Quick Quotes

"It's been frustrating for all of us," Hernandez said of the bullpen's struggles. "As bad as it's gone, we're in first place, so I feel like it really can't get any worse. Hopefully tonight was a start, and last night."

David Hernandez

"We don't do a good job with people on base," Brewers manager Ron Roenicke said. "To have that many opportunities and not to have somebody come through, it's just ... it shouldn't go on this long."

Ron Roenicke

"I'm just glad I got a decent jump and a good enough of one to where I could lay out and get a glove on the ball," Pollock said. "That's the hardest part about the outfield, is having the confidence to know that you made the right decision to dive. In the outfield you've got to weigh the risk and rewards and see if it's the right opportunity. Tonight, obviously, you're selling out for that."

A.J. Pollock

"He has no regard for his body," Hernandez said. "He's willing to go into a wall, dive, slide, jump over somebody. It makes us want to be like him and I think other guys feed off that."

David Hernandez on A.J. Pollock

"It was one of those games where it could have gone either way," Pollock said. "And the good teams find a way to win those games, and we did enough to win the game."

A.J. Pollock

Daily Diamondback Digest

Diamondbacks Continue Ownership of Brewers

Despite scoring only two unearned runs in Friday's game against Milwaukee, the Diamondbacks were still able to put another tally in the win column. Behind Patrck Corbin and some stellar defense, the Diamondbacks managed to get the Milwaukee Brewers to go 1-12 with RISP while David Hernandez (yes, really, David Hernandez) came in to throw only the second clean ninth-inning save of the season for Arizona.

Gibson Wants Defined Roles, Cahill Improving, and Batting Practice

Though the Diamondbacks look to be going into the break using the closer by committee approach, Kirk Gibson has made it known he would prefer to move forward with defined roles in the near future.

Related Audio:J.J. Putz expects it to be him here soon.

Ian Kennedy Garners Mid-Season Award from ESPN's Jason Stark

Unfortunately for Kennedy, the award was the Cy Yuk. There seems to be a disconnect in the reasoning for Kennedy instead of one of the nuclear meltdowns in San Francisco.

Brad Ziegler for Closer?

This is the question posed by Vince Marotta

Related: Ziegler Has a Vital Role Already

Miguel Montero Makes Anti-All-Star List

Miguel Montero joins a pretty recognizable group of names on a rather unenviable list.

Diamondback All-Stars

As we continue to head into the break, here is a gallery of all the Diamondback All-Stars through the years.

Around MLB

Matt Thornton Traded to Boston

In a year when the Diamondbacks are likely to be combing the market for a quality left-handed pitcher, one of the better options has just been traded by the strong trade-partner candidate Chicago White Sox to Boston.

Jason Stark's Mid-Season Awards

In addition to making Ian Kennedy his NL Cy Yuk, Jason Stark gives his apologies to Didi Gregorious for dropping him out of the NL ROY running.

Houston's Jarrod Cosart Makes MLB Debut Has Showdown to Remember

Houston debuted one of their pitching prospects Friday night against the surging Tampa Bay Rays. His line on the night was a stellar 8 innings pitched, 2 hits allowed, no earned runs, three walks, and two strike outs. That alone should make him giddy. So it leaves one to wonder what it was like to do it against reigning AL Cy Young Award winner David Price whose hard-luck line at the end of the night was 9 innings pitched, 8 hits, 2 earned runs, no walks (in fact only 17 of 87 pitches were called balls), and three strikeout - in a loss.

The Highlight Gallery

Bombs Away

Another Yankee Robbed

Superman A.J. Pollock Saves the Game

No Mets player has come to bat more often in the MLB All-Star Game than David Wright and no Met has done more damage to American League pitching than our captain. In 16 plate appearances, Wright has gotten on-base seven times and posted a .400/.438/.600 line. David bolstered said slash stats on this date three years ago at the 2010 Midsummer Classic in Anaheim by going two-for-two (with both hits coming off Cy Young winners, no less). In the second, he touched David Price for a single, but was erased on a double play ball off the bat of Ryan Braun. Three innings later, David stroked a Justin Verlander fastball through the middle of the diamond for another one-bagger.

Seven other All-Star Games happen to have fallen on the 13th of July and there have been a host of Mets participants in those contests, too. Tom Glavine tossed a scoreless inning in relief of a shaky Carl Pavano at the 2004 exhibition in Houston. The oft-injured Marlins pitcher wasn't nearly as bad as National League starter Roger Clemens, who disappointed the hometown fans by permitting six runs to score in the first inning. One person who likely wasn't torn up about that at all was the Rocket's battery mate, Mike Piazza. Forced to catch the headcase who concussed him four years earlier, Piazza could certainly be forgiven if he chose to, say, tip a few pitches for Junior Circuit batters.

Even if hitters knew what was coming out of Pedro Martinez's hand on this date in 1999, there's next to no chance they'd have been able to do anything about it. Prime Pedro didn't just fan the five of the six men he faced at the ‘99 All-Star Game in Boston. He made the best batters the National League had to offer look utterly helpless. Piazza, the Mets' lone rep, avoided embarrassment only because Pedro got the hook before his turn at bat. Instead, he went one-for-two against former Met David Cone.

As for the rest of the Mets to see All-Star action on this date, the ranks include: Bobby Bonilla (1993), John Stearns (1982), Dave Kingman and Tom Seaver in ‘76 (Jon Matlack was also there, though he didn't pitch), plus Bud Harrelson and Seaver (again) in 1971. Also of note, Ed Kranepool was the sympathy Mets selection to the 1965 All-Star Game in Minnesota. The twenty-year old New Yorker sat on the bench and watched as a dozen future Hall of Famers led the National League to a 6-5 victory.

Birthdays

• Jack Aker is 72. A member of the Mets bullpen in 1974, Aker did a servicable job over forty-some-odd innngs, but retired at year's end to take a manager job in the team's minor league system. Baseball Reference's (incomplete) salary chart says Aker made $91,500 in his playing career, which pales in comparison to the $250,000 that Wikipedia claims his wife won on an episode of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire
• Mike Fitzgerald turns 53. Late in the 1983 season, Fitzgerald became the the 57th player in MLB history and the second Met to homer in his first big league at-bat. Just over a year later, he was traded for another catcher who would go deep in his first game as a Met: Gary Carter.

Game of Note
Two years after they went head-to-head in the All-Star Game at Fenway, Mike Piazza and David Cone again squared off against each other on July 13, 2001. Coney, a member of the Bosox by this point in his career, got the best of Piazza and struck him out twice en route to a 3-1 win. Mike did account for the only run the Mets scored in defeat when he sent a ninth inning offering from Derek Lowe pitch over the fence for the 300th homer of his career.

Amazin'-ly Tenuous Connection
A lightning bolt struck a ConEd substation in northern Westchester thirty-six years ago today, starting the chain reaction of power failures that caused the blackout of 1977. At 8:37 p.m., a wave of darkness began rolling down the Hudson Valley toward New York City, reaching Shea Stadium about an hour later, just as the Mets' Len Randle stepped into the batter's box for his third at-bat of the night. Here's how Randle later described the experience to the New York Times:

"I thought, ‘God, I'm gone.' I thought for sure He was calling me. I thought it was my last at-bat."

According to that same Times article, Mets players helped illuminate the stands for an orderly evacuation of Shea by driving their cars onto the field and turning on the headlights. Two vehicles earned special mention from the paper of record: Craig Swan's Buick and Joel Youngblood's "customized van," which I sincerely hope had teardrop windows (tinted red, of course) and the phrase "The Youngblood Mobile" airbrushed in bubble letters on the side.

With all the talk of the Rockies acquiring pitching help at the trade deadline, another position at which they could easily improve remains largely ignored, that being first base.

