It is my understanding that the Brewers expect (Zach) Braddock to be back in spring camp.
November 30, 2011It is my understanding that the Brewers expect (Zach) Braddock to be back in spring camp.
Tom Haudricourt, via Twitter, in response to a question from Noah.
Lesser Brewers: Zach Braddock
November 30, 2011
We've nearly exhausted our list of 2011 Brewers but still have a few remaining, including Zach Braddock.
Braddock came up in 2010 and really helped light a fire under a bullpen that was a nightmare through much of the year. He would end up pitching in 46 games and, along with freshly called up John Axford, gave the Brewers a lot of hope for their bullpen going forward. That year, Braddock had a K/9 just a tick below 11 and a lovely 2.94 ERA to match a 2.90 FIP. He did have a bit of a walk problem, as his control seemed to take a siesta every now and then, but that's almost to be expected with a high strikeout pitcher.
He started off great in 2011, too. Through May 1, he had a 1.93 ERA. An earned run the next day would bring that up to 2.73, but it seemed like he was off to a great start. His fastball was lively and batters looked almost as though they were napping when they faced him. On May 3, though, it was announced that Zach Braddock was placed on the DL to make way for the returning Nyjer Morgan. The reason was a sleep disorder. I think, at the time, many of us believed that it was just an excuse, a fake injury, to move somebody so Morgan would fit on the roster. It did seem strange that the Brewers would do that with one of their best relievers, though. At the very least, it would have been nice if Doug Melvin and co. had slept on the decision.
After a month, Braddock returned to the active roster and picked up right where he left off. He had a 1.93 ERA throughout the month of June. The weird thing, though, was that he only pitched in seven games and 4.2 total innings. He pitched a full inning in only three outings, including one that during a total snoozefest against the Mets on June 7. That may have been his best outing of the year, though, as he struck out the side in the eighth inning of a 2-1 Brewers loss. He was so good, the Mets just seemed to be sleep-walking against him that day.
By the end of June, Braddock had a 2.51 ERA on the season. It seemed almost like a dream to have both him and Axford leading a dominant bullpen for the next few years. Unfortunately, in July Braddock just wasn't his usual lights out self. He gave up earned runs in four of six appearances that month, including multiple runs in three of those contests. He had a 30.00 ERA in July and his season ERA ballooned to 7.27. His season was put to bed on July 14, after giving up four earned runs without securing an out in the seventh inning against the Rockies. The next day, Braddock was optioned.
Braddock wouldn't appear for any Brewers minor league team's the rest of the season, though. On July 22, Tom Haudricourt reported that Braddock was shut down again due to his sleep disorder. His first DL stint hadn't been enough for him to work through his issues, and he would take the rest of the year off to deal with this problem. Since then, there hasn't been a whole lot of information on Braddock.
In all seriousness, I hope that Zach can find a cure for whatever ails him soon. I'm sure many fans feel cheated out of having potentially one of team's best relievers in a very important year for the Brewers. But much more importantly, whatever this issue is, it's having a clearly negative effect on Zach personally. Whether it's debilitating to his physical health, his mental health, or is just an extremely frustrating nuisance, it can't be much fun to go through. For either a fan or a player, one's personal life should certainly come first. Baseball is just a game, and it will still be around as soon as Zach is feeling better. Hopefully, he'll be ready in time for spring training. The team could use a good reliever in 2012 with the potential departures of Francisco Rodriguez, Takashi Saito, and LaTroy Hawkins.
If we're talking about 2011 Zach Braddock, it's important to look past his alarmingly high ERA. For nearly twenty outings, he pitched great. A bad few outings in July, when his sleep disorder seemed to be getting to him, brought his numbers up. He's still an extremely talented pitcher, and will still hopefully continue to pitch well for Milwaukee in the years to come.
Wednesday’s Frosty Mug
November 30, 2011
Some things to read while exhaling.
We're 80 days away from pitchers and catchers reporting to Maryvale, and hopefully that's enough time for this to heal up: Pitcher Santo Manzanillo, who was just added to the 40 man roster less than two weeks ago, separated his throwing shoulder in a car accident in the Dominican Republic yesterday (FanShot). At the moment there's no timetable for his recovery. He's probably lucky this didn't end up much worse.
Meanwhile, the Brewers are getting ready to head to Dallas for next week's Winter Meetings. Karl Ravech of ESPN listed them among nine teams to watch at the event.
