View From Bernie's Chalet

Parra Not Going To Nashville, Insanity

2009-06-03T18:42:00.004-05:00

Even though Manny Parra has pretty much sucked all of this 2009 season, and is making Jeff Suppan look like Cy Young, the Brewers have no plans to demote him to Nashville for even a little bit. I have to say I STRONGLY disagree with GM Doug Melvin on this. I don't disagree with Doug to often, I trust in him and feels he almost always does what is right for the club. But this has be scratching my head. Parra is now 3-7 on the season after last nights massacre in which Parra surrendered 11 hits and 10 earned runs in just 4 innings of work. His ERA is 6.75 and he has an astronomical WHIP of 1.83, that is just not acceptable for a starter on a team with a chance to win their division.

I'm not saying demote him for the season and I'm not even saying I have totally lost confidence in Parra someday being a good starting pitcher. (although, I could easily see him as the next Ben Hendrickson. A guy who is a stud in AAA and shows a ton of promise but can't get it done in the bigs) What I am saying is Parra should go down to AAA Nashville for at least a few starts, maybe even a month to work on whatever it is physically and mentally that is not allowing him to get it done, we all know he has the "stuff" but the results are just not there, at all. It worked for Dave Bush last season, he went down for just one start because of Gallardo's injury was right back up and was money the rest of the season and has been great so far this season. Besides Parra going down to work on his game, perhaps it would be a humbling experience for a young pitcher that nothing in this game is guaranteed and you have to produce.

Reader Poll Results

2009-05-28T19:56:00.002-05:00

"Should the Brewers offer Dave Bush a contract extension after this season?"

Yes, a 3 year deal: 69% (9 Votes)

Yes, a 4 year deal: 7% (1 Vote)

No: 7% (1 Vote)

Not till after his final arby year: 15% (2 Votes)

"Run Off" Win On Memorial Day

2009-05-25T20:21:00.003-05:00

I was in attendance today at Miller Park on Memorial Day to witness the "run off" win. All I can say is it was awesome. The Cardinals want to bitch and moan all the time about how the Brewers celebrate victories by untucking their shirts and how it is "classless" or "disrespecting the game", well today they said "screw you St. Louis, we will just celebrate out of your sight so you don't get all upset over it."Don't know who's idea it was on the team, but it was classic.

Other then that Yovani was just dealing today. After the way the pitching got beat up in Minnesota Yovani sure looked like an ace today, a true stopper. I know he didn't get the win but he was a HUGE reason we were in a position to win 1-0 today. And what can you say about Bill Hall, myself and numerous others have crucified him and how bad he has been against RHP. Well today, he replaced Gamel late in the game for defense and ended up winning the game with his offense. See what happens when Billy goes with the pitch to the opposite field? Good things, very good things.

Iv'e Done It, Joined The Revolution Of.....

2009-05-24T11:57:00.003-05:00

Twitter. Really didn't want to, but if you want to be able to view the "tweets" of Brewers Assistant GM Gord Ash you have to have an account. So there you have it, I actually think it's kind of cool though. Anyway, if you want, follow me: twitter.com/jdondlinger

Oh Rumors

2009-05-23T10:03:00.004-05:00

I just don't buy it, so I'm not going to get excited about it. According to SI.com's Jon Heyman, the Cubs and BREWERS are the front runners to get a deal done for Jake Peavy. The Cubs part is believable and is probably where Peavy will end up, which sucks for us since the Brewers face the Cubs a bunch more times. I don't get where Heyman is getting the Brewers in the mix though? The Brewers are not on the list of of teams Peavy would accept a trade to. Also the Padres want good young pitching in exchange for the 2007 Cy Young winner, the Brewers have ZERO of that. The only piece(s) I think the Brewers could offer San Diego is either Alcides Escobar or JJ Hardy, since the Pads are also looking for a SS in addition to starting pitching. And as much as I like Peavy and it would be nice to get him, he has a pretty hefty contract yet and does have some injury history. On the other hand, Peavy is a stud and if we got him perhaps the clueless face Manny Parra would be dumped out of the rotation. Stay tuned.....

