Who starts Opening Day on mound for Brewers?

On the day Opening Day tickets were made available for those who won the ticket lottery (this writer was one of them!) it's time to seriously start getting ready for the big day, which is just 34 days away.

Manager Ron Roenicke has already been asked as to who will get the ball for the Brewers on that day and, as per usual, he is not making it public his throughts on who he will tap to start things off for the 2014 season against the Braves at Miller Park.

What he has mentioned is some clue that he has looked at the schedule and noted the Brewers will be part of three home openers in the first week of the season. First, in Milwaukee, on the actual Opening Day. Second, in Boston, when the Red Sox get their World Series rings on the first weekend of the season, and third, in Philadelphia the following Monday against the Phillies. 

That could play a part in things, as Roenicke is on record as saying that Friday "ring day" with the Red Sox at Fenway "is a big game." 

History tells us he is not one to skip guys in the rotation, even with off days between the Brewers Wednesday finale with the Braves and Friday's tilt in Fenway. 

It has to be between three guys for the Opening Day nod and it would set up the rest of the first 10 days of the season. Yovani Gallardo has started the last four openers, but he is coming off what many consider to be a rough year. It wasn't a bad year for him (minus the DUI which put a black eye on his season), but he didn't take the step forward many expected he would. 

Kyle Lohse pushed through a rough open of the season to be the best Brewers pitcher for all of 2013. He was the legit ace of the staff last year once he got dialed in. Many expect him to do the same this season.

Matt Garza was the big free-agent acquisition and was right in line with Lohse while a member of the Cubs last season. After he got traded to the Rangers and suffered an injury he was never the same the rest of the season. He could be a 1a to Lohse's ace-caliber stuff this season.

So who does Roenicke go with? It has to be Lohse for me and here's why. If Roenicke does not skip the guys at the back end of the rotation with the Thursday off day that first week of the season, the No. 1 will pitch the Sunday game in Boston with his No. 2 start of the season. The No. 2 guy would then pitch the opener in Philly the next day and the No. 3 would get an extra day off and start Game 2 of the series against the Phillies. With that in mind, I go Lohse, Garza, Gallardo out of the box. It lines the ducks up when you need them most and puts Gallardo in the best position to succeed.

That does leave out the Friday Opener in Boston. Does Roenicke trust Wily Peralta or Marco Estrada to start that game? The Sox will be throwing their No. 4 that day, too, so it won't be that big of a deal. 

What is a big deal is the start of the Brewers season. After these three Opening Days, the Brewers then play 21 of 24 games against teams from the NL Central. they can ill afford to get off to starts like they have seemingly every year Roenicke has been the manager.

Garza signing would shore up Brewers rotation, bullpen

It's not quite official just yet, but the Brewers and free agent pitcher Matt Garza seem destined to agree to a contract that will see Garza sign the richest free agent contract in Brewers team history. 

Did anyone see this coming? I know I didn't, but it's a coo for General Manager Doug Melvin that helps two of the most important part of the team; the starting rotation and the bullpen.

Last season it felt like the Melvin leaned on the young arms to carry the starting rotation and the result was an avalanche that burried the team in a 6-22 May that proved too much to dig out of. The Garza signing address that and and give the team the ability to slide one of the three being considered for the final two spots in the rotation to the bullpen. 

Marco Estrada, Willy Peralta and Tyler Thornburg will all have a shot at those final two spots, but the one that misses out (I'm leaning towards Thornburg) would be moved to the bullpen, where he could be a viable asset. In Thornburg's case, a possible set up man for closer Jim Henderson.

It would also clear things up with Will Smith, acquired from Kansas City in the Nori Aoki trade, and settle him in the bullpen, where he has experience.

Garza would fall in line behind Kyle Lohse and Yovani Gallardo in the starting rotation and add a potent arm to the No. 3 slot of the rotation. The Brewers are hoping they get the Garza who started 2013 6-1 with the Cubs, not the one who ended the season 4-5 with the Rangers and a strikeout-to-walk ratio that was the worst of his career after battling injuries. 

The 30-year-old Garza and his injury past is the concern circling the Brewers fan base, and it is a great concern, but it's a risk the Brewers have to take if they want to shore up the rotation. They are banking on him being healthy enough to log 170 innings at least and take the ball every fifth day and keep the ball in the ballpark, something that won't be easy considering his recent history. He has allowed 35 home runs in the last two seasons and he's coming to Miller Park which is one of the friendliest hitter's parks in the Majors.

