Blog Feed: Brewers! Brewers! Keep Turnin' Up the Heat!

Attempting to analyze Ricke Weeks’ struggles

Published on 2012-05-15 21:21:41

Posted by Steve It’s been a while since I’ve posted, and the Brewers are comfortably ahead by a score of 7-0, so I decided to work on a Rickie Weeks post while I watch the rest of the game. (At … Continue reading → > read more

Bad to worse

Published on 2012-05-07 15:28:34

Posted by Steve While obviously not ideal, losing Chris Narveson and Mat Gamel was manageable. Losing Alex Gonzalez, who joins Gamel with a torn ACL, is a different story. Gonzalez had been impressive this season. He came up with some … Continue reading → > read more

Replacing Mat Gamel

Published on 2012-05-02 16:03:07

Posted by Steve A few months ago the main question the Brewers faced was: How do we replace Prince Fielder? Now, unfortunately, it seems the question is how to replace the replacement. Mat Gamel injured his knee on a frustratingly … Continue reading → > read more

Stop with the “retaliation”

Published on 2012-04-25 16:23:52

Posted by Steve I don’t listen a ton of sports radio, but I like to listen to post game shows when I’m leaving Miller Park sometimes. Last night, one of the hot topics was Rickie Weeks getting hit by a … Continue reading → > read more

How to replace Chris Narveson?

Published on 2012-04-20 16:19:47

Posted by Steve Seemingly out of nowhere, the Brewers just announced that Chris Narveson is headed to the DL with a torn rotator cuff. I suppose it’s not shocking, since his velocity had been down this season, but this was … Continue reading → > read more

This is getting to be amazing (Kottaras)

Published on 2012-04-18 01:15:42

Posted by Steve That was about as good as a mid-April game can get. I was at the game last night, and a few things come to mind: 1. Interesting to see that the team who used their best reliever … Continue reading → > read more

The New Russell Branyan

Published on 2012-04-13 19:12:50

Posted by Steve And he’s so dreamy. > read more

Greinke saga takes a new turn

Published on 2012-04-11 11:58:30

Posted by Steve Things were starting to seem like they were going in the right direction. Zack Greinke said he wouldn’t need an agent unless he “had a reason to get one.” Why would he have a reason to get … Continue reading → > read more

Opening Weekend Observations

Published on 2012-04-09 10:14:43

Posted by Steve At the risk of over-analyzing something that I saw in the first three games of a 162-game season, here are some thoughts I have after watching the Brewers and Cardinals. ———— The Cardinals still have a great … Continue reading → > read more

NL Central Predictions

Published on 2012-04-04 15:07:00

Posted by Steve Everybody is spitting out their MLB predictions now that the season is just about underway. I might as well do the same, but I’ll mainly focus on the NL Central. Let’s do this in reverse order of … Continue reading → > read more

Extensions Abound

Published on 2012-04-02 15:01:12

Posted by Steve Two monster extensions were signed today in the National League. Joey Votto signed for a reported $200 million, and Matt Cain signed for $112 million. Both are pretty alarming. First let’s look at Votto. This one is … Continue reading → > read more

Brewers to extend Jonathan Lucroy

Published on 2012-03-26 14:43:57

Posted by Steve The Brewers seem to be continuing their trend of extending their young players before they reach arbitration today, inking Jonathan Lucroy to a four or five year deal. Full details are yet to be released, but to … Continue reading → > read more

This was inevitable, but that doesn’t make it any less dumb

Published on 2012-03-19 12:33:31

Posted by Steve You just knew something like this was coming. It’s been some time since I got to FJM an article, so I’ll gladly welcome this chance. An uneasy feeling about Braun By Jim Owczarski Published March 19, 2012 … Continue reading → > read more

Spring training overload

Published on 2012-03-06 23:56:28

Posted by Steve Hey, check out this Baseball Reference linker I learned about at Reviewing the Brew! Isn’t it nifty? Anyway… Spring Training is great for a few reasons: you get a chance to see some younger players, and it’s … Continue reading → > read more

My response to the Journal-Sentinel’s ‘Seasons of Greatness’

Published on 2012-02-29 13:48:26

Posted by Steve The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel recently completed their rankings of the top ten seasons in Wisconsin sports history. If anyone knows me, you know I of course thought of Ben Sheets’ 2004 season, that of 264 strikeouts to 32 … Continue reading → > read more

This probably won’t go away for a while

Published on 2012-02-28 16:26:30

Posted by Steve Dino the collector made his statement today. I see a few glaring parts that do not make sense to me. He says he finished his collections at 5 p.m. on Saturday, October 1st (I believe I said … Continue reading → > read more