Even Political Commentators Know How Awesome Mat Gamel Is

2009-05-22T19:09:00.002-05:00

Saw this over at MSNBC's "Countdown" host Keith Olbermann's MLBlog (Olbermann is a huge baseball fanatic and Yankees fan he started an mlb.com blog this season, it's pretty good and interesting), even he knows that Gamel is good and needs to play more if he is up in Milwaukee.

"HOW ABOUT USING GAMEL IN A GAME?

Did the Brewers really call up one of the game's top two or three power prospects so he could sit behind the bench for a week, get some DH work during inter-league, and then send him back down?

Apparently.

Third Baseman Mat Gamel was summoned Wednesday from Nashville and entering play today had gotten exactly one at bat. Even when Rickie Weeks took himself out of this afternoon's game with soreness in his wrist, the Brewers simply moved Craig Counsell from third to second, and inserted Bill Hall at third.

Milwaukee started the day with the second best record in the NL, Counsell has been hot lately, and Ken Macha and Doug Melvin have done a lot more managing and general managing than I have, but the week's inactivity makes no sense, not in a division as competitive and seemingly as balanced as the Central. The Brewers say they want to treat him more like Prince Fielder in 2005 than Ryan Braun in 2007 but that may not be a luxury they can afford. Gamel is either a vital component (if he can improve to bare-minimum status defensively at third), or a wonderful trading chip (if he can't, and he has to become a corner outfielder, first baseman, or DH, none of which Milwaukee needs).

Why just have him sit around?

In short, play him (at Milwaukee or Nashville), or trade him!"

It's Official (If It Wasn't Already)

2009-05-21T21:00:00.003-05:00

Bill Hall should never, ever play against RHP again. In what may have been his last chance at playing against RHP tonight he went 0-3 with 2 K's and a GIDP. Macha pulled him in a double switch in the bottom of the 6th. Like last night, Hall just looked awful not covering any part of the plate and swinging at bad pitches while letting good ones go. I have full faith in Ken Macha that he will do the right thing and now go to a straight left/right platoon with Hall and top prospect Mat "The Batt" Gamel. However, with the Brewers going to Minnesota this weekend for interleague play Gamel will most likely DH and Counsell will be at 2B so Hall may actually play against RHP. Unless Macha decides to give Casey McGehee a chance at 3B against RHP while Gamel DH's?

Emptying My Thoughts 5/21/09

2009-05-21T18:55:00.006-05:00

Time for me to empty these thoughts on current Brewers news out of my head.....

It totally sucks that Rickie Weeks is out for the year with another wrist injury, this time left hand. Of course all of us in Brewer Nation know and feel that way. Rickie was really putting his total game together and then it gets taken from him because of injury. I have total confidence though that Rickie will work hard to get back and be ready to pickup in spring 2010 where he left off in May 2009.

With Weeks now gone, I like the fact the Brewers are looking internally to fill the 2B void. No need to go making a trade, at least not yet. While no one can really replace the skill set Weeks brings to the park everyday, a Counsell/McGehee platoon should do just fine. If it does not I'm sure Doug Melvin can swing a trade for a veteran 2B, I know DeRosa's name has come up but the Brewers don't have the pitching Cleveland wants for him. Of course they could even sign an unemployed 2B like Durham or Grudzielanek. Hopefully it does not come to that and Counsell and McGehee can get the job done. If they don't, before a trade happens you might see Alcides Escobar get a chacne since he will now play 2 out of every 3 games at 2B for AAA Nashville. I'm not a big fan of that idea since Escobar is a SS and would somewhat be wasted at 2B.