As a whole I'm for this move, but there are some shaky parts of it. Instead of worrying about three years from now, I look at this season and it's a move that shores things up on the pitching front.

Which Brewers starting pitcher has most to prove in 2012?

With Monday being the first official workout for Brewers pitchers and catchers at Maryvale Baseball Park in Phoenix, it's time to start thinking baseball. More specifically, I really wanted to take a closer look at the starting pitchers on the Brewers staff in this post. As I talked in a post last month, all five starters return from last season. Usually with everyone back complacency could be a factor in performance this season. But with this group, all five have something to prove. With the status of Ryan Braun up in the air, the team will lean on the pitching staff to carry them through the time he is out.

We'll start with the man that proved he was the ace last season, Yovani Gallardo (Baseball reference stats). He was the man that the team turned to in the playoffs to get big wins and throughout the regular season was a horse, winning a career high 17 games and was the first Brewers pitcher to strike out 200 batters in three consecutive seasons in team history. His 3.52 ERA was a career high for a full season. Most importantly, he walked just 59 batters, or just 2.6 per nine innings. That's a full one batter less than his previous best set in 2010. The big number for Gallardo, and this is what he has to prove is the 207 innings he threw last season, plus the 26 innings he threw in 12 days in the playoffs.. That's 44 1/3 innings more than his previous high for a season. Sports Illustrated's Tom Verducci has come up with the "Verducci Effect" which tracks the jumps in innings a pitcher makes from year to year. Anything over 30 for a 25-and-under hurler has a good chance of resulting in injury or regression the following season. So, he's got that and a season to show that he is in fact the true ace of the staff this season.

After Gallardo, Zack Greinke proved himself last year, after getting the ire of fans with his basketball injury during spring training. After missing all of Spring Training Greinke took only three starts in the minors before he made his Brewers debut May 4. While the Brewers played well behind him when he took the mound, his performances were lackluster at times. The Brewers went 10-5 in his first 15 starts (he went 7-4), but his 4.84 ERA was not Greinke-like (Game logs). His strikeouts were there, but he'd get wreckless at times. The second half of the season was where Greinke turned the corner and showed why he has a Cy Young award in his trophy case. From July 27 on, Greinke was 9-2, leading the Brewers to an 11-2 record during that stretch. He posted a 2.77 ERA, struck out 87 while walking just 27 (Game Logs). Those were the numbers fans were expecting out of the gate. This season, he's got to make it through the spring and then start the season with the same effort he finished last season with. If he does that, he will push Gallardo and have a shot to win an NL Cy Young. Oh, and how can I forget he is a free agent after this season. So he's auditioning for a possible contract. Now, the Brewers are rumored to want a deal with him and it sounds like something he would welcome. We shall see how that pans out.

Shaun Marcum is the middle man in the starting rotation and could take the cake as the most interesting and maybe the one with the most to prove. I can't remember a guy having a regular season like him and then tanking that bad. He pitched just 9.2 postseason innings and allowed 17 hits and 16 runs, all earned, during that time. Yeah, it was bad. That makes what he did during the regular season seem out of place. It was rather stellar. He went 13-7 and posted a 3.54 ERA which was .02 behind Gallardo as the best of the staff (Game Logs). His 200.2 innings were a career high. But, when it comes down to it, the awful outings he had in Phoenix in the NLDS and the two outings in the NLCS against the Cardinals are the black eye on his 2011 season. Like it or not, that's how it is. Add to the fact that he's also a free agent adds to the mix where other teams will be keeping an eye on him. When it comes to the Brewers signing him, I really only see them signing either he or Greinke. Not both.

Randy Wolf was as consistent a No. 4 starter last season as there was in the Majors. He hadhttp://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2149688284499501924#editor/target=post;postID=7026812923272109016 the most innings during the regular season with 212.1 innings pitched and his 3.69 ERA is the fourth lowest of his 12-year Major League career. He struck out 134 hitters while walking 66, but allowed just 214 hits for the regular season (Game Logs). Those numbers aren't jump-off-the-page great, but they are pretty good. During the Brewers run last season when they took over the NL Central, Wolf was the focal point. He won five straight decisions in late July into early August. He was the tough-luck loser last season at times, losing five games on the season when he allowed three runs or less. What does Wolf have to prove? He too is a free agent after this season. It seems unlikely the team will resign him as he will be 35 this season. Last season he was the pitcher they wanted when they signed him prior to the 2009 season.

