Highlights-Lowlights: Reds-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
Wily Peralta - The young Brewers pitcher continue to dazzle in the last couple outings. He pitched great against Cincinnati going seven innings strong with three hits allowed, one run earned and five strikeouts. Peralta seemed in full control all game long with great command and did not face many problems all game long. In the last two starts, Peralta pitched 15 innings only allowed six hits and striking out 10 batters. The last part is key, it seems like Wily is pitching more to contact than anything else which is important.

Ryan Braun - I wanted to write a longer blog post about Braun, and I might do it on Friday regardless of how he plays against New York. Braun seems fully healthy for the first time all season. He had another great series against Cincinnati. Braun went 5 for 12 in the series driving in five runs with a home run as well. He is in complete control of his swing whether it be pulling the ball or taking to the opposite field.

Zach Duke - When Milwaukee signed Zach Duke in the offseason, I didn't think much of it. Personally, I thought Duke wouldn't be on the roster by this time, or I would hate him like I did Mike Gonzalez. Duke is the best left-hander in baseball in terms of ERA. He struck out the side in the eighth inning of Tuesday night's game. Duke also came in to get out Billy Hamilton in the seventh inning with two outs and a runner on second.  He is one of the MVP's of the Milwaukee team thus far.

Mark Reynolds - Honestly, I had no idea if Mark Reynolds still existed with this Brewers team. He went radio silent for two months of the season then came through in a major way on Wednesday afternoon. Reynolds hit two home runs pushing the Brewers ahead by two runs and then added a solo shot in the eighth putting Milwaukee up by four runs and ensuring Francisco Rodriguez didn't have pitch for a third straight game. Hopefully, this is one of Reynolds' hot streak for the next couple of weeks.

Jean Segura - For the first time in a long time, Segura made an impact in a baseball game on the offensive side of the game. Segura had two hits on Monday night, one being a triple where he ended up scoring on a bad throw by the Reds defense, and he ignited the inning in the fourth scoring on Carlos Gomez's ground-rule double.

Lowlights
Instant Replay - If Major League Baseball is going to have instant replay, they need to use it right. Zach Cosart attempted to bunt the baseball to move the runners over, but the ball hit the bat plus his hand to go with it. The umpiring crew thought Cosart was hit by a pitch when in reality, it was a foul ball. Umpires felt sorry for Cosart because he had an injury. Simple as that. MLB needs to call it like they see it instead of trying to aid the player because he got hurt on the play. It doesn't mean shit, he still swung at the baseball.

Roenicke's not pulling Jimmy Nelson - With having a sweep, there is not much to complain about truthfully, but the manager of the Brewers had a couple mistakes this week with the pitching staff. Roenicke is damn lucky Jimmy Nelson did not get roughed up in the seventh when he gave up two straight singles then 'hit' two batters allowing a run in. Nelson still pitched great, but he could have really had a start spoiled in the seventh with Roenicke leaving him in too long.

Duke's one-pitch outing - This is another move by Roenicke that I failed to understand on Wednesday afternoon. Duke had only 13 pitches the night before and Hamilton swung at the first pitch. Duke could have easily stayed out for another inning saving Will Smith whose already pitching way too much for a day. Roenicke's logic on Wednesday afternoon baffled me. There is no reason Duke should have came out of the game.

Knowing these aren't the real Reds - I really hate to be a cynic. I really do, but we all know this isn't the Cincinnati team that owned Milwaukee for the first couple months of the season. They are without Brandon Phillips and Joey Votto plus missing some other pieces as well. Still, it is nice to build some momentum as well as a two and a half game lead in the National League Central.

Charlie.

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.

Phillies-Brewers: Everything Sucks.

It is really hard to have a blog post about highlights and lowlights when the team you do it for loses all four games against a last place. Simply, it cannot happen. This isn't a state of the Brewers blog, rather, trying to figure out what's going wrong and how it can be fixed. It should be known that baseball happens like this sometimes where it is terribly weird and things go terribly wrong. Milwaukee Brewers have lost nine of 10 games, only one win since June 28th and somehow things are still alright.

There are problems all over the place with Milwaukee right now. Where would you like me to start? Offense seems to be a main concern with everyone right now so let's start there. Carlos Gomez has been a shell of himself in recent weeks.  It seems like he reverted back to some of his old ways with more swings and misses than in the early stages of the season as Alec Dopp of Gammons Daily pointed out a couple days ago.  Ryan Braun's bad back isn't helping things either. He missed two games in the series plus batted fifth yesterday although still added a hit. Jean Segura's struggles where he is now batting .232 is a true life concern. That's a panic button for me. It could be a sophomore slump, but something needs to change at the plate for him.