With Counsell now set to platoon at 2B, that opens up a perfect opportunity for top prospect Mat Gamel to actually stay up with the Brewers even after the interleague series. With how bad Bill Hall has been against RHP, and he has been brutal (especially last night in the 9th, that was ugly), Gamel should now go into a strict platoon with Hall at 3B. It just makes to much sense, and if this were the case Gamel would get most of the starts and it would be worth keeping him up. However, if Macha does not feel this way I hope they send Mat down to AAA to paly everyday instead of rotting on the bench with the big club. Gamel has already shown that great bat he has, of course he has also shown how bad his glove can be. But like they old saying goes, the bat plays. And Mat has a mighty good one.

I LOVE the trade of Tony Gwynn for Jody Gerut. Let me say that again, I LOVE THE TRADE. Gwynn was going nowhere fast in the Milwaukee organization. He couldn't even beat out Duffy or Nelson to make the team this year. To me he will always be a AAAA type player who always had hype around him simply because of the name on the back of his jersey. Now hes gone where the Brewers won't be tempted to give him more chances. The Brewers get in return a solid 4th OF in Gerut who can play all three OF spots and has some pop from the left side of the plate, he has struggled so far this year though after a solid year in 2008. With Gerut meeting the team in Minnesota for the weekend series it appears either Duffy or Iribarren are going down to AAA Nashville. Let me say as much as I have ripped him, I do wish Gwynn the best. Maybe he can find something playing for his hometown team. Good luck Jr!

Reader Poll Results

2009-05-17T13:16:00.003-05:00

"Do you want Mike Cameron back in CF for the Brewers in 2010?"

Yes, another 1 year deal: 42% (3 Votes)

Yes, on a 2+ year deal: 28% (2 Votes)

No: 28% (2 Votes)

Memories Of An Old Obession, Baseball Cards

2009-05-17T10:00:00.003-05:00

As someone who collected cards pretty hardcore when I was younger and still like to buy the occasional pack or two when I'm at Target, I found this video over at AwfulAnnouncing.com. Brings back a lot of memories of standing around wasting hours upon hours in card shops opening box after box of cards. You know trying to get that Pat Listach or Cal Eldred rookie card. It's a mini movie of sorts a little under 10 minutes long about a card shop called "The Dugout" in Brooklyn, NY. Enjoy!

Catching Up To Do

2009-05-16T08:07:00.005-05:00

I just got back yesterday from my 7 night honeymoon in beautiful Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic. Me and my bride had a fantastic time, it was sunny and in the 80's every day we were there. While the weather was hot in the DR it was not hot here in Wisconsin, but the baseball team sure was.

In my absence out of the country the Brewers won 5 of 6 games in home series over the Cubs and Marlins. This led the Brewers to now being tied for 1st place in the NL Central with the hated Cardinals. While I was able to text a friend to get final scores each day it seems I missed out on some happenings while I was gone. So I spent some of last night during that rain delay/postponement and this morning catching up on what happened in these 6 Brewers games I missed.

Nelson was DFA and then selected free agency. I wish Brad the best, I liked him a lot and thought it was cool he finally made an opening day roster. He just didn't do anything after spring training though and we need some production off the bench other then Craig Counsell. Hopefully Nelson catches on somewhere else, just not in the NL. I think he would come back to haunt us at some point.

With Nelson DFA the Brewers called up top prospect Mat Gamel. This kind of shocked me when I first heard the news. I thought the Brewers might trade Hall which I did not want to happen. But it does not seem likely and more likely Gamel was called up for much of the same reason Prince Fielder was in 2005. Spend some time with the big league club, maybe get a start or two and DH in some inter league series before going back down to AAA Nashville. I like the move and look forward to seeing Gamel hit and see if his defense has gotten better.

Weeks and Bush seemed to have continued their strong starts. It seems 2009 really will be the "breakout" season for both guys. Weeks is hitting well and has an over .880 OPS while Bush has been the Brewers 2nd best pitcher after Gallardo. At the beginning of the season I told a fellow Brewers fan at work that Bush would breakout this year and legitimize himself as a solid #3 and maybe even a #2. So far Dave is proving me correct, thanks Dave.