So far in 2013, Rockies first basemen, primarily Todd Helton and Jordan Pacheco, have provided -2.1 fWAR,with only Brewers first basemen providing less value. Most of the deficiency has been at the plate, where Helton and Pacheco have combined for a dismal .344 slugging percentage and .659 OPS. The club needs to improve its offensive production from first base if they want to be serious contenders, and the way to do that would be to acquire Adam Dunn from the Chicago White Sox.

The White Sox are in full-on fire sale mode at this point, sitting at 36-53, 13.5 games out of first place in the AL Central. It began yesterday as they traded reliever Matt Thornton and his $5.5 million contract to the Red Sox for minor league outfielder Brandon Jacobs.

Dunn would be a significant financial commitment for the Rockies, as he makes $15 million in both 2013 and 2014, but he has hit 24 home runs already this season with 60 runs driven in. The red flag with Dunn at the plate is obviously his batting average, which sits at .208, and strikeouts, of which he has 106 so far this season. However, the cost in prospects would likely be fairly reasonable, with Chicago motivated to get Dunn's contract off the books.

Dunn's offensive numbers become less concerning when you note that 69 of those strikeouts came in April and May, as he hit just .156 in the first two months of the season. He has hit .277 in 36 games in June and July with a .585 slugging percentage in those two months. In his career at Coors Field, Dunn has hit .264/.381/.575 with nine home runs in 106 at bats.

The acquisition of Dunn would obviously have a big impact on the Rockies' roster, likely relegating Pacheco to AAA and Helton into a role primarily as a pinch hitter and late-inning defensive replacement, with the Rockies new everyday lineup looking something like this:

CF Dexter Fowler
2B DJ LeMahieu
LF Carlos Gonzalez
SS Troy Tulowitzki
1B Adam Dunn
RF Michael Cuddyer
C Wilin Rosario
3B Nolan Arenado
Pitcher's Spot

Dunn would be the answer to the "Who plays first base in 2014?" question that is currently facing the Rockies, as he is under contract for next season.

The Rockies have repeatedly said that they would be willing to take on salary in order to contend; it's time for them to put their money where their mouth is and make a move that would significantly improve the team in both 2013 and 2014.

Links:

Todd Helton's heir apparent at first base still unclear - Denver Post
Irv Moss takes a look at the Rockies' future at first base, bringing up Ben Paulsen and Kiel Roling as possible long-term replacements for Helton.

Josh Rutledge having a rough 2nd year - Denver Post
Patrick Saunders examines Josh Rutledge's struggles this season. He is hitting just .212/.272/.314 this season after an impressive rookie campaign in 2012.

Oliver Perez: Pitcher You Want - Fangraphs
The Rockies could also use help in the bullpen, and Seattle's Oliver Perez is a reliever that could help them or any number of teams.

Kyle Lohse RHP, 5-6, 3.47

Randall Delgado RHP, 1-3, 3.82

Diamondbacks Line-up

1. A.J. Pollock, CF
   
2. Aaron Hill, 2B
3. Paul Goldschmidt, 1B
4. Jason Kubel, LF
5. Cody Ross, RF
6. Miguel Montero, C
7. Martin Prado, 3B
8. Didi Gregorius, SS
9. Randall Delgado, P

Penultimate game before the All-Star break, and it's Native American Recognition Day at Chase Field. The D-backs recently hosted the 15th annual Inter-Tribal & Youth BaseballSoftball Tournament July 10-13 with 1,300-plus players from 5 states and 44 tribes. and the winning teams will be recognized today. Miss Gila River will throw out the ceremonial first pitch, and Native American dancers and musicians will perform in-stadium. The first 20,000 fans today also get a free beach towel. Perhaps not the best timing for such a giveaway, but I'll say no more on the topic. I hope you appreciate this surprising restraint.

Even more uniquely, if you care to crank up 660 KTNN, which broadcasts out of Winslow Rock, Dan Arnold and George LaFrance will be calling the action in the native Navajo language, which I believe is a first. On it's own, might not be too useful (my Navajo is, frankly, a little rusty), but would be kinda cool to have that on if you're watching the game. The KTNN website has a 'Listen Live' button, although I'm not sure if MLB will do its usual suppression job, and insist all online broadcasts of an actual game broadcast are disabled. Because, of course, the Navajo-language market is so well-served by the MLB.tv app.

Haven't had much luck against Lohse of late. Over his last three outings, dating back to the start of last season, he has allowed two runs over 17.2 innings of work, which is an ERA fractionally above one. He held the D-backs to one run over six innings when we faced him at Miller Park in April, before a two-run passed ball against the Brewers' bullpen, allowed us to come out on top by a 3-1 margin. Delgado has given the D-backs three consecutive quality starts, but still has only one win on his record as an Arizona starter: last time, he allowed 11 hits to the Dodgers in six innings, and will be hoping for better luck this time.

Not sure I like this line-up, with Jason Kubel hitting in the clean-up spot. He has been struggling really badly of late, with virtually no power at all: his last extra-base hit was all the way back on June 21. Kubel's line over the past month is .217/.342/.233, with just that one double in sixty at-bats. Jack Magruder reports there are scouts from the White Sox and Yankees in town for this game, with the Yankees having been here all series. I get a feeling they are probably here more to scout the Brewers' impending fire-sale, but perhaps we can interest them in a slightly-used outfielder, who appears surplus to team requirements.

Dodgers already well under way against the Rockies, and are currently one run up in the sixth inning. If that score holds, all the more important for the D-backs to hold serve, and keep the margin in the West at a relatively comfortable 2 1/2 games.

For three straight games, the Milwaukee Brewers took an early lead. For three straight games, the Diamondbacks have come back for a win. It's not the most clean pattern, but it works. The leads in this series have changed so much, you'd think they were the frontpage layout on the Snakepit! /rimshot.

This game featured Randall Delgado on the mound for the Diamondbacks, looking to continue a string of quality starts.

The initial rending of garments started in the 2nd inning, when Milwaukee pitcher Kyle Lohse hit a seeing-eye single up the middle to score Logan Schafer to make it 1-0 Brewers. There was some consternation from the booth as to whether Didi Gregorius should have attempted to dive for that ball. Didi would be heard from later on such matters. (Such subtle foreshadowing.)

Lohse, to our dismay, was dealing to begin the game. He was perfect through 4.2 innings, getting a lot of weak contact and a few strikeouts and generally making the Diamondbacks look silly. Miguel Montero was not having it, however. After trolling Dodger fans and beat writers a few days ago, he decided to end the perfect game emphatically by crushing a solo shot to right field to tie the game at 1 apiece. The inning ended with that score, but you felt good about the chances of the Diamondbacks if Delgado could get a clean inning in after that.

...Yeah, about that. Delgado gave up a leadoff single to Jean Segura to start off the 6th. Jonathan Lucroy, quite rudely, hit a home run following that to make it 3-1 Brewers. A Carlos Gomez walk and a Juan Francisco single made the inning look quite perilous. However, as luck would have it, Rickie Weeks (BOO WE WANT UPTON), grounded into a double play. It got Gomez to third, but there were two outs and as long as nobody made any big mistakes, the D'Backs would leave the inning down by only two.

...Welp, Miguel Montero also had other ideas, clanking a pitch from Delgado off of his glove and allowing Gomez to score to make it 4-1. You would be forgiven for not feeling too hot about the home team's chances at this moment in time. However, Didi Gregorius got the second hit for the Diamondbacks to lead-off the bottom of the 6th. Like the first hit, it was a solo home run. That cut the deficit to 4-2.

The Diamondbacks got their third hit in the bottom of the 7th. It was also like the first two hits. This time, it was the recently struggling Jason Kubel with the shot. Cody Ross followed with a single, breaking up this nice, orderly pattern we had going. I thought friendship meant something, Cody.

Montero drew a walk after that, and that ended Lohse's night. In came Hot Trade Candidate^TMJohn Axford. He really made a case for staying in Milwaukee. (Which I don't blame him, I visited once, it's a nice city.) He walked Martin Prado on four pitches. He then got to a three-ball count against Didi Gregorius, and with his family in attendance, Didi got his shot and got one through the right side of the infield to score Ross and tie the game.

