Big Week for the Crew?

[jhart05]

Anyone else think this is a big week for our Crew?

 

Two more series before the break.

 

They've got their perennial nemesis in the Pirates then the league doormat in the Nats. And the Cubs just happen to play the same two teams this week.

 

I think they need to at least match the Cubs win-for-win this week. I'm not saying if the Cubs gain a game or two, the season is over or anything stupid like that.

 

I just think...keeping pace with those guys to the south this week, keeping that lead up over 6 games at the break, would help our confidence (both the teams and ours) and demoralize them (both the team and fans) a bit.

 

EDIT: Removed excessive punctuation from subject line -- BtA

[BrewCityUnit]

I completely agree.....It would be nice to atleast match the Cubs over the next 7 days. I still don't feel like the lead will ever drop below 5 games but if it does....I will start to worry but at the same time enjoy the last 3 months of baseball.

[BillScottCanRake]

Anyone else think this is a big week for our Crew?

 

Normally I would have answered "yes", but given how Milwaukee responded to going 10-20 from mid-May thru mid-June, I don't think it's "big". Obviously it would be nice to enter the break with a 6-8 game lead, but I really think this team is the best team in the division. While anything is possible, I like the best teams chances to win the division most years.

 

Will I worry a bit if the lead drops to three or four games? I will, because even tho this team is so vastly different than any we have seen since 1992, 15 years of mediocrity tends to make a person wonder "are they really as good as I think?"

 

I guess my answer is "It's no bigger than last week, and no bigger than next week. They are all equally big."

[SeriesFinale]

I just think it's funny that I'm getting all these emails and messages from Cubs fan friends now after this weekend saying "The race is ON!"

 

What, it wasn't "on" after the no-no on June 12 when the Cubs and Cards were just 5.5 back? And now that there are only 3 more head-to-head games?

[jhart05]

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I guess my answer is "It's no bigger than last week, and no bigger than next week. They are all equally big."

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Normally I think this way as well.

 

But since they got a little lucky on Friday and took the series from our Crew, they have a little momentum going here. And with the break coming up, Cappy coming off the DL and starting tonight, since they each play the same teams this week...

 

Just might be a bit bigger than normal, might be one of those "turning points" in the season.

 

If the sCrubs go 6-1 to the break and so do our boys, I would think you would have to have a feeling on the sCrubs side of "what do we need to do to catch those guys".

[UeckerAddict]

I would say the first two weeks after the break are huge considering how a number of Ned Yost Brewer teams have completely collapsed in the second half of the season.

[splitterpfj]

Whether we should be yet or not, many of us are scoreboard watching now, which makes all weeks big weeks in my book.

 

To me, it's not about a certain number of wins, or any particular series, it's about maintaining the division lead. The Cubs have had an excellent run, and they've gained virtually no ground. They cannot stay this hot all year, each day that passes with them treading water in the division standings is a win for the Brewers.

[Nearsighted Views]

It is and it isn't. The Cubs are hot now but I just don't think that pitching staff is going to keep them aournd all year. Especially if the starters don't go 6 or more on a regular basis. Their lineup can hit but it will go through slumps and they will lose large chunks of games at a time.

 

It'll be big if the Crew loses the next 6 and the Cubs win them. Otherwise, I don't think it will stand out much later in the season.

[Thurston Fluff]

Every win gets bigger as the season goes along. It means there is less time for the Cubs to close the gap. Every win of the Cubs that gets matched by the Brewers is one more week they will need of us playing poorly while they play well.

If you compare the worst month played by the Brewers to the best month of the Cubs they gained 4 1/2 games. That means they would have to play as good as they managed all year for six more weeks while the Brewers would have to play at their worst level of the year so far for those six weeks just to get even. Within a few weeks if we keep matching wins they will be relegated to hopeing for a monumental collapse by the Brewers for any chance what so ever of winning the division. That is assuming they play the best they have so far all year . That in of itself is harder to imagine than the Brewers falling apart.

[BillScottCanRake]

But since they got a little lucky on Friday and took the series from our Crew, they have a little momentum going here. And with the break coming up, Cappy coming off the DL and starting tonight, since they each play the same teams this week...