Milwaukee is a weird one too when it comes to hitting because they have come up with hits in some of these games during the losing streak, just not timely ones. Rickie Weeks deep fly ball on Monday or Scooter rope right at a left fielder on Tuesday come to mind. Only the last two days where the Brewers had a combined seven hits are days really feeling like Milwaukee has zero offense whatsoever.  I keep thinking back to Tuesday. They had a four-run lead early with a Lyle Overbay grand slam. If they hold that lead and break the streak, does Milwaukee win one or two of these games?  Who really knows because the pitching failed them in that game.

Pitching is still an issue for this team. Some of it has been good like Matt Garza. He pitched great in his two starts in the month of July continuing on with a strong June. Wily Peralta is dealing with some issues right now giving up four or more runs in the last three starts with him blowing up on Tuesday night with a nine-run debacle. One could argue teams have gotten a better book on Peralta, and he needs to make some changes to what's he is doing out there. The other could say he pitched in two hitter friendly ballparks for only the first and second time and shit happens like the Philly start. It's a mix of both in my opinion. One of the major problems right now is giving up early inning runs. In the last four of five games, Milwaukee gave up at least one run in the first inning. Brewers are putting themselves behind far too often early.

It is not just starting pitching either. Will Smith has been a major problem. He could worn out from making 50 appearances already this season. If I had it my way, Smith isn't playing in the series against St. Louis.  He needs a week off. Ron Roenicke wanted to use him carefully, but it seems like the bullpen management from him has been shortsighted. At some point, Smith will be fine because all relievers go through shitty stretches like this unless they have unreal seasons. Brandon Kintzler hasn't been great, and only Rob Wooten seems like a sure thing at this point. All July has done is making it a priority for Milwaukee to make a deal for a reliever. They need one badly. If they could get a closer to basically do what they did in 2011, it would be vital to their success. Huston Street or Koji Uehara sounds awesome in a Brewers uniform.

The crazy thing about all of this struggle is Milwaukee still has the best record in the National League. They have lost nine of the last 10 and still have the top dog position. Brewers have brought St. Louis, Cincinnati and Pittsburgh back into the fold as all three teams are four or less games back from the National League Central division. It is completely wide open. No one expected this to be easy and if someone did, they should really start watching more baseball. With St. Louis coming to town this weekend, Milwaukee could win two of three games and have a three-game lead heading into the All-Star Break. Any Brewers fan or player would have taken that in the month of March. Honestly, it feels right St. Louis and Milwaukee are tied at the All-Star Break. Brewers played a bit over their head in parts of June. It is hard to see the Brewers running away with this division.

The last weekend before the All-Star with Milwaukee holding a .500 record at home. This is a time to strike for them to gain back a little what's been lost in this already terrible month.

Charlie.

Highlights-Lowlights: Brewers-Reds (7/4-7-6)

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
Matt Garza - This is the Matt Garza Brewers fans hoped for when Milwaukee signed the right-hander. This might be peak Garza, but still it was a joy to watch him pitch on Saturday afternoon. Garza looked completely dialed in with a complete game shutout only allowing two hits and struck out nine batters. Finally, Garza's ERA dipped below four, the first time it has been under four since April 14th, but Garza did have a 2.88 ERA in the month of June.

Jonathan Lucroy - He really didn't have a good series, but it is worth giving him credit for calling a great game on Saturday with Garza. Lucroy did also add a home run on Friday trying to bring the team back after a four run deficit early on. I honestly cannot remember the last time Lucroy wasn't on the highlight-lowlight chart for highlights. He deserves it almost every time out.

Logan Schafer - It has to be tough being Logan Schafer and other Brewers that get shifted around in Triple A and MLB. Schafer took his knocks but made the most of his opportunity on Sunday playing for Ryan Braun with a triple and double off Mat Latos whose been virtually unhittable lately. I like Elian Herrera, but it seems like Logan really helps out the team more. He is a better defender whom can play all three outfield positions and seems to come up with big hits every now and again.  

Aramis Ramirez - Good weekend for the All-Star starter at third base. He played really well on Saturday having two hits and driving in the only run of the game. Ramirez had hits in both of the other games as well. Ramirez also made a hell of a defensive play late in the game on Saturday with a bunt which is always a detriment of Garza

Lowlights
Ryan Braun's back spasms - Another Braun injury to deal with which really does suck even though it is not considered to be serious. This seems like Braun's sixth or seventh injury already this season, and yes that's probably an overreaction yet it is just a bummer. Braun is having a fine season, but it is unfortunate for him. Hopefully, this doesn't delay what seemed to be the start of a Braun hot streak too.

Kyle Lohse - We really shouldn't be concerned about Lohse because he arguably has been the best Brewers pitcher of the season, but the last four starts are a little unsettling. Three of the four starts he has given up three runs with a couple unearned runs mixed in there as well, and he goes only five innings in two of the last four starts. Lohse's runs came quick on Friday, and before you know, Milwaukee is trailing by four runs in the fifth inning.

Will Smith - As we talked about this in the last couple weeks, this had to be expected from Smith. He cannot be perfect for the rest of the year. Smith was so good and him regressing a bit shouldn't be surprising at all. Granted, Smith giving up a two-run homer to Known Brewer Killer President Jay Bruce is much better than him giving up multiple hits allowing multiple runs yet I realize this is flawed logic.

