Brewers First Half Pitching Grades

This is an annual post here with SnoTap industries where we grade the Brewers offense and their pitching staff.  I would like to think I am a fair grader and some think I am a little too nice to people. If you missed the offense grades earlier this afternoon, check em out.   

Kyle Lohse - Personally, I feel he is the best pitcher on the team thus far. Lohse has been the most consistent Brewer of the bunch. Every now and again, he blows up, yet there have been some stellar performances including a complete game shutout against Chicago. Lohse's career in the last five years or so have been really unbelievable if you think about it, great consistency from him. GRADE: A

Francisco Rodriguez - The return of K-Rod. He probably takes Milwaukee's Cy Young because they had no idea who would close games for Milwaukee. Rodriguez closed the first game, and he continued for the rest of the first half of the season with no signs of slowing down. Most of Frankie's runs have came in non-save situations with only three blown saves on the season. The only thing to worry about a little bit is the amount of home runs he has given up in the past couple months. GRADE: A
G only allowed one run in the last two months and only allowed 15 hits in that timespan as well. He's been as good as anyone in the bullpen. Truly impressive performance from Duke. GRADE: A

Will Smith - It is really hard to be critical of Smith because of a bad month recently with the Brewers. Smith pitched so well for the first three months of the season. He looked like an All-Star for a long-time during the season and then Smith hit the regression wall. It happens to a great deal of players in baseball. If anyone needed the All-Star Break, it was Smith. Hopefully, the two appearances against St. Louis where he pitched two scoreless innings is the step in the right direction. GRADE: A-

Wily Peralta - This has been a breakout season for Wily. The numbers don't really show what Wily did for the 'first half' of the season. He had a real strong start to the season with his ERA getting as low as 2.12 by late May. Peralta had an average month of June despite him winning all five starts, but the glimmer of hope came in final start in a stellar start against St. Louis where he pitched seven innings giving up no runs and three hits. GRADE: B

Matt Garza - What a turnaround for him. Many people were ready to bring out the pitchforks for Garza after struggling for his first two months of the season. Yes, he cannot field his position to save his soul, but Garza is pitching his ass off right now. He had a strong June with having an ERA under three for the month along with some strong outings against Minnesota, Arizona and Cincinnati (Terrible defense from him but whatever). The first two starts in July for Garza, he only allowed five total hits with two runs. If he becomes a front-line starter for the second half, it will be like Milwaukee had made a trade for a pitcher. GRADE: B

Yovani Gallardo - This first half has sort of defined Yovani Gallardo's career. He had some great starts including a strong sart to his season and then he fell apart for awhile then bounced back a little bit. Gallardo's inconsistency continuing to be frustrating for Brewers fans because you see the potential in some starts then it all goes to shit in another one. GRADE B-

Tyler Thornburg - You kind of forget about him because he hasn't played in over a month and a half with his last start being against Pittsburgh in late May. Thornburg came out blazing in the first month of the season proving everyone right when they said 'You know Thornburg could be a great reliever.' He then scuffled in the month of May. Who knows what Throny we will get when he comes back. GRADE: C+

Rob Wooten - It is hard to really judge Wooten's season right now. The reliever's ERA is abnormally high because one blowup appearance against Cincinnati in June. If he can whatever he had in May where Wooten had an ERA of 0.71, that would be ideal. He is not a bad reliever where you worry when he comes in, but Wooten needs to be a little more solid. GRADE:C+

Brandon Kintzler - Here's where my frustration with Kintzler. He seems to choke it up in big, clutch moments. This worries me as we get closer and closer to the month of October plus need clutch outings in August and September. I know this paragraph sounds a little JS Comments-like but he has been on the losing end of a walk-off four times this season already. GRADE: C-

Marco Estrada - It has not been a good year for Marco. He gave up 27 home runs in the first half of the season. What honestly did him to lose his starting position was the month of June. He gave up 24 runs, 30 hits and seven home runs leading to a 7.45 ERA. Estrada could have a totally different second half as the Brewers long relief pitcher. GRADE: D+

Wei-Chung Wang - It is honestly hard to talk about him because it really isn't fair to talk about how he's done so far this season. I am extremely surprised he is still on a MLB roster. GRADE: Incomplete.