Eric Chavez came up to pinch-hit and drew a walk from Axford and the Diamondbacks took a 5-4 lead. Axford was, mercifully, lifted from the game. His replacement, Donovan Hand, did not allow Arizona to score another run that inning, but the damage was done.

Also mercifully, the bullpen decided to exude competence tonight, and I include Heath Bell in that statement. Him, Will Harris, Tony Sipp, and Brad Ziegler, who got his second save of the series, put up zeroes in relief of Delgado and shut the door on Milwaukee. (Since it was Native American Recognition Day at the ballpark, let us remember Alice Cooper telling us that Milwaukee is Algonquin for "The Good Land")

Didi's victory hat pic.twitter.com/xLQdbvW3pU

— Jack Magruder (@JackMagruder) July 14, 2013

Ian Kennedy's afternoon started badly, as the first four Brewers got hits, and by the time he escaped the first, they had scored three runs, which was easily all the visitors would need. They added single tallies in the second and fifth: Kennedy ended the day in the seventh inning, allowing five runs on nine hits and two walks with five strikeouts. He took the less, and heads into the break with a 3-6 record, and 5.42 ERA. Josh Collmenter finished the seventh, and left-hander Eury de la Rosa had an impressive major-league debut, working two perfect innings and striking out three.

The offense had some chances, but couldn't convert them, and their only score came in the bottom of the fifth inning, when Miguel Montero hit his eighth home-run of the season. Paul Goldschmidt and Aaron Hill each had a pair of hits, while Adam Eaton reached base twice, on a hit and a walk, though was also picked off base for our daily TOOTBLAN. Martin Prado hit into his team-leading 15th double-play. The defeat locked the SnakeLine of the week at under, with a run differential over the weekend of -2.

Right now, the Dodgers are losing to the Rockies in the eighth inning: if that keeps up, the D-backs lead will remain at 2.5 games over the All-Star break. Angry Saguaro will be along in a little bit with the guest recap, and don't forget to tune in later for the weekly SnakePit Video Roundtable. Arizona's next game is on Friday, when they start the second-half with a series against the Giants in San Francisco.

Some things to read while keeping at it.

The Brewers avoided a four game sweep in Arizona yesterday with a 5-1 win over the Diamondbacks to go into the All Star break on a positive note. Noah has the recap, if you missed it.

One of the highlights of the last few weeks for the Brewers has to be the play of Wily Peralta, who was on again yesterday. He pitched seven innings and allowed a single run on seven hits, walking two and striking out eight. The home run he allowed yesterday snapped a 19.1 inning scoreless streak (Twitter link). He's dropped his ERA from 6.08 to 4.61 in his last five appearances.

Peralta also got some help from Jean Segura, who was on base four times with three hits and a walk. Segura enters the All Star break with 121 hits on the season, the second most ever for a Brewer (Twitter link). Peralta is also our reigning Brewer of the Week, making it the third consecutive week a pitcher has won.

Other notes from the field:

• Rickie Weeks was hit by a pitch on Sunday and has now been hit 115 times, which is tied for the 50th most in MLB history.
• Friday night's game was also the 1000th of Weeks' career, making him the eleventh Brewer to reach that mark.
• BrewGIFs captured highlights from two excellent defensive plays in the outfield this weekend.

After the game yesterday the Brewers made an expected roster move, returning Khris Davis to Nashville. Ryan Braun is expected to be activated from the bereavement list sometime between now and the first game of the Marlins series on Friday. Travel issues delayed Davis' arrival with the team and he made just one plate appearance during his short second major league stint, striking out as a pinch hitter on Friday.

Let's put a bow on the Diamondbacks series with a look at the weekend's home runs, with help from Hit Tracker and Wezen-ball (Thursday, Saturday and Sunday):

Yesterday's win left the Brewers at 38-56 at the All Star break, and 24-45 since May 1. The challenges of managing a losing team for the first time sound like they're starting to wear on Ron Roenicke, who said this to reporters:

"It hasn't been as fun, and it hasn't been as easy," Roenicke said of managing this year's Brewers, his third season at the helm. "It's a lot more thought into it; it's way more conversations. Way more challenges."

Roenicke wanted the challenge of being a manager when he decided he wanted to guide a team.

"I don't know if I wanted this much," he said.

The Brewers resume play on Friday, when Kyle Lohse is scheduled to take the mound against Jacob Turner and the Marlins at Miller Park. Zack Meisel has the very early MLB.com preview. Lohse will lead the second half rotation, followed by Yovani Gallardo on Saturday.

Before that, though, a couple of Brewers have some business to attend to in New York. Carlos Gomez tweeted a picture last night of himself boarding a plane to the All Star Game, where he and Jean Segura will represent the Crew tomorrow night.

Assuming they get a chance to bat, Gomez and Segura will become the 29th and 30th Brewers to make a plate appearance in the All Star Game. High Heat Stats notes that the Brewers are currently tied for 19th all time with 28 players on that list.

Yuniesky Betancourt and the rest of the Brewers, on the other hand, get a few days off. AZ Snakepit has Yuni as the starting first baseman on their "Fail Stars" team. (FanShot) Over the weekend Fred made a "final" plea to the Brewer front office to release Betancourt, although I think it's likely we'll have time to make more pleas.

I know we're all sick of talking and reading about Yuni, but I think he's become a symbol for a Brewer front office that appears to be mailing in the rest of this season. I think Fred nailed my sentiment on the issue in this sentence:

Basically - I see Yuniesky Betancourt, and I feel the organization has given up. And that's not a good feeling.

Moving on to happier topics, Cheeseandcorn had some fun with maps this weekend and took a look at the routes various Brewer pitchers have taken to get to Milwaukee. In other news, Michael Gonzalez was the inspiration for the song "I've been everywhere."

The Brewers may be off this week, but the trade rumor mill takes no breaks this time of year. Today's trade deadline note comes from Jose M. Romero of MLB.com, who says Norichika Aoki is flattered by teams' interest in acquiring him before the trade deadline.

While the Brewers were in Arizona this weekend they got a visit from local resident and veteran rehabber Corey Hart, who recently had his second surgery. Hart talked to reporters for the first time in weeks and said all the right things about a possible return to Milwaukee in 2014, even mentioning things like a potential pay cut or incentive-laden deal.

In the minors:

• The Brewers have added a couple of veterans on minor league deals: Outfielder Eric Patterson is 30, most recently played in the majors as a 2011 Padre and was hitting .275/.342/.527 for York in the independent Atlantic League. Micah Owings, meanwhile, is a former major league pitcher probably better known for his hitting, and will work as both a pitcher and outfielder in the minors.
• Jimmy Nelson represented the Brewers well in yesterday's All Star Futures Game. He pitched a scoreless inning with a walk and a double play. (Twitter link) Keith Law predicts Nelson will be a "solid back end starter." (Twitter link)
• Marty Noble of MLB.com saw Nelson pitch yesterday and wrote a story about the big pitcher's 6'6" frame.
• Elsewhere on the field, the affiliates went 2-3 yesterday and Jorge Lopez allowed just one run on three hits over seven innings in Wisconsin's 4-3 loss to Lake County. You can read about that and more in today's Minor League Notes.
• Chris Mehring of Rattler Radio has more from Wisconsin's loss.
• Speaking of Wisconsin, Johnny Hellweg will be on the mound for their 12:05 start today and I'll have all the details in the Timber Rattlers Notebook.
• Mike Sherry of the Appleton Post Crescent talked to Jim Callis of Baseball America about the state of the Brewer organization and came away with a pretty depressing analysis. (h/t @Mass_Haas)
• Tyrone Taylor, however, has been one of this year's few bright spots. John Sickels of Minor League Ball says he would've invited the Wisconsin outfielder to the Futures Game.
• Nashville broadcaster Jeff Hem has an interview with Sounds outfielder Kentrail Davis.

