Official 2nd Half Prediction Thread....(& 1st Half Recap

[lcbj68c]

Since the pre-season thread is locked... I thought it would be fun to review the 1st half aside from the grades thread earlier and give some predictions for the 2nd half.

 

1st Half Review

 

[li]Biggest Win: (Tues 4/10/07 at FLA:) Brewers rally over two days and win in the 13th inning. The Brewers were already under .500 at 3-4 and were losing in the 9th inning when Hardy's double scored Weeks and Fielder wins it in the 13th inning.

Honorable Mention: (Sun 5/20/07 vs Twins) Losers of 7 of 9, the Brewers fall behind early to the twins 4-0 looking at a sweep before Jenkins saved the day.

 

[li]Most Disappointing Loss: (Fri 6/29/07 at CHI) Cordero gives up 3 in the 9th including a walkoff homer to Ramirez. Honorable Mention:(Sunday 6/24/07 vs K.C.) Capellan and Spurling are used late and in extra innings and walk in the winning run as Brewers fail to sweep lowly K.C.

 

[li] Best Individual Single Game Hitting Performance:

(6/22/07 vs K.C.) Ryan Braun 4-4 2R 2B, HR, 3RBI, 2SB

Honorable Mention: (4/10/2007 vs FLA) Prince Fielder goes 4-4 w/ 3 walks to reach 7 times.

[li] Best Individual Single Game Pitching Performance:

(4/02/07 vs LAD) Ben Sheets goes CG 2 hitter, his only mistakes a home run by Jeff Kent and a line-shot double by Brady Clark. Honorable Mention: (6/24/07 vs K.C.) Yovani Gallardo goes 7IP with 5 H and 1 ER while striking out 8.

 

[li] 1st Half Team MVP: Prince Fielder Honorable Mention: Ryan Braun

 

[li] 1st Half Team Cy Young Ben Sheets

[/b] Honorable Mention [/b] Carlos Villanueva.

 

[li] 1st Half Best Fielder: JJ Hardy Honorable Mention: Bill Hall/Geoff Jenkins

 

 

[li] Biggest Callup / Manager Move: Corey Hart gaining everyday playing time and move to leadoff spot. Honorable Mention: Ryan Braun from AAA.

 

 

[li] Worst Callup / Manager Move: Elmer Dessens 15IP, 16R, 24H 6.60 ERA. Honorable Mention: Handling of Jose Capellan [/b]

 

 

2nd Half Predictions

 

[li]Brewer Wins: 49 (July-16 Aug-15 Sept-18) End Record of 96-66

[li] Final NLC Standings 1) Brewers 2) Cubs 8GB 3) STL 10GB 4) HOU 18GB 5) PIT 22 GB 6) CIN 31 GB

[li] NL Playoffs: Brewers - 1 seed SD - 2 seed NYM - 3 seed, ARZ - Wild Card.

[li] Toughest Stretch: (Sept 20th-30th) 4 at ATL, 3 vs STL, 4 vs SD.

[li] More Easier Stretch (Sept 7th - 16th) 3 at CIN, 3 at Pitt, 3 vs CIN.

 

[li] [/b]Brewer Honors :[/b] Braun for ROY, Fielder 2nd in NL MVP Vote

 

[li] [/b] Other tidbits: [/b] Brewers will make 1 move at the deadline to add a left handed reliever, sending away Crabbe or other AAA prospect.

Sheets wins 17 games (loses 6), but Peavy earns NL Cy Young.

With innings still down, Gallardo replaces Bush in rotation in Sept.

[RyDogg66]

The worst loss has to be the Philly loss or the one where the Rangers were down 3-0 with two out, no one in the 9th and an 0-2 count to their (Potential) last batter...and they came back to beat us.

[ryanbraun75]

that was a great post man.... good read and i agree with everything.

[lcbj68c]

Ahh yeah, Rydogg, I forgot about the Turnbow 4ER game with 6-2 lead in the 8th. I put the Cubs game up there over those two giving how much it hurts to lose to a division team, especially the rival.

[Schlitz001]

I'd agree with RyDogg on the Cordero first blown save game and Damian Miller should get a consideration for his game last night. Only the 3rd player this year with 7 RBIs in a game. Good post.

[lcbj68c]

Yeah, Schlitz, Miller's game last night was #82, so I didn't include it.

[clancyphile]

First Half Review

Biggest Wins: The three-game sweep against the Cardinals from April 30 to May 2. That kicked off a 9-1 homestand that put the Crew in control of the NL Central.

 

Most Disappointing Loss: Not winning after coming back from a 9-run deficit against Minnesota.