Chris Narveson is back to close out the rotation and after listening to a discussion on ESPN Radio in Milwaukee Monday, one would think he would be the guy that could become complacent. But Drew Olson doesn't see that happening with him. I say he has something to prove because the pitching staff for 2013 is going to be retooled and if he wants to be a part of it and move up from the No. 5 slot, he'll have to work at it. At one point in 2011 Narveson was 2-4 through May with a 4.68 ERA. Once the calendar turned to June, Narvey turned it on. He went 9-4 the rest of the way with a 4.32 ERA (Game Logs). That's about what you would want out of your No. 5 guy.

So, after all that, it seems pretty clear who the guy with the most to prove is. That's Marcum. The postseason can define guys. If there were ever a reason people, or fans, can point to and say "That's why the team didn't go to the World Series," it's him. The biggest way to make us as fans forget about that is to have the same regular season he had last year. General Managers across the Majors will also have to say he is the most interesting because he was an innings hog last year. It was a personal high for him, but it showed the elbow had healed after his Tommy John Surgery. If he backs that up again and something can't be worked out to stay in Milwaukee, a big deal awaits him next season.

What do you think? Comment and let me know!

Fate of Brewers season doesn't entirely lie with Braun

With Ryan Braun finally getting his day to appeal his positive test for a banned substance, the National League MVP and the Brewers can finally start to put the final pieces together for the 2012 season. Will the Brewers have their superstar left fielder or not though the first two months of the season? We will find out shortly.

Maybe it's the optimist in me and believer that this season will be just as special as the last, but part of me thinks the Brewers can hold the fort down while Braun is away and keep the National League Central crown within reach if he is out for the worst-case scenario of 50 games. Don't get me wrong, Brauns .332 batting average, 33 home runs, 111 RBIs and 33 stolen bases will be hard to replace in the top third of the lineup on top of the loss of Prince Fielder, but for 50 games and 57 days, the Brewers can weather the storm. Here's how.

When Rickie Weeks went out in August last year, fans, myself included, feared things could go south, but the pitching emerged to carry the team to the NL Central title. That will have to happen at the start of this season. All five starters return and all have something to prove.

Yovani Gallardo is ready to prove he is a true ace, even if he's not the pitcher on the staff with a Cy Young Trophy in his trophy case. As good as he was in the playoffs last year, is the level I expect to see Gallardo all season. He was inconsistent at times last year letting his pitch count get the best of him and force him out of games early. I'd expect to see that as a point of emphasis from the start of Spring Training.

Zack Greinke, you know the guy who does have a Cy Young, wants to put the rough spring from last year behind him and I expect him to come out of the gates strong. While Gallardo was shining in the postseason last year, Shaun Marcum was busy flipping his glove in disgust as he lost all three starts in awful fashion. (Can't forget the glove flip in Phoenix!). The kicker on top of it all for Greinke and Marcum is both are free agents after the season and are auditioning for big money elsewhere.

Randy Wolf is in a similar boat in the final year of his three-year deal. Last year he was the guy that was the most consistent pitcher during the season, but got little to no run support in some of his best outings. Finally Chris Narveson is back in the five-hole at the back of the rotation and has to prove himself to a point to maybe earn a chance top step up on the rotation with possibly two or three of the other guys leaving the rotation after the season.

As for the offense, the thought with filling the shoes of Prince was not to drop it all on one guy, but to spread the load throughout the lineup. That has to be the mindset of Corey Hart, Weeks (who should move up to the No. 3 spot in front of Aramis Ramirez) and everyone including the new guy Nori Aoki.

Only time will tell how things unfold, but the pieces are in place for the Brewers to be at least within shouting distance of the top of the division if Braun is out for 50 games at worst or (what I'm hoping for) a 25-game ban. The pitching is the key to the team, especially the starters out of the gate.

Previewing the Brewers vs. D-Backs NLDS

It's finally here! What us as Brewers fans figured would be on the horizon at the start of September is now upon us with the National League Divisional Series opening Saturday at Miller Park against the Arizona Diamondbacks. It's a series, to be honest that is not an easy one for the Brewers, but definitely not one that are an underdog in, either.