Around baseball:

Astros: Signed second baseman Jose Altuve to a four-year, $12.5 million contract extension with club options for 2018 and 2019.
Braves: Placed outfielder B.J. Upton on the DL with a right adductor strain.
Cubs: Designated pitcher Henry Rodriguez for assignment and claimed outfielder Cole Gillespie off waivers from the Giants.
Giants: Designated pitcher Chris Heston for assignment.
Orioles: Designated pitcher Jair Jurrjens for assignment.
Padres: Designated infielder Pedro Ciriaco for assignment.
Phillies: Placed outfielder Ben Revere on the DL with a broken foot.
Pirates: Acquired first baseman/outfielder Russ Canzler from the Orioles for a minor league pitcher.
Red Sox: Acquired pitcher Matt Thornton from the White Sox for a minor leaguer.
Royals: Designated pitcher J.C. Gutierrez for assignment.
Tigers: Signed pitcher Jeremy Bonderman to a minor league deal.

The Orioles move mentioned above cleared a roster spot for former Brewer spring training invitee Jairo Asencio. He was traded to Baltimore at the end of spring training and has a 2.15 ERA in 34 relief appearances in AAA.

Let's go around the NL Central:

• The Cardinals finished off a four game series split with a 10-6 win over the Cubs last night. St. Louis had 21 hits in the game, including four in the ninth inning as they rallied to win.
• The Pirates took two of three from the Mets this weekend but missed a chance for a sweep when they lost 4-2 yesterday. Dillon Gee held Pittsburgh to a single unearned run on five hits over 6.2 innings.
• The Reds wrapped up a four game split with the Braves with an 8-4 win yesterday. Jay Bruce finished a triple shy of the cycle in the victory.
• The Brewers, of course, avoided a sweep in Arizona with a 5-1 win.

Here are today's updated standings and a look at each team's All Star representatives:

Today in former Brewers: Until this season Dave Nilsson had been the only Australian player ever selected to the All Star Game. A's pitcher Grant Balfour recently became the second. (Twitter link)

This has nothing to do with the Brewers but I'm linking it anyway, because it's the coolest thing I've seen today. Old Time Family Baseball has a link to a ~5 minute mini-documentary of the events that led to the production of the "Marco Scutaro Rain Globe" the Giants are giving away this season. As a bonus, the video prominently features Grant Brisbee of McCovey Chronicles and Baseball Nation fame.

Today in Brewer History was off this morning, but here are today's bits of history:

• Chris Jaffe of The Hardball Times noted that it's been 10000 days since a natural gas explosion in the Brewers' spring training clubhouse in Sun City, and eight years since the Brewers beat the Nationals on a walk-off balk.
• nullacct named infielder Gus Gil as the face of the 1971 Brewers.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to find a place for these.

Drink up.

As a major leaguer Johnny Hellweg struggled to deal with schedule changes and to find his control on the mound. On Monday afternoon, though, he had no problem adjusting to Midwest League baseball. He pitched six innings and picked up the win in Wisconsin's 6-2 win over Lake County.

Hellweg looked very good through five innings today, keeping the Captains off the board and allowing just three singles and a hit batsman. He struggled a bit in the sixth, though, walking two batters and getting tagged for a pair of runs when an infield popup got lost in the sun. He classified the outing as a game where he was "just trying to work on some stuff."

"(I was) trying to treat some of the guys like they were different hitters, trying to put big leaguers in their shoes," Hellweg said. "Trying to execute some pitches that I would have if they were different guys."

It would be easy to dismiss Hellweg's success today as coming against low-level hitters, but Wisconsin manager Matt Erickson cautioned against that assertion.

"These guys, while they're not major leaguers yet, there may be a few major leaguers in the bunch eventually," Erickson said. "They're professional hitters and it's been proven before, guys that have pitched in the big leagues come down to even the A-ball level, and if you don't make quality pitches they're going to hurt you. Fortunately for Johnny he made some quality pitches today and started winning some counts."

The Brewers had Hellweg pitching in Wisconsin today in an effort to keep him on schedule. Today was the fifth day since his last major league outing, and the Timber Rattlers were the only Brewer affiliate in action.

"In my last start in AAA I had 12 days off," Hellweg said. "I got called up and had eight days off. Next start I had seven days off. So it was good to get back in that five-day routine."

The next step for Hellweg is unclear at this point. He's heading home for the major league All Star break, and hasn't been told what the plans are for him when he returns.

"I'm just going to treat it day-to-day until they inform me what's going on," Hellweg said. "I'm just going to go home, see the family and relax for a bit and then get back to the grind after the All Star break."

As for today, Hellweg said he was working on adding to his repertoire to help him prepare for what he hopes will be an eventual return to the big leagues.

"Yeah, I'm just trying to expand my game a bit," Hellweg said. "I learned up there that some of the stuff that I do isn't going to get big league hitters out. So I just tried to work on some things, and throw some different stuff in my repertoire."

In the meantime, though, Erickson credited Hellweg for settling in and having a solid outing.

"I thought he executed pretty good. In the beginning of the game it looked like there was a little "feel out" period, where he was feeling for some pitches, maybe feeling for the strike zone a little bit," Erickson said. "But once he got in there he got a nice little rhythm, his breaking ball was getting over for strikes, and it looked like he got into a competitive flow."

Erickson also noted that having someone as experienced as Hellweg around his team helps his young roster in their development.

"It's always nice when you've got a guy that comes to us with some big league experience," Erickson said. "I think it's nice for our pitchers to watch his preparation and how he goes about his business. And this was unique in the fact that we've had him for a few days and you can see his progression and his buildup to gameday. "

Today Hellweg got some help from a Timber Rattlers offense that combined for six runs on ten hits. Michael Reed had three of those hits, and Tyrone Taylor had an RBI triple to go with a running game-ending catch in center field. Taylor leads all Brewer minor leaguers with 99 hits on the season despite still being just 19 years old.

"He's had a very nice month and a half as he continues to grow in his development," Erickson said. "He's a guy that has some tools. He can go gap-to-gap defensively. We've asked him to take more of a leadership role vocally. He's not a very talkative guy but he does have some personality. And he's doing a nice job defensively making sure he's playing the hitters' tendencies and controlling the outfield when he moves."

With the win Wisconsin improved to 11-13 in the second half of the Midwest League season. They're off tomorrow before opening a series in Bowling Green on Wednesday.

This week's BCB Tracking poll will remain open through the day Wednesday, with results scheduled to be posted on Thursday. As always, please vote once.

I've mentioned it a couple of times previously, but the day is finally here: Our friend Justin Hull of 95.3 FM WSCO in Appleton is off today and I'll be making my debut as guest host of The Home Stretch from 1-3 pm. You can listen in live here.

We'll talk Brewers, of course, but we'll also touch on other topics too. Here's today's lineup of guests:

• In the 1 o'clock hour we'll talk to Frank Madden of BrewHoop.
• We'll start off the 2 o'clock hour by chatting with Wisconsin Timber Rattlers manager Matt Erickson.
• Finally, Tuesdays on the Home Stretch are J.P. Tuesdays, so later in the 2 pm hour we'll talk all things Wisconsin sports with J.P. Cadorin of Time Warner Cable SportsChannel.

Around those segments I'll also be taking your calls and answering your questions. Here's how you can get your voice heard:

• Call us at (866)653-1570.
• Tweet your questions to me at @BrewCrewBall.
• Post them as a comment on this post and I'll try to check it while we're on.

So listen in live, be a part of the show and help me through my first two-hour shift in radio since roughly 2003.

The Philadelphia Phillies and Chicago Cubs have expressed interest in right-handed pitcher Michael Wuertz, a source has confirmed to MLBDailyDish's Chris Cotillo. Wuertz is currently pitching for the Atlantic League's York Revolution, and can be purchased by any major league organization.

