The Brewers defeated the Rockies, Matt Garza didn't pitch well, and Rickie Weeks and Khris Davis hit home runs.
W: Wooten
L: Oberg
HR: Weeks (1), Davis (1), Gomez (1)
Matt Garza's debut as a Brewer did not go particularly well. He threw the first inning and gave up 4 hits and 2 walks. The Rockies scored 4 runs, and it could have been worse as 2 of the outs came via a line drive caught by Rickie Weeks, who doubled off Troy Tulowitzki at first. Garza retired the eighth batter of the first on a foul popout and his day was over.
As is the case with most spring training games, the important things happened early. Rickie Weeks led off the game at Salt River Fields with a home run and the Brewers got 3 against our old friend Jorge de la Rosa in the second inning. To start the rally, JDLR threw away a pickoff attempt, which allowed Lyle Overbay to score. Singles from Jeff Bianchi, Logan Schafer and utility infielder Irving Falu netted 2 more runs.
After a 2 uneventful innings from Alfredo Figaro and 1 from Donovan Hand, Khris Davis hit his first home run of the spring in the 5th. Hand gave back the lead in the bottom of the fifth, the last run given up on the day by the Brewer staff. Scoreless innings from Brooks Hall, Zach Duke, Rob Wooten, and Dustin Molleken rounded out the day.
Hector Gomez, who served as AA Hunstville's shortstop last year, was the hero of the day as his home run in the 8th gave the Brewers the win and saved the beat writers from having to (possibly) watch extra innings.
Also possibly notable: utility man Eugenio Velez got a look in right field today and misplayed a ball in the first, which probably won't help his chances of convincing management that he can play the outfield in a bid to make the team.
It was a slightly less informative game compared to the last two, as most of the players of relevance in the game either have spots locked up or are extreme long-shots to make the team, but there is still plenty to talk about. When it comes to the Rockies first true "home" game of the Spring, for the second straight day the Rockies lost in a close fashion. Both teams got their offenses going early, but while both squads had difficulty plating runners late in the game, the Brewers did just a bit better of a job. But it's still early Spring... who cares about the result? Let's talk about what we saw from the players.
Carlos Gonzalez' second game on the field was an excellent followup to his productive day on Friday. The Rockies left fielder had two more hits (including a double), batted in a run and scored one himself. Among other starters, Drew Stubbs and Wilin Rosario each had singles, and while Michael Cuddyer and Troy Tulowitzki remain hitless after today, each player worked a walk off of Brewers starter Matt Garza in the first inning. Four of the Rockies five runs were secured in the first inning against Garza, which also contained productive hits from Brandon Barnes and Michael McKenry, the game's designated hitter, who knocked in two runs with a double.
But struggling almost as much as Garza was his Rockies opponent. Jorge De La Rosa showed a fair but of shakiness in his first Spring outing. Certainly nothing to panic over, as players who are secured of a spot on the team are less dependent on good showings early in Spring, but it certainly wasn't very fun. After allowing a leadoff home run to Rickie Weeks to start the game, De La Rosa settled in and escaped the inning. The second inning brought more trouble, however, as the lefty allowed two walks and three more hits, as well as an error on a pickoff attempt. He was unable to finish the inning, with Tommy Kahnle securing the final out.
Things quieted down from there. Chad Bettis and Kraig Sitton threw fairly clean innings, each allowing a hit, while Raul Fernandez allowed just one walk in his frame. Rex Brothers allowed both a hit and a walk in his inning, but escaped without harm. Manny Corpas was interestingly allowed two innings. Though Corpas allowed a home run to Khris Davis in his first, as well as three more hits behind it, he was bailed out by an outfield assist from Barnes, who has kept his name in the mix thus far with small but noticeable productive moves. Corpas' second inning went much more smoothly, but the Rockies lost their lead in Scott Oberg's eighth inning, when former Rockie Hector Gomez took him deep.
Defensively, in addition to Barnes' assist, Stubbs and Tulowitzki both showed good moves on the field. Ben Paulsen was solid at first base for the second half of the game, as as was Matt McBride who played right field for some of the day and made a good play on a deep fly ball in the eighth. McBride was also productive at the plate, hitting a triple in the sixth, but he was tagged out trying to steal home on a botched squeeze play. Charlie Culberson, on the other hand, took some significant steps back from looking appealing for a utility infield spot, making two errors at third base. Culberson was also hitless in two at bats. Outfielder Tim Wheeler doubled in his only at bat, which came at the start of the Rockies ninth, but he was unable to be brought around to score.
Tomorrow the Rockies will play their first double header of the Cactus League season. They will face the Mariners at their facility in the afternoon (1:05 PM MTN), while in the nightcap (7:10 PM MTN) the Rockies will square off against Arizona for the second time, once again as the away team in their home stadium. Brett Anderson makes his Rockies debut in the Seattle game, which will have an online audio stream available for anyone with MLB's gameday audio package. The Arizona game, started by Christian Friedrich, will air on KOA.
Book reviews return to BCB with this short book treat from 2013 that should get people ready for the season.
This is part of a series that Triumph Books is doing with several other teams, already released over the past two or three years. I've also read the Twins one (not being reviewed here) to compare and put this book into context; all the books have the same format but different areas of focus depending on the interests of the writer. Tom Haudricourt, as most readers here know, has been the Brewers beat writer for the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel since the late 1980s and has seen a lot of these historic events mentioned in the book firsthand.
