out four batters. For the season, Peralta only walked 10 batters in eight starts this season, and in the last two, he walked just one batter. The biggest criticism about the young right hander was his control. It seems to be fixed, at least for now, and if that's the case, the Brewers could be looking at a frontline pitcher.

Khris Davis Walk-Off - I wish I could explain Khris's thrill for the dramatics, but it seems like he has it. Three big extra inning hits on the road that all helped the Brewers win baseball games, and then a walk-off hit at home. With this team likely to be contending for a National League Central crown, Davis' ability to be clutch in the moment is a big, big thing. Hopefully, he puts it together in other innings than the ninth or extras though.

Mark Reynolds defense - When Milwaukee signed Mark Reynolds, most people including myself, saw it as a way for the Brewers to add some power, but no one expected him to be this good on defense. He made two run-saving plays on Thursday afternoon including the start of a great double play after Tyler Thornburg walked the first two batters in the eighth. With how bad the Brewers were at defense last season, this is a much-needed boost to their piss poor defense of last season. It's appreciated.

Lowlights
Ron Roenicke has a decision looming and it's terrifying - I have no idea how the whole Scooter and Rickie thing is going to play out. We never had this problem last season because Weeks never really got hot all year minus the one little spurt when Gennett got called up. Roenicke has to know he cannot move Weeks from the lineup, but at the same turn, Gennett is playing too good to keep him on the bench. I hope he just rides the hot hand for awhile and see what happens. Heaven help me if he continues to straight platoon.

Francisco Rodriguez - You know this is a lowlight because it is the reason why the Brewers lost on Wednesday night as Frankie gave up four straight hits leading to three Pirates runs. But it is a good thing. Rodriguez isn't going to be perfect all year. I would much rather have him 'blow up' in a tied game versus him blowing a three-run save or something dumb like that. He did fine on Thursday afternoon and hopefully, it will continue this weekend.

Andrew McCutchen - I don't really call the best players on teams, Known Brewer Killers, unless it is Troy Tulowitzki whose the president of the club. But McCutchen usually does some serious damage against the Brewers. But he went 1 for 12 with only one run scored. It is apparent McCutchen is bothered a bit from his foot injury he sustained on Saturday. I don't think for one season the Brewers figured out McCutchen or something dumb like that. I wouldn't be surprised if he ends up on the Disabled List or takes some time off this weekend.

Spotty Brewers offense - Even though they won two of three against the Pirates, it doesn't mean their offense didn't look like complete shit at times. They only scored one run on Wednesday night and nine out of eleven batters before Weeks's single in the eighth inning struck out. Carlos Gomez not being in the offense might be hurting this team more than the Braun injury. The jury is still out on that one, and who knows how long they will be without Gomez yet let me tell you, it isn't that fun.

Charlie.

Random Thoughts From a Tuesday Miller Park Adventure

I decided to make another trip to Miller Park. It was too hard not to pass up the opportunity to drink four dollar beers, dollar dogs and four dollar nachos. Also, there were a chance for fireworks with the reunion of Cole and Gomez. Here is what I witnessed at the game. 

- We usually go to a bar before the game, and I finished a workout before going meaning I was starving. Waiting for the opportunity to have food at the game nearly killed me. Hearing the waitress ask about appetizers only to rebuff her crushed me inside.

- First thing we did when we got to the game is took advantage of the deal at Miller Park.  I ended up with what my buddy Mike called the 'Miller Park Happy Meal' - Plate of nachos, two hot dogs and a beer. All for 10 dollars.

- I understand the workers are usually working for a cause. I believe the first one was for a church so I will be nice, but what planet do you dress the nachos with cheese over the top versus in the little cup?  Thankfully, I didn't spill cheese nor was I with any female companion, but man, that could have been disastrous

- Losing a beer bet on a sausage race is one of the more depressing things to have happen to me in the past couple weeks. I bet my friend Chuck that the Bratwurst would win and the goddamn Italian Sausage ran like it was a 100M dash for the Gold Medal.  Horrible.

- Rickie Weeks is hitting .333. I am starting to love Weeks again. Glad I got to see him for one at-bat last night. He should be starting in the next two games against two lefties.  

