Milwaukee Brewers (77-80) At Colorado Rockies (89-68), 8:40 P.m.
September 30, 2009Wednesday’s Frosty Mug
September 30, 2009Some things to read while improving your dental hygiene.
If you went to bed early last night (or simply fell asleep on the couch, as I almost did), you missed one of the season's most unlikely events: a ninth inning, game-tying three run home run from Jason Kendall, just his second of the season and just the second home run he's hit away from Minute Maid Park since August 15 of 2007. The blast raised his slugging percentage over .300 on the season and gave the Brewers new life, even if it only lasted for two innings.
The home run was cool, but it still wasn't enough to make Kendall a viable option as a starting catcher next season. Brewers Daily has a list of potential free agents who could take his place.
Casey McGehee's meeting with a specialist Monday confirmed what the Brewers suspected: He will undergo arthroscopic surgery after the season to remove some loose bodies in his knee (FanShot). He seems reluctant to undergo the procedure and worried about the problem returning, but is scheduled to meet with team doctor William Raasch this week to discuss it further. Meanwhile, the Brewers are advocating for McGehee to be Rookie of the Year.
Also noted in that story: Mike Burns' MRI revealed damage to his labrum, and he's still in Milwaukee and likely done for the season. Frank Catalanotto is also not with the team in Colorado: he left the team before the trip due to a death in the family. He'll miss the Colorado series but might return for the final series this weekend.
Meanwhile, Jeff Suppan returns to the mound tonight for his final start of the season, and hopes to finish strong. Dave Bush might have been a candidate to have his final start skipped, but with Burns still out and Josh Butler having been sent home, he'll get one more start on Saturday.
If you're having a hard time getting excited for these final few games, Tyler Maas has some reasons for you to care. If nothing else, it's still baseball, and you're going to spend October-February missing it.
Here are some milestones to watch for, if nothing else: Ryan Braun needs six hits over five games to become just the fourth Brewer to reach 200 hits in a season, and as Seamheads notes, Prince Fielder is just a few points short of joining him in the .300-30-100 club. Assuming Fielder plays all of the remaining games and gets four ABs in each, he'd need to go 9-for-20 to reach .300.
How incredible has Trevor Hoffman been this season? MLB Trade Rumors has a look at closers who will be free agents this offseason, and Hoffman is clearly having the best season, leading free agents-to-be in ERA, BB/9, Hits/9, saves and fewest pitches thrown.
If you're looking for a reason why Brewer pitchers are so hittable this season, you could blame the fact that they're dead last in baseball in average velocity. With that said, the Angels, Twins, Phillies and Cardinals are all also ranked in the 20s, so maybe it's not everything.
On Power Rankings and whatnot:
- WhatifSports dropped the Brewers one spot to #17.
- The Hardball Times has the Brewers at #19.
- Andy Seiler has the Brewers drafting 14th in his 2010 draft projection. There's little to no risk of the Brewers dropping too far by winning this week: The next team behind them is the Mariners, who are 4 games better than the Crew.
- Do you love complaining about the Brewers and also find the act of composing a haiku to be strangely relaxing? If so, Babes Love Baseball has a contest for you.
- Do you enjoy spending seven minutes trying to force your brain to work, then banging your head against the desk when you miss obvious answers? Sporcle challenges you to name the wins leaders from the 1990s. (I got 12/24, which will almost certainly win the "before 7 am" division.)
- Do you enjoy pointless speculation about a player whose future won't be determined for months? DRaysBay thinks the Rays may non-tender Gabe Gross this offseason.
- Are you looking for an alternative to the real Hall of Fame, as an opportunity to continue to debate the merits of a player whose Hall eligibility has passed? More Hardball has inducted Ted Simmons into theirs.
- Are you looking for an opportunity to feel better about your pathetic life by doing something small to improve someone else's? Miller Park Drunk wants you to help replace someone's stolen grill.
In fact, that's all I have for you today, unless you'd like to witness The Running of the Quevedo.
Drink up.
Iannetta’s Homer Lifts Rockies Over Brewers In 11th
September 30, 2009Chris Iannetta's pinch-hit two-run homer in the bottom of the 11th inning pushed Colorado one step closer to a playoff berth, as it gave the Rockies a 7-5 win over the Milwaukee Brewers in the opener of a three-game set.
National League Game Summary – Milwaukee At Colorado
September 30, 2009Milwaukee 5 Colorado 7
Kendall’s clutch blast not enough for Crew
September 30, 2009Jason Kendall hit a tying three-run home run in the top of the ninth inning, but the Rockies answered in the 11th to beat the Brewers, 7-5, on Tuesday at Coors Field.
Rockies 7, Brewers 5 (11 innings)
September 29, 2009
W: Matt Belisle (3-1)
L: David Weathers (4-6)
HR:Jason Kendall (2) Chris Iannetta (16)
MVP: Jason Kendall (+.310)
LVP: David Weathers (-.357)
Win Expectancy Graph
SBNation Coverage
The Brewers managed some late inning heroics to extend tonight's game, but couldn't quite finish the job.
A 5-2 game suddenly got interesting with one out in the ninth, when Mike Cameron drew a walk, J.J. Hardy singled and Jason Kendall (of all people) tied the game with a three run shot. Claudio Vargas was able to shut the Rockies down in the ninth and send the game to extra innings. He also pitched a scoreless tenth.
In the eleventh, though, David Weathers retired one batter before allowing Chris Iannetta to hit a walk-off two run shot.
I honestly didn't pay a whole lot of attention to tonight's game before the eighth inning or so, but here are the things that jumped out at me:
- Chris Narveson looked pretty good until crashing in the sixth. He finished the night with three earned runs allowed on five hits in five innings, and was in line for the loss until Kendall's home run took him off the hook. He also picked up his first major league hit
- Ryan Braun had two hits in the game to reach 194 on the season. He now needs six more in the Brewers' five remaining games to reach 200.