Charlie.

Highlights-Lowlights: Cubs-Brewers

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
Ryan Braun - I told ya. I thought Braun would have a big series, and he did exactly that with two big
performances on Friday and Sunday night. He hit two home runs so we can retire the whole thing about 'Braun cannot hit homers at home' which I don't think really was a thing but I got sick of everyone talking about it. Braun also drove in another run on Friday night plus he scored four times as well in those games. Braun tends to go on these tears for about a week or so meaning it should be a real fun time for Minnesota this upcoming week.

Kyle Lohse - What a game for Lohse needing a little bit of a bounce-back after his Memorial Day start. He finished the game with a three-hit shutout striking out six batters for his seventh win of the season. He messed around and picked up a Maddux as well. He finished the game with 93 pitches. An extremely efficient outing for Lohse on the mound whom seemed in full control. Lohse also did some damage with his bat driving in two runs. He apparently jokes about what a bad hitter he was, but he had Brewers fans fooled on Sunday afternoon. Lohse is pitching better than anyone on this team. Pretty good for a guy some fans believed to be the next Jeff Suppan.

Khris Davis - Sure, his hitting streak ended today at 10 games, but Davis had another big series. He added a hit on Saturday, but the headlines stem from his Friday night performance. Davis had two hits, both doubles and scored on both hits as well making for a very productive day at the plate. Who knows if Davis will hit as high as five again this season, but he seemed very comfortable at there. It is nice to see he can hit at any spot of the order.

Jason Hammel - It is time to annoint Jason Hammel with the Known Brewer Killer crown. He dominated the Crew for the second straight appearance at Miller Park. He did not give up a run once again and remained in control for most of the game. Hammel did not walk one batter, he struck out eight and only gave up four hits. It appears like Hammel will be dealt at some point this season, and Chicago should definitely consider it because he has been one of the brightest spots for the Cubs this season. He will garner some value.

Wei-Chung Wang - I need to give credit where credit is due, and Wang did pretty well in his two appearances this weekend. He pitched well on Friday night not allowing a run and only one hit given up. On Saturday, he did allow a run in his second inning of work, but that was sort of  Braun's fault as he attempted to dive for a ball yet he missed it. It does appear Wang feels comfortable on the home mound which is a good thing, and hopefully, he will start figuring out more stuff becoming an actual option out of the Brewers bullpen.

Scooter Gennett - He deserves this honor for his Sunday performance. Gennett added a home run and two doubles scoring all three times he reached base. Even though everyone else struggled against Hammel, Gennett found some success getting two of the four hits the Cubs hurler gave up on Saturday. Scooter has moved his average up to .281, the highest its been since May 14th against Pittsburgh. If he gets warm, it will only add to the potent Brewers offense.

Lowlights
Cubs accuse Brewers of 'stealing signs' - Oh so this is back? Cubs after Sunday's ass-kicking accused the Brewers of possibly taking some of their signs. This is flat out stupid. This is sour grapes from a team whose ace got dominated for the first time of the season. Guess what? Even the best pitchers have bad starts every now and again, and that's what happened with Jeff Samardzija on Sunday afternoon. The most ridiculous thing about the sign-stealing stuff is how bad the Brewers lost on Saturday. If they were taking signs, you think they would have swept the series, right?

Wily Peralta - Things really got out of hand quickly for the Brewers righty with his first real bad start of the season. He gave up two home runs to Anthony Rizzo and his whole sixth inning went to complete shit with Peralta giving up six runs on only five hits. Peralta did not have his best stuff out there, and the Cubs took advantage of it especially Rizzo. I don't think this is the regression truck coming around rather just an abberation in the game logs. Wily should be just fine for the next start against Minnesota.