- We had seats in the four row of the bleachers, but instead of being cramped in, we sat near the top of the section.  Why?  It felt better truthfully and there were a little under 25,000 in the ballpark so there was space to move around a bit.

- Although in our seats, some punk ass kids were dropping a soda and ice cubes from above. Thankfully, my man Dennis was carrying a big stick and vowed for it to stop. It did after a 10 cubes. I really wanted to go Tommy Boy on these scoundrels.



- Gerrit Cole is probably the least liked opposing player right now. He was booed lustfully throughout the game, and then when he hit Carlos Gomez, the boos were deafening. Cole didn't really struggle against the Brewers rather his defense was downright terrible throughout the game.

- One of the discussions we had was during the week what if Miller Park had an open seat policy where you could sit wherever you wanted in some of the seats. Personally, this would probably be chaotic and not work because generally, people are assholes. But it would be interesting to see what happens to upper deck if it were General Admission for 15 dollars during the week. I doubt it would ever happen unless we get to a utopia state.

- Overall, a solid Brewers win. They got some timely hitting from Jonathan Lucroy whose red hot right now. Jean Segura got a great BALL DON'T LIE double including another hit and Weeks had another big base knock. Nice start to the series

- 3-0 on the year and heading back against Baltimore in a couple weeks.  

Charlie.  

Pirates-Brewers Preview (5/13-5/15)

Brewers previews to get you ready for the series where we have five things to watch, pitching matchups and prediction. We add a YouTube video in the mix, it could be really anything.   

Pitching Matchups
Tuesday:      Gerrit Cole (3-2 3.64) vs. Marco Estrada (2-1 3.53)                7:10 pm FSNWI
Wednesday: Francisco Lirano (0-3 4.64) vs. Wily Peralta (4-2 2.17)           7:10 pm FSNWI
Thursday:     Wandy Rodriguez (0-4 7.65) vs. Yovani Gallardo (2-2 2.92)  12:10 pm 620 WTMJ

Five Things To Watch
1.) Bad blood anyone? - The last time these two teams met, the same two pitchers were pitching and Gerrit Cole chirped at Carlos Gomez after Gomez had bat flipped a triple leading to a big fight. Everyone is saying there will be no antics in this game, but I am thinking this first game will be chippy. Both teams want to set the tone of the series. I don't think Cole will try to hit Brewers players nor will Milwaukee do the same, but there will be many chippy things happening throughout the game. It should be a ton of fun. If nothing happens at all, I will be very bummed out. With how banged up Milwaukee is, a fight wouldn't be a good idea even though I love a good fight.

2.) Let's play everyone's favorite game... Guess the lineup!!!!! Let's say Carlos Gomez is suspended for the first two games of the series, Aramis Ramirez is headed to the Disabled List and Ryan Braun is coming off of it. I could see a lineup featuring Rickie Weeks, Jean Segura, Scooter Gennett or Logan Schafer hitting leadoff. I could see them moving Jonathan Lucroy to the clean up position. Hopefully, Ron Roenicke gets creative with his lineup versus going with something lazy by having both Mark Reynolds and Lyle Overbay in the same lineup. Here is the nine I want for the first two games but it's probably unrealistic.... 2B Rickie Weeks, 3B Scooter Gennett, RF Ryan Braun, C Jonathan Lucroy, 1B Mark Reynolds, SS Jean Segura, CF Logan Schafer, LF Khris Davis

3.) Marco needs to rebound from tough May start - After starting off the season strong, Marco Estrada has not been the same in May. In the first four starts of the season for Estrada, he had six walks combined with three of them coming in a single game against Boston. In the last two, Estrada has walked six. Additionally, home runs have been an issue with both Cincinnati and Arizona hitting two out on the Brewers righty. Estrada is still making it to the sixth inning which is good as he has went six or farther in all but one of his games, yet still, there needs to be a little more improvement from Estrada whether it is limiting his home runs or walks.

4.) More likely to break out... Wandy or Francisco? - Two of the three Pirates pitchers are struggling to star the season. Wandy Rodriguez is coming off the Disabled List to face Milwaukee, the last team he faced in April. He could return to his old school Brewer Killer form causing some chaos for a team that struggles during afternoon games at Miller Park. Liriano is another story. Six of his eight starts have seen the supposed Pittsburgh ace giving up at least three or four runs. One of the technically 'good' starts, Liriano only pitched two innings and the other one happened on Opening Day against Chicago.  

