It's a Brewers off day today, so a lot of time to think about what is the latest cause of dropping to 4-11 at Miller Park to a team that was 5-14 on the road before getting to Milwaukee.
Got a chance to read a couple of things on what is to blame for the 29-7 beatdown over three games by the Braves.
The Journal-Sentinel story on the bullpen finally showing the innings that have been wearing on them of late and just imploding, giving up big run numbers in each of the three losses and turned ties or close games into blowouts.
Well, that is the obvious place to look. Hell, even Carlos Villanueva got worked and gave up his first runs of the season during the series.
The only pitcher out of the bullpen to not give up a run was Todd Coffey. And if my memory serves me correctly, he did give up a double that brought two runs in, but those were Mitch Stetter's runners.
The cause for that is the brutal showing by the starters that are averaging less than six innings per start on the year. How is that acceptable. This is all five guys in the rotation not being able to manage pitch counts and consistently get out of innings. That is just unacceptable. To be honest, I don't even know if I trust Yovanni anymore when he starts. Even if he strikes out 10 guys, he's likely only going five innings.
The other four, including Friday night's starter Randy Wolf, have not been much better.
In doing some more reading at a blog that is becoming one of my frequent reads, The Brewers Bar, a good point is brought up that this isn't just about the bullpen. In baseball everything is connected.
It's a good point. Monday night at the game Rickie had two errors that extended innings. Tuesday Alcides kicked a couple of balls and the offense left 11 runners on base and couldn't get the big hit that could have gotten Dave Bush the lead and maybe helped him settle in. At Miller Park leads have been few and far between and it's hard to say what getting a guy that lead will do.
That brings me to an offense that aside, from Ryan Braun and Casey McGehee hasn't seen any of the guys consistently get in a groove and make a statement. That includes Prince Fielder who has an on-base percentage just some 20 points behind his slugging percentage. Tell me you expected that from the big fella?
Some are calling for Ken Macha to be relieved of his duties as manager. Well, let me ask those people this question: Can firing the manager make pitchers throw strikes and last into the seventh inning? Didn't think so. So I'm not sure that's a move that wold accomplish much. That doesn't mean I don't think it can't happen.
With problems in almost every aspect of the game, maybe a different voice leading the charge is welcome. I'd have to say in a year where we may see Prince traded Doug Melvin has to make moves that will give this team a chance to get in the race and keep Prince in town as long as possible. The managerial move is one that has to be on the list if it comes to it.
With the Phillies coming to town, I'm not sure the weekend will see a bright resurgence from all the key parts of this team.
Enough of the depressing talk. Got a couple good links and vidoes from the Web I found today. First, the good stuff. If you know me, you know I'm one of the last people to support the singing of a Lady Gaga song. Well, I stumbled upon this on the Interweb yesterday. Damn impressive if you ask me for a sixth grader to be able to perform like this. Take a listen. So great!
Found some funny wrestler pics on Maxim.com today. Just seeing these big guys out of place is quite funny.
Just like the pic of John Cena holding an oversized tennis racket. Hahahaha!
Now finally, we come to the Nussie Hunter portion of the broadcast. Today, I'm introducing myself and you to one Giorgia Palmas. Who is she? Well, she's an Italian model and TV host. Take a look at these pics to get a full look at her. Here's a sample. I'd say I can't understand Italian, but I'd spend time attempting to figure out what she was saying.
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