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April showers bring May flowers and men who make beer. A wet and sloppy weekend is projected for the Brewers’ only (and final ever) trip to Shea stadium this season. Over the past two years, the Mets have faced the Brewers over Mother’s Day weekend, but this year we’ll get an early look at the team hoping to win the NL Central.
While the Mets are no strangers to the word “collapse”, the Brewers had their own less dramatic spiral last year. They were 14 games over .500 by mid-May 2007 and had an 8.5 game lead by late June. But after going 47-33 over the first 3 months, they faded by going 36-46 over the last 3 months and the Cubs won the division by 2 games. This year, Milwaukee got off to a 6-1 start, but they have lost their last 2 games to Cincinnati, and currently stand at 6-3.
The Mets are coming off a series win over Philly and are hoping to extend their first winning streak of the season. They will get a fight from both the Brewers’ hitters and mother nature this weekend.
Brewers Lineup:
1. Rickie Weeks – 2B - .189/.286/.297, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 2 SB
Milwaukee is still waiting for Weeks to blossom into a decent leadoff hitter for them, yet he is off to a slow start again this season. Rickie has speed and a bit of pop, but has not been able to consistently hit for average and avoid striking out through his career. His fielding percentage was also the lowest for all NL second basemen last season.
2. Gabe Kapler – CF - .389/.400/.722, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 1 SB
Centerfield for Milwaukee is the only place they have been using multiple players early this season. Kapler shares time with Tony Gwynn, Jr. and Gabe Gross…but Mike Cameron will patrol CF in Milwaukee after his suspension is over. Kapler seems to have the hot bat early in the season and will play against most lefties. Kapler retired due to injury after the 2006 season and managed the Red Sox’ Class-A minor league team last year, but his defense and decent spring won him a spot on the Brewers roster in 2008.
3. Prince Fielder – 1B - .242/.333/.303, 0 HR, 5 RBI
Prince is still looking for his first HR this year after being the NL leader in long bombs in 2007. Since, we last saw him, Fielder has converted to vegetarianism and no longer eats meat or fish. However, he still weighs 260 pounds and led all major league firstbasemen in errors last season.
4. Ryan Braun – LF - .250/.250/.525, 3 HR, 7 RBI
The 2007 NL Rookie of the Year, Braun hit 34 home runs in just 113 games last year. Between Braun and Fielder, the 3 and 4 spots in Milwaukee’s lineup could hit 100 HRs between them. Braun has moved defensively from 3B to leftfield and has looked pretty decent for not having ever played the outfield. Braun led the league in batting average and OBP against lefties last year.
5. Bill Hall – 3B - .270/.289/.649, 4 HR, 9 RBI, 1 SB
After a down year in 2007, Bill Hall has moved back to the infield and has once again found his power early. Hall leads the Brewers in homeruns and RBI so far in 2008. If he remains consistent, he could make the middle of this order that much more lethal.
6. Corey Hart - .273/.333/.364, 0 HR, 4 RBI, 3 SB
Hart put together a very impressive 2007 campaign (.295 AVG, 24 HR, 81 RBI, 23 SB) and looks to continue producing those numbers in 2008. He is the biggest base-stealing threat after Weeks. He does not, however, wear sunglasses at night.
7. J. J. Hardy – SS – .200/.250/.233, 0 HR, 2 RBI
Hardy had his breakout year in 2007, hitting near the top of the order and earning an All-Star trip. He ran into a slump through the middle part of the year and finished with numbers lower than some fans were expecting, but the talent for power is there as he finished with 26 HR.
8. Pitcher
Ned Yost has employed the Tony LaRussa method of batting his pitchers eighth this year. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a statistical summary that proves whether this is a good or bad thing for a team.
9. Jason Kendall – C - .538/.567/.731, 0 HR, 5 RBI
Who’s that leading the NL in batting average? Oh, that’s just ninth place hitter Jason Kendall. Kendall came in to replace Johnny Estrada for 2008 and has had early success hitting in the 9 hole. Manager Ned Yost has commended Kendall for his ability to work with pitchers and call a game.
Brewer Bench
Tony Gwynn, Jr. – OF – 4 for 7, 1 RBI
Craig Counsell – IF – 2 for 8
Gabe Gross – OF – 2 for 14, 1 RBI
Joe Dillon – U – 1 for 4
Mike Rivera – C – 3 for 4, 2 RBI
Pitching Matchups
Friday – Manny Parra (1-0, 3.38 ERA) vs Nelson Figueroa (0-0, 9.00 ERA)
Manny Parra is one of the rising pitching stars in the Brewer organization and his talent is one of the reasons Claudio Vargas is pitching in New Orleans now. Parra picked up his first ML win last week and is the Brewers only starting lefty. Figeuroa gets his first start of the year for the Mets. His last ML win came against the Brewers in August of 2003.
Saturday – Ben Sheets (1-0, 0.00 ERA) vs Johan Santana (1-1, 1.93 ERA)
The marquee pitching matchup is scheduled for Saturday as ace faces ace. Ben Sheets has once again had a strong start to the season. In his last outing he threw a complete game shutout against the Giants allowing only 5 hits, no walks and 8 Ks. Santana has also looked strong opening the season and was saddled with the loss vs. Atlanta last week despite a good outing.
Sunday – Jeff Suppan (1-0, 2.03 ERA) vs Oliver Perez (1-0, 0.00 ERA)
Jeff Suppan is the veteran of the Milwaukee rotation. He does allow plenty of baserunners, so the Mets should have opportunities against him. Perez has yet to allow a run this season as he toes the rubber for his third start.
Brewer Bullpen
Milwaukee replaced closer Francisco Cordero with Eric Gagne this season. Gagne has already blown 2 save chances out of 3 and is off to rocky start with a 12.00 ERA. Guillermo Mota will be making his first trip back to Shea since leaving the Mets over the offseason. Additionally, the Brewers have David Riske and Salomon Torres who were imported for this season. Seth McClung and Derrick Turnbow return for another season with the Brew Crew. Turnbow has yet to return to his early 2006 All Star form and often struggles with control. Brian Shouse rounds out the bullpen as the club’s only lefty reliever.
Ex-Met Brewers
Guillermo Mota
Ex-Brewer Mets
Willie Randolph
Brady Clark
Nelson Figueroa
Matt Wise (DL)
Claudio Vargas (AAA)
Should be a fun matchup, weather permitting. I’m guessing that they will do whatever they can to play all 3 games this weekend due to this being the only trip for Milwaukee to New York. The Mets took 4 of 6 from the Brewers last year after splitting 6 in 2005 and 2006.
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