The source noted that the Phillies sent a scout specifically to see Wuertz pitch, and that the Cubs also have shown interest.

Wuertz, 34, was released by the Marlins during spring training and signed with the Revolution at the end of March. In 30 relief appearances on the season, he is 3-1 with a 3.17 ERA in 28.1 innings of work. He last appeared in the majors in 2011 with the Athletics, when he posted a 6.68 ERA in 39 relief appearances.

In 426 career games over eight major league seasons with the Cubs (2004-2008) and Athletics (2009-2011), Wuertz is 21-11 with a 3.71 ERA. He has battled injury over the last two seasons, but has proven that he is completely healthy and ready to re-join a major league organization.

If Wuertz signs with an organization, he would become the fifth member of the Revolution to do so this season, joining Josh Judy (Angels), Johan Limonta (Padres), Matt Fox (Mets) and Eric Patterson (Brewers).

Game 46 (1975) at Milwaukee County Stadium, Milwaukee: NL 6, AL 3

The NL took a 3-0 lead into the sixth inning, but Carl Yastrzemski, playing in the 12^th of his 18 All-Star games, hit a three-run homer off of Tom Seaver to tie the game. The NL loaded the bases off of Catfish Hunter and Goose Gossage in the top of the ninth. Cubs third baseman Bill Madlock hit a two-run ground single to left field for two runs, and Pete Rose added a sacrifice fly for the final run of the inning. Mets lefty Jon Matlack pitched two scoreless innings for the win. Matlack wasn't a great pitcher for long, but he was coming off of a great 1974 season in which he pitched seven shutouts. No pitcher in this century has had more than six.

Nobel Peace Prize winner Henry Kissinger threw out the first pitch.

Game 47 (1976) at Veterans Stadium, Philadelphia: NL 7, AL 1

In the Bicentennial year, President Gerald Ford threw out two first pitches to a smattering of desultory applause. Rookie sensation Mark "The Bird" Fidrych started and got pasted -- Yasiel Puig should be thankful he got to stay home, because spotlight turns for rookies tend not to work out very well.

Game 50 (1979) at the Kingdome, Seattle: NL 7, AL 6

Pirates right fielder Dave Parker took game MVP honors by going 1-for-3 and throwing out two runners, including Angels catcher/outfielder Brian Downing at the plate in the bottom of the eighth to preserve a 6-6 tie. The tie had come about due to a pinch-hit home run by Mets center fielder Lee Mazzilli off of the Rangers' Jim Kern. Mazzilli had an odd career, with excellent seasons from 23 to 25 and then just nothing, though he hung around as a pinch-hitter and utility player for another 10 years. He came up again in the top of the ninth and worked a bases-loaded walk off of Ron Guidry, who had been warming up approximately since the first inning and came into the game with nothing left.

Game 52 (1981) at Cleveland Stadium, Cleveland: NL 5, AL 4

With the players on strike from June 12 to July 31, the All-Star Game had been cancelled. When the dispute was settled, the game was brought back as an enticement to the fans. Cleveland Stadium was huge, seating over 72,000. Fans filled the building and seem to have come largely to express their displeasure with the returning strikers. Note the booing when the players are first announced. Listen also to the way Joe Garagiola oversells "Baseball is back!" when Indians manager Dave Garcia is introduced. In the game itself, the AL blew 1-0 and 4-2 leads thanks to Gary Carter's two home runs. Mike Schmidt added a two-run shot off of Rollie Fingers to ice the game. Bruce Sutter closed out the game for the NL. Sutter made five All-Star teams, pitched in four straight (1978-1981) and picked up two wins and two saves, throwing 6.2 scoreless innings. He allowed just two hits.

Game 53 (1982) at Olympic Stadium, Montreal: NL 4, AL 1

The National League won its 11^th consecutive game. Reds shortstop Dave Concepcion got the game MVP award for hitting a two-run shot off of Boston's Dennis Eckersley in the second inning, but consider Rickey Henderson, who went 3-for-4 with a stolen base and scored the AL's only run. That was just one of a number of pieces of hardware that Henderson failed to receive during his career.

Game 54 (1983) at Comiskey Park, Chicago: AL 13, NL 3

For its 50^th anniversary the All-Star Game returned to the place of its birth, a stadium the White Sox were desperate to leave. The game was all American League, with Reds righty Mario Soto (a terrific pitcher for a number of years, mostly for bad teams), Giants perennial DL candidate Atlee Hammaker, the Braves' Pascual Perez, and Cubs closer Lee Smith getting hit hard. The big blow was by Angels outfielder Fred Lynn, who hit the first-ever All-Star game grand slam off of Hammaker. Lynn made nine all-star teams and hit .300 with four home runs in 20 at-bats. This was the AL's first win in 12 games, or since 1907.

Game 55 (1984) at Candlestick Park, San Francisco: NL 3, AL 1

Pitching was the highlight of the game. In the top of the fourth, Fernando Valenzuela whiffed three future Hall of Famers, Dave Winfield, Reggie Jackson, and George Brett. Mets rookie Dwight Gooden came on in the top of the fourth and got three players who weren't bound for Cooperstown, but were quite good nonetheless: Lance Parrish, Chet Lemon, and Alvin Davis. Lemon is another guy who has been more or less forgotten, but he was basically the Torii Hunter of his time. I guess we know what Torii's place in history is going to be. Appropriately, Carl Hubbell, who had struck out five Hall of Famers in a row in the 1934 game, had thrown out the first pitch.

Game 56 (1985) at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, Minneapolis: NL 6, AL 1

Jack Morris started and lost for the AL; no doubt he was just pitching to the score. Parenthetically, Dave Stieb, the real pitcher of the 1980s, made seven all-star teams. Morris made five. Stieb started two and went 1-1, allowing one run in 11.2 innings; Morris started three and went 0-1 with three runs allowed in 10.2 innings.

Game 57 (1986) at the Astrodome, Houston: AL 3, NL 2

Roger Clemens, not pitching to the score, hurled three perfect innings. Brewers lefty Teddy Higuera, whose arm would give out all too soon, followed with three shutout innings of his own. Pitching in relief of Dwight Gooden, Fernando Valenzuela struck out five in three one-hit innings. Gooden allowed a home run to Tigers second baseman Lou Whitaker, another of those 80s greats who has just slipped between the cracks of history.

Game 58 (1987) at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum: NL 2, AL 0 (13)

An interminable game that went 12 scoreless innings before Jay Howell, who had no business being on the team that year, coughed up a two-run triple to Tim Raines. Howell had a pretty good career, perhaps with the aid of a bit of pine tar from time to time, but his presence on the team was purely as a sop to the hometown fans. Dave Winfield played all 13 innings and came up sore after, causing Yankees owner George Steinbrenner to rant ineffectually.

Game 60 (1989) at Anaheim Stadium, Anaheim: AL 5, NL 3

Former president and long-ago sportscaster Ronald Reagan made a game attempt to call part of the game with Vin Scully, which was demeaning to either Reagan, Scully, or both. Bo Jackson led off the AL part of the game with a home run off of Rick Reuschel. In the rush to canonize Jackson, Wade Boggs' home run, which immediately followed, was rapidly forgotten. That tied the game at 2-2, but the AL took the lead in the third on Jackson's RBI groundout. Bo added a stolen base that inning to become the first All-Star with a home run and a stolen base in the same game.

Game 62 (1991) at Skydome, Toronto: AL 4, NL 2

Special-category All-Star Game: First played outside the United States in a hotel that had a ballpark around it under a dome. Or something like that.

Game 63 (1992) at Jack Murphy Stadium, San Diego: AL 13, NL 6

Not as close as it looks.

Game 64 (1993) at Oriole Park at Camden Yards, Baltimore: AL 9, NL 3

Remembered primarily for John Kruk's less-than courageous at-bat against Randy Johnson, though Gary Sheffield, Kirby Puckett, and Roberto Alomar hit home runs.