As the Brewers learned in 2008, having an offense may be important, but winning a playoff series comes down to pitching. Both teams have named their Game 1 starters with Yovani Gallardo (17-10, 3.52 ERA), the man who started Opening Day, going for the Brewers and Ian Kennedy, who won 21 games (with a 2.88 ERA) during the season for the Diamondbacks. That's basically both aces going for Brewers manager Ron Roenicke and D-Backs skipper Kirk Gibson.

Winning Game 1 is crucial for both teams as the winner of that game gets a great advantage in this best-of-five series. You'd have to expect both guys to go deep into the game and keep that one close with things coming down to defense and clutch hitting. That's what scares me about the Brewers. There have been times this season where they just shut down with runners in scoring position and times when their defense has been shotty, at best. But they are at home and they did win 57 games there during the regular season which makes me believe they will be ready to click on all cylinders to start the series off.

If both pitchers are on their game it may take just a couple mistakes to turn the game. That's why I think the Brewers might have the edge with their offense because they can do so much with those mistakes, blasting them over the fence at Miller Park. That isn't just going on potential. In recent weeks, especially over the last week which saw them go 5-1 to close the season at Miller Park, the Brewers have been bashing home runs.
With both teams having solid bullpens with closers on both sides having over 45 saves apiece, that's what it could come down to.

Looking beyond to Game 2, the Brewers have a decision to make with Zack Greinke, but I'd lean toward him starting in Game 3 with either Shaun Marcum or Randy Wolf getting the nod in Game 2. Arizona has named starters for Games 2 and 3 with Tim Hudson (16-12, 3.49 ERA) going in Game 2 and Joe Saunders (12-12, 3.69 ERA) getting the nod in Game 4.

As a Brewers fan, part of me thinks this series will probably go four games with the Diamondbacks taking Game 2 and the Brewers pulling it together to shut down the Diamondbacks and win their first playoff series since the 1982 American League Championship Series. If it does go to a Game 5, the Brewers would most certainly tab Gallardo to get the start at home in front of what should be a rocking Miller Park. Having home field is so important to this team, rolling him out there with the home field would be what puts the Brew Crew over the top.


In case you were wondering, yes I will be in attendance for both games from the perch in section 223, row 6. A big shout out to those who I'll be spending my weekend with including @RJO25, @jessgaler and @aehlen. For the latter two, that is their first Wilber's Way shout out. Hope to see you at the tailgate to prepare for this great weekend of games! Giddy up!



Usually I'd do my Bears and NFL weekend preview in this part, but I haven't had a Brewers post in a bit and couldn't not do one heading into the weekend. That said, I still have my NFL picks and an abbreviated Bears preview.

Cam Newton, Greg Olsen, Ron "Chico" Rivera and the Panthers come to Soldier Field this weekend in a game that, honestly has me a bit worried. The Bears have to be favorites in this one, but Newton has been a highlight film through the first three weeks of the season and could post a threat against a weak Bears secondary. I still like the Bears' front four and their ability to get after Cam in the pocket and make Newton pass the ball downfield and field them, but from what we've seen from him, he can chuck it around the field.
That turns the attention back to the Bears defense. Fortunately for Mike Martz, the Panthers defense is nowhere close to the Packers defense and should make him look a little better this week. The key is simple, PUT THE BALL IN MATT FORTE'S HANDS!
Score prediction: Bears 24, Panthers 20.

Here's the rest of the picks. Last week I had another 10-6 week to push my record for the season to 33-15. Winners, as always, are in bold.
Bills at Bengals
Panthers at Bears
Titans at Browns
Lions at Cowboys
Vikings at Chiefs
Redskins at Rams
Saints at Jaguars
49ers at Eagles
Steelers at Texans
Falcons at Seahawks
Giants at Cardinals
Broncos at Packers
Patriots at Raiders
Dolphins at Chargers
Jets at Ravens
Colts at Buccaneers

Brewers Nation: Don't panic as postseason looms

Call me the eternal optimist or a fan that thinks the last week of the Brewers season was what I called it a couple weeks back, a market correction. That's why I'm not worried about this team going forward to not only clinch the National League Central title and beyond into the NL Divisional Series.

And before you jump on me for blindly thinking like this, I'll tell you why. Of course there's Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder, a healthy Rickie Weeks getting healthy and back in his groove, but most importantly a steady pitching staff that has been the backbone of this team all year.