I still think this winter's biggest story for the Brewers will be a contract extension, not a new acquisition. This is the kind of move that would fit the bill: Nicholas Zettel of Bernie's Crew makes the case for a five year, $80 million extension for Zack Greinke.
Shaun Marcum, of course, is another extension candidate. Bluebird Banter ranked him as the 48th greatest Blue Jay of all time.
This possibility is more unlikely to happen, but I still think it would be a point worth considering under the right circumstances: Howie Magner of Milwaukee Magazine has a look at a scenario where the Brewers could trade John Axford.
Here are today's Prince Fielder notes:
- Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik confirmed his interest in Fielder yesterday, but also confirmed that he's likely out of their price range.
- The Seattle Post Intelligencer has the cart way out in front of the horse and speculates that the Mariners will trade first baseman Justin Smoak if they sign Fielder.
Elsewhere in speculation: I had no idea he was available, but MLB Trade Rumors is reporting the Tigers are interested in acquiring Angels infielder Maicer Izturis. He'd be a nice fit as a Brewer: He's a career .276/.339/.389 hitter with a +6.2 UZR/150 in 168 career games at shortstop. If the Angels are serious about dealing him, I hope Doug Melvin's already got a call in.
I think he's overstating it a bit, but it'd be nice if this were true: Miller Park Drunk says The World Belongs to Ryan Braun, saying he's going to become the same kind of star Ken Griffey Jr. was for the 90's Mariners. Then again, maybe Braun is everywhere. His "Ryan Braun MVPastrami on Rye" is a featured item on the menu at Robert J. Baumann of NotGraphs' MLBistro.
In the minors:
- It was another rough day for Brewers in winter ball, as four players combined to go 1-for-14. Martin Maldonado had the only hit, a single in Mayaguez's 3-2 loss to Carolina in Puerto Rico. You can read about that and more in today's Winter League Notes.
- Former Nashville manager Don Money will spend the 2012 season as an instructor in Helena. Adam McCalvy says he requested the change.
- The Appleton Post Crescent has a story on Matt Erickson, a former Brewer and Appleton native who will manage the Timber Rattlers for the second season in 2012.
It may be the offseason for many of us, but it's the busy season in the Brewer marketing department. Caitlin Moyer has a look at some of the things they need to do over the coming months.
The Brew Crew Ball Book Club met for the first time last night to discuss the first three chapters of Jonah Keri's The Extra 2%. There's still time to jump into the conversation if you haven't yet, and plenty of time to read through Chapter 6 and join us next week.
Elsewhere in self-promotion, our Brewer-by-Brewer look at the 2011 season continued yesterday with this profile of Taylor Green. Who will we discuss today? Check back to find out.
Around baseball:
Astros: Re-signed catcher Carlos Corporan to a minor league deal.
Cubs: Hired former Astros bullpen coach Jamie Quirk to be their bench coach.
Diamondbacks: Signed pitcher Jensen Lewis to a minor league deal.
Dodgers: Are expected to sign infielder Adam Kennedy to a one year deal.
Giants: Extended manager Bruce Bochy and general manager Brian Sabean's contracts through 2013 with club options for 2014.
Marlins: Signed pitcher Robert Ray to a minor league deal.
Mets: Signed utilityman Vinny Rottino to a minor league deal.
Phillies: Signed pitcher Pat Misch and re-signed infielder Kevin Frandsen to minor league deals.
Pirates: Signed infielder Nick Evans to a minor league deal.
Red Sox: Are expected to hire Bobby Valentine to be their new manager.
Royals: Pitcher Jonathan Broxton's new contract will pay him $4 million in 2012.
Jamie Quirk, by the way, was a 1977 Brewer. At NotGraphs, The Common Man has a dozen important facts about him.
When the Winter Meetings draw to a close next week, one of their final events will be the annual Rule 5 draft, scheduled for Thursday. We'll probably see a fair amount of previews over the coming days, but DRaysBay has a look at three eligible Rays to get us started.
In 2010, John Axford had nine saves where he recorded four outs or more. That was the most in a single season by a Brewer since 1989, but it wasn't the most in the NL: Brian Wilson of the Giants had ten. But Axford didn't record a single multi-inning save in 2011, and that's a growing trend across baseball: High Heat Stats notes that the average pitcher recording a save in 2011 pitched an all-time low 1.006 innings.
Today in baseball economics: Call To The Pen has a pretty fascinating look at how playoff shares have evolved over time.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to get this out of my head.
Drink up.