Tyler Thornburg - Fair to be a little concerned with him as of late? Thornburg gave up two runs in the ninth on Friday night, and granted, they were meaningless, still Thornburg is having an issue serving up runs. In three of the last four appearances, Thornburg has allowed at least one run.  It is clear he needs to fine tune some of his skills because it appears the opposing teams have a good book on him finally after not being able to figure him out in the bulpen.

Mark Reynolds - Not a good weekend for him. He had five strikeouts this weekend including three at the plate on Friday night. Reynolds didn't really seem comfortable at the plate all weekend. Reynolds' average has dipped to .205.  Good thing, there are other Brewers to pick up the slack where he can be placed lower in the order.

Charlie.

Tapping The Keg Podcast Episode 89

Tapping The Keg brings you another edition this week with episode 89 featuring the usual stalwarts, Charlie and Mitch.  We talk about the song of the summer, and pick our selection which will most definitely be wrong. We move on to discuss the NBA Lottery night with Milwaukee Bucks, Mallory Edens and much more. It moves to baseball where we talk about the lack of media attention towards Ryan Braun, talk about Carlos Gomez's worth as well as what to do about Wei-Chung Wang. We discuss Colt Lyerla with the Packers, and why some journalists need to take a little step back before calling it a 'gutter' move. A wee bit of NBA Playoff talk to wrap it up. Really fun 50 minutes

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.

Quick Tap Podcast Episode Eight

Quick Tap Podcast comes in hot with an unusual early afternoon edition. We got some great questions this weekend which is really nice to see and hopefully, something that will continue in the coming weeks. The podcast leads off with trying to decide whose better - Olivia Munn or Olivia Wilde, impossible task. What I could spend with $17.14 which is Wei-Chung Wang's ERA. What athlete scares me mentally and physically. Summer stuff ranging from my favorite summer as a child, Season power rankings and least favorite summer clothing item. We finish with wondering why Haseem Thabeet plays for Oklahoma City then TV thoughts on Louie plus why FX might be the second best network in the game right now.

Charlie.

Brewers-Reds Preview (5/1-5/4)

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
Thursday: Marco Estrada (2-1 2.87) vs. Homer Bailey (1-2 6.15)      6:10 pm FSNWI
Friday:     Wily Peralta (3-1 2.56) vs. Mike Leake (2-2 3.82)             6:10 pm FSNWI
Saturday:  Yovani Gallardo (2-0 1.91) vs. Johnny Cueto (2-2 1.15)    6:10 pm FSNWI
Sunday:     Kyle Lohse (4-1 2.70) vs. Alfredo Simon (4-1 1.60)         3:10 pm FSNWI

Five Things To Watch
1.) No Disabled List for Braun, Ramirez and Segura return - Brewers decided to send down Elian Herrera and bring up Rob Wooten as Aramis Ramirez and Jean Segura return to the lineup tonight. Ryan Braun will be missing from the lineup for the fifth straight game. There is no Disabled List appearance, but you wonder if he will be there by Saturday when Logan Schafer's stint is up on Saturday. Getting Ramirez and Segura will definitely help this offense, and hopefully, their injuries will not affect their play this weekend.

2.) Why is Wei-Chung Wang on the team? - I am even more convinced if Wei-Chung Wang would get put back with say Seattle or Kansas City, he wouldn't be on this roster, but since, Milwaukee would give him back to Pittsburgh, they want to avoid it if they can. Yet it would be really nice to have Caleb Gindl, a quality outfielder with a little bit of pop. The other thing is Mike Fiers is dominating Nashville right now striking out everybody in sight, and he has already proven to be an adequate long reliever. Same goes for Jimmy Nelson who did okay his first time around.  This is a very timely article from Jim Owczarski from OnMilwaukee about Wang.