Tidbit #2

Published on 2012-02-27 06:43:48

Posted by Steve So much for the break from Ryan Braun stuff. This tidbit isn’t really much of a tidbit after all: it potentially could make Braun’s entire case. Yet, somehow, nobody is talking about it. Will Carroll, formerly of … Continue reading → > read more

Zack Greinke: Blunt talent evaluator

Published on 2012-02-26 23:25:40

Posted by Steve I’m taking a break from the Ryan Braun stuff, mainly because it’s been exhausted by blogs, national writers, etc., and I just don’t really think there’s anything left to say that hasn’t been said a hundred times … Continue reading → > read more

Another tidbit

Published on 2012-02-24 14:01:29

Posted by Steve I realize I’m probably posting too much here, but I thought this tidbit was too good to just add in as an edit to the last post. This is a report of what Dan Patrick said this … Continue reading → > read more

Braun Press Conference

Published on 2012-02-24 12:50:17

Posted by Steve I wanted to wait until we heard from Braun before I passed total judgment. First, some other things that came out today: -Apparently Lester Munson, ESPN’s legal analyst, said Live Blog of the Conference: My reactions as … Continue reading → > read more

Time to pile on MLB

Published on 2012-02-23 21:43:49

Posted by Steve It’s only been a few hours since the news of Braun’s exoneration broke, and you can already find opinions all over the board. MLB’s representatives came out and immediately shredded the tie-breaking arbitrator, Shyam Das, claiming that … Continue reading → > read more

Ryan Braun wins his appeal

Published on 2012-02-23 16:27:29

Posted by Steve Excuse me. More to come as news comes out. Until then… Think about how many times we’re going to hear that Bud got his Brewers off the hook. > read more

The forgotten pitchers

Published on 2012-02-21 10:10:48

Posted by Steve Despite the return of Francisco Rodriguez, I have my doubts that the Brewers’ bullpen will be as good as it was last year. Takashi Saito will certainly be missed, and so will LaTroy Hawkins. In fact, the … Continue reading → > read more

Spring Cleaning

Published on 2012-02-20 13:22:54

Posted by Steve As Spring Training gets underway, we’re finally getting a numbers of storylines worth discussing. I’ll be hitting those this week, but before getting into that, I’m working on a bit of housecleaning on the blog. I’ve added … Continue reading → > read more

Priority Number 1: Zack Greinke

Published on 2012-02-10 09:12:15

Posted by Steve By this time, you are able to tell for the most part which teams are entering the season as contenders and which ones are in rebuilding mode. The place you don’t want to be, generally, is somewhere … Continue reading → > read more

Prince Fielder signs with Detroit

Published on 2012-01-24 14:46:52

Posted by Steve So much for the growing theory that Scott Boras and Prince Fielder overplayed their hand in free agency somehow. Prince got a 9 year/$214 million contract from the Tigers, yet another “mystery team.” That’s one heck of … Continue reading → > read more

Aoki, K-Rod, and others

Published on 2012-01-17 18:51:30

Posted by Steve It’s been quite a while since the last post, but that’s really because there has been virtually no Brewers news to discuss. Then all of a sudden, today we were hit with rapid-fire Brewers news. How about … Continue reading → > read more

Brewers win posting rights to Japanese center fielder

Published on 2011-12-17 23:19:38

Posted by Steve In what has become the off-season of the unexpected, the Brewers have apparently won the posting rights to Norichika Aoki, a center fielder for the Yakult Swallows, for $2.5 million. I had actually heard a bit about … Continue reading → > read more

Cool off-season, Brewers. Not.

Published on 2011-12-12 20:51:36

Posted by Steve When the Alex Gonzalez signing broke Friday, I figured I could wait til Monday to post about it. What was going to happen over the weekend, anyway? So basically, we have the good (Alex Gonzalez signing), the … Continue reading → > read more

Well, crap.

Published on 2011-12-07 23:15:31

Posted by Steve Doug Melvin and the Brewers just got bamboozled: Apparently Francisco Rodriguez has decided to accept arbitration. Goodbye draft picks and a good shortstop. Hello to the most expensive set-up man in baseball. For the record, I don’t … Continue reading → > read more

Winter Meetings Preview (Just Say No to A-Ram)

Published on 2011-12-04 22:44:24

Posted by Steve It’s once again time for the greatest event of the greatest off-season in sports: Baseball’s Winter Meetings. The Brewers should have one big thing atop their wish list: a shortstop. I’d love to see them come away … Continue reading → > read more

The off-season plan: Replacing the value of Prince Fielder

Published on 2011-11-23 00:45:55

Posted by Steve The requisite amount of time has passed; I am now ready to discuss the off-season and next year. In fact,  I actually sat down to write this post a few different times, but it’s lengthy, and I’m … Continue reading → > read more

Why not?