Carlos Gomez - Milwaukee had a road trip from hell and so do Gomez with going two for 18 during the five games. He dipped below .300 for the first time since May 23rd. I am not very concerned with Gomez's recent struggles. It is the law of large averages. He goes on a huge hitting streak and it seems inevitable there will be a little dip there.

Gotta figure out Cincinnati - At some point, Milwaukee will need to win a series against Cincinnati. They play them 10 times in the month of September. Cincinnati has the pitching and they might make a move for some hitting at some point in the trade deadline. Brewers need to find their way against the Reds sooner rather than later. Next matchup comes at The Keg on July 21st.  

Charlie.

Highlights-Lowlights: Nationals-Brewers (6/23-6/25)

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 - He has been the punching bag of this Milwaukee Brewers team for some time now, but he delivered a big start when the Brewers needed him. They were on the verge of getting swept for the first time this season. They are coming off a 16 inning heartbreaking loss the night before meaning the bullpen is completely taxed. Estrada is facing Stephen Strasburg as well. Estrada only gave up two hits, two runs and only walked two batters. And he went for 6 plus innings. Overall a great start for the Brewers fifth starter and hopefully, a step in the right direction.

Scooter Gennett - Look I was wrong about Scooter. I basically scorched the earth when he got called up to replace Rickie Weeks. I didn't want Scooter to fail, but I was convinced he wouldn't be a better player than Weeks. I couldn't have been more wrong. I want to apologize about how much I bungled the whole thing last summer. He's been great for the team. Gennett has the second-highest batting average since August 2013 in all of Major League Baseball. Scooter hit a grand slam and drove in an added run in the only Brewers win this week.

Yovani Gallardo - It continues to be a great month for Yovani, and my assumption would be he will win Brewers Pitcher of the Month. He again pitched great in a no-decision against Washington on Tuesday night. Gallardo only gave up four hits in six innings. If Gallardo is this way for the most part for the rest of the season, Milwaukee can contend with anyone. Whatever he went through in the month of May, he is over it. Gallardo's ERA is now down to 3.23 and keeps pitching strong for the Brewers.

Ryan Braun - In the sixth inning, Braun stepped to the plate with runners on second and third with two outs. He is having a disastrous June for the greater part, but this is a situation where Braun has to deliver the big moment. He did just that with a two-run single giving the Brewers the lead against the tough Jordan Zimmernmann. Hopefully, this is a sign of things to come for the Brewers slugger. It seems like we are just waiting on a Braun hot streak

Mike Fiers - Even though he is hanging out in Nashville for a couple days, he did a great job for Milwaukee on Tuesday night despite taking the loss. Fiers went four innings only giving up four hits with two of them coming in the 16th inning. Fiers also struck out four batters and had no issue with the Nationals bats. He made a campaign pitch to be a starter on Tuesday night.

Lowlights
Carlos Gomez's Extra Inning At-Bats - This was easily the most frustrating part of the whole series. Not the 16 innings, not the lack of hitting in the first two games, but Gomez's at-bats in the extra frames. He had a chance to win it twice and jumped over the first pitch both times when the pitchers were a bit shaky in the first place. Gomez is the biggest first-pitch swinger in baseball so it's understood he would swing at the first pitch a great deal of times. It is honestly hard to be mad at him, but he needs to show a little more discipline in late at-bats.

Will Smith - Another player on the Brewers where it is hard to be mad at, but Smith didn't do his job on Tuesday night giving up a home run to Anthony Rendon. Is it time to push the panic button on Smith? Probably not because he played at such a high level in the first three months of the season. Smith giving up three runs in his last 10 appearances isn't a big deal... yet.

16 Inning Baseball Games - I realized how much I hated late extra-inning games. I like West Coast trips without question because of the late night atmosphere for a night owl, but my goodness, the 16 inning game on Tuesday night was horribly boring. The game dragged on and no one could get a hit to save their soul. Maybe 16 inning games are more exciting when we have teams going back and forth with runs, but Christ, this was bad.

Scary Nats - Brewers thankfully got a game from Washington, but this is a scary team without question. They have front line pitching with Strasburg, Zimmermann and Gio Gonzalez. They will be getting back Bryce Harper and Wilson Ramos. Additionally, the Nats have a great bullpen. This is a lethal team moving forward.

Charlie.

Highlights-Lowlights: Brewers-D'Backs (6/16-6/19)

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
Aramis Ramirez - It is going a little under the radar but Aramis is starting to turn the corner like he usually does in the summer. In the last seven days, Ramirez is hitting .370 with 10 hits, three doubles and two home runs. He had quite the series in Arizona as well with three hit day on Monday night driving in two runs breaking the 3-3 tie in the eighth. Ramirez added a towering solo home run on Tuesday and sparked the Brewers scoring on Thursday. If Rami gets hot with how this team is already playing, look out National League. It might not be pretty for the rest of them.