Game 65 (1994) at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh: NL 8, AL 7 (10)

A back-and-forth game that went to extra-innings when Atlanta's Fred McGriff pinch-hit a two-run homer off of Baltimore's Lee Smith in the ninth. The game was so exciting they cancelled the rest of the season.

Game 69 (1998) at Coors Field, Denver: AL 13, NL 8

Though cable television, interleague play, and the internet were rapidly conspiring to make the All-Star game completely redundant, the game shambled on like a zombie, not knowing it was dead... The Yankees were approximately 81-0 at the time, but no member of the team made the starting lineup.

Game 70 (1999) at Fenway Park, Boston: AL 4, NL 1

The last All-Star Game. Ted Williams, old and nearly blind, was driven onto the field to make the ceremonial first pitch. There was a game after, but the real event was watching the apotheosis of Williams. He was surrounded by the greats of that moment (as we understood them) and honored by them as their king. If it didn't bring tears to your eyes, you aren't human. There was no greater expression of the game's continuity, also what it meant to be the greatest hitter of all time. After that, there was no need to play the game, or any All-Star Game, ever again. Not only will we never again see the likes of Teddy Ballgame, who though a difficult and flawed man was an American hero both on the field of play and the field of battle, but thanks to the way Major League Baseball and its players have handled the advent of chemical athletics and their aftermath, we will never again have the pure sense of admiration with which Williams could be appreciated. See, for example, Chris Davis. That being the case, why bother?

See the video below beginning at the 35-minute mark.

More from SB Nation:

• Yoenis Cespedes wins the 2013 Home Run Derby

• Your Chris Berman "BACK BACK BACK" megamix

• Who are these guys? Meet the 39 first-time All-Stars

• MLB trade rumors: Tigers want Tim Lincecum

• Longread: Brooklyn’s field of broken dreams

The All-Star Game goes tonight at 8pm with four Blue Jays taking part. The starting pitcher for the American League is Max Scherzer who I previewed a few weeks ago here. Mets' fans rookie prodigy Matt Harvey goes for the National League, who have won the past three years with the AL winning the 12 years before that (plus a tie). If you don't know who Matt Harvey is, neither do a lot of New York Mets fans:

Harvey throws the four main pitches relying heavily on his high 90's fastball. His three solid off-speed offerings all record whiffs on about a third of hitter's swings.

Cool GIF incoming! (Click the GIF if it doesn't show up here)

via images.ftw.usatoday.com

The full rosters for the game are below:

American League

Starters
C: Joe Mauer, Twins
1B: Chris Davis, Orioles
2B: Robinson Cano, Yankees
SS: J.J. Hardy, Orioles
3B: Miguel Cabrera, Tigers
OF: Mike Trout, Angels
OF: Adam Jones, Orioles
OF: Jose Bautista, Blue Jays
DH: David Ortiz, Red Sox

Reserves
C: Jason Castro, Astros
C: Salvador Perez, Royals
1B: Prince Fielder, Tigers
2B: Jason Kipnis, Indians
2B: Dustin Pedroia, Red Sox
2B: Ben Zobrist, Rays
SS: Jhonny Peralta: Tigers
3B: Manny Machado, Orioles
OF: Nelson Cruz, Rangers
OF: Alex Gordon, Royals
OF: Torii Hunter, Tigers
DH: Edwin Encarnacion, Blue Jays

Pitchers
RHP: Clay Buchholz*, Red Sox
LHP: Brett Cecil, Blue Jays
RHP: Bartolo Colon *, A's
RHP: Jesse Crain*, White Sox
RHP: Yu Darvish*, Rangers
RHP: Steve Delabar,Blue Jays
RHP: Felix Hernandez, Mariners
RHP: Hisashi Iwakuma *, Mariners
RHP: Justin Masterson, Indians
RHP: Matt Moore, Rays
RHP: Joe Nathan, Rangers
LHP: Glen Perkins, Twins
RHP: Mariano Rivera, Yankees
LHP: Chris Sale, White Sox
RHP: Max Scherzer, Tigers
RHP: Chris Tillman, Orioles
RHP: Justin Verlander *, Tigers

I could go on a rant about Chris Tillman being in this game, but I'm not sure anyone cares.

National League

Starters
C: Yadier Molina, Cardinals
1B: Joey Votto, Reds
2B: Brandon Phillips, Reds
SS: Troy Tulowitzki, Rockies
3B: David Wright, Mets
OF: Carlos Beltran, Cardinals
OF: Carlos Gonzalez, Rockies
OF: Bryce Harper, Nationals

W: Chris Sale
L: Patrick Corbin
S: Joe Nathan

HR: None

MVP: Matt Harvey (+.094 WPA)
LVP: Patrick Corbin (-.090)

Win Expectancy Graph
Box Score

The Midsummer Classic wasn't much of a classic this year. The National League All Stars managed just three hits, none of which came from a Brewer, in a 3-0 loss. Jean Segura grounded out in his only at bat against Mariano Rivera in the eighth, and two batters later Carlos Gomez followed suit.

There wasn't much playing time available for substitutes tonight as most of the NL starters played into the fifth or sixth innings. Segura entered the game as a defensive replacement for starter Troy Tulowitzki in the sixth, and Gomez replaced Bryce Harper in right field in the seventh.

The decision to play Gomez out of position prompted me to write one of the most retweeted things I've ever said:

Playing Carlos Gomez in right field is like asking Picasso to paint your guest bathroom.

— Brew Crew Ball (@BrewCrewBall) July 17, 2013

The Brewers did have a couple of nice defensive moments tonight: Jean Segura started a 6-4-3 double play in the seventh and another one of the 6-3 variety in the eighth. Gomez also fielded a couple of hits in right in the eighth, and missed on a diving attempt that led to a Prince Fielder triple in the ninth.

All told, "not having homefield advantage" is unlikely to be the primary reason why the Brewers fail to win the World Series this season.

Real baseball resumes on Friday.

Matt Garza is on the verge of being moved somewhere. The Cubs are in total rebuild mode and he represents a prime trade chip. His performance as of late has been solid and he is clearly the #1 option available to teams looking to upgrade their rotation (unless Cliff Lee becomes more available).

While patrolling the wonderful repository of trade tidbits over at MLB Trade Rumors I came across a link to this article over at CSNChicago, and more specifically, this statement made by "a handful of Major League Executives":

"…Garza is not considered a No. 1 or 2 in a rotation, but is considered a very strong No. 3 and the price the Cubs front office is asking for is exceptionally high."

My perception of Garza was always that he represents a solid No. 2 starter and certainly better than just about every team’s #3 guy (Detroit’s Anibal Sanchez is potentially the only exception). As a trade chip, Garza is a high-performing pitcher with a couple durability concerns, but nothing major, and he has already bounced back this season after missing a few starts to post some solid first-half numbers.. He is on his last year of arbitration and will be a free-agent at the end of the 2013 season.

A fairly obvious comparison between Zack Greinke being dealt last year and the potential for Matt Garza to be dealt this year exists. The time frame being analyzed is the seven seasons leading up to their trade or potential trade. This is a lengthy track record and certainly enough to make a good determination of each guy’s talent level.

Career ERA

Both started their careers with an ERA in the high-5’s, took a big jump forward seven seasons ago and have slowly been chipping them down to the low-3’s ever since. At this point they are a near lock to have a sub-4 ERA every year they pitch.

Though ERA’s is volatile and subject to some luck, it can generally be stated that Garza has been more consistent and Greinke has been more volatile. In fact, that volatility won him a Cy Young back in 2009 and most assuredly boosted his trade value (though likely had a larger impact on the deal to the Brewers than the Angels).

Peripherals

Taking a look at some numbers that filter out a little more of the noise is a good step to look at "true" performance levels. This is where Greinke starts to separate from Garza. Both have driven their peripheral statistics down over the years, but Greinke has done it at a greater clip.