Anything relevant I missed? Let me know in the comments.
McGehee to undergo right knee surgery
September 29, 2009Brewers third baseman Casey McGehee will undergo arthroscopic surgery after the season to remove loose bodies from a right knee that has bothered him all season.
Game Thread #157: Brewers (77-79) at Rockies (88-68)
September 29, 2009Current Series
3 game series vs Rockies @ Coors Field
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Milwaukee Brewers Tuesday, Sep 29, 2009, 7:40 PM CDT Chris Narveson vs Jason Marquis Mostly clear. Winds blowing out to right field at 5-10 m.p.h. Game time temperature around 75. |
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| Wed 09/30 | 7:40 PM CDT | |
| Thu 10/01 | 2:10 PM CDT | |
And the final road trip commences with an opportunity to play spolier in Denver.
Follow the jump for tonight's pitching matchup, lineup and conversation on tonight's game!
Jason Marquis (15-12, 3.98) is having another career year at the perfect time, as he prepares to become a free agent this offseason. His 15 wins tie a career high, and with one inning pitched tonight he'll set a new career high there as well. Despite spending the season in Colorado, he's significantly lowered his home runs allowed (down to .7 per 9 innings after .8, 1.0 and 1.6 the previous three seasons), and has made over 30 starts for five of the last six years. He's struggled lately, though, posting a 6.49 ERA and allowing opposing batters to hit .313/.394/.481 in his last six starts. Normally I'd tell you who hits him well, but every Brewer seems to hit him well: Current Brewers have faced him 217 times and hit .306/.362/.461 off of him.
Meanwhile, Chris Narveson (2-0, 3.82) is making his fourth start of the season, and has gotten a little better each time out. Last time, he struck out ten batters in just 70 pitches over 5.2 innings against the Cubs. The Brewers are 3-0 when he starts this season. Colorado might not be the best place for him to pitch, however: He's posted a 2.31 ERA since August 27, but he's allowed 5 home runs in 23.1 innings (nearly 2 per nine innings) over that time. He hasn't thrown more than 86 pitches as a Brewer, so 100 is probably the max for him, and 90 might be more realistic.
Here's the lineup, courtesy of Adam McCalvy:
Felipe Lopez 2B
Corey Hart RF
Ryan Braun LF
Prince Fielder 1B
Casey McGehee 3B
Mike Cameron CF
J.J. Hardy SS
Jason Kendall C
Chris Narveson LHP
In the bullpen tonight:
Mitch Stetter pitched one inning (25 pitches) Sunday.
David Weathers pitched one inning (18 pitches) Sunday.
Chris Smith pitched 1.2 innings (11 pitches) Sunday.
Trevor Hoffman has not pitched since Saturday.
Todd Coffey has not pitched since Saturday.
Carlos Villanueva has not pitched since Saturday.
Claudio Vargas has not pitched since Friday.
John Axford has not pitched since Thursday.
Seth McClung has not pitched since Monday, September 21.
Mike Burns has not pitched since Tuesday, but likely won't pitch due to damage to his labrum.
McGehee to undergo offseason surgery, DiFelice will not, Burns unsure
September 29, 2009McGehee to undergo offseason surgery, DiFelice will not, Burns unsure
Follow the link for more, but here's the basics:
- Casey McGehee has bone fragments in his knee that will need to be removed arthroscopically.
- Mark DiFelice will continue to take it slow rehabbing his shoulder and won't need surgery.
- Mike Burns has damage in his labrum and will seek another opinion.
What about THIS guy? The Chris Smith edition
September 29, 2009
During spring training and the early portion of the 2009 season, Chris Smith wasn't even mentioned as a possible contributor to this team. He went down to AAA and earned a shot, though, posting a 1.27 ERA in 28 appearances for Nashville, picking up 17 saves with a 0.867 WHIP in the process.
And, as a Brewer, he's been pretty good. He's also been used in a bunch of different roles. He's thrown two or more innings in nine of his 32 outings, and posted a 2.61 ERA in that role. He's also been called upon to pitch an inning or less in 20 outings, and posted a 2.89 ERA in that role. He's been called into games as early as the fourth inning, and has finished 12 games.
Opposing batters are hitting .196/.284/.405 off of him this season, and he's shown acceptable control (3.5 BB/9) while striking out enough batters (6.8 K/9, not as many as Todd Coffey's 7.1 but more than Seth McClung's 5.4), but the home run ball has been the one chink in his armor: He's allowed 9 long balls in 44 major league innings: That's 1.8 HR/9, higher than everyone on the team not named Braden Looper. Because of his tendency to allow home runs his FIP is 5.62, suggesting he's been exceptionally lucky.
Smith is 28 years old and will finish 2009 with less than a full season of service time, meaning he's under team control for at least five more seasons and can be paid the league minimum or close for both 2010 and 2011. He's also significantly outperforming his career numbers (he has a 4.33 career ERA in AAA, compared to 1.27 this season), making him a candidate to regress.
So, to sum up:
Pros:
- Smith is very flexible, can pitch multiple innings and early or late in games.
- He's been very effective in AAA and the pros this season.
- He's under team control for five more seasons and available really cheap for two of them.
Cons:
- His numbers this season are much better than his career numbers, suggesting he may regress to the mean.
- He's allowed an inordinately high number of home runs in the majors, and FIP suggests he's been very lucky.
- Even combining AAA and the majors, he's only thrown 86.2 innings this season, and it's tough to get a full evaluation with a sample size that small.
So, what should the Brewers do with him?