Published on 2011-11-07 21:43:37

Posted by Steve Well, this hasn’t gone well. Since I last posted, things couldn’t have gone much worse baseball-wise. Satan held up his end of the bargain with Tony La Russa and David Freese, and the Cardinals finished off the … Continue reading → > read more

The first step is acceptance

Published on 2011-10-25 21:31:25

Posted by Steve Well, this still sucks. A week and a half later, and this still really sucks. I didn’t fall into a deep depression or anything, but it wasn’t good. I didn’t know what it felt like for the … Continue reading → > read more

Cornucopia of Vents

Published on 2011-07-05 23:19:07

Posted by Steve There is so much to say about the Brewers right now, and none of it is good. ———— Braun’s calf strain really has Roenicke in a bind, so I won’t complain too much about the lineups the … Contin > read more

Revisiting the Sabathia contract

Published on 2011-06-30 08:06:18

Posted by Steve Since the only Brewers-based topic worth writing about now is the baffling fact that Casey McGehee still has a spot in the lineup, and since I just can’t bring myself to write about that anymore, I thought … Continue readi > read more

WAR (Huh! Yeah!) What is it good for?

Published on 2011-06-25 11:21:52

Posted by Steve Absolutely… Somethin! There are so many strange, interesting moving parts to this Brewers team. It’s a good team overall that is off to a solid start–two things that combine to make them a slight favorite to win R > read more

500th Post

Published on 2011-06-17 00:02:34

Posted by Steve Well, how about that one, folks! B!B!K.T.U.T.H! has reached its 500th post. I got things started in January of 2007, when I was nothing more than a young baseball wannabe. Four years later, and…. Well I suppose I’m … > read more

Is that Ron Roenicke or Ned Yost?

Published on 2011-06-14 23:08:01

Posted by Steve Telling moment yesterday. My brother missed the Brewer game. This is how our conversation went. “How’d it go?” “They got Roenicked.” “Let me guess… Kameron Loe against Carlos Pena?” When > read more

That’s a lot of classy losing

Published on 2011-06-12 16:47:16

Posted by Steve There is nothing better than beating up on the Cardinals. There is no team I’d rather beat, including the Cubs. The pitching was dominant. The Cardinals came in as the best offense in the National League, and … Continue re > read more

Let’s go down to Nashville

Published on 2011-06-08 02:01:52

Posted by Steve As well as the Brewers are playing, they have some areas that could certainly be shored up. The bench is terrible. Wil Nieves might be the worst player in the majors. They could use another dependable relief … Continue reading & > read more

Welp

Published on 2011-06-06 19:50:43

Posted by Steve Meh. Of course you can only tell so much at this time, but I am really disappointed in the way the first round played out for the Brewers. I really wanted Javier Baez or Francisco Lindor, and … Continue reading → > read more

MLB Draft

Published on 2011-06-05 20:49:23

Posted by Steve Interesting game today, to say the least. The Brewers are on fire, they have Greinke going for the sweep tomorrow, and best of all… OMG THE MLB DRAFT IS TOMORROW!!@$@! One of my favorite days of the … Continue reading U > read more

Stupid

Published on 2011-06-01 21:06:01

Posted by Steve Stupid move by Doug Melvin to go into a series against the Reds, of all teams, without a left-handed reliever. Stupid move by Ron Roenicke to let Kameron Loe face Votto. Loe is horrendous against lefties–Votto in … Continu > read more

The Good, the Bad, and the Yuniugly

Published on 2011-05-31 13:24:29

Posted by Steve A lot has gone well for the Brewers over the past few weeks. Winning 15 of 19 games before yesterday is a great stretch, but I want to focus on a few individual performances that have stood … Continue reading → > read more

Road woes, or just better teams?