3.) Mark Reynolds is playing right field for two games, is this real life? - With Milwaukee only having two infielders, my guess is Reynolds plays right field tonight which could get real ugly. At least Great American Ballpark is bandbox which means it could be easier for Reynolds than other places even like Miller Park. The other thing is keeping  Lyle Overbay's hot bat in the lineup plus add Reynolds' home run ability at GABP is a sneaky part of it and yes, I just talked myself into having Reynolds in right field. Also Dan provides a solid point here.

@SnoTap12 We'll get through it. Can't be any worse than Kotsay in Center in a crucial NLCS game.
— Dan Maciejewski (@dmaciejewski) May 1, 2014

4.) Gallardo vs. Cueto should be quite good - While Yo has been good so far this season, Cueto is having one of the best seasons thus far as a pitcher. He isn't getting run support, but Cueto has not allowed more than five hits in any of his starts this season.  Additionally, he struck out 27 batters in the last three outings. If you want a silver lining, Ramirez handles Cueto pretty well. Gallardo is not a slouch against Cincinnati either. He shut them out three times last season, once at GABP. I think we are in for a dandy on Saturday night.

5.) Great American Ballpark struggle bus - My apologies for not finding the statistics on what Milwaukee's exact record at this stadium, but they have not played well there in the past. Weird shit always tends to happen especially late in games. One of those places that makes you nervous as a fan.

Appropriate YouTube Video


I wish I could have some Skyline Chili. It's freezing in Milwaukee today. Also the mascots are TERRIFYING.

Prediction
I am seeing a split. Cannot expect them to beat both Simon and Cueto plus today's game with a still beat-up bullpen makes me a bit nervous even if Cincinnati is not playing well.  

Highlights-Lowlights- Brewers-Cardinals

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
A SERIES WIN AGAINST ST. LOUIS!!! - Cannot stress enough how big this was for the Brewers to take a road series from St. Louis. If the Cardinals were to sweep the Crew or win one game from them, the narrative in the coming months was 'Well Brewers are a good team, but they cannot beat St. Louis.' Now, they are sort of reborn. Brewers have been better at Busch Stadium than you think being the best NL Central team there. This will be a fun rivalry for the rest of the season, and it is more even than we thought before this week started.

Tyler Thornburg - Once again, Thorny played a big role in Milwaukee winning two of the three games this week. He pitched a third of an inning on Monday night where he walked one batter and struck out another then came up massive on Tuesday night.  Thornburg pitched a perfect ninth and 10th inning with four strikeouts bridging the gap and earning the victory as the Brewers scored a run in the eleventh. What more can be said about Thornburg? He looks like an All-Star set-up man right now, and a part of me believes he could be a old school closer in the future.

Khris Davis (Only in Extra Innings) - Let's be honest here, Davis did not have the greatest series. He struck out four times on Monday night only to get the go-ahead triple in the 12th inning. Davis scuffled his feet again on Tuesday night, but then in extras, he doubled to lead off the 11th which he scored on the Lyle Overbay single. This is the third time in April where Davis had a big hit in extras. It almost seems like he focuses more in the extra innings because he knows the importance of his at-bat. If somehow the Brewers staff can figure a way to have Davis play like that all the time, they will be great.

Zach Duke - Where the hell did this come from? We see this in the big leagues from time to time where a journeyman comes out of nowhere and becomes a dominant reliever. People thought Duke would be the second coming Michael Gonzalez, but he has been nothing but. Duke saved Milwaukee on Monday night with two strong innings bridging the gap paving the way for his second victory of the season. He added a couple more strikeouts in their defeat on Wednesday afternoon. Who knows when this dream ends, but I enjoyed it right now.

Carlos Gomez - When all of the other heavy artillery weapons were down, Gomez still had a big series with two more home runs pushing his average up to .293. The homer on Tuesday put the Brewers ahead in the seventh inning coming up big for the team. That's the scary thing about Gomez. He seems to live for the moment, and when he gets an opportunity to be the star of the team, he lives for it.

