Pieces coming together for Brewers infield

Yesterday I talked about the Brewers starting rotation. To continue amping up for Opening Day (Monday can't come fast enough!), I'm going to go into the Brewers infield today and include the catcher in that talk.
There are a couple new pieces to the puzzle this year and one that is returning from yet another injury and for once you don't hear people calling for his head.
Let's start with the new pieces. At shortstop the Brewers dealt J.J. Hardy (AJ is still crushed) to the Twins in favor of handing over the keys to Alcides Escobar. After watching him finish the season and what he did in the winter in his native Columbia (he won the winter league batting title). He's continued that in the spring by hitting .321 with a homer and nine RBI. More impressive has been his defense. Had a brief conversation with Dennis Semrau (his first shoutout on the Way!) and he called Escobar the vacuum cleaner. The guy has amazing range.
I'm not worried about him this year. He should be in contention for Rookie of the Year. If he is the Crew will be in contention.

Speaking of Rookie of the Year, Casey McGehee returns to work the hot corner this year. He emerged as the starter after the first two months of the season and finished sixth in the ROY voting. That's quite a climb for a guy that was waived by the Cubs last winter and was the 25th guy to make the Brewers bench last season. Now he's the everyday third baseman and just like last year when he had a great spring to earn a spot on the MLB roster, he has proven he's for real with another solid spring. The team is going to need him to continue to play the defense he did last year (he started a triple play last year).
For Casey, it comes down to his performance at the plate because of where he finished last season. With the likes of Ryan and Prince in the lineup, Casey had the task of batting fifth behind both of them. The good news is he shined in that role last year. The bad news is that was last year. He's given pitchers and catchers across the NL a chance to come up with a way to pitch to him. I'm confident the man we call "Tits" will figure things out and perform this year again.


For those of you hoping Rickie Weeks would not perform this spring and continue what he had started before another wrist injury last spring, sorry, that does not look like it is going to happen. Yep, Weeks is on fire in the spring. He was blasting ball all over the yard today in spring ball and has all month in Maryvale.
He's going to make the Brewers see they made the right decision to keep him around this year over Felipe Lopez. On top of his offense, his defense picked up for the brief time he was in the lineup last year and I'm fairly certain we should see more of that this year. No need to worry!

Of course a talk about the Brewers infield isn't complete without mentioning Prince Fielder. Is there any reason to believe he won't be a monster at the plate again this year? No way. This guy just delivers year after year and that is why in 2012 he will be one of the highest paid players in the game. He will be what makes this team go. Brauny might have bigger numbers, but the true guage of how this team will do is all about Prince. He's gotten so much better in the field in the last couple years and I'd expect more of that. Just like I'd expect him to be a force at the plate. It's almost expected he his 43-47 homers every season.

Behind the plate Greg Zaun is set to be the regular guy, but don't expect more than 100 games out of him this year. They've named George Kottaras the backup and he'll be just as important as Zaun throughout the year. Zaun is the more defensive of the two and I'd almost expect some sort of personal catcher situation to unfold at some point early in the season. I'm not sure what I want out of my catcher more offense or defense. One things was for sure, with Jason Kendall the Brewers weren't getting either. So this should be an upgrade.

On the bench for the Brewers infield, Craig Counsell is back and Jeff Inglett joins the fold. Both can play multiple spots (read: all but first base) and are competent at the plate. Counsell had an amazing start to the year last year and paved the way for McGehee to take over at third when Weeks went down and he had to play there for a good chunk of the season.
Inglett has not wowed at the plate, but when he's been needed he has come through. They'll need him to be ready to come off the bench to make double switches and pinch hit. Of the guys the team had in camp, I would have liked to see Mat Gamel jump in, but his shoulder gave him issues and he's missing a lot of time after surgery.

As a final sum up of the infield, I'm actually pretty confident this is going to be a great unit. They've got the tools for sure and it might be the best defensive unit in years on the infield. It's great they can hit as well as they can, too.

Alight, with that out of the way, let's get into some good stuff. You all remember Scott Podsednik, I hope? Well, his wife is amazing. She's Lisa Dergan who happens to be a Playboy Playmate and a St. Pauli girl. A reason blondes are great? Just check this pic!

The myster of the No. 5 starter gets clearer

Finally, things start to get a little clearer. With today's news the Brewers put Jeff Suppan on the DL for the next 15 days, the mystery that is the Brewers fifth starter is getting a little clearer.
Dave Bush got named the fourth starter Monday, leaving lefties Chris Narveson and Manny Parra.
That question might have gotten a little clearer yet Tuesday with both of them pitching. Narveson pitched today and extended his shutout streak to 12 innings and got out of a bases-loaded jam in the process. I'd have to say he's showing he belongs in the rotation.
Parra pitched two shutout innings today, following up Narvey against the Angels. Here's Tom Haudricourt's story from the J-S.
With all that, I'm not sure which way the Brewers are leaning. They don't have to make a real decision until April 15 when that fifth starter has to pitch. I'm not sure that is a good idea. I'd almost say go with the hot hand and let Chris take the ball and let everyone know he's it. In the meantime get Manny ready to come in from the Pen. He needs to be coddled mentally and needs that support. Why drag him along and let him get all mind kcufed like he did at times last year? That would be my move. Plus they'll need him ready when and not if one of the original five goes down with injury and misses a start. Hopefully they won't be out long, but not everyone will make every start. That's just the percentages.
Give Narvy the ball!


