We won’t know, but after watching one of the most exciting games to open the season, it sure would have been nice to at least see John Axford get his first save.  Some said that apparently Axford learned too much from Trevor Hoffman, but I am sure that he was nervous as can be getting the call to put the Reds away in the 9th.  Of course, we all know, it didn’t quite happen like that…not even remotely close.

Axford is a young man and seems to be able to overcome things like food poisoning and late inning rallies, let’s just hope that he can put this behind him and get his 30+ saves for the year.  The team played very well together, the bats are still hotter than ever and the pitching wasn’t all that bad.  There was one blown call when 1st base umpire thought a short fly ball hit the ground before Kotsay could nab it, but a quick reply showed that Kotsay was on that ball in right field and caught it by 6 inches easy.  Things like this happen, but the Reds capitalized on that and continue to dominate late in the game.

The best part is that it’s early in the season and even though Brewer fans were burning jerseys and looking for apartments in Chicago after the first loss, I think without injuries, the Brewers are going to be a force in the Central for sure.

What do you think?

His stats over the last week are as follows:

• 7 games
• 27 at bats
• 5 hits
• 1 homerun
• 4 runs scored
• .185 avg.

Stats over the last 30 days are:

• 27 games
• 109 at bats
• 27 hits
• 3 homeruns
• 10 runs scored
• .248 avg.

Now, that is not like Braun and we all know that.  So as we see the likes of Prince getting back to normal, Casey still on  an RBI tear and Corey adding to his hitting strike every night, we just have to wonder what is up with Ryan Braun.

Last night against the Cards, it was obvious that Braun is frunstrated when he struck out late in the game and flipped his bat and helmet off while speaking to himself, maybe in the third person, as he tries to figure out why he cannot hit the ball.  His stats over the last 30 days are not all that bad, but they are trending downward.

What do you think his issue is?  Do you think that he is out of sync because of Hart hitting in the #2 spot for the last month?  Do you think it’s just a bad month and he will rebound?

Rank out of 16 National League teams…
Batting
Avg – 6th
Runs – 4
Hits – 2
Homeruns – 3
Doubles – 2
Triples – 7
RBI – 4
Stolen Bases – 10
On Base % – 3
Slugging – 2

Pitching
ERA – 14th
Hits – 14
Walks – 16
Strikeouts – 3
Saves – 16
Walks & Hits/In – 16

Pretty obvious what the problem is. What can be done to fix it without jeopardizing the offense?

Tonight, the lineup is a tad disorganized from normal, but I don’t think it’s going to be a bad thing. There is much talk around the MLB lately, like moving the pitcher up one spot, or moving a #2 guy closer to the bottom, just to see more runs produced in those spots. Speed is a huge part of the game, as well as, having a guy that can bunt players around the diamond. If you have to move those guys around a bit, why wouldn’t you as long as it works out?

Not to mention the fact that when you have more lefties than righties, you are going to have to switch them around based on who is pitching the ball that day. Here is the lineup for tonights game against the Cubs:

• Counsell SS
• Weeks 2B
• Fielder 1B
• Braun LF
• McGehee 3B
• Edmonds CF
• Hart RF
• Kottaras C
• Wolf P

As you can see, Counsell is leading off. I say that since this guy gets hits almost everytime he is in the order, why not? That gives Ricky and Prince and shot at getting him home. If Weeks gets on that leaves 3 RBI guys to get those 2 around the bases. I know it all looks great on paper, or a blog run by a fan instead of a member of the team, but there is some logic to these decisions.

There is just too much critizism when it doesn’t work out in the Brewers favor. We’ll see what happens tonight!

What do you think about the switch? Leave your comments below and let’s discuss!

More info…

http://milwaukee.brewers.mlb.com/mlb/events/draft/y2010/

http://milwaukee.brewers.mlb.com/mlb/events/draft/y2010/drafttracker.jsp

Who do you think the Brewers will select at #14?

On a related note, let’s give it up for Chris Capuano. His return to the big leagues started today. The Brewers called him back to the majors after having two “tommy john” surgeries to his pitching arm. It’s hard enough to come back after one, let alone two. Congratulations to him on having another go around, another chance to pitch, another chance at doing the thing he loves to do. I hope he does well!

This post is just a quick shot of what you are going to get on this blog.  It’s mostly going to be regurgitated news with our spin AND 2 cents worth about it.  Well, you can see from the categories that we have a ton of stuff planned here, I just hope we can keep you entertained by filling those categories with something to read, comment on and enjoy.

I would assume that you are also a fan of the Milwaukee Brewers, that is why you would be here.  If you are not, then be on your way, just kidding, you can even read the blog if you are not a fan.  That’s right, free of charge, you can comment and read about the Brewers and what we all think of them over the course of the season.

By “us”, I mean the authors.  I have 7 lined up right now and they will hopefully be posting as they see fit.  If not, I will be here to post as much as I can about the Brewers and whatnot.  In the off season, you are going to have to find something else to read, just kidding (yes, again), you can read this blog all year round, isn’t that great!?

Just a quick note, we are on Twitter, Facebook and I am hoping to have a Youtube channel started shortly, but for now, let’s get to the meat (or non-meat for you veggies out there, I know you read this Prince) and potatoes.

Enjoy this place and feel free to tell all of your friends about it, unless they are Cub fans, then you can point them to this wonderful site.