It's 50 degrees outside (well, I'll round up from 44 degrees, Haha.) and we were just days away from Brewers pitchers and catchers officially reporting to Maryvale Baseball Park for Spring Training. That's enough evidence for me to see spring on the horizon. The first official workout for the pitching staff will be Thursday and that will be the first official time Ron Roenicke will take on manger duties for the Crew.
Getting to know a little about him over the winter and actually meeting him at Brewers On Deck a couple weeks back, he should fit in quite well with the team. He said some pretty powerful things and while he has never managed at the MLB level before, he seems to always say the right things.
As was evident in a Saturday story by Tom Haudricourt in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel story that was a pretty telling Q & A. It touched on a number of points to kind of wet the whistle of us fans giong into Spring Training.
I like that he has a pretty good feeling with the staff. I would guess baseball is one of the few sports that, even after a manager or coach change, has a number of hold over coaches. That may be one of the biggest keys into making a smooth transition going into the season. Guys like Ed Sedar and Dale Sveum know this team quite well and should have him up to speed in no time once everyone gets to camp.
He was asked about the defense of the team. Like him, I don't feel real bad about the defense. Of course, they could always get better in the field, but it's not an awful weakness. He did hit on a pretty good point, that with better pitching, less balls will get sent their way which should lessen the effect of defense on them and give them a better chance to succeed.
I also liked his comments on injuries to the pitching staff. I, like him, think the team could survive for a short time if one, and maybe even two guys go down with injuries. But only for a short time with Manny Parra and Mark Rogers available to start if needed. If things go for more than a couple weeks, then it could get dicey and Roenicke agrees. Like he said, any team that thinks it can win with the seventh or eighth guy in their system starting for an extended time, they have some screws loose.
The last question Tom asked was on the expectations of this team. Ron hit on this at the On Deck event a couple weeks back when he was on stage, and he echoed it again in the interview. Of course, with the new pitching arrivals, expectations have shot up, but he welcomes them and he has high expectations, too.
To that end, I saw a story on OnMilwaukee.com last week that said a Packers Super Bowl win put the expectations of the Brewers at ridiculous levels for fans around here. I can agree with that. People now are thinking the Crew must win the NL Pennant, which I would love to see, but have to see how things pan out first. Baseball is a weird game and sometimes odd things happen to pitchers and hitters. Obviously the pieces are in place and, on paper, this team can go far, but it has to perform on the field and not on paper.
Going to quickly jump into some pop culture talk now. The Grammys were last night and were pretty good. My fave performance, of the night was, of course, Eminem with Dr. Dre and Skylar Grey doing "I Need a Doctor." To me, this is pretty deep stuff. Enjoy it...
On to the Nussie Hunter portion of the broadcast today. The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue cover model will be unveiled tonight on David Letterman. The secret is guarded with secrecy and I'd expect Bar Rafaeli and Brooklyn Decker to be front runners for the spot. I also think Chrissy Teigen has a good shot. You can follow her on Twitter, here. And check her out in last year's Swimsuit Issue. Here's a sample below.
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