Braun has a RED HOT week and was the NL player of the week. But it seems the local and national media has a problem with his "attitude" or "cockiness". I say screw them both. Braun is no more cocky then any other star in MLB. He is good, he knows it and he is super confident in his ability. So he watches his HR's a little bit, so does A-Rod, Pujols, Manny and many other of the stars of the game do. Can you blame him for the one he hit off Dempster? I mean Dempster did hit him the freaking head in the at-bat before the HR. Bottom line, Braun is a superstar that is super confident. Just let him play the game and don't worry about what he does after he hits a HR. And he will hit A LOT of them before his career is up so get used to it uptight media members.

Reader Poll Results

2009-05-06T20:13:00.002-05:00

"How many games per week should Mike Rivera start?"

0: 11% (1 Vote)

1: 33% (3 Votes)

2: 55% (5 Votes)

3: 0% (0 Votes)

If Braun Goes To The DL

2009-05-04T18:09:00.003-05:00

If Ryan ends up having to spend some time on the DL with this intercostal/back injury I think the best scenario for the team is to call up Mat Gamel to start at 3B and start Bill Hall in LF (which he is doing tonight in Pittsburgh). Yes Gamel makes errors at 3B and Hall has been stellar there. But with Braun's bat gone you need someone who also has a big stick. Neither of our backup OF's Nelson or Duffy do really and I shutter to think of Gwynn getting called up and getting a lot of regular playing time. So you have Gamel come up and play 3B with his electric left handed bat and you move Hall to LF to keep his bat in the lineup and he has played in the OF before all be it in CF. Obviously this is all speculation but with Braun sitting out his third consecutive games you have to wonder if a DL stint is imminent. Although he did have an MRI today that was negative, which is good news.

Special

2009-04-29T21:08:00.003-05:00

That is the word to describe Yovani Gallardo. He follows up his first ever complete game against Houston with this gem today. 8 innings, 2 hits, 1 BB and 11 K's (career high), picking up the win his third of the season. And to top off that pitching performance he won the game with his bat hitting a solo HR in the 7th which was the only run of the game. Gallardo now has 4 HR in his very young career. If you take away that one inning against the Reds where he blew up, his stats would be as sick as Zack Greinke's over in the AL for the Royals. It's a shame today's game was not on TV for those who could have watched it. For me, I'm at the point with Yo where his starts are must see. There is a certain buzz in the air on the days he pitches. Much like Sabathia's starts were last season. It's a pretty cool feeling. Thanks Yo.

Lorenzo Cain Possibly Done For Season

2009-04-25T14:26:00.003-05:00

Talk about shitty news a day after a fantastic Brewers game. This comes from down on the farm as Cain a CF who is the Brewers #6 rated prospect tore his MCL in a game last night for AA Huntsville diving for a ball. According to the blog post at JSonline by Haudricourt, Assistant GM Gord Ash says Cain will probably miss the rest of the season but could be ready to play in the Arizona Fall League. This news just sucks as Cain had a real chance to become the starting CF for the Brewers in 2010. With this injury that could be pushed back to 2011. Best wishes to Lorenzo, hopefully he can rehab and come back the way he was before the injury. He was in a bit of slump at Huntsville but this kid has shown a lot of promise.

Gallardo Dealing

2009-04-25T12:02:00.004-05:00

Man it was fun to watch last nights game. Yovani Gallardo was straight dealing, threw one bad pitch to Carlos Lee and other then that he was lights out. Really showed what most of us knew all the long that when healthy this guy is an ace and can be as good if not better then Ben Sheets. Complete game with 7 K's and 0 BB's in front of a bunch of his family. It was the first complete game of Yo's career and to do it in front of his family it had to be very special for him. Save for for his one bad inning against the Reds he has been as good as advertised. Gallardo's outing was so good it kind of overshadows what the offense did getting 4 of their 5 runs with a 2 out rally. Just hitting single after single to take the lead. Great hitting approaches in that inning by Corey Hart, Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder. Oh and I almost forgot there was that football like collision between Mike Cameron and Houston catcher Humerto Quintero. Both guys stayed down for a bit and Quintero actually had to leave the game. When they did the replay with the sound it actually did sound like a collision you would hear on the gridiron.