This book is a great intro to Brewers history for newer fans and a good way for older fans to catch up. It's a good companion to Haudricourt's earlier, more traditionally ordered Brewers Confidential. 100 Things goes over all the really important parts of Brewers franchise history through the 2012 season in quick, easy-to-digest bits. It also includes major feats of players like Ben Sheets and Trevor Hoffman. It also covers items of fan and popular culture like tailgating, the Beer Barrel Polka, the sausages, and more. I'd give this book to the new fans who are wondering why Brewers fans do certain things and who want to learn more about the years they missed; it's not only the good times that are covered here but the bad times (like 2002) and the quirky times. I really enjoyed reading about the more unusual bits of franchise history, like a baseball giveaway gone wrong and the Brewers' history of really weird injuries. It just didn't start with towel pillows and suitcases gone astray. Personalities and players fans should know are not ignored. We also get bits of Miller Park history like the 2002 All-Star Game and the Cubs-Astros "home" game.
MondoLinks: A recap of baseball happenings over this past weekend...and...this week's One Big Idea to ponder: 2002 was THIS long ago...
Spring Training games opened up this weekend, for reals. We saw a Mike Trout grand slam; a Joe Blanton sighting where he goes 7 outs, gives up 3 hits, a walk, and runs, both earned; and an Albert Pujols going 0 for 3 with a strikeout and 5 LOBsters. Three games in and it still feels like 2013, doesn't it??? But, hey, let's give it up for Hector Santiago, yeah?!
MLB announced that they are jumping out AHEAD of current advancements in defensive studies and metrics and tools, even bypassing FIELDF/x now being developed, and rolling out their own pretty awesome defensive tracking system. Note, in the article, that it looks like MLB is about to dump PITCHF/x after this season, as well. The downside, I suppose, is that MLB will end up charging for access to all this data.
[3/1/2014 Change of Art Answers: 1-card year is now 2002...2-belt loop disappears in back...3-left shoe loses cleat...4-Arte erases "Anaheim" from logo...5-Eyes changed to blue...6-Center pinstripe extended on left pant leg...7-Helmet earhole removed...8-Left hand gains extra finger...9-Halo player on bench immediately behind Glaus is missing...10-Uni sleeve is longer]
_____________________
I was reading an article last week which was determined to mess with the reader's perception of time. Events that we commonly place in sequential order, and rather far apart, actually have a tendency to overlap. The one factoid that really got me was to learn that when the Chicago Cubs last won a World Series, The Ottoman Empire still existed. Like, folks, the Ottoman Empire rose to power beginning in 1299!!! Well, that got me thinking. We tend to think that 2002 was not that long ago, still within reach. And if we get back to the WS this year, it would still be somehow connected to the same epoch of success.
Oh reeeeaaaally?
Since the Anaheim Angels won the World Series on October 27th, 2002:
The United States led a coalition that went to war with Iraq and overthrew Saddam Hussein. Then the US entered war in Afghanistan, which will last up to the current draw-down going on now.
The Space Shuttle Columbia Disaster occurs. Later, Space Shuttle Atlantis will make the final flight and the entire Shuttle program will conclude.Shuttle Endeavor will be flown to LA, driven through the streets, and become a museum piece.
California elects Arnold Schwarzenegger as Governor, and Johnny Depp wins an Academy Award for impersonating Keith Richards in a movie inspired by a theme park ride.
The Catholic Church will see three different Popes (Pope John Paul II passes away, Benedict XVI will become Pope and then resign 8 years later, and Pope Francis will take over.)
London will suffer it's worst attacks since WWII when terrorists bomb the city.
Mark Zukerburg launches Facebook, MySpace debuted, Facebook comes out of the closet and MySpace fades away, Twitter and Instagram debut, Facebook buys Instagram and Facebook begins to fade away.
The Human Genome Project was completed
The NASA Rover lands on Mars
250,000,000 250,000 souls would perish within hours as a result of the Indian Ocean earthquake and Tsunami. 100,000 people will perish in a 7.0 magnitude earthquake in Haiti. Japan will be hit by a large earthquake that generates a massive tsunami that will kill 18,000 people and destroy the Fukushima nuclear power plant, with debris now reaching the shores of California.
The first 1GB solid state computer storage device is released. USB flash drives will replace floppy disks altogether. Eventually, corporations begin purchasing solid state storage systems in the terabytes.
Michael Jackson dies.
Hurricane Katrina destroys New Orleans. Hurricane Sandy will destroy the Jersey Coast.
An explosion on a BP oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico will result in 40,000 of crude emptied into the ocean every hour...for 86 consecutive days.
Pluto loses planet status.
Muammar Qaddafi. leader of Libya, announces the end of his advanced weapons program. Years later he will be killed by rebel troops. And Fidel Castro will permanently step down from power. in 2011 Libya will hold free elections.
Google goes public, then YouTube is launched, then Google buys YouTube. And Google releases Street View.
Apple Computer launches the first iPhone. Later, the first iPad. And Amazon releases Kindle.
The stock market crashes and the Dow Jones Index gets cut in half, and Chrysler and GM go bankrupt.
The swine flu epidemic comes and goes. The West Nile virus epidemic comes and goes.
Toyota invents the Hybrid car. The camera phone is invented. Genetic engineering, nanotechnology, human cloning, driverless cars (Google), all-electric cars (Tesla), interactive video gaming (Nintendo Wii), all invented.
In other words, it's been a long, long time. Not Cubs long. But long. And I want another. Now.
What other historical events can you come up with?
Carp could have a bigger role with another team, and two of those are checking him out this spring.
Mike Carp is just a bench bat on the Red Sox, but there are teams he could be much more for. The Brewers and Pirates are two such clubs, as they are in need of help at first base, so it's not surprising to see the Boston Globe's Nick Cafardo report that both organizations will be scouting Carp during spring training.