Published on 2011-05-30 21:44:02

Posted by Steve We’re hearing quite a bit about the Brewers’ crazy home-road splits on the season. Tom Haudricourt in particular has made a huge deal of it. I’m writing this right as Monday’s game ended, but I’m willing > read more

I love this rotation

Published on 2011-05-22 23:29:37

Posted by Steve The Brewers are on a serious roll here, and that seven-game losing streak is a distant memory. They’re the hottest team in the league, and they’re right back in the division race (if they were ever even … Continue re > read more

Roenicke

Published on 2011-05-11 22:43:51

Posted by Steve Is it fair to say I’ve seen enough of Roenicke to say I don’t like him? Is it already fair to say that? It might not be, but I’m saying it anyway. Randy Wolf gave up a … Continue reading → > read more

Slump-busting Cornucopia

Published on 2011-05-09 13:54:05

Posted by Steve Yikes. Not too much is going well right now. The offense and defense have been terrible, and the starting pitching hasn’t kept up its great pace from early in the season. Few things I want to touch … Continue reading ͛ > read more

Alright, so what’s wrong with Gallardo?

Published on 2011-05-03 01:42:57

Posted by Steve So Yovani Gallardo has been terrible this season. Why is that? In a way, it’s been the same problem that he’s always had when he’s struggled: He is still walking too many hitters. That isn’t the sole … Co > read more

A rival to La Russa?

Published on 2011-04-23 13:36:01

Posted by Steve We aren’t even through April, but it seems we may have Jag Number 2 in the NL Central. Cubs manager Mike Quade has spent half the month whining about teams breaking the unwritten rules of baseball. First … Continue reading > read more

Head-scratcher

Published on 2011-04-22 00:42:20

Posted by Steve When I first heard the rumblings today of a Braun extension, my thought was something like, ‘He must have tacked on a couple years and moved money around to get paid more right now.’ A deal that … Continue reading &# > read more

A mess

Published on 2011-04-18 22:23:06

Posted by Steve Sure they’re .500, and yes they just won, but that was about the ugliest win you can get. The team is largely a mess right now. The defense is awful. They have below average defenders at 6 … Continue reading → > read more

Chris Narveswnage

Published on 2011-04-15 15:07:59

Posted by Dan I’m not entirely sure how long I can or should drag this out, but I would like to make a somewhat bold prediction: I think Chris Narveson is for reals.  Part of this is Brewers colored homer … Continue reading → > read more

Runnin’ Ron Roenicke

Published on 2011-04-10 20:18:08

Posted by Steve Exciting end to a great homestand. 5-5 after the 0-4 start is definitely a nice place to be. That said, I’ve taken issue with plenty of decisions from Ron Roenicke. 1. Nyjer Morgan needs to start every … Continue reading & > read more

Observations

Published on 2011-04-07 22:02:44

Posted by Steve A few thoughts after a week’s worth of games. Ryan Braun is going to have a huge season. It seemed like he was playing injured for much of last season, and now that he’s healthy, he is … Continue reading → > read more

Have we seen enough?

Published on 2011-04-03 21:06:09

Posted by Steve Have we seen enough of Yuniesky Betancourt? Everyone knew he was terrible. In three games, all he’s done is reinforce that. He’s made one error and is 0-11 so far. Today in four plate appearances, he saw … Continue r > read more

PECOTA Hitting

Published on 2011-03-30 22:03:16

Posted by Steve On to hitting projections. I’m doing my best to get this done before Opening Day, so here goes. Rickie Weeks .259/.359/.440, 16 HRs, 12 SBs, 2.0 WARP While this is still a valuable player at second base, … Continue reading > read more

PECOTA Pitching

Published on 2011-03-30 00:12:00

Posted by Steve Opening day is just a few days off, and I am just plain giddy. Between high expectations for the Brewers and two awesome fantasy leagues, I’m not sure I’ve ever been this excited for a season. Of … Continue reading & > read more

Heh.

Published on 2011-03-27 11:08:40

Posted by Steve Well, I feel sheepish! The Brewers turned around and traded for Nyjer Morgan just a couple days later, and went ahead and filled that depth problem right away in the wake of the Dickerson trade. This was … Continue reading ͛ > read more

What’s your Fuh-Fuh-Fantasy?!

Published on 2011-03-26 21:12:02

Posted by Dan Steve seems to have a pretty good read on the whole “Brewers” thing, so I’m going to deviate a bit from the strictly Brewers route this blog generally takes. Deal with it. I’m very excited for this … Contin > read more

Why?