Reader Poll Results

2009-04-25T09:51:00.002-05:00

"Who should be the 8th inning guy when Hoffman comes of the DL?"

Todd Coffey: 85% (12 Votes)

Carlos Villanueva: 14% (2 Votes)

Jorge Julio: 0% (0Votes)

Respect The Beard

2009-04-23T18:22:00.004-05:00

Man, Dave Bush had it working today. Pitching no-hit baseball through 7 2/3 innings. I didn't see it since I was at work, but had Uecker and Cory on the radio in my cubicle. It was probably the most intense I was listening to a game at work ever. After the Brewers got up 5-0 and Bush completed 5 innings of hit less baseball, I found myself getting as much work done while the Brewers batted so I could totally focus on the game while Bush pitched. I kept thinking to myself just get to the 9th and give yourself a chance to have only 3 outs to get for Brewers history. But Matt Stairs of course, a former Brewer ruined that with that solo HR in the 8th. This was the second time Bush took a no-hitter into the 8th as he did it last year against the Blue Jays at Miller Park. Someday he is gonna finish off one of these near no-hitters. And when he does, we can finally say someone other then Juan Nieves has tossed a no-no as a Brewer. Besides Bush's great outing Braun stayed hot and Fielder had a huge bases clearing 3 RBI double. Looking forward to the series in Houston with Gallardo going in the opener tomorrow night, also the first HD game of the season.

It Might Be Time For Manny Parra To Take A Trip To Nashville

2009-04-22T21:31:00.003-05:00

Lets face it, Manny Parra's first three starts have been pretty awful. His second he only gave up 3 runs in 6 innings, but his first and third starts just plain terrible, going 4.1 and 4 respectively. I really thought this would be Manny's break out season, that he would really show everyone that he can be the strong #2 we need behind ace Yovani Gallardo. Well so far Parra has been not even close. In is three starts he has 9 walks and he seems to have pretty much no control whatsoever of his fastball. He seems to be able to throw his off speed stuff for strikes but just struggles to no end to get his fastball over to get ahead in the count. Is it physical? Or mental? I'm not really sure.

What I'm getting at is if Manny has another bad starts or two, it may be time to send him down to AAA Nashville to get himself right. It worked last season for Dave Bush, maybe it would work for Manny as well. The questions is who takes his spot in the rotation for a turn or two? Conventional wisdom says Seth McClung, but if Macha wants a lefty to replace him how about calling up Chase Wright from Nashville for a shot? He can't be any worse then Manny has been, can he?

Riske To DL, RJ Swindle To Milwaukee

2009-04-16T19:13:00.003-05:00

This move did not shock me one bit. You could tell in spring and in the one game Riske pitched in the regular season that he still is not right. We all remember watching Riske get lit up last year and then he went the DL as it was revealed he has a bone spur in his elbow. Well seeing him pitch in 2009 and this trip to the DL proves he probably never recovered. It's a shame we have only seen the good Riske (you know the one we gave that nice contract to) for that little bit at the beginning of 2008. If he was 100% healthy he would be a great help to our bullpen. I don't know if we will see that in 2009.

Taking Riske's spot will be left handed reliever RJ Swindle. Swindle is a side-winder similar to Brian Shouse. Never hurts to have two left handed pitchers to bring out of the pen, now the Brewers have that with Swindle and Stetter. Brewers start a 9 game, three city, east coast road trip tomorrow in New York at the new Mets stadium Citi Field, which from the looks of it on TV is an awesome ballpark. I like the fact the Brewers have Bush and Gallardo going in the first two games, but then have Suppan finishing out the series on Sunday.

Reader Poll Results

2009-04-16T19:06:00.001-05:00

"Over/Under 37 HR's for Ryan Braun in 2009?"