 

Best Single-game Hitting Performance: (TIE) Damian Miller 4-for-5, 2 HR, 7 RBI at Pittsburgh (7/2); Ryan Braun 4-for-5, 2 2B, 1 HR, 4 RBI vs. Cubs (6/30); Geoff Jenkins, 3-for-4, 1 Hr, 5 RBI vs. Twins (5/20)

 

Best Single-Game Pitching Performance: (TIE) Crhis Capuano, 8 IP, 7 H, 9 K vs. Washington (5/7); Jeff Suppan, 8 IP, 8 H, 1 BB, 3 K vs. Cubs (4/24); Jeff Suppan, 9 IP, 8 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 3 K vs. Cardinals (4/30)

 

Team MVP: JJ Hardy, Prince Fielder (tie)

 

Cy Young: Ben Sheets, Francisco Codero (tie)

 

Best Fielder: JJ Hardy

 

Biggest Call-up: Braun to the majors

 

Worst move: Braun not on Opening-Day roster

 

Second-half predictions:

 

Team Wins: 50

 

Final Standings: Brewers, Cardinals, Cubs, Astros, Pirates, Reds

 

NL Playoffs: Brewers top seed, Padres 2, Mets 3, Dodgers WC.

[igor67]

I can't really quibble too much other than the say that the Rangers game has to be second on the loss list. 3 or 4 batters in a row at two strikes and none K against a guy who average more than 1.3 per inning was very tough. Ultimately no serious momentum affect other than proving that CoCo was in fact human.

A person might be able to argue that Saturday's was the biggest win because while I argued the series was more important for the Cubs them sweeping us is exactly the kind of spark they would need to come back.

By that token the Friday night Cubs game maybe about 3rd on the lost list. The pyschological affect of losing 2 out of 3 may have been the final nail in the Cubs coffin.

[Fatter than Joey]

The worst loss has to be the Philly loss or the one where the Rangers were down 3-0 with two out, no one in the 9th and an 0-2 count to their (Potential) last batter...and they came back to beat us.

 

I agree with Rydogg 100% -- That Philly loss was horrible.

 

Miller should get some love for his performance last night -- tying the Brewers alltime RBI mark.

 

My Cy Young would be Cordero -- He was incredible earlier this year.

 

MVP -- Prince

 

I think the roster move of the year was Braun not going to the MLB club out of ST -- He was dinged up (missed some games in ST), he got some ABs in AAA, he got to work on his D w/o having the pressure of performing at the MLB level. Plus, if this dude is going to improve, it is really smart to have waited 1-2 mos to get another year out him when he is peaking.

 

I don't think Clark/Dessens was a bad move at all -- not sexy or anything -- but reasonably sensible.

 

I really do not think that any player should be call "best defensive" I think that is something that the team has really struggled with across the board.

 

PREDICTION FOR 2nd HALF -- I am declaring that the 2007 2nd half is "must sweep". 81-0

[lcbj68c]

Nice Reply Joey. Again, Miller not being in there because it was game #82, not first half. Also, I agree with the Braun assessment. I don't think that him being up sooner would have won us a considerable amount of more games.

[UeckerAddict]

I would say our biggest win was the extra inning game at Wrigley early in the year where Prince hit 2 HRs and Villanueva signaled the start of a great first half by pitching 4 scoreless (with Gabe Gross as our next pitching option) to get the win. It also signaled a coming hot streak that would propel the Crew to a 24-10 start.

 

Worst loss has to be Texas. Up 3-0 with 2 outs and nobody on in the ninth? Ugh. And on a statistical note, Sheets would have 11 wins if Cordero had closed the door (and a 72-72 lifetime record). 11-3 for Sheets (possibly 12-3) at the break would have been scrumptous.

[Jopal78]

I would argue that Carlos Villanueva is the first half MVP. 6 wins, 13 holds, and a crucial spot start (and win) against Detroit which turned around what could have been a demoralizing road trip after dropping 2 of 3 in Texas, and then being no-hit by Verlander.

 

If the Cubs can hold on until September, the 2nd half will be very interesting as the Brewers end with St. Louis, Atlanta and SD, while the Cubs end with Pittsburgh, Florida, and Cincinnati

[Sundown Kid]

I agree with most of the original post. I think the Texas loss--which all occurred with two out and none on--was the most disappointing. I think Craig Counsell deserves the best defense award, which is in no way intended as a slap at J.J. (When I saw Bill Hall listed under honorable mention, I must admit to almost choking--there has been little honorable about his defense to mention.)

[lcbj68c]

Sundown, maybe it's just the amount of plays he gets in center field, but the diving grabs get him the honorable mention considering he's only 80 games into being an outfielder. it's definitely not an award for making the routine look ugly. LOL