Winter League Notes, 2011-11-30
November 30, 2011Dominican: Estrellas L 3-1 at Aguilas; Gigantes L 7-0 at Escogido
Puerto Rico: Mayaguez L 3-2 at Carolina; Caguas W 9-5 at Ponce
| Batter | Team | Pos | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | E | AVG | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Erick Almonte | Gigantes | 3B | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .314 | |
| Mat Gamel | Estrellas | DH | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .161 | |
| Carlos Gomez | Aguilas | CF | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .135 | |
| Martin Maldonado | Mayaguez | C | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .333 | |
| Edwin Maysonet | Caguas | 3B | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .280 |
Today In Brewer History: Happy Anniversary, Fernando Vina
November 30, 2011On this day in 1994 the Brewers dealt reliever Doug Henry to the Mets for two players to be named later. One of those players turned out to be catcher Javier Gonzalez, who never reached the majors. The other, though, was second baseman Fernando Vina.
At the time Vina was a 25 year old utility infielder still looking for his first full time opportunity in the majors: He had played 24 games for the Mariners as a Rule 5 pick in 1993 and 79 more as a Met in '94, but that was it. The Brewers gave him a shot and the decision paid off pretty handsomely: Vina hit .286/.349/.389 while playing over 500 games over five seasons as a Brewer. He made the lone All Star appearance of his career in 1998, scoring 101 runs and narrowly missing 200 hits while batting .311/.386/.427 in 159 games.
Unfortunately, the end of Vina's Brewer tenure was marred by injuries: He was limited to just 37 games in 1999 and the Brewers eventually traded him to St. Louis to make room for Ronnie Belliard to take over second base full time. The Cardinals made the playoffs in three of Vina's four seasons in their uniform.
With help from the B-Ref Play Index, happy birthday today to:
- 2008 Brewer Ray Durham, who turns 40.
- 1989 Brewer Dave Engle, who turns 55.
Brew Crew Ball Book Club: The Extra 2% Chapters 1-3 Discussion
November 29, 2011
Let's get underway with our discussion about the first few chapters of Jonah Keri's "The Extra 2%."
These first few chapters focus on the movement to get a team to St. Petersburg as well as how initial owner Vincent Naimoli and initial GM Chuck LaMar failed to put a good product on the field.
Just a reminder that we'll do this again next week - same time, same place. So read chapter 4-6 for next Tuesday.
Head into the comments to start talking about it....
Brewers unveil Minors coaches, pro scouts
November 29, 2011Former Brewers All-Star Don Money has been formally assigned a role as "special instructor, player development and coach" at rookie-level Helena, the parent club announced Tuesday while finalizing its lower-level Minor League coaching staffs and professional scouting staff for 2012.
Lesser Brewers: Taylor Green
November 29, 2011
Taylor Green appeared in just 20 games this season, so the story on him is probably that it wasn't more. As Casey McGehee's struggles lasted later and later into the season, many readers were calling for a Taylor Green call up. He was hitting extremely well in Nashville and folks were getting might antsy with Casey's lack of production.
Green finally received the promotion on August 26.
At that point, McGehee was hitting.241/.294/.356 with 10 home runs while Green, at Triple-A Nashville, was hitting .335/.413/.575 with 21 home runs.
Of course, that didn't seem to matter. McGehee still started 17 games in September and October, while Green started just seven. Jerry Hairston, Jr. got the starts down the stretch and Taylor Green was left to rot on the bench.
He ended up with 10 hits over 37 at-bats. Worries about whether his production would carry over to the majors were basically put to rest when he started the season getting six hits in his first six games - just the second Brewer to ever do that.
Green did get a post-season roster spot over Josh Wilson, something many didn't believe would be the case when the call up with made. He had two post-season PH at-bats and was also inserted as a defensive replacement in the ninth inning in game 2 of the NLCS.
Green became the first Brewer ever to be named the Brewers Minor League Player of the Year twice. He won this year and was also given the award in 2007. Despite spending the final two months in the majors, Green was named to the honorable mention of Project Prospect's Top Ten AAA position players list.
Brewers’ Manzanillo injures shoulder in accident
November 29, 2011Brewers right-handed pitching prospect Santo Manzanillo, one of four players added to the 40-man roster this month, suffered a separated right shoulder in an auto accident Tuesday morning in the Dominican Republic.
Brewer Prospect Santo Manzanillo Involved In Car Accident, Appears To Be OK
November 29, 2011Brewer Prospect Santo Manzanillo Involved In Car Accident, Appears To Be OK
It sounds like he's going to be fine, but that made my heart skip a beat.