The “middle relief” has a combined 14 loses up to this point in 2011.  That is just too many times and I understand that you might have a game where you are only in front by one run, but the “hold” is even more important then.  Right now, Kameron Loe is the one name that creates a special silence over the crowd when he is called in.  He has a 2-6 record and of the 32 innings pitched,  he has given up 19 ER, 4 HR’s, walked 10 and hit 2 batters.  He does have 27 strikeouts which is nice, but that one stat doesn’t really silence the groans.

I am not going to go off and compare Loe to Suppan, but that ERA of 5.23 has got to start coming down.  At least for right now, I am not sure why Loe is the go to 6th/7th inning guy?  Hawkins has pitched well, why not give him a couple more innings per week?  Mitre and Estrade have also held their own when the team needed them, when compared to Loe anyways.

What do you think about the Brewers activity after the starting pitching takes a seat?

In 2010, how many times did Casey McGehee get beaned at the plate?

For those of you that are following, the answer to this week’s trivia question is TWO.  Casey McGehee was smacked at the plate 2 times in all of 2010.  Guess that’s because Prince to most of them :)

If you are good at searching stats on the web or have your own little program you use like I do, this one is easy.  But since it’s really just a guessing game, if you watched games throughout the year, you might get close with your answer.  If you have one, go ahead and comment on this post with it.

Narveson finished 2010 with a 12-9 record, a 4.99 ERA, giving up 21 home runs and accumulating 93 earned runs.  Those stats are ok, but when compared to only a couple other pitchers in any starting rotation, turn out to be not so good.  Now, flash forward to 2011.  I know it has only been about 10 games and Narveson has only pitched on two occasions, but am I the only one that sees a totally different Narveson on the mound?

So far in the two starts for the 2011 season, Narveson is 2-0, giving up ZERO runs and only 9 hits in 13 innings of work.  Striking out 14 (on pace for 140+ in 20 starts) at the plate and with an ERA of 0.00 is pretty good for a BREWERS pitcher.  Granted he is going to get knocked around, but what can be said about confidence when your season starts like this?  A LOT.  Maybe that was part of the issue last season, we don’t know that, but nonetheless, he is certainly more calm than I remember seeing him on the mound.

Do you have as much confidence in Chris Narveson as it appears that I do?  After all, he is no Randy Suppan Wolf, right?

Name ONE of the THREE players from the 1982 Brewers that was featured on a Kellogg’s 3D baseball card.

Ok, no replies again this week, I am starting to think I am the only one the reads this blog.  The answer to the trivia question posted above is:  Yount, Fingers or Cooper.  All of these players were featured in 1982 on Kellogg’s 3D cards.

If you know the answer, or searched Google to find it, just leave your answer in the comments section.  Check out other Tuesday Trivia’s to see if you knew any of those answer when you got some time.

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?

With many new names on the Brewers for 2011, I always like to hear about the youngsters and keep an eye on how well they do playing in the big leagues with seasoned pros.  This weeks question should be quite easy, like the others, so if you know, just post your answer in the comments section like always.

What Brewer Is The Youngest According To The Active Roster?

After taking a quick look at the Brewers active roster posted on Brewers.com, the answer to this weeks question is Zach Braddock.

Of course, there is no prize awarded, it’s more about getting fan interaction on the blog.  So it’s always a good thing to click the “LIKE” button too :)  Maybe someday we can give away a gift card to the MLB Shop once we find a friendly way to run a contest.

So, let’s take a look at the deals the front office worked through the 2011 spring training.  The first one, and most talked about was the trade for Zack Greinke.  The Brewers gave up enough to get this guy and it will be tough seeing him start on the DL for 2011, considering his injury was not baseball related.  The highest paid Brewer came with another price in that the Brewers had to give up Escobar, who was doing an excellent job at shortstop, two pitching prospects and a young outfielder.

They did all that and kept Prince Fielder at the same time.  Each fan thought for sure the only way to get a good pitcher was to trade away the 1st baseman, but that didn’t have to happen, apparently.  The next couple transactions were Shaun Marcum and Mark Kotsay.  Another bit of depth on the field in a pitcher and catcher.

Since March started the Brewers have STILL been doing some dealin’ and they found ANOTHER pitcher from the Yankees, Sergio Mitre, who they got while sending away Chris Dickerson.  And finally, Nyjer Morgan (Google this hot head) from the Nationals for cash and Cutter Dykstra.

Now, that is a bit of information from the more important trades they made in the off season.  As a Brewer fan myself, I wondered how they did all of this and STILL have Prince Fielder?  What does that say exactly?  Is he not wanted, no teams were inquiring about him?  Why did we have all this buzz about getting rid of him, when it really didn’t seem close to happening?

I am completely amazed that the front office got all of this done and held onto Prince Fielder, Rickie Weeks, Randy Wolf, John Axford and Casey McGehee (all of whom I thought had potential for trades).  What do you think?

Called “Bypass Lane”, the system allows smartphone users, currently Android, Blackberry OS, Dell Mobile, iPhone and Palm, to search the menu of concession stands that are near the seats they are sitting in.  From that point they can pre-order the goods and when the order is all set to go, you will get a text message and then you can go pick it up.  Can you imagine not standing in a  long line for an inning and a half just to get your nachos, jumbo dog, soda and popcorn?

The Bypass Lane system is already used by a couple other professional and college teams including the Texas Rangers.  The Austin based company usually charges a 99-cent transaction fee at those locations so I am sure you will see the same fee at Miller Park.  It’s still a small price to pay for not standing in line if you ask me.

You can get the application from the iTunes store or from the Bypass Lane website.  The service is available starting opening day, April 4th and there are four locations on the Miller Park Field Level concourse that will offer the service.

You must hurry though to get these tickets as there are only 59 available.  You can go through the link below:

http://milwaukee.brewers.mlb.com/mil/ticketing/axford_bobble.jsp

If you are not able to get the tickets, don’t fret, you can still get a John Axford bobblehead by getting any ticket to that game (currently sold out).  Each fan will get a bobblehead and 5,000 lucky fans will get the John Axford bobblehead wearing the retro pinstripe uniform.

Terms for the Harley Davidson deck tickets include:
Our special ticket packages that included the signed bobble heads in the AirTran Airways Landing Zone and the Harley-Davidson Deck for Palermo’s/Piggly Wiggly John Axford Bobble Head Day, Sunday, April 24 at 1:10pm as the Brewers take on the Houston Astros have sold out!

But don’t worry, we have another great offer for you!

As a follower of John on Twitter, you can purchase two (2) Field Outfield Box tickets for Palermo’s/Piggly Wiggly John Axford Bobble Head Day for just $59! (Reg. $40 ea.)