Yes there have been (and almost always are) ups and downs over the course of a baseball season. That has certainly been the case for the Brewers, but over the last week to 10 days, it has been a bit of feast or famine for this Brewers team as it works itself out of the funk it was in against the Cardinals and Phillies at the start of the month.

The biggest key I can take out of the funk and even the great weekend showing in Cincinnati was that while Braun and Fielder have played well, most would agree they are not on the tears we saw them on at times during the season. These things go in cycles and you'd have to think things are coming back toward at upswing at the right time. Last Tuesday night's game against the Rockies showed what both mean to this team, combining to homer for both of the team's runs that led to the dramatic walk-off victory (Did you see us in the 223?). The two of them getting hot at the right time, in the playoffs no less would make this team almost unstoppable. While that may be a bit of me wishing, I wouldn't put it out of the realm of possibility as niether have shown signs of cracking under the pressure of clinching a division title in this race.

There are no trades that could help a team looking into the playoffs into September, but that's what the return of Rickie Weeks from the disabled list feels like for this Brewers team. Sure this team went on it's great 27-5 run while he was on the DL, but the offense was not what it was with him in it as the pitching carried this team. Manager Ron Roenicke will tell you this team needs Weeks if it wants to make noise in the playoffs.

Weeks finally played his first full game since coming off the DL Monday night and said he felt pretty good about things. It's been a slow process, but you can see he's starting to get his bearings back at the plate and will serve as great protection to Braun and Fielder hitting out of the No. 5 spot in the lineup with his power and speed that could set the table for the bottom half of the order to do some damage.

Of course a team is only as good as it's starting pitcher and this season has shown what that looks like in Milwaukee for the first time in a long time. Yovani Gallardo, Zack Greinke, Shaun Marcum, Randy Wolf and even Chris Narveson were the big part of the late July-August push that put this team where it is now. While they've had a couple hiccups in recent weeks, I'd give them a couple passes as you'd expect this offense to back them with a couple runs each night, so it's not all their fault for a couple of the losses, you just want them to stay consistent and for much of the last week, the top four especially have been spot on. There really isn't much question as to whether they can keep it up because they have for the entire second half of the season.

This team has all the tools it needs to be successful this postseason. The next week will be a bit of preparation for that as I'd expect Roenicke to tweak the pitching rotation to line things up for the NLDS, but playing meaningful games up until the final day of the season will pay dividends. Should be fun to watch unfold.

WW 193: Roadtrip can still be salvaged in Miami for Brewers

First off, I know I've been gone for a while. I've been writing some freelance high school baseball stuff for another Web site and doing it in the time I would have normally posted on here. So, I have a free night and figured I'd get back to updating things on "The Way."


After losing two of three games in Cincinnati this week, all the talk surrounding the Brewers is that the team can't win on the road. Well, they can't win in Great American Ballpark to save themselves, going just 2-12 in the last two years. Those are just awful numbers and may be playing mind tricks on the team. It was something the guys on 540 ESPN's D-List talked about with Tom Haudricourt a week or so ago and kind of makes sense in that the guys end up trying too hard. In baseball, you can't do that much if at all because it shows and works against you.
Looking at what is coming up in Florida against the Marlins, all is not lost and they could put some things together to get home with a .500 road trip when it is all said and done. Randy Wolf goes Friday and we should expect Wil Nieves to get the nod behind the plate. With him back catching Wolf, the lefty has allowed just seven hits in the two games. Ricky Nolasco is a guy the Brewers usually hit pretty well, so I'm not worried about how things shake out there.
On Saturday, Yovani Gallardo looks to follow up another gem last Sunday when he pushed his record to 7-2 on the years and watched his ERA drop to 3.89 on the season. Yo was the pitcher of the month for May and seems to have put the hiccups (that's what I'll call them) behind him in the last two weeks of April. Ricky Volstad didn't walk a bunch of guys in his last outing, but got rocked by the Diamondbacks and lasted just 3 1/3 innings. The Brewers offense should be able to deliver something similar. He's just 2-4 with a 5.91 ERA, too, so I see the bats having a chance to come around.
Sunday's game is the one with the biggest chance for a Brewers loss, in my eyes, with Chris Narveson going against Anibal Sanchez. Narvey has been bitten by one bad inning again this season, especially lately. Sanchez has been dominant of late, including his last outing where he went eight inning and gave up six hits and K'd eight.
Finally, on Monday Zack Greinke gets the nod and we are all still waiting for the dominant Zack to show his form. As it's noted in the MLB story I got the probables from, the Brewers are 5-1 in games he starts, so it seems even if he's just slightly above average, they play well behind the guy.
I know I focused a lot on the pitching, but it wasn't that bad in the two losses early in the week. If the offense can find a way to tack on the runs late in the game Wednesday, they win the game and the late rally means nothing. It's what they did Tuesday in earning the win and snuff out any chance of a comeback the Reds seem to have in close games there against the Crew.
Corey Hart continues to be hot at the plate despite his bout with dehydration and some are even hinting of a move for him to the No. 5 spot behind Ryan and Prince as opposed to in front of them. I'm not sure if that means going with Gomez and Morgan in front of them full-time. If so, I'm not sure I'm behind that. Gomez has done some good things and I'm not sure a platoon in the No. 2 hole is a good idea.