While we're on the subject of the pitching, the rotation, aside from the No. 5 starter was named Monday. And Yovanni Gallardo will be pitching Opening Day. He'll be followed up by Randy Wolf, then Doug Davis and Bush in the No. 4 spot.  I'll be honest, I'm really liking those four. Add Narvy to that mix and I'm pretty confident in all five going out and getting the job done. We'll have to see when the season starts who gets hot and throws well, but they've given me a bit of confidence most of the spring. Wolf looked vary sharp in his last outing (I saw it on FS Wisconsin).

Speaking of the Opening Day starer, the Brewers unveiled a handful of commercials today and I must say they are pretty dope. MLB.com doesn't allow for embedding. Let me know which spot you think is the funniest and best. I really liked the Prince one and the pitchers playing darts one. You'll see. Here's the link.

On a subject of pitchers. I really like Randy Wolf. He's got a bit of a following. And I'm considering becoming part of it in Section 223. Could you imagine this? Oh yeah. It could get fun!


And now to your favorite portion of the broadcast. Yep, the Nussie Hunter. Keeping with the baseball theme, it's Alyssa Milano. Nussie Hunter said he really liked this picture. Well, it's a hot chick in a Cubs hat. Wait, that's Alyssa. Damn. If that's the only thing wrong with her, I might be able to over look that. Haha.
Either way, here's Alyssa.

We're back. Just in time for the "Showcase of the Immortals"

First off, I'd just like to say yes I'm back. I hope you found something to do with your time and will find time again to squeeze my sarcasm and sports talk into your day. After the true madness of March, I'm back. There's baseball around the corner and last night, another great sporting event, Wrestelmania XXVI. Got that and a bunch of other goodies to take care of today! IT FEELS GOOD TO BE BACK!

If you know me, you know I grew up a huge WWE (or WWF) fan. But, like most I know, it's kind of grown stale to me of late. Well, except for the one night a year when I can still get a little geeked up over it and just let myself get into that. I'm not alone in thinking this way. I got an offer to chill with my man, Golberg in the Janes-Vegas for the event, and he wrote an all-day diary of his wrestling extravaganza. It's pretty good stuff. Check it out!
That night is Wrestlemania and last night was another epic edition of the "Showcase of the Immortals." And with all the things I say about it, it was damn good.
I'd have to say seeing Bret Hart in the ring again and hearing that music hit. brought back great memories of being 14 and yelling at the TV. The match, however, left a little to be desired. But hey, he beat the tar out of Vince. Must be his way of apologizing for the Screwjob.
I was a little apprehencious on how the John Cena v Batista match would come off. Let's be real, they're both big and slow. But for those that still chant to Cena "You can't wrestle," dude, he carried the match. He can out wrestle the vast majority of the guys in that company and in the business. Hell, the guy IS the business. That's why THE CHAMP IS HERE!
Finally, the match of the night, Shawn Michales versus the Undertaker. Yes they fought last year and the Dead Man moved to 17-0 at Wrestlemania. Well, this year it was "The Streak" against "The Career." Did you really think the streak was going to end? Well, to be real, a couple of times in that match, I thought it would. These guys brought down the house. Probably one of the greatest matches I've seen... EVER. And yes, I was yelling at the TV with Josh (JL to you!) laughing at me the whole time. But yes, the Undertaker won and it was a little emotional afterwards.
Here's Shawn in the back after the match. Great stuff and he's truly done. It's a great career. Love him with Bret Hart in the back and with his wife and all the boys.
Having seen the last few 'Mania's, this one ranked right up there even though I haven't watched the TV shows much. Funny how after 8 months way, not much has changed. Haha.


Another highlight of the weekend every year is the Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony. This year even moreso with Bob Uecker being inducted, among others. He was on his game as usual and has the crowd in stitches throughout. They don't have his full speech online, so we'll have to wait for the Wrestelmania DVD to get off the that goodness. I know there was more than the 2 minutes he gave on USA Network.
Also inducted was "The Million Dollar Man" Ted Dibiase. How awesome is this guy? Yeah, he rocks. Love the laugh. Love everything he is about. Truly one of the best heels of all time. 

Uecker being inducted brings me around to the time of year I always look forward to and the staple of this blog, Brewers season. Spring training is winding down and Friday "The boys of summer" will be in Milwaukee. Yours truly will be there to welcome them back. There's still some things being worked out by the braintrust of the Crew, but seeing Prince hit his first homer of the spring Saturday, showed the bats are ready. Now, they just need to work out the pitching staff. Word on that is supposed to come today. I'm looking forward to see how things shake down. I'm not sure they'll let Suppan go. The money is one thing and all the arms need to be kept around... Just in case.

Anyway, as it's nice out I have to get going so I can go get some round ball in. Oh, but before I do, I didn't forget about the Nussie Hunter. He's got some good stuff for you today. One of the most underrated WAGs out there. She is married to Adam Archuleta. Yes, Jennifer Walcott. She is nothing short of awesome. And well, that makes her Wilber's Way Worthy (I think I just found a new catchphrase!)!

Pssst, new posts are coming!

I know I've been away for awhile here on the way. Consider it a vacation, while I go write for that "other" Web site.
But the end is near with a crazy time of year for me. And man, it couldn't come soon enough. My favorite time of the year is coming. You guessed it, baseball season.
That means, that view you see right up there! Yes, RJ, there is a Santa Claus and he LOOOOVES baseball! T-minus 12 days to Opening Day! Can you believe it's almost here? Me neither!

That's why I'm so excited!
Well, it may be 2006 Ms. Australia getting ready for the new "season," if you will, of Wilber's Way. She's pumped, and so am I. I'll have a new post Monday. I promise this time! Have to count down to Opening Day. Got a lot of things planned!