Published on 2011-03-26 20:13:47

Posted by Steve Doug Melvin had a fantastic off-season by acquiring Zack Greinke and Shaun Marcum, but to be honest, I’ve been pretty underwhelmed by most of his other moves. I understand having to take back Yuniesky Betancourt, but at … > read more

Mat Gamel: First baseman

Published on 2011-03-22 20:48:26

Posted by Steve For the third consecutive season, one of the best hitters in the Brewer organization will not be on the major league team. They have once again optioned Mat Gamel to AAA. Frankly, I can’t believe he still … Continue readin > read more

Back from hiatus

Published on 2011-03-13 22:48:04

Posted by Steve Not really sure how this happened, but I managed not to post for a couple weeks. It’s not like there hasn’t been a ton to talk about, so I really have no excuse. If it’s any consolation, … Continue reading U > read more

Beefcake Braun?

Published on 2011-02-20 22:51:41

Posted by Steve Interesting tidbit from the JS story on Braun. Already something of a workout fiend by nature, Braun became even more energized by his meeting with Roenicke and the team’s subsequent pitching moves. He hooked up with former R > read more

BREWERS!

Published on 2011-02-20 02:19:22

Posted by Dan I am indeed alive. And even though Steve painted me as a fair weather fan, I want to tell you that I know some things. And I know some people who know some things. My NL Central … Continue reading → > read more

Redifeliciousness?

Published on 2011-02-20 00:45:12

Posted by Steve I’m hanging out at Dan’s right now, and he would like me to confirm that he is indeed still alive. I’ll set the over/under for Dan’s post on the season at four. I chose a fairly high … Continue reading &# > read more

Everything’s turning up Brewers!

Published on 2011-02-17 01:29:17

Posted by Steve Man oh man oh man oh man. Did the Brewer have themselves an off-season, or did the Brewers have themselves an off-season? Just when it seemed like Rickie Weeks might not reach an agreement, the Brewers manage … Continue reading > read more

Brewers: Time to realize Rickie Weeks is elite.

Published on 2011-02-02 07:37:00

Posted by Steve By all accounts, the Brewers have had a great off-season. Doug Melvin deserves a ton of credit for turning the team into a contender, and 2011 has the potential to be a great year. Something has seemingly … Continue reading U > read more

Remember when the Brewers got Greinke and Marcum? Because that’s still on.

Published on 2011-01-28 04:11:58

Posted by Steve Nobody is paying much attention to the Brewers right about now. Admittedly, I’ve even been a little caught up in Packer Fever myself. Still, it’s time to remind myself I’m a Brewer fan first. After the fairly … > read more

2010 in review

Published on 2011-01-02 00:55:15

Posted by Steve Kind of a cool summary sent to me by WordPress. Gotta love the Gabe Kapler searches. ———— The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary & > read more

I like my relief pitchers like I like my women…

Published on 2010-12-28 03:41:32

Posted by Steve … On short-term contracts. Heyo! Doug Melvin’s lights out off-season continues, as he signed Takashi Saito to an alarmingly cheap deal for one year and $2 million. I am stunned that Saito is this cheap, even at … Con > read more

Doug Melvin for GM of Everything Forever

Published on 2010-12-20 02:23:28

Posted by Steve “Mizuno gave me a samurai sword for winning the Cy Young. It’s awesome. … I’m going to hang it up and maybe start a collection. Not a gun collection, but a samurai sword collection. If you can … Continue reading → > read more

Is Pavano the answer?

Published on 2010-12-10 03:17:01

Posted by Steve You may recall me endorsing Carl Pavano for the Brewers last off-season before he strangely accepted arbitration from the Twins. He went out and had a very solid year season year, and now he’s looking to cash … Continue re > read more

Off to a good start

Published on 2010-12-07 12:14:46

Posted by Steve I was very pleasantly surprised to hear about the Brett Lawrie-Shaun Marcum deal the other night, but only because his name hadn’t come up in any rumors–not because I didn’t expect something like this from the Brewer > read more

How about this for a conversation piece?

Published on 2010-12-03 19:31:14

Posted by Steve So I went to the Miller Park Clubhouse Sale today. They had some cool stuff, but a lot of it  was amusing: Brad Fischer helmet, Marcus Hanel game-worn jerseys, Jeff Suppan game-worn jerseys, Johnny Estrada t-shirt jerseys … Con > read more

So, what next?

Published on 2010-11-17 02:16:10

Posted by Steve It’s getting to be that time. The baseball off-season is upon us. Baseball’s off-season is, without a doubt, the most entertaining off-season in major U.S. sports. Trading is rampant, and we usually see at least one three- > read more

End of an Era

Published on 2010-11-09 00:39:12

Posted by Steve Chalk this up as a win for baseball statheads, the English language, and reason: Joe Morgan is out as ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball broadcaster after 21 freaking years. To be honest, I’m struggling to make up my … Con > read more