5.) Pittsburgh's not so hot road record - Pirates have played 23 of their first 37 games at home to start the year meaning there is not much to their away statistics yet. But right now, they have lost 10 of their first 14 games away from PNC Park including a sweep at Milwaukee in mid-April. It will be interesting to see if the road demons ride again, or if Pittsburgh reverses their luck.

Appropriate YouTube Video


You had to know it's coming....

Prediction
I am feeling two of three from Pittsburgh. If Milwaukee can do that, they would be 5-4 on this homestand which would be adequate. Although I will say it appears like Milwaukee is building a little May momentum after two late-inning wins.

Charlie.

Brewers-Pirates Brawl Brings Suspensions & Protection

As expected, Major League Baseball delivered the hammer on the Milwaukee Brewers and Pittsburgh
Pirates brawl on Tuesday afternoon levying suspensions to Martin Maldonado, Carlos Gomez, Travis Snider and Russell Martin. All four were also fined for the scuffle. Gomez and the two Pirate players are appealing their suspensions while Maldonado began his on Tuesday night. As you can see Pittsburgh's starting pitcher Gerrit Cole avoided any sort of suspension or fine, is that okay?  Many believe it is as Cole just trash talked Gomez, but are we certain this is not setting a precedent for the rest of the season?

There are always two sides to every story. It could be a relationship issue where you are friends with both the boyfriend and girlfriend of the relationship, the story always sounds different depending on what aisle you're on. It could be a fight between friends, neighbor dispute or anything else meaning Gomez and Cole saw how this played out very differently. We all know the background of the situation. The Brewers outfielder poised for a triple and Cole took exception leading him to say something. But let's watch the video, shall we? 

Cole clearly says something that has to do with 'Fuck' where it is guided at Gomez or what he did is unknown, but it is pretty clear that's the word he says as even the home Pirates broadcast apologizes for the language used by Cole.  Gomez yells some things at Cole being restrained by an umpire in almost a fake tough guy move where he is using the umpire as a shield for why he doesn't bury Cole. It becomes more than just a shouting matchup when Snider makes his way to Gomez and then all hell breaks loose leading to the reason why the four players got suspended.  Many Brewers fans were surprised to hear the news Cole did not receive even a fine from the league, but do you really want to suspend a guy for running his mouth? 

Many people believed what Cole did was trash talk. Just like we see in all sorts of professional sports. Cole attempted to get Gomez fired up and possibly see if it could lead to him being thrown out of the baseball game. He did just that.  Remember Cole came nowhere near the actual fight was happening. He hung out by the pitching mound and minded his business like he did nothing wrong. Many are saying if you are going to suspend trash talkers, there will be more outrage than people praising Major League Baseball actions. But there is a difference between trash talking and throwing a can of gasoline on a fire. 

Cole incited the fight. Not to go to extremes, but if one incites a riot, but doesn't really riot, they still get arrested. There is no question about it. None of this happens if Cole keeps his mouth shut out there. This would be an entire different story if Gomez and the third baseman starting jawing right from the get go. It happened to be the pitcher who threw the meatball hovering over Gomez and saying something with the word 'fuck' in it. Cole can act like he is the goodie two-shoes in the whole ordeal, but in reality, none of this shit happens without him. Although to his defense, he realized this was a smarter technique than hitting Gomez in his next at-bat because Cole knew a suspension for him would be highly unlikely.   

Well any pitchers moving forward use the 'Gerrit Cole defense' when batters show them up and it does not end up being a home run. Could they run over to second base say something, get the player pissed and lead to others fighting their battles?  It's probable. I don't know how often it will happen, but at the same time, the idea pitchers have the free reign to run their mouth and be expressive just like Gomez was when he that baseball is a pure double standard. Cole probably should not have been suspended, but the fact, he gets off clean speaks volume of what Major League Baseball is willing to allow on the mound. It will be interesting trend to monitor in the coming months. 

Brewers-Pirates get together in mid-May. Hopefully, we will see Gomez and Cole again meet at the mound. We will definitely see the other players in action against each other, and I have a weird feeling the fireworks are not over with these two teams. 

Charlie.