Just a short bit on the NBA Finals as it's on in the background behind me. I picked the Heat to win in six, but was hoping for some fight from the Mavericks. Through the first half, they are shooting much better and should be in this in the end. Hope they can steal this one and head to Dallas.
I'm loving the word that Cavs fans are printing up shirts and getting behind the Mavs. I say I love it because it's so comical, but I'm not sure I would be proud of the fact you are rooting against one man. I know he burned you, but get over it.

Now it's time for the Nussie Hunter. I good friend of mine got married over the weekend and when I saw the news Tony Romo did, as well, I couldn't resist to have more fun with Candace Crawford. Burlington's favorite native son has surely done himself well. She's amazing. I'm not behind the fact people are ripping him for having a bridal registry that included $10 and $20 items. Not everyone he knows is rich. Give him a break there. Makes complete sense. Anyway, here's Candace. Enjoy!

Stepping back from the ledge after Day 1 of Brewers season

There were a lot of things to digest from the first Brewers game of the season Thursday. It's safe to say though, the one that sticks around the most was the sick-to-your-stomach feeling left after closer John Axford allowed four runs in the bottom of the ninth to let what looked like a sure win, slip away.
Initially, yes, I was upset and disappointed. Yes, Axford has had a rough spring and this outing only adds to the chaos that has been his month of March. I am a little concerned, but following how he handles himself, I'm confident he can work out of it and get back on track.
What I don't understand are the people who automatically jumped off the proverbial bridge calling Axford washed up and putting him in the same sentence as Derek Turnbow. It's one game people. Yes, he got some pitches up and gave up a big home run (how odd does a shot to right field look to a right-handed hitter?), but this is 1/162 of the season. It's hardly the end of the world.
Now, it sounds like I'm being a tad hypocritical, but think about it for a second. Yes, I was encouraged by what Yovani Gallardo was able to do on the mound in his six solid innings. The top five spots in the order all got hits for the Brewers (while only Wil Nieves got a hit for the rest of the order). Rickie Weeks had a home run (as the first Brewer to lead off the season with a homer) and a double. Ryan Braun was on base four times and was absolutely crushing the baseball. All of that is great. But I'm also not thinking they are all amazing.
Axford will tell you he has room to improve. Heck, so will Kameron Loe, who gave up a homer himself, and so would Casey McGehee, who was part of a wild play that kept the game alive for the Reds in the ninth. But, those guys have earned a few chances and I'm confident their overall body of work for this season will be very solid and this will have just been a bump in the road.
Don't get me wrong, getting this win would have been great for the Brewers psyche. After going 3-11 against the Reds last season, the Brewers desperately need to turn things around against the team that won the NL Central last season and has plans of doing it again this season. Going into their stadium on Opening Day and playing as convincingly as they did for 8 and a half innings would have had to send a bit of a message to the Reds.
Baseball isn't like football where you can live and die with every game. This one will have to be nearly forgotten and put in the rearview mirror for the Brewers. The best part of it all is, there's a game Saturday and Sunday, giving them a chance to put it behind them and move on. That's what makes this game great.
Please, put your jump to conclusion mats away people!!!


With Opening Day upon, that has to mean Wrestlemania is very close, too. In fact, it's Sunday. It's one of those things you have to take in every year and appreaciate the entertainment that is WWE. It's so good. This year, Shawn Michaels is getting inducted into the Hall of Fame. I have to think he is going to have a hand in keeping the Undertaker undefeated at Wrestlemania. Here's more of the brainchild of Vince McMahon in photos from the good folks at Sports Illustrated.