The Pirates currently employ Gaby Sanchez as their primary first baseman, with Andrew Lambo on the bench as a corner outfielder and first base option as well. Sanchez and Carp would combine to play a quality first if they platooned, as Sanchez has a career .300/.399/.496 line against lefties in 200 games and 566 plate appearances, and Carp is a lefty who showed serious power against right-handers in 2013 while being hidden from southpaws. Carp is unlikely to replicate his .385 batting average on balls in play from last year, but limiting him to right-handers likely helped play that up, as it gave him more opportunities he could succeed in -- you can stack the deck to try to inflate that number, basically, and the Sox did so.
As for the Brewers, they've collected a few options for first, with Juan Francisco currently slated for the position, but Mark Reynolds and Lyle Overbay were both invited to camp to try to wrest the job from him. Overbay is a platoon bat at this stage of his career, one who posted an 87 OPS+ with the Yankees in 2013, while Reynolds has seen his production tail off in his late-20s. There's still time for him to turn things around, but he's also put up just a 105 OPS+ over the last four years: it's not awful, but good first basemen hit much better than that. Francisco is no better, with a career 95 OPS+ and a 93 showing a year ago.
Both clubs could use Carp, but no one is quite sure what the Red Sox would want for him. He's just a bench bat in Boston, but he is also depth in both left field and at first, and even if you don't believe he's going to hit for the lofty average of 2013 again, his power is a real -- and rare -- thing. Unless the Sox are overwhelmed with an offer, or somehow have no room for Carp come Opening Day, they're unlikely to move him. The Pirates or Brewers could get plenty desperate in the next month, though, as both have legitimate playoff aspirations, but still need a little help to improve their chances of realizing them.
The Brewers have yet to use Jim Henderson in the spring and Ron Roenicke assured Adam McCalvy over the weekend that fans should not worry. Henderson is not missing time due to any sort of arm trouble, but rather because he is working on a new pitch this spring. Along with a brand new pitch, Henderson is attempting to refine his slider as well.
While McCalvy would only hint at the identity of Henderson's new pitch on Twitter, Ryan Connor at Reviewing the Brew investigated why the cutter is likely the pitch Henderson is attempting to master. Connor believes that a new pitch could help even out his platoon splits as lefties tend to hit Henderson a bit better at this point. Connor points out that cutters, along with changeups and curveballs, can carry a "zero or backwards platoon split", but ultimately the cutter is Henderson's most likely addition because of his arm slot and the difficult learning curve of each of the other two pitches.
While Henderson has everyone's attention off the field, Elian Herrera was turning some heads on the field with some slick fielding at shortstop on Saturday. Todd Rosiak writes that the switch-hitting Herrera may have a chance to make the Brewers opening-day roster if he can prove to be a competent shortstop. Herrera, claimed off waivers from the Dodgers, can play second and third base along with multiple outfield positions.
Another player showing off great versatility in the spring has been newly acquired Will Smith. Lou Olsen at Reviewing the Brew thinks so much of his versatility that he tabbed Smith as the pitching staff's missing link over the weekend. Olsen writes that Smith's ability to give the Brewers a solid spot start as a lefty and productive innings from the bullpen gives the pitching staff a depth that they haven't had in the past few seasons.
Other notes from Milwaukee:
The Brewers revealed the identity of the first bobblehead this season: Carlos Gomez. The bobblehead features Gomez robbing a home run ball at the wall and will be given away on Sunday, April 27th as the Brewers take on the Chicago Cubs.
The Arctic Tailgate was a success this weekend as the Brewers sold 91,000 tickets on Saturday, which was 4,000 more tickets than last year and one of the highest total number of tickets sold in a single day in Brewers history.
With most of the staff in Arizona for Spring Training, the Brewers turned to new employee Evan Entler to write about his first Arctic Tailgate experience. Entler, previously from Florida, raved about the tailgating abilities and passion of Brewers fans.
Back in Arizona, Adam McCalvy writes that Francisco Rodriguez was eager to join the rest of the squad as he was finally able to escape the political unrest in his home country of Venezuela. Apparently, Rodriguez was trapped at his home for all of last week as he was in the heart of opposition-controlled territory and roads were closed around him. Rodriguez's security team, composed of former policemen, devised a strategy to get him out of trouble and Rodriguez found himself lucky to apply for and receive a visa on the same day to get his family out of the country.
With Rodriguez in Arizona now, the Brewers will have to see what he can do, but Nick Michalski of the Brewers Bar believes his performance might not matter. Not because of anything in particular about Rodriguez, but rather his belief that it is necessary to disregard most of what happens in spring training. So, before spring training took hold and attempted to convince us of some new answers, Michalski decided to give his take on a few of the offseason's most important topics including what to do at second base, the young members of the Brewers pitching staff and the situation at first base.
Speaking of first base, apparently the Brewers are unhappy with their options there as Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe revealed over the weekend that the Brewers are already watching the Red Sox to get a closer look at Mike Carp. The Brewers are not the only NL Central team already watching him as Pirates scouts have also been seen keeping a watchful eye on Carp. As Kyle noted on Saturday, the left-handed Carp has been used almost exclusively against right handers and also played left field, which means he could also been seen as a possible pairing with Khris Davis if Davis needs a day off.
Rattler Radio wanted to show some of the progress at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium, but the weather didn't allow for much progress to be made. So, instead, they shared some pictures of a snow covered baseball stadium.
Over the weekend, the Baltimore Orioles public relations director Monica Barlow passed away. Barlow, 36, was beloved by the team and battled cancer before passing away.
The eighth annual Sloan Sports Analytics Conference took place in Boston over the weekend and Bob Bowman, CEO of MLB Advanced Media, made a pretty significant announcement as he unveiled an entirely new model to capture data at the major league level. The new model will allow teams to track a player's quickness, acceleration, first step, positioning, and route efficiency as a fielder and base runner. This next level information should be invaluable to front offices as they evaluate their teams. Miller Park will be one of three stadiums to have the technology in place this season.