Elian Herrera - Got to give Elian some love for the series. He had a good series starting in three out of the four starts. Many people were concerned about Herrera filling in for Carlos Gomez in the first two games, but he did just fine out there. Additionally, Herrera delivered at the plate with two runs driven in plus having a two-hit night on Monday. It really never made sense why the Brewers kept sending him back down to Nashville. He has a pulse at the plate, and he knows how to play multiple positions. Herrera might not be the best option, but he is a quality bench player for this team. Yeah I said it.

Yovani Gallardo - In the last three starts, Gallardo has pitched 21 innings with only giving up two runs. At the beginning of the month, Gallardo's ERA was a little over four and now it is down to 3.34, basically two-thirds of a run in a mere three games. Gallardo had everything working on Thursday as he pitched more to contact than trying to get Diamondbacks strikeouts. If Gallardo pitches this way for Milwaukee, they will be very hard to beat. They do not need to have an actual ace, but if they have pitchers who have ace-like runs for a month, that will pay off in a major way.

Matt Garza - In the last series, Garza made the lowlights, and much of that reason was his horrid defense. But only one run was earned for Garza in that game. He pitched well again on Wednesday giving two earned runs in nearly eight innings of work. It is the first game all season where Garza didn't walk a batter. In fact, he has only one total batter in the last two starts. I don't know whether it was a comfort thing for Garza, or he is finally used to Jonathan Lucroy/Martin Maldonado calling the game. But he has been much improved this month.

Khris Davis - Did you know Khris Davis is from Arizona? I swear I heard that at least 10 times over four games. He had a good series back in his home state with a big three-run homer on Wednesday night providing the only offense for the Brewers. Davis also added two RBIs in Monday's win. He keeps playing his ass for the team. Davis is currently on pace for .261 with 26 home runs this season. Pretty strong first season debut for him. .

Lowlights
Brandon Kintzler - I don't know how upset I want to be at Kintzler. At one point, he has only given up two runs since May 23rd which is pretty damn good given he had a rough start to begin the month of May. But the other part of it is it appears Kintzler struggles when put into tight situations. He blew the game against Cincinnati and Arizona earlier this season in back-to-back outings, nearly lost the game against New York earlier this month and struggled again on Wednesday night. I easily get the most nervous when Kintzler heads to the mound in late-game situations.

Brewers bats against Wade Miley - I don't know what I want to blame on this for the Brewers. They struck out eight times against Miley and couldn't figure out that the home plate umpire Alfonso Marquez was calling the inside corner every damn time. Miley always got a big strikeout when he needed it as he dealt with baserunners all night. Brewers just couldn't figure out the inside pitch which seems to be a bugaboo a little bit for this team.

Crybaby Diamondbacks - All this team does is bitch and moan about everything. We already talked about the whole hitting Ryan Braun thing and why it's stupid, but you should read if you haven't. But seriously, they acted like every strike three was a ball or if a call on the mound didn't go their way, they seemed to be so shocked a call could go against them. Grow up.

Will Smith's 1/3 inning - We need to figure out what happened here. Will Smith, a possible All-Star, basically comes in like he was Ray King or Brian Shouse instead of being the pitcher he has been this season. What made it even more puzzling is Arizona had two left-handers up in the next inning meaning Smith could have easily handled them. The only defense of Smith not pitching an extra inning is the fact he pitched three straight games along with four of the last five.

Charlie.

Reds-Brewers Preview (6/13-6/15)

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 

Friday: Homer Bailey (7-3 4.60) vs. Matt Garza (4-4 4.42)       7:10 pm FSNWI

Saturday: Mat Latos (0-0 0.00) vs. Yovani Gallardo (4-4 3.71) 6:15 pm FOX

Sunday: Mike Leake (3-6 3.61) vs. Marco Estrada (5-3 4.56)   1:10 pm FSNWI

Five Things To Watch 

1.) Ryan Braun - It seems like we talk about this topic every two weeks. Braun goes hot for a little bit then cools off and it has become a theme of the season thus far. Braun struggled in the last road trip, but he has good success against Bailey plus he had a home run off Leake in the past. I mentioned in Highlights-Lowlights earlier this afternoon, I think Braun needs to get back to playing at hitter-friendly parks. I think he does well this weekend. 

2.) Matt Garza's Solid June - All of the sudden, Garza has seen his ERA dip about a half of run in the last two starts. He is quietly pitching well for the Brewers. He handled Minnesota nicely and did an adequate job in Pittsburgh.  Garza will be up against a tough Cincinnati lineup whose handled him well in the past. Garza needs to keep staying the course and not try to do too much.  

3.) Return of Mat Latos - He makes his first start of the season on Saturday night. He struggled mightily against the Brewers last season with nearly six runs given up in three starts, the highest ERA against an NL Central team. He had two starts at Miller Park which one he didn't get any run support and the other was brutal for him. First starts are always tricky because they could feature the best a pitcher has to open their year or just a disaster. 