Using xFIP as a quick reference for performance isn't perfect, but it accurately quantifies a large part of what a pitcher can control and Greinke has been better at the those factors than Garza has over the past seven seasons.

Looking at the rate performances of these two pitchers, a pretty clear story is told: Zack Greinke is a slightly better pitcher than Matt Garza, though the two aren't in different stratospheres from each other if you look at them from a cold-hearted sabermetric view.

Though xFIP and ERA are good, they don’t give you a really great sense of how much these pitchers are helping their teams win ball games.

Pitchers can provide immensely different values with similar rate statistics, if they are used differently. Think back to C.C. Sabathia’s herculean effort for the Brewers. He was traded on July 7th, 2008 and Sabathia pitched 130 innings and won 11 games over the final 73 games of the season. Sabathia threw nearly 19.8% of the team’s total innings and amassed 4.3 fWAR during that time. Greinke, meanwhile, was traded to the Angels on July 28th, 2012 and pitched 89 1/3 innings, or 14.8% of his team’s total innings, while amassing only 1.2 fWAR.

Let’s take a look at the bottom-line and see how many extra wins these two pitchers are providing their teams so get a sense of what a potential buyer might be acquiring.

fWAR

Clearly, Greinke is the runaway winner here. He has had a higher peak and he’s been as good as or better than Garza in the season leading up to his (eventual) trade. If you are a Garza-apologist, you may be saying: "Garza has had a few funky injuries and he hasn’t been able to amass the counting stats that Greinke has!"

To counter this point, I present to you their fWAR/9IP as a measure of how many wins they provide their team when they are on the field:

Greinke is better on a rate basis as well, and that has been the story for the five years leading up to a deal.

Though Greinke is no C.C. Sabathia (who is?), he is a durable guy himself. Over his career, he has been racking up more fWAR than Garza due almost entirely to the fact that he throws more innings and is slightly better in the innings he is out there.

When it’s all said and done, Garza just doesn't compare to Greinke. Greinke has been better over the years and more durable. The only thing working in Garza’s favor is that he is signed at $10.25M while Greinke was signed at $13.5M, representing around $1M in savings for the potential acquirer over the remainder of the respective seasons.

It will be interesting to see how it all plays out, but when prospects in the top-50 of various prospects lists are being thrown around, it seems a little rich for a guy who isn't as good or as durable. Greinke was traded, last year, for the #43 prospect in Baseball America’s 2012 prospect list and a pair of AA-pitchers.

Once more from Kaplan:

"A year ago, the Milwaukee Brewers traded Zack Greinke to the Angels and received three prospects including standout shortstop Jean Segura and two AA pitchers. Of the baseball personnel experts I spoke with, the consensus is the Cubs will probably not receive as much as the Brewers did but should come close."

I’m not sure if this scout looked at the career lines of these two pitchers, but they are very close, with Greinke coming out slightly ahead across the board. Maybe these folks who work in baseball know what they are talking about after all. In any event, some team will trade away a prospect, hoping that they didn't deal away the next Jean Segura, while hoping that they are bringing in the next C.C. Sabathia.

. . .

Charlie Adams is a writer for Beyond the Box Score and Indians Baseball Insider

You can follow him on twitter @charlie_adams13

I published the Fake Teams Consensus Midseason Catcher Rankings on Monday morning, and the first question I received in the comments section was from former Fake Teams writer Kevin Boger. He is a Brewers fan, so naturally, he asked about Brewers catcher Jonathan Lucroy, after stating that he liked the rankings overall.

Here is the question he submitted in the comments section:

Pretty much completely agree w/ how the final list played out. I agree w/ Lucroy’s final ranking @ #8, but am curious why some ranked him as low as #12 or #13 when his stats are identical and in some cases better than Santana and Rosario. The Brewers are terrible, but mostly due to their pitching. Their offense is relatively stacked at the top and Lucroy should continue to hit either fourth or fifth in the lineup after Aoki, Segura, Gomez/Braun, Ramirez and he is currently hitting third while Braun/Ramirez are unavailable and calls Miller Park home.

As he usually does, Kevin provides solid support for his opinion above, and frankly, I couldn't disagree with him. I was one of the writers who ranked him at 12 in my individual rankings. I flat out ranked Lucroy too low after taking a second look.

Lucroy had a breakout, albeit an injury shortened, season in 2012 hitting .320-.368-.513 with 12 HRs, 46 runs, 58 RBI and 4 stolen bases in just 96 games. He maintained his 6% walk rate, but greatly reduced his strikeout rate from around 22% to just under 13%, while showing improved power and making more contact at the plate.

He started the 2013 season slowly, hitting just .235 with 3 HRs, 9 runs and 13 RBI in 81 April at bats. But, his bat got going in May and he hasn't looked back since. Here are his monthly stats, courtesy of Baseball-Reference:

As you can see, he has improved at the plate in every month thus far in 2013, although July is only half over at this point. His batting average, on base percentage, slugging percentage and OPS have risen in each month, and he has already hit a career high 13 home runs in 283 at bats.

Among fantasy catchers, he currently ranks fifth in batting average, tied for third in home runs, thirteenth in runs scored, and second only to Buster Posey in RBI. Pretty impressive, yet I gave him little love when ranking my fantasy catchers last week.

Lucroy is on pace to hit 22 home runs, scored 47 runs and drive in 90 runs this season. The home runs and RBI total would be career highs. Since 2007, only four catchers have put up a season with 20+ home runs and 90+ RBI: Jorge Posada, Victor Martinez, Brian McCann, Joe Mauer and Buster Posey. Yeah, that's pretty good company.

And 2013 may be the last time we can say Lucroy is underrated. But, right now, he is underrated. He should get plenty more love in offseason rankings and fantasy drafts should he meet those expectations.

More from Fake Teams:

• 2013 Midseason Position Rankings: First Base
• Fake Teams Podcast Episode 18: The Tools of Ignorance
• Head-to-Head Risers and Fallers: All-Star Edition
• Prospect Preview: Andrew Toles
• Injury Report: All Star Break Cures All
• Futures Game Reaction and Analysis
• Streamer Report: All Star Break Update
• Coming Soon to A Stadium Near You: Wilmer Flores, IF, New York Mets

Confirmation bias - "a tendency of people to favor information that confirms their beliefs or hypotheses. People display this bias when they gather or remember information selectively, or when they interpret it in a biased way." (Wikipedia)

Last week we noted Juan Francisco's skillset and how reminiscent it is of the typical Doug Melvin acquisition, and lamented the injured Corey Hart and his proclivity for catching balls on the warning track.

This week I make your ethernet cables sweat with way too many gifs, and we talk extensively about balls that were either robbed, barely hit, or not hit at all. Fun, right?

Maxim: Ron Roenicke always call for the squeeze with a runner on third and less than two outs.

Ron Roenicke loves bunting. Especially when bunting is actively driving in a run, and not simply part of manufacturing one.

There were a couple instances in which the Brewers found themselves with a runner on third and less than two outs this past week, so we saw plenty of effort to get a run in on a squeeze play. Because the contact play hasn't been working and there's no other realistic way of scoring one and only one run in these situations. Or at least ways for which the manager can take full credit.

With Yuniesky Betancourt on third base and one out in Friday night's game in Arizona, Norichika Aoki stepped to the plate with the opportunity to chase Patrick Corbin from the game with a game tying hit. Given his somewhat incredible .336 BA versus left-handed pitchers this season, it made a lot of sense for one of the Brewers' best hitters to try getting that run home by giving himself up in the low-percentage safety squeeze play.

Note: Brian Anderson, soon after the gaffe, called him the best bunter on the team. (Also, I haven't found anything on whether this was Aoki's idea or Roenicke's for sure, but for the sake of this article I'm sticking with Roenicke.)