Over: 77% (7 Votes)

Under: 22% (2 Votes)

It's Been Awhile, Please No One Panic (About Me Or The Brewers Start)

2009-04-15T19:20:00.004-05:00

I hated going this long between posts since the start of the season. I have just been running circles getting last minute stuff together for my wedding which is about two weeks away now and I have been living out of a suitcase the past three weeks while the bathroom is getting re-done at our house. Lets put it this way, I have not even seen the two new episodes of "The Office" from last week or the pilot of "Parks And Recreation". I pretty much work, watch the Brewers, drive to my future sister in-laws place, sleep and repeat. With random wedding stuff to do in between.

So the season is underway and were 2-6. Yeah it has been pretty rough for us in Brewers Nation. It has mostly been bad pitching and specifically our pitchers walking batters at an alarming rate. The hitting has been decent. Besides yesterday game, runs have been scored. Its just that our two big hitters Braun and Fielder are not having much to do with the runs that have been scoring. On a bright note Corey Hart and Rickie Weeks have looked very good.

Getting to my point, after only 8 ball games people are already calling into sports radio shows in town and saying they are "done" with the season because the Brewers are "done". I mean the worst part is the people are serious. I mean some of the calls I have heard are just comical. I think people just need to take a step back, a deep breath and realize we have played 8 games and have another 154 to go. Don't get me wrong, if our record and the players numbers are progressing like they are now at say the start of June then I would start to panic a little bit. But for now, just relax and enjoy the fact that baseball is back and that the Brewers will turn it around and hopefully soon. Oh except Jeff Suppan, its fine to panic about him. He just is not a very good baseball player.

It's Almost Here.....

2009-04-06T20:30:00.003-05:00

A little less then 19 hours from now the Brewers will FINALLY open the 2009 season at AT+T Park in San Francisco. I could not be more excited. Just watching bits and pieces of "MLB Tonight" on MLB Network and catching some of the games on ESPN today have just wet my appetite for getting to see my team play tomorrow for the first time in a game that counts. I think I can sum up my excitement best in the text message I sent my buddy today. "Starting tomorrow, we have something to do and look forward to just about every single day for the next 6 months." Even Suppan getting the nod on opening day can't hamper my excitement about tomorrow. I'm using 3 hours of "sick time" tomorrow and leaving the office at 2pm so I can be home, changed into Brewers gear, comfortable in my chair with a beer cracked open in plenty of time before the first pitch from Tim Lincecum to Rickie Weeks.

I was pretty pumped today when the Timber Rattlers released their roster for the start of the 2009 season and Brett Lawrie and Cutter Dykstra were on that list. It's going to be fun making the trek a bit north to Appleton this summer getting to watch two of the Brewers top prospects just get going in their careers. It's nice that the Brewers have a minor league team in state again, gives you more of a reason to go to a minor league game when you can go see the future of your MLB team.

My 2009 MLB Predictions

2009-04-01T19:47:00.005-05:00

Here is the way I see the 2009 season going down. Feel free to agree or rip my predictions with your own.

American League

AL East Champs: Boston Red Sox

AL Central Champs: Cleveland Indians

AL West Champs: Oakland Athletics

AL Wild Card Champs: Tampa Bay Rays

AL Champs: Boston Red Sox

AL MVP: Grady Sizemore

AL Cy Young: Roy Halladay

AL ROY: Matt Wieters

National League

NL East Champs: New York Mets

NL Central Champs: Chicago Cubs

NL West Champs: Los Angeles Dodgers

NL Wild Card Champs: Milwaukee Brewers

NL Champs: New York Mets

NL MVP: Hanley Ramirez

NL Cy Young: Cole Hamels

NL ROY: Cameron Maybin

World Series Champs: Boston Red Sox

Reader Poll Results

2009-04-01T19:43:00.001-05:00

"Do you want Tony Gwynn Jr. on the Brewers Opening Day roster?"

Yes: 15% (3 Votes)

No: 84% (16 Votes)