Scott Lindholm at Beyond the Box Score takes a look at what the true cost of a Mike Trout extension might be by looking at FanGraphs Dollar Values and discounted future cash flows. Eventually coming to the conclusion that even the Angels probably can't screw up a Mike Trout extension.
With the help of Brewerfan.net, we'd like to wish a happy birthday to minor leaguer Jose Pena celebrating his 21st birthday today.
In part five of the six-part series, we explore which sensical and nonsensical things come up in Google's autocomplete for every starter in the NL Central.
Here are the projected rotations and starting nine for every NL Central team, as described by Google's autocomplete. If you missed the first four entries in the series, you can find them all in this handy StoryStream™.
These are from the drop-down menu in Firefox's browser search. I entered a player's name, followed by one letter from A to Z, and the result included here appeared on the drop-down menu.
These are not the first results. Otherwise they would all be "stats", "girlfriend", or "shirtless." Or "steroids." Grow up, people. These are the most interesting or amusing results. In some cases, interesting or amusing could not be found.
Google has all of our brains mapped and on file somewhere, so these are probably tailored specifically to me. I cleared my cookies first, but you never know.
A lot of these results have nothing to do with the actual baseball players, but the string of words together is amusing. Sometimes, though a string of nonsense words like "Nate Schierholtz dad skateboarding" turns out to be magic.
I hope you never have to make a choice as tough as "Matt Holliday moth in ear" and "Matt Holliday hit in balls." It almost tore my family apart.
Worth googling: Aramis Ramirez gets goosed, Jay Bruce appears to levitate, and Mat Latos Karate Kid. The exclamation point after the Latos result is to note my pleasant surprise, because that result is based off an image I made. Proud.
Not worth googling: Joey Votto never hit foul ball. I have some bad news for you. According to my research ...
Who is the #14 prospect in the Brewers organization?
Four candidates were within five votes of victory, but outfielder Michael Reed edged out the field for the #13 spot in our community's ranking of the top prospects in the Brewers organization. Here's where we stand today:
The Brewers and Cubs make a bit of baseball history on Monday afternoon in their Cactus League game. According to Brewers manager Ron Roenicke, the contest will be one of several featuring the first use of Major League Baseball's expanded instant replay review system, which allows managers the right to challenge at least one call. The 2:05 p.m. CT game can be seen on MLB.TV and listened to via Gameday Audio.
In the recap to yesterday's game, I noted that there were a couple of apparent bad calls. Those would almost certainly have been challenged and asked for review. We'll see how that works during today's game. Remember that this is the first time it's been used; no doubt, it's a learning process for everyone involved.
Cubs lineup:
Coghlan LF, Roberts 2B, Valbuena 3B, Lake CF, Baez SS, Cunningham DH, Baker C, Valaika 1B, McDonald RF
Brewers lineup:
Aoki CF, Valencia 2B, Hosmer 1B, Maxwell DH, Moustakas 3B, Peguero LF, Cain RF, Hayes C, Ciriaco SS
Eric Jokisch gets the start today for the Cubs. Marco Estrada will start for the Brewers.
Today's game is on WGN radio with Pat Hughes and Ron Coomer. As noted above, if you have MLB.TV, you can watch the game live via FSN Wisconsin and the Brewers announcers. It will also air on MLB Network on a delayed basis starting at 3 p.m. CT.
For spring-training games, we'll have a first-pitch thread at game time and one overflow thread, 90 minutes after game time (because I know how you all like overflow threads!). For today's game, that will be 2 p.m. CT and 3:30 p.m. CT. These threads will not post individually onto the front page; instead, you can find links to them in the box marked "Chicago Cubs Game Threads" at the bottom of the front page. They will also appear in this StoryStream™. The pitcher box and regular-season stats will return on Opening Day.
The Brewers and Cubs make a bit of baseball history on Monday afternoon in their Cactus League game. According to Brewers manager Ron Roenicke, the contest will be one of several featuring the first use of Major League Baseball's expanded instant replay review system, which allows managers the right to challenge at least one call. The 2:05 p.m. CT game can be seen on MLB.TV and listened to via Gameday Audio.
In the recap to yesterday's game, I noted that there were a couple of apparent bad calls. Those would almost certainly have been challenged and asked for review. We'll see how that works during today's game. Remember that this is the first time it's been used; no doubt, it's a learning process for everyone involved.
Cubs lineup:
Coghlan LF, Roberts 2B, Valbuena 3B, Lake CF, Baez SS, Cunningham DH, Baker C, Valaika 1B, McDonald RF
At the time I left for the morning game, there was no Brewers lineup available. Will try to tweet it when available.
Eric Jokisch gets the start today for the Cubs. Marco Estrada will start for the Brewers.
Today's game is on WGN radio with Pat Hughes and Ron Coomer. As noted above, if you have MLB.TV, you can watch the game live via FSN Wisconsin and the Brewers announcers. It will also air on MLB Network on a delayed basis starting at 3 p.m. CT.
For spring-training games, we'll have a first-pitch thread at game time and one overflow thread, 90 minutes after game time (because I know how you all like overflow threads!). For today's game, that will be 2 p.m. CT and 3:30 p.m. CT. These threads will not post individually onto the front page; instead, you can find links to them in the box marked "Chicago Cubs Game Threads" at the bottom of the front page. They will also appear in this StoryStream™. The pitcher box and regular-season stats will return on Opening Day.
Join us to discuss the Brewers' second home game of the spring.