But Roenicke wouldn't keep calling for it if it didn't work every once in a while. In Sunday's game the Brewers were threatening to blow the game open in the 2nd, with runners on the corners and one out with Logan Schafer at the plate. Of course, Roenicke opted for one run instead of trying to score more, or get too "greedy," as Rock would later put it. Schafer, who entered the game with a respectable .830 OPS in his last 11 games, and fresh off his first career homerun on Monday (and in the AB before his second career homerun - thanks, hindsight), gave himself away to get that all-important single run.

Note: After successfully laying this bunt down, Rock called him the best bunter in the National League.

The Brewers' manager and broadcasters really, really, enjoy bunting and the squeeze play. Heck, the constant stranded runners at third are making me come around.

The featured picture of this article couldn't be more appropriate. I'm sure Logan appreciated it more than this:

Verdict: BIAS VALIDATED

Maxim: The Brewers always torture us with rallies that ultimately go nowhere.

Friday night was a particularly frustrating loss for the Brewers, as they managed to get 9 baserunners (7 hits, 2 walks) off of Patrick Corbin, one of the NL's best pitchers this season, only to waste it by getting only one of those baserunners to step on home plate.

On a wild pitch. In the first inning.

The following 8 innings featured 0 runs but a crapload of hits, walks, and meaningful at bats that ended up serving little purpose other than needlessly ratcheting up our heart rates.

The first failed rally occurred in the 4th inning. Currently red-hot Jonathon Lucroy led off with a ringing double down the left field line on the first pitch from Corbin. With Rickie Weeks at the plate, Corbin, understandably cautious of the lightning, threw a wild pitch, with Lucroy advancing to third.

Nobody out and a man on third. For those who read this column weekly, we knew the inning to be over. However, more Brewers came to the plate, because those are the rules of the game.

Weeks popped out. Sean Halton flew out, too shallow to get the runner home. And Betancourt, after swinging through strike two in anticipation of his inning-ending strikeout, showed us perhaps the most accurate assessment of the 2013 season in a single instantaneous non-verbal expression:

After stranding two more baserunners in the 6th, the Brewers made a legitimate threat once again in the 7th against Corbin when Betancourt, in low-scale atonement, ground-rule-doubled to deep left and Logan Schafer singled to right, once again putting a runner on third with nobody out. Again our conditioned selves promptly awaited the series of events that would extinguish this golden opportunity.

Pinch hitter Khris Davis strucKh out. As we saw earlier, Aoki popped out on a bunt attempt. Segura walked to load the bases. After Corbin was replaced by platoon-advantaged Will Harris, Carlos Gomez struck out to end the inning.

The 8th inning featured another bases-loaded stranded effort that takes on a familiar rhythm. Just subtract the runner-on-third-nobody-out factor and add a diving catch that crushed our souls:

I cut it off too soon to see, but Pollock actually does 20 pushups right after the catch, just to rub it in.

At least we can't blame a Brewer for that one. Probably. Either way -

Verdict: BIAS VALIDATED

Maxim: If there's a runner in scoring position and 2 outs for the Cardinals, any ball put in play will find its way into the outfield for a hit, broken bat pop up, 9 hopper, doesn't matter. - AcesHigh

On Tuesday night the Cardinals hosted the Astros. Chances are, the Cardinals wouldn't need any of the luck they've been inexplicably blessed with. But some trains just can't be stopped.

In the 4th inning the Cardinals were threatening to blow the game open, already up 3-0 with all-star Matt Carpenter at the plate with two outs and a couple runners in scoring position. Naturally, Astros infielders were sweating profusely on account of the knowledge that the ball that was about to come off the bat was going to be weird in some way.

Sure enough, Bud Norris got in on Carpenter's fists on 0-2. Carpenter knuckled it, and the infield panic inevitably ensued.

As the play developed, the Cardinals play-by-play man stated the following:

Somehow, Pena couldn't come up with it!

And later, upon viewing replay:

How did Pena miss this?

We know how. It's written in the stars. And therefore -

Verdict: BIAS VALIDATED

BONUS MAXIM: Carlos Gomez always makes for the best .gifs
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Verdict: BIAS VALIDATED

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If you have any more maxims in mind, post in the comments and I'll add them to the master list. So I can selectively choose them when they become relevant - for further virtuous analysis.

The Colorado Rockies won the Competitive Balance Draft Lottery and will pick first in Competitive Balance Round A of the 2014 MLB First-Year Player Draft. The Baltimore Orioles, Cleveland Indians, Miami Marlins, Kansas City Royals and Milwaukee Brewers also won picks in the round.

The Competitive Balance Draft is designed to give teams in small markets, or who have minimal revenue, additional high draft picks. The 10 clubs with the lower revenue and 10 clubs from the smallest market are entered into a lottery to receive one of six picks in Comp Round A, which comes right after the first round. After that, all the teams that did not get picks in Round A, as well as all teams that are payees under the league Revenue Sharing Plan, are entered into a lottery for six more picks, this time in Round B, which comes after the second round.

The San Diego Padres will lead Round B, followed by the Arizona Diamondbacks, St. Louis Cardinals, Tampa Bay Rays, Pittsburgh Pirates and Seattle Mariners.

These draft picks are eligible to be traded. Detroit and Florida swapped their Round A and Round B picks for the 2013 draft.

The lottery was conducted on Wednesday at the MLB offices in New York.

Comp Round A

1. Colorado Rockies

2. Baltimore Orioles

3. Cleveland Indians

4. Miami Marlins

5. Kansas City Royals

6. Milwaukee Brewers

Comp Round B

1. San Diego Padres

2. Arizona Diamondbacks

3. St. Louis Cardinals

4. Tampa Bay Rays

5. Pittsburgh Pirates

6. Seattle Mariners

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• The ballad of the kid who ran on the field at the All-Star Game

• Yoenis Cespedes wins the 2013 Home Run Derby

• Longread: Brooklyn’s field of broken dreams

Major League Baseball held their lottery today to determine Competitive Balance picks for the 2014 draft, and the Brewers got some good news.

The Brewers will receive the final pick in the first pool, which drafts between the first and second round. This year the sixth pick in the pool was #39 overall, where the Tigers selected Texas pitcher Corey Knebel.

Here's a quick explanation of how Competitive Balance picks are distributed, via the MLBTR link above:

"The teams in the 10 smallest markets and teams with the 10 lowest revenues were eligible to be entered into the Round A lottery. This doesn't mean there were 20 teams in the lottery, as there's overlap in that criteria. All teams who don't win a pick in the first round are re-entered into the second round, along with any team that received revenue sharing this year."

It's also worth noting that these picks can be traded, which is not true of any other selections in the MLB draft.

As things stand right now the Brewers project to draft pretty early in the 2014 draft, so with this pick added it's possible they could have three picks in the top 45 or so next season. That's a far cry from 2013, when their first pick was #54 overall.

On this day in 1964 the Milwaukee Braves got blown out at home, losing 8-2 to the Pirates. Seven of Pittsburgh's 15 hits came against Warren Spahn, who lasted just 3.2 innings in his 697th career appearance. By completing the first three outs, though, Spahn collected his 5000th major league inning.

Spahn's time as an effective major leaguer was more or less over at this point, but his career longevity is still something to behold. Despite serving in the military for three years in World War II he still pitched 21 seasons, appearing in 750 games and completing 382 of them.

Spahn finished his career with 5243.2 innings, the sixth most in the majors since 1901.

With help from the B-Ref Play Index, happy birthday today to:

• 2001-08 Brewer Ben Sheets, the #10 overall pick in the 1999 draft. He turns 35. We covered his birthday in this space two years ago.
• >1997 Brewer Antone Williamson, the #4 overall pick in the 1994 draft. He turns 40.
• Butch Edge, the Brewers' #6 overall pick in the 1974 draft. He turns 57.
• 1960-65 Milwaukee Brave Joe Torre, who turns 73.

Today is also the 43rd anniversary of infielder Ted Kubiak setting a franchise record with seven RBI in a win over the Red Sox in 1970. We covered that event in this space last year.