Yovani handled Busch - He may not have got the decision, but Yovani handled Busch Stadium pretty well for the first time since the crazy rain delay game in 2012. He did give up a couple home runs, and it's okay to be worried about his lack of strikeouts yet at the same time, he weathered the storm. The last couple years would have seen Yovani blow up at something like that instead he persevered.

Lowlights
Wei-Chung Wang - He was sent in as the sacrifical lamb on Wednesday as the Brewers took Garza out of the game as a precaution. Wang struggled allowing four runs with his ERA at 15.00 which is shockingly down from 18.00, the last time he appeared against Pittsburgh.  But he gave up four runs on six hits which isn't good. We will have a discussion later today about the decision for Milwaukee to keep Wang.

Matt Garza's thumb - He sounded frustrated after he left the game with a bruised right thumb in four innings of work. Garza said it will be a one time thing, and he will be pitching Monday. I am not ready to push the panic button on Garza yet, but we are getting a little closer. He is the only key cogs to get off to a slow start. I think it is nothing to worry about, but we can have another discussion in May if it continues with Garza.

Elian Herrera's throw from right - This was one of the biggest DERP plays of the season for the Brewers. This would be common practice for 2013.



Aramis Ramirez's elbow - He is apparently in the lineup tonight which is good, but hopefully, Ramirez isn't affected by it too much. I couldn't understand FSN Wisconsin's Bill Schroder saying 'Hey, whatever it takes to score the run' when Ramirez is in obvious pain.

Charlie.

Tapping The Keg Podcast Episode 86

Tapping The Keg podcast rolls on with a late afternoon edition features the two stalwarts of the SnoTap Podcast game with Charlie and Mitch yapping at you about all things sports. We talk about James Young sitting next to Rihanna last Friday, and who would be some of the people we would be nervous to sit next to, this also leads into another couple fun tangents. Despite their loss today, we talk about the Milwaukee Brewers success in the first month of the season and why they are for real with no collapse involved. We also talk about Wei-Chung Wang's spot on the team. We move on to discuss Donald Sterling scandal more so from Doc Rivers angle plus some other things. We talk about the upcoming NBA playoff games and Jameis Winston's crab leg mistake.

Charlie.

Wei-Chung Wang Spreads to St. Louis

I have to be honest I thought Wei-Chung Wang Wednesdays was just a one day thing that we could laugh at, but Marcus Hamel, the bullpen catcher, decided to go for a round two. This time involving the St. Louis Arch calling the 'Across The Nation' edition with everyone dressed up and paving the way for the star of the video Wei-Chung Wang whose rocking the beanie with a dress shirt. That's a power move. It is like saying 'Hey girl, I am not that fancy, gotta have a little edge to me.'  I would like to give props to Tyler Thornburg's dance moves again, Jim Henderson looked good out there and Will Smith also did the damn thing. Love this team.

Charlie.

Closing Time: Wei-Chung Wang Wednesdays, Newest Milwaukee Trend

Milwaukee Brewers are having a good April. They have won 16 of their first 22 games. Milwaukee is doing it in different ways. Sometimes, they are putting up big time offensive numbers, and other times, it is all pitching and defense. Milwaukee also seems to have quite the team bond especially in the bullpen. The other day, Jim Henderson and Tyler Thornburg battled to get 10,000 Twitter followers before Sunday's game. On Wednesday, we had the entire bullpen listening to "Everybody Wang Chung Tonight" with Wei-Chung Wang dancing in front with all of the Brewers bullpen dancing n the background. It is laugh out loud hilarious. Thornburg is the one to watch in this video just showing off all the dance moves for the women of Milwaukee. I would enjoy a night out with Will Smith, Thornburg and Wei-Chung, that would be a rowdy duo. Good night Tappers.

Charlie.