7/18 Brewers (Rusch) at Pirates (Suppan)

[squarepusher]

Brewerfan.net Matchup Info:

www.brewerfan.net/matchup.jsp

[MachMeister5]

I'm hoping for another solid performance from Rusch, but i'm not holding my breath... On the other hand... Benson has been on the "rumor mill" and we hammered him... make we can hammer another rumor mill pitcher (Benson) for good measure...

 

Either way... The Odds of either Rusch or our Bullpen losing this game for us is nearly 100%... should we win, i'll be more than happy to eat my words....

 

Pirates 5 Brewers 4 (Simon game winning solo HR off DeJean in the 8th inning)

 

Rusch.... 6 IP 8 H 4 R 3 ER 2 BB 4K

[Duff Man21]

Jenkins...wow http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/happy.gif

[nodderman]

I try not to overly critique managers and coaches because there is a reason that they are in the dugout and im drinking a beer on my couch. Anywho, has the bunt nearly completely been forgotten? As Royce walked up to the plate I was hoping that we would see a bunt with hitters Kiesch, young, and Pods coming up after him. Low and behold another double play for Royce. Whats new. I rarely see any bunts on this team, and if there are some, it is usually our 1 and 2 hitters trying for a base hit, and not a sacrifice. Any thoughts?

[batman]

Darren Sutton just asserted that Matt Stairs and Lenny Harris were not part of the reason for last year's 106-loss meltdown. Hmmm. Bill Schroeder agreed, citing veteran leadership and the ability of Harris to keep everyone in the clubhouse loose. Hmmm. I have to admit that, like most things that these two say, I was not buying it.

 

Taking a look at their stats from last year, however, I was pleasantly surprised:

 

Matt Stairs' 2002 - .244 / .349 / .478 / 16 HR / 41 RBI / 13.3 VORP

Lenny Harris' 2002 - .305 / .355 / .411 / 3 HR / 17 RBI / 10.9 VORP

 

Interesting. Both were double-digit positive contributors in terms of Value Over Replacement Players. I guess the common sentiment is that both of these guys are bad... and you can make a case for that. But really, they both had at least mediocre 2003 seasons.

 

I'm sure that neither Darren nor Bill were aware of these numbers when they made those statements but I think it's fair to say that they were correct.

 

Thoughts?

 

~Bill

[homer]

Not sure about Stairs, but Harris was invovled in more than one bruhaha with other Brewer players so I doubt he was providing a whole lot of veteran 'leadership'.

[nodderman]

i think harris was the one that got after sanchez and izzy for laughing... i dont blame him and i consider that leadership because its taking a stand and taking pride in playing hard even though the wins were not coming in.

[SoCalBrewfan]

I dunno who criticized Stairs...he is what he is, a good lefty bat who has limitations on defense and vs LHP. He certainly did all that was expected of him last year...IMO at least.

[danzig6677]

I'm suprised guys like VDW or Stairs dont have a job for a contending team like the A's/Yanks/Angels.

 

Both hit righties very well,are cheap, and are great injury insurance.The A's need offense in the worst way and the Angels miss Fullmer,Stairs would be a nice DH fotr them.

[Nefaste]

Sutton is a hard person to read, sometimes I hear him extolling the virtues of modern statistical methods, then other times he just blindly backs up Schroeder as if he justs wants to avoid rocking the boat. I'd like to hear a Sutton with someone other than Bill Schroeder once just to see how the commentary improves, I bet it would. Its nothing personal against Bill, I just disagree with him about baseball.

[nodderman]

If he would stick to more game analysis he would be more effective. I do think he has knowledge about the game, being a major league catcher you have to probably be the smartest guy on the field. He doesn't roll off stats well or information about players, he needs to leave that to Darron and maybe the statistics guys to hand him the information.