Ryan Braun

The Brewers gave up two touchdowns last night to the Nationals and only managed one of their own in a 6-14 loss, dropping them to 1 game under .500 on the season and 4 games back in the tight NL Central.  The Crew has ripped off 3 wins in their last 10 games, while the now Central Leading Cubs have reeled off 8 wins in their last 10.  Frankly, the Brewers have NO chance to win the NL Central.  The Cardinals, who have a superior pitching staff to Milwaukee, added Julio Lugo and Matt Holliday is protection for Albert Pujols.  The Cubs haven't added anybody; they don't need to.  Their line up is expensive and filled with talent as is their pitching staff, Rich Harden, Alfonso Soriano, Milton Bradley, Carlos Zambrano, and Carlos Marmol turning their seasons into AVERAGE seasons by their standards is like making 5 huge trades.  All they need to do is get healthy and play average seasons down the stretch, and they'll be neck and neck with the Cardinals. 

Continue reading "Brewers Future"

Last season in late September the Brewers picked up Mike Lamb, to be used as a pinch hitter and reserve player. Lamb went 3 for 11 during the stretch run, but was not put on the post season roster. On tuesday the Brewers decided to essenially release Lamb, by not putting him on the opening day roster. He has the option to play for AAA Nashville, but will likely hold out for another major league gig.

Continue reading "Brew Crew clears spot for McGehee"

Rotation Grade: 77  C+

Offensively the Brewers lose nothing. They maintain superstar Ryan Braun, who needs to have a MVP type season in order for the Brewers to have a respectable season. Mike Cameron and Corey Hart round out the outfield and Hart will need another great year. Tony Gwynn Jr. will likely be the fourth outfielder on the club and may get more playing time as he has been playing well in spring training. Third Base is a bit of a question mark and will likely become a platoon position between Bill Hall, Craig Counsell, and young prospect Casey Mcghee (likely towards the end of the season). Rickie Weeks and JJ Hardy will patrol the middle infield, but look for prospect Alicides Escobar to steal time from Weeks if he puts up disappointing numbers once again. The Brewers still have the prototype first baseman in Prince Fielder and he will need to continue to be a gargantuan run producer in the middle of the lineup. Catcher is an offensive weakness with Jason Kendall, the Brewers have prospects behind the plate (Angel Salome) but it is doubtful to see any of them before september. Defensive Grade: 88  B+       Offensive Grade:   92   A-

Continue reading "Milwaukee Brewers 2009 Forecast: ..."

While younger players like Prince Fielder, Ryan Braun, JJ Hardy and Corey Hart may not have any playoff experience in their short pasts, they have still played in a number of meaningful games. Fielder and Braun carried the team into October with their bats, Fielder had a 17 game hit streak in October including a number of late hits, and Braun gave the Brewers two final at-bat wins in the last 4 games of the season. The energy on the field and in the stands was only a preview of what is to come in the playoffs for the Brewers as they look to satisfy themselves with much more than a quick appearance in the first week of October.

Continue reading "October Baseball 10/1"

en a pitcher carry a team the way he has, particularly the last 2 weeks of the season. 

And Ryan Braun, what can you say?  Legit star.  I blogged about his walk-off grand slam versus the Pirates last week.  The Brewers needed that hit, that win, that spark as badly as they've needed anything all season.  Stars make the big plays when they matter. Braun is definitely doing that.

Continue reading "Giddy about the Brew Crew"

A couple of observations about last night's big Brewers win over the Pirates.

Nice to see Braun hit the fool out of that ball for the game winner. It's been a long September for Braun (avg. around .200 and only 1 HR in coming into Thursday's game).

Continue reading "That's what I like to see"

Late game home runs by Ryan Braun helped generate 8 of the 19 late inning scores by the team. Bill Hall also helped with 10th and 9th inning home runs on July 21st and July 22nd respectively.

Continue reading "The Series You Were Waiting to Hype, ..."

And Ryan Braun’s a whiz with the bat—when he makes contact—but not such a great defender in left. Might you want to shift Nate McLouth, a reserve who normally plays in center, to right instead, since Nate’s OPS is 16 points higher even than slugger Braun?

Continue reading "Gimme A Break!"

I'm a Ryan Braun fan, and it's not hard to see why. He homered tonight for the fourth time in two games--two two-HR games in a row. Ever since he was brought up early last season, that's what he's done: hit the heck out of the ball. Doubles (he was second in the league last year with 13), home runs (his 34 last season put him in fifth place in the NL, and his 43 through the past two seasons is the fastest pace ever), both of these in spite of fewer than 500 ABs last year.

Continue reading "The Brawn of Braun"