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KTE -- The Brew Crew

smg58 Jul 31 2005 10:52 PM

the regulars: Lyle Overbay (16 HR, 52 RBI, .284/.380/.493), 1B: Certainly has the potential to be an Olerud-type first baseman, and might blossom in his fourth season (next year) the way Nick Johnson has this year. This, coupled with Prince Fielder tearing up AAA, makes him desirable to a lot of teams, including and especially the Mets. The catch is that Brewers GM Doug Melvin is a shrewd dealer, and he'll get somebody to give till it hurts in the offseason. Keep both eyes on him, as the Mets might be faced with a very hard decision concerning him in the fall. Rickie Weeks (7 HR, 20 RBI, .247/.347/.429), 2B: Rookie with upside has been slumping lately, plus somebody reported complaints on his defense. JJ Hardy (.211/.317/.315) and Bill Hall (13 HR, .272/.321/.485, plus 12/13 in SB), SS: the rookie Hardy has the glove, but has yet to show much at the plate. Hall has the bat, but questions about his defense have kept him in a utility role. Keep an eye on Hall, as he could potentially blossom and pay huge dividends for somebody looking for a cheap gamble at second, short, or third. Russ Branyan (9 HR in 145 AB, .269/.376/.510) and Jeff Cirillo (.280/.376/.433), 3B: Branyan is the classic platoon lefty, who murders righthanded pitching but any of us could hit lefties better. Carlos Lee (25 HR, 85 RBI, .266/.333/.520), LF: A great producer who still leads the NL in RBI, yet the White Sox seemed to have managed without him. Brady Clark (71 R, .317/.378/.434), CF: He's come a very long way since his 10 games with the Mets in 2002. A solid leadoff hitter, but his 8/18 in steals is rather alarming. Geoff Jenkins (13 HR, 50 RBI, .281/.373/.469), RF: Got off to a tepid start, but tore through July with a 1.105 OPS for the month. One of the hottest guys in the league right now. Damian Miller (.268/.333/.400), C: Steady, if unspectacular. Chad Moeller (.216/.267/.345) might play one as well. pitching match-ups: Tue Zambrano vs. Tomo Ohka (2-3, 4.42 for the Brewers, 6-6, 3.87 overall) Wed Pedro vs. Victor Santos (3-11, 4.08) Thu Benson vs. Doug Davis (9-7, 4.01) The good news is that the Mets miss Chris Capuano (12-6, 3.58) and ace Ben Sheets (7-7, 3.26 but finally back in last year's form after some ailments early in the season). Santos looks like he's been a victim of horrible run support, but he can't expect that to change here. The match-ups favor the Mets, but SOME offense will be required. Out of the pen, Derrick Turnbow (4-1, 2.03, 21 SV, 1.02 WHIP) has emerged as a quality closer, and Matt Wise (54 IP, 4-3, 3.33, an excellent 0.98 WHIP) is the work horse. Otherwise, not much. Julio Santana has a 1.18 WHIP but has given up 6 HR in 35 IP, Jorge de la Rosa has a 1.91 WHIP and a 4.60 ERA, and Justin Lehr, Dana Eveland, and Rick Helling have 14 IP between them.

DocTee Jul 31 2005 11:03 PM

and, of course, there's a campaign to replace the Miller-inspired hat logo with the "classic '80s ball-and-glove"

SwitchHitter Jul 31 2005 11:10 PM

I happen to like that ball-and-glove logo.

metirish Jul 31 2005 11:30 PM

Good job smg58, Carlos Lee for Scott Podsednik has to be one of the great trades ever that worked out for both teams, the Brewers are finally building a good team and the Brewers fans have to be thrilled to have a decent team to root for.

Beenso Aug 01 2005 09:09 PM

that logo, in my opinion, is one of the most clever.....and coolest, dude.

Rockin' Doc Aug 01 2005 09:28 PM

Thanks for the lowdown on the Brew Crew. The Mets really need win this series. This team has to learn to win on the road.

Rotblatt Aug 02 2005 04:47 PM

Huh. Ohka's got some really interesting splits. Career 772.2 IP, 2.41 BB/9, 5.11 K/9, 1.08 HR/9, 3.91 ERA, 1.37 WHIP Washington 54 IP, 4.5 BB/9, 2.83 K/9, 1 HR/9, 3.33 ERA, 1.31 WHIP So clearly, Ohka was living on borrowed time in Washington. No one can keep a 3.33 ERA up while walking almost twice as many batters as he strikes out. On the other hand, throughout his career, he's had pretty decent control and his K numbers, while low, have never been THAT low. So it would seem to me that he's either injured or has some sort of mechanical problems. Except than you look at his starts with Milwaukee, and low & behold, his control & strikeouts come zooming back overnight: Milwaukee 53 IP, 1.53 BB/9, 5.26 K/9, 1.53 HR/9, 4.42 ERA, 1.28 WHIP. Unfortunately for him, he has some problems with his new home park--7 of the 9 runs he's given up since joining Milwaukee went out in Miller Park. The other two came in Cincinnati. That won't really help us much, of course, since we're in Shea tonight, although Ohka hasn't had much success there. His career line is 0-5 in 6 starts with a 4.31 ERA and a 1.56 WHIP in 31.1 IP. Still, I don't think I've ever seen as strong a case for how sheer, unadulterated hatred for a manager can affect one's performance. It's like Ohka was walking people instead of striking them out just to piss off Robinson. On another note, I think Looper at $3.5M is making more than the entire bullpen of the Brewers combined. Which, by the way, is clearly one of the best in the National League. Their ERA is 3rd at 3.86, WHIP 5th at 1.37, OPSA is 4th at .713, BAA 1st at.237, K/9 5th at 7.72 & K/BB 8th at 1.82. Not bad for a bunch of fuckups and retreads who make like $3M total . . . I'd really, really like us to use that bullpen model going forward. No more of this "Let's sign big names!" shit . . . .