Here's a strange schedule quirk: Five games into Cactus League play, the Brewers have played more games at Salt River Fields (two, a loss against the Diamondbacks on Saturday and a win against the Rockies on Sunday) than Maryvale Baseball Park, their home facility.
They'll play their second home contest of the spring at 2:05 today when they send Marco Estrada (9.00 ERA this spring, 3.87/3.86 ERA/FIP in 2013) to the mound to face the Cubs in his second exhibition outing. Estrada pitched two innings against the A's on Thursday and allowed two runs on two hits and two walks, recording one strikeout.
Estrada kept the ball in the ballpark against the A's, a small victory for a pitcher who has allowed more than one home run per nine innings in each of his six MLB seasons. If Estrada pitches 30 innings in the majors this season, he'll likely become one of just seven pitchers in franchise history to throw over 400 innings while allowing more than 1.2 homers per nine innings. Here are the others:
Estrada faced the Cubs three times in 2013 and was very good against them, posting a 3.60 ERA over 20 innings with just four walks and 17 strikeouts. Four current Cubs have faced him ten times or more:
He'll face 24-year-old lefty Eric Jokisch (spring debut, did not pitch in majors in 2013) in his Cactus League debut. Jokisch was the Cubs' eleventh round pick in the 2010 draft and spent last season with AA Tennessee, where he made 27 appearances (26 starts) and posted a 3.42 ERA over 160.2 innings.
I'm still away from home, so I don't have access to the prospect books I'd usually use to offer a scouting report on a minor league pitcher. All I know about Jokisch at this point is that John Sickels of Minor League Ball listed him as an Honorable Mention on his list of the top 20 prospects in the Cubs organization.
Jokisch has, of course, never faced the Brewers in the majors. He did, however, face the Brewers' AA affiliate in Huntsville three times last season and posted a 4.71 ERA over 17.2 innings of work.
As of this writing I haven't seen the Brewers' Monday lineup. If you have, please drop it in the comments.
Expect another beautiful day for baseball in the desert on Monday. It looks like the game time temperature will be in the low 70's with light winds out of the north.
SCOTTSDALE, Arizona -- I still haven't seen the Cubs win this spring, since I was at the morning "B" game and didn't go to Maryvale to see the Cubs' 4-2 win over the Brewers Monday afternoon, their first victory of 2014.
I mean, the guy is impressing Cubs' opponents' beat writers. (McCalvy works for brewers.com, their equivalent of Carrie Muskat.)
So, I ask you the question: Should the Cubs push Javier Baez to learn third base this spring, and if he hits well enough, give him the third-base job on Opening Day? Yes, I realize this would accelerate him past what Theo & Co. usually want -- 500 or so at-bats at Triple-A. You'd probably also suffer defensively, as Baez likely needs work on that at Triple-A, and putting him in the major leagues at an unfamiliar position isn't really fair to him or the team.
But that bat. Oh, man, that bat. Baez also singled, and as McCalvy tweeted, hit a rocket of a groundout to second base.
There's another thing that putting Baez in the major leagues this year would accomplish. That would be to give a bit of buzz to the fanbase, to put perhaps the system's most exciting player on display at Wrigley Field. Yes, he'd strike out a lot. Yes, he might make an inordinate number of errors. But... oh, man, that bat. I'm not even concerned about the "service time" issue that you will undoubtedly bring up. Baez, I believe, is good enough that no matter when he gets to the big leagues, he will be signed to a long-term extension before he even hits arbitration.
There's going to be additional playing time for Baez over the next week to 10 days, as that's how long Starlin Castro is going to be out with the supposed "minor" hamstring issue he suffered during Sunday's game. Didn't we see this last year?
Anyway, I'm not necessarily saying yes... but then again, I think the question deserves to be asked. I feel compelled to point out that Ryne Sandberg, when he first came to the big leagues with the Cubs, was put at third base for a year, despite having played just four games there in the minor leagues, because the Cubs had Larry Bowa, who came over with Sandberg from the Phillies, at shortstop (Ryno's natural position) and... Bump Wills at second base. Sounds funny now, right? Sandberg bumped from second base for... Bump Wills?
Yes, yes, I know. Sandberg was, even then, considered to be a fine defensive player and Baez's defensive game needs work. Lots of work.
But oh, man. That bat.
As far as the rest of this game: Eric Jokisch (whose name, we learned today, is pronounced "yo-kisch") threw three hitless innings, and he helped his case for being oee of the first injury replacements. He'll be in the rotation at Iowa. The rest of the staff gave up just five hits and two runs over six innings, a nice enough performance, and the winning runs were driven in by Walter Ibarra. Ibarra has spent seven years in the Yankees organization and seems like a good organizational guy, since he has split time at multiple levels in five of his eight pro seasons. So, while he might be playing at Iowa this year, this kind of performance is likely going to be a highlight for him.
Finally, this game was one of the first scheduled for a test of the new replay-review system. Naturally, no plays required challenges or other reviews, so we'll have to wait for the next test day to find out.
Tuesday, the Cubs return to Cubs Park to face the Athletics. Kyle Hendricks gets the start against Oakland's Tommy Milone.
The first inning was rather uneventful. Marco Estrada opened the game for the Brewers. He went three up, three down first inning where he got batters to ground out, fly out, and pop up. The ground out was fielded nicely by Mark Reynolds at first base. Third baseman Juan Francisco also made a nice play catching a pop-up in front of the tarp. Eric Jokisch started the game for the Cubs. In their half of the inning Ryan Braun drew a walk, but that would be it for the Brewers.
In the second inning Marco Estrada met one of the Cubs top prospects. Javier Baez was more than happy to introduce him to his monster power by launching a home run into right center. Aaron Cunnigham would follow that up with a single. He would then be caught stealing. Credit Jean Segura with a nice pick of a bounced throw from Martin Maldonado. Estrada would give up one more single before ending the inning with a fly out. In their half of the inning Sean Halton drew a walk, but that would be it for the Brewers.