4.) Mike Leake's problems... Dodgers and Giants-related or nah? - In the last two starts, Mike Leake has given up a total of 10 runs. But the opponents he faced where both Los Angeles and San Francisco, two of the stronger offensive teams in Major League Baseball. He also getting little run support with six of his last eight starts, the Reds have put up three or less runs. Brewers had one of those in a 2-0 victory in early May. 

5.) Bullpen adjustment - Milwaukee used their bullpen a lot in the last couple of days. Brandon Kintzler is probably not playing tonight after throwing 40 pitches last night. Will Smith might be a shaky one with pitching in the last two games. It is nice to have Mike Fiers there in case Garza doesn't have it tonight or Milwaukee needs multiple innings. 

Appropriate YouTube Video 

In honor of Father's Day, we are going with a montage HBO put together for the Game of Thrones finale about how bad Fathers have been in the show. 

Prediction 

Brewers will take two of three games. It would be nice for them to actually win the first one because I am there tonight. Reds always make me nervous. 

Charlie. 

Highlights-Lowlights: Twins-Brewers (6/2-6/5)

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
Jonathan Lucroy - We have talked a lot about him in the highlights section. He is almost a given Lucroy is somehow featured, but Luc is having a great season.  He added a little power this week doubling his home run total having two home runs this week. He also added multi-hit games in Monday and Thursday's game with scoring runs in three of the four games.  Lucroy hit both dingers late in the game giving his team much-needed insurance runs in both wins.

Matt Garza - We have been critical on the blog of one bad inning that would come back to bite Garza, but this Monday, we got the full Matt Garza greatness. He pitched really well going six and a third innings with eight strikeouts and only giving up six hits. Garza seemed in control of all his pitches and did not really get phase when Minnesota started to threaten a little bit. He mixed his pitches real nicely. Hopefully, we can seeing this more from Garza.

Aramis Ramirez - Quite the way to welcome yourself back to the roster by hitting a three-run bomb on Wednesday night to tie the game on Wednesday night. Ramirez mashed the ball and looked like he's been on the roster all season. He added a hit on Thursday which resulted in a run as Khris Davis hit a go-ahead two-run homer. It is good to have Ramirez back in the lineup and makes the Brewers that much more a dangerous offense. What to watch this weekend is how he plays third base. My guess is he will play two of the three games, probably missing Saturday's game.

Khris Davis -  A man-crush is growing with Davis. The last 15 to 20 games has shown great improvement by Davis in all facets of his game. Taking a tough pitch the other way and it results in a home run is a fine piece of hitting from Davis. Arguably the best we have seen from Davis in his career. He has a hit in his last three games including scoring at least one run. Davis' average is up to .259, the highest its been since April 23rd. Davis seems to be really taking all the coaching to heart and putting it on the diamond.

Carlos Gomez - What a Thursday night for him. It has been awhile since we had a Carlos Gomez game where he finds a way to get himself involved in many ways of the game. He made a great catch that included a DX crotch chop at the end of it. Gomez hit a big three-run homer the half-inning after Wily Peralta gave up a grand slam. Gomez has a hit in his last four games and scored a run in the last three of them. The average might be down slightly but Gomez played a large part in Thursday's win.



Lowlights
Yovani Gallardo - Is it time to push the panic button on Yovani?  The last six starts his ERA has been 6.55 and in the last three of four games, Gallardo gave up at least two home runs. It is a complete mess for him right now. Gallardo went through these struggles last season around the same time of the season. He went on the Disabled List and figured some stuff out and finished strong. He is nibbling a bunch on the corners in an attempt to make the perfect pitch. Gallardo doesn't trust his pitches, and that's a problem.

Double plays - Hopefully, this is a trend that ends with Minnesota. Milwaukee had players on bases throughout the four game series yet they hit into seven double plays. Brewers could have definitely swept the Twins had it not been for the double play monster especially on Tuesday. That's a killer for this team as they are built on the home run so you hope every now and again, they can do it without one.

Will Smith - This was bound to happen at some point, right? Smith is finding a little bit of regression which is perfectly okay because let's be real, no one is expecting Smith to be a sub one ERA reliever for the entire season. Smith will also be fine. There is no reason to panic. He needs to rework his command a little bit, and it will be fine for him.

Stranded Runners - This has been a small theme to the season. Brewers end up having a player on third base with one or two out, and they fail to drive them in. This goes along with the double play business, but also this team needs to be more opportunistic because when they are hitting, this offense can put up five to six runs nightly.

Charlie.

Highlights-Lowlights: Orioles-Brewers (5/26-5/28)

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
Khris Davis - What a week for this guy whose red hot in his last 10 games. Davis has moved his average from .215 to .251 in 10 days with hitting three straight home runs. Davis went 7 for 11 drawing three walks as well and scoring five runs as well. It shows you why teams do not give up on players and keep giving them chances. For the year, Davis' strikeout total is 49, but in his eight-game hitting streak, he only stuck out four times. Who knows if this is just a hot streak, but it is clear he figured something out at the plate in the last couple of games.