 

Yes, the Cubs have closed to 6.5, and they have been hot lately. But hot and cold streaks come and go, and as well as the Cubs have played, they aren't going to win at a .750 clip the rest of the year any more than the Brewers will. I wouldn't, however, be shocked if Milwaukee continued to win at a .585 clip, and that would mean 95 wins.

 

There isn't any reason to believe that if the Cubs close to between three and five games that the Brewers won't have another stretch where the win 12-out-of-15 or something. I feel confident in saying that because good teams have stretches like that, and Milwaukee is a good team.

 

This team is different than any Brewer team since '92. They are actually good enough that I expect them to win more than they lose from here on out. Even if they have 3-7 or 2-8 stretches, they can more than make up for them.

 

And last weekend illustrated just how hard it is to make up games in the standings. Its not impossible... but its really hard.

 

Will I worry a bit, and have some creeping doubts? Of course, I am a Brewer fan. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif But this team is different...

[TCSM]

A good finish to the first half would be 3 of 4 from the pirates and 2 of 3 from the Nats...In the last 7 games finish 5-2....pretty decent if you ask me.

 

Any sweep is just a plus from there.

 

A 7-0 ending would just be a huge confidence booster for the 2nd half.

[monty57]

I think the month of July is "big" because it leads up to the trade deadline. If the Cubs make up a few games, and are only 2-4 games back, they would likely make a bid for someone like Buehrle, who could help them immensely in their playoff push.

 

If the Brewers can gain a few more games on them over the next few weeks, and the Cubs are 10 games back, I'd think it would be unlikely that they'd go after a "rent-a-player."

[litesrn]

When you add in Bud's dictum disallowing the Jones trade, at least until the Cubs are sold, what can they do? Will the sale get done during the season? If it doesn't, it appears that they are hamstrung in a major way as to making any deals.

[Fear The Chorizo]

I think it's going to be a factor, but not a huge one. The Cubs can take on all the salary they want this year, as long as it's off the books for next year. It limits the players they can acquire somewhat, but trades are still possible. The Cubs basically have become an NBA team when it comes to making trades - they'll have to match dollars on both ends or pick up expiring contracts and rent-a-players.

 

I think the biggest thing that's come out of this is that Zambrano will become an unrestricted free agent after this year - with the incredible backloading of all the Cubs' contract signings over the past two offseasons, I see no chance that the Cubs will be able to get close to matching offers from the Mets and Yankees for Zambrano's services.

 

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[kmcasper23]

Huge week now that we lost to Youman yesterday. They guy couldn't even win at Triple A and we score 2 runs off him in 6 innings. Now we have to face Gorzellany and Snell the next two days. The Cubs on the other hand miss both of those guys this weekend meaning they will probably sweep both series. We will probably need to win out this week just to hold a 5 1/2 game lead at the break. Anything less than that will give the Chubs too much confidence. I think they will choke in 2nd half like they always do though. They are good from 1-4 in their lineup, but from 5-8 reminds me of the mediocre Brewer lineups a few years ago. Other than Zambrano their starting pitching is not good. Marquis will have his normal 2nd half meltdown. So hopefully we will increase the lead to 10 games by mid-August, but winning all games before the break would be a good start for our 2nd half.

[areacodes]

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And the Cubs just happen to play the same two teams this week.

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If you look at the schedule between now and our series with the Cubs at the end of August, other than our series with Colorado right out of the break (Cubs play Houston) we alternate teams. So, for the next 2 months whoever we play will play the Cubs next and vise versa.

 

Since we play the same teams it should be sort of hard for us to pull away but also hard for the Cubs to gain too much on us. The only wild card in all of this is which team is stuck with seeing the better pitching. If one team is able to avoid the top starters, while the other team is facing the ace every series, one might be able to gain ground or pull away.

[BrewCityUnit]

Looks like I don't have to panic quite yet...the lead will still be over 5 games after today.

[jhart05]

Quote:

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If you look at the schedule between now and our series with the Cubs at the end of August, other than our series with Colorado right out of the break (Cubs play Houston) we alternate teams. So, for the next 2 months whoever we play will play the Cubs next and vise versa.

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Didn't realize that. Might be an interesting project to see how that pans out.

 

On another note, well this isn't the way I was hoping the week would go.

And it turns out to be a big week for a terrible reason.

 

Here's to a pummeling of the Nats tonight.