In this his second start, Marco Estrada would stretch out for a third inning. He sandwiched a base hit between a ground out, and two pop-ups. That would end his day after 47 pitches. The Brewers would go three up, three down.
Estrada would be replaced by Will Smith in the fourth inning. He struck out the first batter before giving up a bloop single to Javier Baez. The Brewers had a chance at a double play but were only able to get the lead runner as the throw from Jean Segura to first was a little off the mark. Smith then allowed a double but got out of the inning without giving up a run. In his second plate appearance Ryan Braun would lead-off with a scorching double to center field. Luis Valbuena would rob Carlos Gomez of extra bases by making a nice stab at a line drive. Mark Reynolds was unable to advance Braun with a lazy fly to right field. Juan Francisco would get the job done with a jam shot to shallow center. Braun scored and Francisco would take second on an ill advised throw to home plate. Noticably absent in his at-bat was the big leg kick from Francisco. Instead he used a quick toe-tap. Perhaps this is a sign of improvement from him. Sean Halton and Martin Maldonado would follow that up with back-to-back walks to load the bases. Elian Herrera would end the threat with a strike out.
Brandon Kintzler struggled a bit in the fifth inning. Ryan Roberts hit a two out single. The Cubs would then retake the lead on an RBI double from Valbuena. Junior Lake was able to draw a walk. The damage would end there though with a ground out from Baez. The Cubs sent out pitcher Wesley Wright who mowed down Jean Segura and Scooter Gennett before giving up a single to Braun. Braun would be pinch run for by Kentrail Davis. He scored from first on a double from Carlos Gomez. The inning would end on a ground out by Mark Reynolds.
Rule 5 pick Wei-Chung Wang (pronounced Wong) debuted in the sixth. He struck out the first two batters and got the third to weakly fly out. Wang has four more weeks to convince Ron Roenicke he deserves a spot on the major league roster. If he continues to have these sorts of outings he just might do it. Juan Francisco lead off with a double that just missed being a home run. With two outs, Herrera was able to come back from two strikes to draw a walk. The inning would end on a flyout from Hector Gomez.
Mike Fiers entered the game in the seventh inning. It was a mixed bag. The first two batters reached with singles. The next two batters struck out. The next batter drew a walk to load the bases. Two runs would score on a double from Walter Ibarra. That would be it though as the final batter popped out. Mitch Haniger drew a two out walk but that was it for the Brewers.
Jose De La Torre pitched a clean eighth inning. He got a strike out, fly out, and a strike out in that order. Taylor Green made his debut at the plate and got hit on his left elbow by the first pitch. He advanced on a grounder off the bat of Jason Rogers. He would go no further though.
Michael Blazek would finish out the game for the Brewers. Blazek issued a walk to the first batter but Cameron Garfield would throw him out attempting to steal second base. The next batter struck out. The inning ended on a nice play by Green who was able to charge in on a weak grounder at third and fire a throw to beat the runner at first. For the Brewers, Hector Gomez was able to draw a walk and later took second on fielder's indifference. The Brewers were unable to drive him in though and the Cubs would win 4 to 2.
Spring training rolled on yesterday as the Brewers fell 4-2 to the Cubs. The game was even in the seventh inning when Mike Fiers entered the game. Fiers struck out two, but also gave up two singles before a two-out double from Walter Ibarra that scored two runs and eventually won the game for the Cubs. For more details, check out Derek's recap.
Before Fiers entered the game, Wei-Chung Wang made his Cactus League debut for the Brewers yesterday and took only 11 pitches to take care of his inning in order. Todd Rosiak of the Journal Sentinel writes that Wang, a Rule 5 selection from the Pirates in December, will need some more outings like yesterday to secure his spot on the 25 man roster. In his single inning though, the 21-year old Wang threw eight of his 11 pitches for strikes and struck out two batters while hitting 94 on the radar gun.
Major League Baseball's expanded video replay system also made its debut in the Cactus League yesterday as the Brewers were given their first of three looks at the system this spring. Adam McCalvy writes that the Brewers will have to do some tinkering, but as of now they plan on using John Shelby as their employee allowed to look at the video and communicate with the manager. While the Brewers figure out how to use the system, Lyle Overbay mentioned his fear that some teams may use the video replay system as a strategic advantage by challenging a call just to give a reliever extra time to warm up in a tough spot.
Overbay, 37, will be looking to make the roster as the oldest player currently in camp and a non-roster invitee. Overbay explained to Rosiak that he understands the situation, but hopes to make the best of it while making the squad and passing on some of his knowledge to the young guys at first base. Roenicke mentioned that it would make a big difference if Overbay is able to play some high quality defense at first, which is something he has done in the past. For the first time in years, Overbay says that he has been able to avoid the spring training soreness that typically plagues him and credits some changes in his offseason diet and training regimen for his physical improvements.
ESPN's Jerry Crasnick stopped by Phoenix to check on Ryan Braun's transition to a new position in right field. Crasnick writes that Braun has a lot to learn and Braun admitted to "trying to squeeze a semester's worth of work into one month". Braun will need to adjust to the ball coming off the bat differently, backing up bunts and pick off throws and learning when to eat the ball in right field. Crasnick believes that Braun will not struggle as Braun has supreme confidence, so much so that he occasionally lobbies Roenicke to let him play shortstop fully believing he could do a serviceable job.
Tyler Dunne spent some time with Scooter Gennett to ask him about some of the interesting parts of his rumored genealogy, especially the rumors of his great grandfather being a champion professional boxer. (The rumors are true. Sounded like a gritty fighter.)