Carlos Gomez - Mr. Feel Sexy is doing the damn thing at the cleanup spot. It is like Gomez never wanted to leave the four spot. Gomez is hitting .476 from the cleanup spot with a nine-game hitting streak featuring a majority games with him at the cleanup position. Even the inning he got hit by the pitch by Bud Norris on Wednesday, he stole a base, took third on a sac fly and scored on another sac fly. He manufactures runs for this team, and him leading off any inning has a chance for the Brewers to score a run. I think he is right up there for the first two-month MVP and definitely in consideration for Player of the Month. Oh he also got hooked up with some kiwis.

Thx to everyone over at @ZESPRIkiwifruit for the Kiwi, remember ppl Kiwi is good 4 your health!! pic.twitter.com/Q91cuiccS6
— Carlos Gomez (@C_Gomez27) May 28, 2014

Yovani Gallardo - Pretty good series for Yo as he drove in the game-winning run on Tuesday night in one of the more inexplicable Brewer win this season, and then went out to pitch pretty strongly minus Nelson Cruz only allowing four hits, striking out five batters getting his first win since April. Gallardo looked better as the game went on Wednesday night. It showed he had a little bit of rust at the beginning of the game and bounced back nicely through the near seven innings.

Nelson Cruz - One of my five things to watch featured 'Avoid Nelson Cruz' and the Brewers clearly did not. He hit three home runs this series with two home runs on Wednesday and one Tuesday. He now has 19 homers for the season. The guy seems in a complete zone. Gallardo couldn't pitch him outside or inside as Cruz hit both of them far out. Good move by the Orioles to take a flier on him with a one-year eight million dollar deal. Me thinks he will get a lot more money this offseason.

Will Smith - It seemed like Ron Roenicke gave Smith a break during the road trip. He only pitched twice against Atlanta and once against Miami. But the Brewers needed him on both Tuesday and Wednesday night. He had two strong outings striking out all four batters he faced on Wednesday night, and stopping the bleeding on Tuesday night with the disastrous seventh. Usually, the All-Star Game doesn't send relief pitchers but I feel like Smith is deserving of an All-Star bid at this point of the season.

Lowlights
Khris Davis' Death Threat - It was reported on Tuesday, Davis received a death threat around the Cubs series via social media. Just complete stupid. Sometimes I wonder why athletes use Twitter because there is so much bullshit out there. Glad to see Davis didn't let it affect his play.

Matt Garza's Seventh - It appears this is becoming a theme when Garza pitches in a series. He has one blowup inning. I do think this one could have been prevented. Garza could have been pulled after the Jean Segura error knowing he has a tendency to lose his mental stability, but instead, Milwaukee kept him in leading to a three-run homer by Steve Pearce. Garza pitched well for six innings. He struck out nine batters and looked in control for the most part. Roenicke needs to do a better job of pulling Garza a little quicker before it mushroom clouds on him.

Seventh Inning in General - What the hell is going on with this inning? It is becoming downright scary when opposing teams step up to the plate in the seventh. In the last six games, Milwaukee pitchers have allowed 12 runs in the seventh inning. That's an obvious problem. I don't know if it is a bullpen issue or a Roenicke issue of keeping pitchers in for too long. This will start to become a storyline for a bit until something changes with this hexed inning.

Playing the Orioles - Jesus, I feel for opposing AL East teams. It sucked to play against the O's. No disrespect either, they are a pretty good team, but they just don't quit. Their pitching isn't top notch, but that offense can keep them in any game. It is nice to know the only time the Brewers can play the Orioles again this year is the World Series. Just glad I don't have to watch the Brewers play this team consistently because this series was exhausting.  

Francisco Rodriguez's Monday - I kind of hinting at this on Friday with our Brewers-Marlins preview about my concern with the lack of games Frankie had played in during this last 15 game span. He only has five appearances, and I think that had something to do with his unraveling on Monday. I did think he pitched well on Tuesday night, but the fact Rodriguez needed only one out is maddening.

Charlie.

Brewers-Marlins Preview (5/22-5/24)

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
Friday:     Marco Estrada (3-2 3.64) vs. Tom Koehler (4-3 2.25)   6:10 pm FSNWI
Saturday: Wily Peralta (4-3 2.18) vs. Jacob Turner (0-2 6.59)        3:10 pm FSNWI
Sunday:   Yovani Gallardo (2-3 3.51) vs. Randy Wolf (0-0 1.80)  12:10 pm FSNWI

Five Things To Watch
1.) Will Yo go on Sunday? - There is a great deal unknown whether Gallardo will start on Sunday with a bum ankle. Brewers and Red Sox are the only two teams who have only started five starters this season so far. ming back. Due to Wei-Chung Wang, the Brewers really don't have a long reliever ready to go therefore it would probably have to be Tyler Thornburg which would screw the bullpen. I really need to see Wang go or Milwaukee work out a trade to Pittsburgh allowing him to be at Brevard County paving the way for Jimmy Nelson or Mike Fiers. I realize this is a pure pipe dream, and they will probably send down Rob Wooten which is supremely disappointing.