Time to jump right into the Nussie Hunter portion of today's post. I was checking out Coed Magainze today and came across a Nussie I probably should have known sooner. Her name is Rali Ivanova. She's a Twitter star, judging by the amazing TwitPics she posts. So much so, the good folks at Coed posted a TwitPic gallery of hers. Damn! Here's a sample and you can check out the rest, here. Oh, and don't forget to check her out on Twitter. I just followed her!

Roenicke makes Brewers starting rotation official

Brewers manager Ron Roenicke made the least shocking of official news today, naming Yovani Gallardo as the Opening Day starter on March 31 against the Reds. It was a move that made the most sense after Zack Greinke went down with cracked ribs and will miss 2-4 more weeks of the spring and also what would have been his first three starts of the regular season.
As Adam McCalvy quoted Roenicke on Brewers.com, the team didn't lose ITS ace, it lost one of its aces and Gallardo is worthy and willing to step in. Things could also work out where Gallardo also starts Opening Day at Miller Park on April 4. But, at the moment that is looking like that start will go to Chris Narveson, who was tabbed to be the No. 5 starter before the injury.
As I wrote back in January on Examiner.com, splitting up the lefties would help keep the opposition off balance and would also split up Greinke and Gallardo. The move to have Gallardo start Opening Day at Miller Park would set that up down the road when Greinke returns and also break up Randy Wolf and Narveson.
As Roenicke told Tom Haudricourt this morning, the Brewers are not too concerned about splitting Wolf and Narveson up as many would think because "they are not the same prototype pitcher." That makes sense. Either way, the team will have to decide on who fills in as the No. 5 starter then on April 5 or 6 against the Braves with a rotation of Gallardo, Shaun Marcum, Wolf, Narveson.
There is a chance Gallardo will start April 4 at Miller Park on regular rest, but judging by what Roenicke told reporters he thinks Narveson is up for the home opener, it would seem unlikely he would budge from that stance unless something changes and Narveson isn't ready. The guy won 12 games last year and this would be a be shot of confidence for him to pitch on a big stage.
Right now that is looking like it is a battle between Mark Rogers, Willy Peralta and Amaury Rivas. All have question marks, but would just be spot starters.
There are some already hoping Rogers pitches well and then forces the Brewers hand to keep him in the rotation. The truth on that matter is, as was noted this morning by fellow Brewers blogger Big Rygg at Brewers Nation, Rogers has Minor League options and would no doubt be sent down in favor of releasing Manny Parra or Narveson regardless of how well he pitches.
SHADOW OF DOUBT
Of course, with all of this shuffling going on and things not setting up exactly how Brewers fans and everyone around MLB pictured the start of the season, comparisons are already being drawn to the 2010 Seattle Mariners, who traded for Cliff Lee before last season began.
Lee suffered an injury in March and missed time at the start of the regular season, too. That makes Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal put some of the pieces together and say the Brewers could be set up for a failure. Rosenthal touches all the bases in his story though and says there is a big difference in the Brewers in that they kept their offense in tact while making big pitching acquisitions. The Mariners certainly did not and could not hit at all last year. Obviously the Brewers are not perfect, but I'm feeling pretty good about the starting rotation once Greinke returns, and the offense. If the bottom of the order can pull their weight and the bullpen can hold up their end of the donkey, that would just leave the defense as an are that needs to perform. All three are concerns from Rosenthal and rightly so. It's one of those things we'll have to watch develop over the course of the season.

Moving on to some viral goodness today. Not sure if you've seen Blake Griffin in a video as Mars Blackmon. Yes, this Mars. (Yes, I love these and just wanted a reason to post it.)

This video for Griffin is him toting USC tight end Jordan Cameron who is in the NFL Draft. It's actually pretty funny and was put together by the people at SI.com. It must not make anyone worried like a non hoops player playing ball like it does for us Brewers fans as Cameron dunks ball after ball. I guess he's not playing against anyone, so it's OK.



Ash Wednesday was yesterday. It is the start of Lent and a very big religious time of year. That in itself isn't very funny. But when my man Pee Wee Herman comes by the Conan Show, hilarity ensues. His entrance is great on its own. Haha.


Now to the Nussie Hunter portion of today's broadcast. I was looking for another newcomer and came across Australian Siobhan Perekh on Gunaxin. She was a 2005 FHM model search and even became a playable character in a video game. Let it be known, though, she wasn't wearing this in the game. Check out more photos here.