Hank found himself a new chew toy. No surprise here. It's adorable.
Over the weekend, reports surfaced that the Brewers were scouting Red Sox first baseman Mike Carp and inevitably the Brewers blogosphere was full of breakdowns and fish puns on Monday. Ben Tannenbaum at The Brewers Bar sees Carp as a fish out of water for the Brewers because of the presence of multiple first basemen. Also, with Carp's injury history, Tannenbaum doesn't view Carp as any sort of significant upgrade over any of the other first basemen already on the roster.
At Disciples of Uecker, Curt Hogg decided to fish through the Mike Carp talk and came to a different conclusion. Hogg views Carp as a definite upgrade over the Brewers current left-handed options at first base (Francisco and Overbay), but just doesn't see the Brewers trading for Carp. If the Brewers were unwilling to pony up the talent necessary to bring Ike Davis to Milwaukee, Hogg sees no reason why they'd be willing to trade for Carp, who may have a greater price tag.
Benjamin Orr at Reviewing the Brew is getting frustrated by the growing sentiment that the Brewers success this season hinges entirely on Ryan Braun. He writes that though the offense did struggle at times last season, the pitching staff was the real reason for any of their serious problems. So, he believes anyone putting the following season on Ryan Braun's shoulders is seriously misguided and just not paying attention.
Earlier in the winter, the Brewers announced that Bob Uecker would not be broadcasting all of the Brewers games this season as he will stay in Milwaukee for select Brewers road trips. In some of the day's biggest news, WTMJ announced that Craig Counsell, Daryl Hamilton and Jerry Augustine will fill in for Uecker alongside Joe Block for those select road games. Augustine and Counsell are no strangers to the organization, but Hamilton is a bit of a surprise addition as he does some color commentary work for MLB Network broadcasts.
Russell Wilson made his first appearance with the Rangers at spring training on Monday. He did some drills and took some ground balls, but that isn't what was interesting about his experience. The Rangers souvenir store sold out of $30 Wilson t-shirts in 10 minutes and only had a few $125 Wilson jerseys left by the end of the day. There isn't much money in merchandise sales, but if your team is looking for a boost, get a Super Bowl winning quarterback to come to spring training.
With the help of Brewerfan.net, we'd like to wish happy 25th birthday to right hander Taylor Mangum, who spent some time with the Timber Rattlers and Manatees last season.
Join the BCB community and discuss meaningless spring game number 7.
Well - it's only meaningless if no one gets hurt. But meaningless does not equate to uninteresting. That is, if you enjoy watching baseball players get showered in sunflower seeds while answering fluff interview questions that inevitably uncover nothing revelatory.
Anyway! The Brewers go back to Phoenix Municipal Stadium - where they opened Cactus League play - to face the white-hot Oakland Athletics this afternoon, who have lost only once this spring - to the Brewers, an 11-3 whooping. Wily Peralta will get the ball for the Brewers, with Dan Straily toeing the rubber for the A's for the first time this spring. He has never faced the Brewers in regular season play.
Peralta is no slouch, but it's hard to imagine the Athletics feeling much anxiety a day after shelling Clayton Kershaw for 5 earned runs on 2 hits and 3 walks.
While the A's appear to be a formidable opponent given their sterling 4-1-1 record, today they split up for two, so there will be several familiar names you might never hear on the broadcast (I guess that isn't all that unusual given that it's Spring Training). John Jaso isn't one of them - he'll catch Straily, appearing for the first time on the field since being plunked just above his throwing elbow last Wednesday.
As I was half-jogging coming off my second 4-minute walking break 13 minutes into my treadmill workout while watching the Brewers replay vs. the Cubs on FSNWI last night on a 15 inch tube television well out of adequate eyesight, I saw a short batter with a dark complexion approach the plate with a name threatening to curve around the number 3 approach the batter's box with the bases loaded and experienced a rush of panic that accelerated my heart rate to where it should have been in the first place given the fact that I was supposed to be purposefully stressing my cardiovascular system.
But the tension diffused quickly as I realized it was just Elian Herrera. He'll start the day on the bench. Here's the lineup, once again courtesy of Mike Vassallo:
It's stupid gorgeous once again in Phoenix: high-70s and partly sunny. But don't fret, folks. It will be summer in Milwaukee before you know it. Just another three months. Hopefully.
The offense was quiet in the first inning with both sides going three up and three down. Wily Peralta opened on the mound for the Brewers. In the past Martin Maldonado acted as Peralta's personal catcher but Ron Roenicke has stated his intent to change that dynamic this year. And so today Jonathan Lucroy was catching. It went well in the first inning. Peralta got a line out, strike out, and a ground out.
The Brewers made some noise in the second inning. Lyle Overbay drew a walk and was able to reach third base on a single from Logan Schafer. Overbay would then score on a sacrifice fly from Martin Maldonado. Schafer stole an important base as it would allow him to score on a single from Caleb Gindl to give the Brewers and early 2-0 lead. Peralta would again retire the Athletics in order.
The Brewers offense continued to chug along in the third inning. Rickie Weeks drew a walk and Jean Segura advanced him to second with a base hit. Lucroy would then load the bases with a line drive. Weeks would score and Segura would advance to third on the sac fly by Khris Davis. Wily Peralta wasn't quite as crisp this inning. He gave up a double, but the runner was erased on a fielder's choice. With two outs, Peralta issued a walk to Coco Crisp. After a trip to the mound from Lucroy, Peralta ended the inning with his third strikeout of the day. On the broadcast Joe Block noted the third strike came off a change-up, which is a pitch that Peralta has been working on improving.
Irving Falu hit a two out double followed by another walk from Weeks, but that was all for the Brewers in the fourth inning. Tyler Thornburg replaced Peralta. He retired the A's in order with a fly out, strike out, and another fly out.