2.) Maybe Gomez and Braun aren't at full strength - I wrote in the Brewers-Braves preview that Ryan Braun and Carlos Gomez were finally healthy leading to the Brewers to get hot again. Welp that didn't happen as Braun left Thursday's game with his oblique bothering him. Gomez didn't start on Thursday plus he really cannot do the 'Gomez' type things like stealing bases yet, or push a double into a triple. Braun is probably not playing tonight. I think Gomez will be starting, but it is clear playing 16 straight games is taking a toll on a injury ridden team. Hopefully, the Brewers find a way to manage through it.

3.) Y'all know Miami has been really good at home? - I have no idea how this happened, but the Marlins somehow have built a homefield advantage. They are really good at home with a 19-6 record, and they are 6-17 on the road hence why the Marlins are near .500. Looking at the teams they played at home so far, four out of the seven are above .500 with Seattle at .500 and three being under .500 so they aren't beating the slums of the baseball world. Additionally, five of those games were Jose Fernandez starts whom will be missing for the rest of the year, Miami won four of his five starts. Basically, there is not many flukes in there, and there is not a Fernandez factor either. I will say their home/road splits have to come down a little bit though, right?  

4.) Concern about a Frankie save opportunity - The last time Francisco Rodriguez had a save opportunity was last Friday. He came into the game on Wednesday night, gave up a hit, but pretty much went unscathed. I am legitimately terrified what might happened if Rodriguez has to nail down a save this weekend. He is the type of guy that needs to be in a rhythm. I wouldn't be surprised if the Brewers ended up losing a game on a blown save by K-Rod. Maybe I am down in the dumps right now and just not thinking positive right now.

5.) MY OLD FRIEND RANDY - Milwaukee will be facing off against Randy Wolf on Sunday afternoon. Now, both teams will likely be hungover and look forward to a couple players missing the game with flu-like symptoms because c'mon Miami on Memorial Day weekend will be absolutely on fire. My guess is at least one player per person. Old Brewers always scare me. I don't care how old Randy Wolf is, he could easily throw seven innings and dominate their asses on Sunday afternoon.

Appropriate YouTube video


In honor of this great tweet by Brewers reliever Will Smith,

So I will be there first one to say it let's go ahead and get all the Will Smith jokes out while I'm in Miami. #welcometomiami #Brewers
— Will Smith (@White_Willy31) May 23, 2014

Prediction 
Ah dammit, this feels like the Brewers losing two out of three which means they will go 3-7 in the longest road trip of the season. Maybe I am just in a bad place.

Highlights-Lowlights: Yankees-Brewers (5/9-5/11)

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
Rickie Weeks - On Saturday night, Rickie Weeks got his chance to start after having five straight pinch hits.
He made the most of two starts this weekend as Weeks went five for nine driving in three runs. Weeks looked absolutely great out there.  The thing about Weeks and this has been true throughout his career, 'When Rickie is right, he is really right.' If I am Milwaukee, I would ride the hell out of his hot streak and see what happens from there. I will have more today about Weeks turning down the chance to play left field.

Mark Reynolds - Nobody really talked about this subplot this weekend, but Reynolds played with a chip on his shoulder this weekend. He played for 36 games for the Yankees last season and struggled mightily for them. Reynolds showed off some great leather at both first and third, sent a homer flying on Friday night and oh by the way, he had a walk off to send Milwaukee home on a late Sunday afternoon. Reynolds' offense has been so valued from this team with all the injuries they have dealt with for the first 40 days of the season.

Jonathan Lucroy - Big weekend for the Brewers catcher as he drove in a run in every game this weekend including his second home run of the year on Saturday. He came up with a big hit on Sunday afternoon with the team in need of a hit as runners were on first and second and the Brewers were stranding base runners left and right. Lucroy is another guy that if he gets warm, look out. We haven't seen red hot Lucroy where he is hitting the ball out of the park consistently and having extra bases all over the place. If he gets warm, it could be added value.

Masahiro Tanaka - I am very happy he will be playing in the American League East this season, and the only other time Milwaukee could see Tanaka would be the World Series. He is the real deal and going to make a push at Cy Young. Tanaka's control is incredible and seems like he could be an ace for this Yankees team in the not-so-distant future.

Will Smith - Currently, the Brewers seem to have revolving door at who is the true set-up man of this team. Right now, the spotlight is on Smith. He pitched in the two wins when Milwaukee was ahead in the eighth inning. Both games Smith utilized his nasty slider to strikeout three batters in two innings. Smith's ERA is currently at 0.45 which is phenomenal for the Brewers left-hander. Smith should never be a left-handed specialist for this team.

