Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Whew!

That, my friends, was a much needed victory. CoCo provided some nervous moments in the 9th, but he came through in the end saving a 5-4 Brewer win. Those guys were genuinely excited when the final out was recorded, you could tell...seemed like a win in September rather than May. Kudos to the lineup for not only banging 15 hits, but scoring a few runs off of Smoltz...not an easy guy to get rolling against.

Nothing against Villanueva (whom I like), but why not start the 7th inning with Wise? Isn't he pretty much your de facto 7th inning guy with a small lead?

And what about Braun? I love that guy too, but why is he batting 3rd? How about letting him get settled into the majors by batting 6th or 7th? The 3 spot isn't struggling, the bottom part of the lineup is. Braun's not embarrassing himself or anything, it's just am observation.
Posted by Brad at 10:20 PM

7 comments:

woziszeus said...

Villanueva warmed up pre-game and also in the 1st inning. When Yost called down to get guys loose he must have been informed Villa was still ready to go on the spot. Gutsy call, but you're right, I still would have just went with Wise right away.

They must want Braun to see excellent pitches right away, which is why they have hit hitting third. Yost must be adamant about JJ as his #2 hitter.

By my count, there were 5 errors last night by the crew, not 1. It was a highly entertaining game to watch with the defensive miscues and hitting display by both teams.

May 30, 2007 at 7:58 AM
Anonymous said...

Brad, I totally agree with the Braun thing. I thought maybe Estrada, who has had a couple of seasons in his career batting over .300, would be a better choice for the #3 spot. I am vaguely reminded of the "....what if you call him up and he struggles; won't that ruin his confidence?" argument that a lot of people liked to throw around before #8 was called up. Since they pretty much threw him into the fire, it doesn't seem like that argument made too much sense as there is now zero concern about his confidence.

May 30, 2007 at 7:58 AM
Anonymous said...

AP/Brad - Braun hitting 3rd is a great call. Look what hitting behind Prince did for JJ early on. Also it gets the struggling Hall out of the #4 spot. I like the call. I was on the side of wait till he is ready, he has shown confidence early and that is good, hopefully he can keep it up. But lets not forget half of you guys were asking for him to come up while he was still sidelined with an injury early on. Now that we ended the skid, let's keep it going this afternoon!

May 30, 2007 at 9:13 AM
Anonymous said...

I am not arguing with the call, it just seems weird that's all. #3 should be arguably your best hitter, so by putting him there you are saying that a rookie is your best hitter. Also, speaking for Brad as well, some of us were calling for him to be up long before he was on the DL. Lastly, the PCL has a 7 day DL and when they put him on it was retroactive to a previous game. He was on the DL for something like 48 hours. I loved it during that stretch when people kept saying, "...but he's on the DL!" He was sore from carrying a AAA team, it's not like he had a debilitating injury.

May 30, 2007 at 9:29 AM
Anonymous said...

Tony...I wanted Braun up since opening day. And I believe you were always in the "they are in first place, dont change anything" camp in regards to 3B...

May 30, 2007 at 12:06 PM
Anonymous said...

Bigger issue than Braun - get Weeks out of the leadoff spot until he learns to swing at the pitches over the plate and take the pitches off the plate. I swear, he has the plate discipline of LenDale White (that is, none).

May 30, 2007 at 12:19 PM
Anonymous said...

ZING!!!....point for Matt.....

May 30, 2007 at 1:23 PM

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