Lucroy lead off the fifth inning with his second single of the day. Khris Davis then hit into a fielder's choice. Lyle Overbay moved him to second with a line drive base hit. Logan Schafer and Martin Maldonado were unable to drive them in. Thornburg allowed a base hit and nothing else in another solid inning of work. He struck out one batter.
Gindl bagged his second base hit of the day to open the sixth inning. Irving Falu gifted an out to the A's in order to advance Gindl to second with a sac bunt. Fortunately for the Brewers, the A's would return the favor and allow Gindl to score on an error which also allowed Bianchi to reach base and then take second. He would then steal third base, but with two outs Lucroy was unable to drive him in. Thornburg returned for a third inning of work. He struck out the first batter but then gave up a home run to catcher John Jaso. Thornburg the retired the next two batters with fly outs to end the inning.
Except for a single and a stolen base by Logan Schafer, the Brewers weren't able to muster much offense in the 7th. Jimmy Nelson took the mound for the Brewers. He made quick work of the A's getting a strike out and inducing two ground outs.
In the eighth inning, Eugenio Velez reached on a throwing error by Jake Elmore, but then got caught stealing. Jason Rogers drew a two out walk but it wouldn't matter as the next batter, Jeff Bianchi, popped up for the third out. Jimmy Nelson returned for a second inning of work. He allowed a base hit to the first batter, struck out the second batter, and gave up a line drive to put runners at second and third. The next batter struck out. The runners would advance on a wild pitch from Nelson and the A's would draw within two runs. Another base hit could cut the lead down to one. A fly out to center would end the inning.
Jeff Urlaub induced three straight ground outs by Brewers batters in the 9th. Johnny Hellweg made his spring training debut to close out the game for the Brewers. It did not go well. The first batter reached with a double. The next batter would tie the game with a bloop single. The game would end in the next at-bat with walk off home run by Luke Montz. The Athletics won 6 to 4.
Yesterday the Brewers announced their full television schedule for the 2014 season, with 150 games* scheduled to be televised on either FS Wisconsin, Fox Sports 1 or as part of national broadcasts on FOX.
You can see the full list of televised games in the link above but I suspect you might be more interested in this group: 2014's untelevised games. FS Wisconsin opted not to cover ten weekday day games this season, including eight home games at Miller Park and one interleague game. The dark days are as follows:
* - The math isn't quite perfect here. The release says 150 games, but I was only able to find ten uncovered games. Am I missing two? Let me know.
FS Wisconsin sometimes picks up extra games during the season, so it's possible some of these games will be televised after all. If they're not, however, Brewer fans will miss four games against 2013 playoff teams (including one against the NL Champion Cardinals), another against the rival Cubs, a potential Stephen Strasburg or (Wisconsin native) Jordan Zimmermann start for the Nationals and more.
The 19th day of spring training 2014 opens with the Brewers below .500 for the first time in Cactus League play following a 6-4, walkoff loss to the A's. Derek has the recap, if you missed it.
Yesterday's game turned south in the late innings as Jimmy Nelson allowed two runs in the eighth and Johnny Hellweg gave up three runs (including a walkoff homer) without recording an out in the ninth. Hellweg now has an infinite ERA for the spring.
Yesterday's late struggles cost Wily Peralta a shot at a win after he pitched three scoreless innings and allowed just one hit. He has yet to allow a run this spring, and has given up just two hits over five innings.
The Brewers lost again yesterday without Aramis Ramirez, who has yet to appear in a game this spring. He remains a few days behind the rest of the team following postseason colon surgery, but yesterday Ron Roenicke told reporters he could appear in a game by the weekend. (h/t @AdamMcCalvy)
Other notes from camp:
Adam McCalvy has a story on a small mechanical adjustment that may have had a positive impact on Rickie Weeks' play this spring.
Hank the dog made an appearance at Monday's home game (and was mobbed), but he might be sitting out for a couple of days now as he deals with an eye ailment.
One of the most interesting stories of spring to this point may be Rule 5 pick Wei-Chung Wang, who pitched a perfect inning on Monday in his Cactus League debut and drew rave reviews from scouts. On instagram, the Brewers have a video on Wang's offseason. The Asian Athletes Blog also has a story on his performance.
Wang turns 22 in April, so if he makes the roster he could be tacked onto this list: Baseball Prospectus has a list of the Brewers' top ten players under age 25, and Chris Mellen says "Milwaukee's U25 list features 23-year-old shortstop Jean Segura and rapidly drops falls off after." BP ranks the group dead last in baseball.
Mark Reynolds probably has a better chance to make the Opening Day roster, but he's hitting just .125/.364/.125 after his first ten spring plate appearances. Alex Skillin of SBNation.com listed Reynolds as one of five non-roster invitees who could win jobs this spring.
Speaking of Reynolds, Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors has a recap of the Brewers offseason and listed him as one of six notable minor league free agent additions.
With eight non-televised home games, we should get 73 opportunities to view some or all of the Sausage Race on TV this season. David S. Grant of Reviewing the Brew attempted to predict the season standings.
Orioles: Reliever Edgmer Escalona may open the season on the DL with shoulder inflammation. Also, the team signed pitcher Johan Santana to a minor league deal. Rangers: Are expected to sign pitcher Joe Saunders. Red Sox: Pitcher Jake Peavy may open the season on the DL with a torn tendon in his non-throwing hand. Tigers: Outfielder Andy Dirks will open the season on the DL following back surgery.
Today in former Brewers:
Kevin Ruprecht of Beyond the Box Score has a look at how Alcides Escobar can improve at the plate after being one of baseball's worst offensive players in 2013.