Lowlights
Khris Davis - What the hell is going on where with Khris at home? My dad would make the assumption Khris is probably partying too much at home leading him to only hit .100 at the friendly confines of Miller Park. I myself cannot explain it. We have seen it in the past where the Brewers use a home and away platoon. When the Brewers get back to full strength meaning Ryan Braun is healthy and Carlos Gomez isn't suspended, Logan Schafer deserves to get some looks in left field.

Aramis Ramirez's hamstring - Old age is a bitch. Ramirez made what looked like a routine play and heard a pop in his hammy meaning he will likely be headed to the Disabled List. Ramirez had two hits on Saturday with a home run before hurting himself. We will see what happens with his season from here. Hopefully, this is a 15 day thing, but it could be longer, you never really know with hamstrings.

Yovani Gallardo's Fourth Inning - Almost all of the action in Yovani's stat line happened in one inning. He allowed all four runs in the fourth including a three-run homer by Yangrevis Solarte. He gave up four of the five hits given up also in the fourth. Gallardo didn't pitch that well, but curious to see what happens if he doesn't give up the homer.

Matt Garza's First Inning - Another start where Garza looks like complete shit in the first inning and then settles down. This leads me to believe Garza is trying too hard in the beginning of the game. Remember the comments were Garza believes 'he is letting the team down right now.' He could be overthrowing early on then realizes he needs to relax. Hopefully, Garza will find a way to figure out his first inning issues soon because it is a slight concern. Starting 3-0 in the first doesn't really work this well.

Francisco Rodriguez's streak ending - Just bummed to see it leave. Hopefully, Frankie bounces back alright when he faces Pittsburgh or the next team he will face.

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.

Highlights-Lowlights: Padres-Brewers (4/21-4/23)

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
Scooter Gennett - Talk about responding to the moment. Scooter moved up to the two hole in order to take some pressure off Jean Segura, and for now, it seems Scooter may have stolen the two spot from Mean Jean for the time being. He scored a run in all three games along with hitting a home run on Tuesday providing the only offense for this Brewers team. He also added five hits in the series. I was extremely anti-Scooter when he came up last season thinking Rickie Weeks still had something in the tank, and it appears I was very wrong. Way to make me eat crow Scooter.

Kyle Lohse - The veteran strikes again for Milwaukee with another great performance. He allowed only one earned run with five strikeouts only allowing five hits in the process. Lohse mowed through the San Diego offense pretty easily and battled out of a jam or two as well. One thing I found interesting is after he walked three batters last Saturday, he did not walk a batter tonight. Lohse rarely walks batters so if it is over two, it is a bit of a big deal. He walked five in Philadelphia, zero the next game. Walked three, zero the next game. Hey Kyle, keep going with the latter.

Jean Segura - For the first time all year, we saw signs of life from Jean Segura. He played well as Roenicke shifted him down in the order. Segura had two hits on Monday and another two Wednesday including a big three-run blast breaking the game wide open for the Brewers. Segura seems to be finding his stroke again down in the order, and if he could get hot, look out. Brewers could really boast an interchangeable lineup plus having him hit before the pitcher is not the worst thing in the world.

Yovani Gallardo - Even though he came away with the no decision, a nice outing from Yovani on Tuesday night going seven strong only allowing one run spread over five hits. Gallardo handled San Diego for every inning but one of them. I cannot say enough about the start from Yo. In the last three Aprils, he had an ERA of over five with opponents hitting over .300 against him. He takes on his biggest challenge on Monday night when he faces St. Louis at Busch Stadium, a place that has given him all sorts of trouble.

Ryan Braun - He ends up closer to the lowlights because Braun did not have a good Tuesday game going 0 for 5 with a looking strikeout to end it in the 12th. But he did provide RBI's in the two other games. I feel like I saw better swings from Braun at Miller Park than I have seen all season. If I had a blog where I could predict things, I think this Chicago series will be huge for him.

Lowlights
Ron Roenicke's Figaro decision - With winning the first 16 of 22 games, the manager cannot get much criticism, but Roenicke deserves a bit for deciding to stay in with Alfredo Figaro versus a pinch hitter then Wei-Chung Wang. The same result could have happened and the Brewers still end up losing yet it doesn't hurt to add a bullpen arm when it is available plus have a pinch hitter come up and see what happens.

Tuesday night's game in general - Easily, the worst baseball game I have watched this season. I would not like to watch that again, thanks.

RISP - I think we talk about this every year with the Brewers no matter how good or bad they are. Brewers had multiple opportunities to bust Tuesday's game wide open and they could not take advantage of the situation. Against a team like San Diego, you can force extras doing that, but against a St. Louis-like team, it will not end well for them.

The Brewers 8th on Wednesday - It made zero sense to have Tyler Thornburg get all warmed up and pitch to one batter then two batters for Will Smith. Just pick one and ride it out. No need to waste the arms when they have taken a beating in the last week.

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.