Your prediction: will the Brewers win the division

[giffted1]

I'll say yes. The Cubs are starting to cool off a little bit. Hart, Hardy, and Estrada have shown signs of life at the plate recently. Linebrink will be back soon to help our struggling pen. When September rolls around Sheets should be back, Jenkins will be in the middle of his annual hot streak, and hopefully Rickie will be back on track offensively. I think this dugout altercation will propel us into another hot streak much like the no-hitter did.

[brewcrewkid14]

I think the Brewers are going to win the division, although if you would have asked me that in a conversation and I didn't think about it I'd say the Cubs. My reasons for the Brewers winning the division:

• They have played seven under since their numerous high points in the W/L column and still remain tied for first.
• The Cubs have played 17 over .500 since their low point of the season and as talented as they are, I don't think they are good enough to maintain a 2/3 stretch throughout the last four months of the season
• The Brewers have way more talent than they've had the past couple seasons where they've tailed off
• The Biggest Reason: The Brewers are going to get the best September pick up (along with the Mets arguably) out of any team in the majors, with Ben Sheets coming back

In either case, I am looking forward to it being a nailbighter to the end of the season.

 

(Anybody notice my making good use of these tidy features we now have?http://static.yuku.com/v2//domainskins/bypass/img/smileys/eek.gif)

[brettac1]

I figured the Cubs would pass the Brewers in early August and the Brewers would end up passing them back for good at a later date. I still think that will happen, I think the Brewers have a slightly better team.

[clancyphile]

I am regretfully coming to the conclusion that the answer is no division, no playoffs.

 

Too many injuries, and their effects seem to have lingered. The Brewers will finish above .500, though.

 

Progress, but it could have been a lot more.

[1992casey]

(Anybody notice my making good use of these tidy features we now have? http://static.yuku.com/v2//domainskins/bypass/img/smileys/eek.gif)

I love lists, Jay. http://static.yuku.com/v2//domainskins/bypass/img/smileys/smile.gif

 

[clancyphile]

I figured the Cubs would pass the Brewers in early August and the Brewers would end up passing them back for good at a later date. I still think that will happen, I think the Brewers have a slightly better team.

 

When everyone is healthy and at 100%, that is true. But it's not the case this year. I think Capuano and Weeks have not recovered from their DL stints - or at leaste were rushed back too soon. Hall was hurt for two weeks, and hasn't quite rebounded from a slow start. Sheets is out.

 

Oh, and it seems the Brewers are more interested in limiting the innings that Gallardo and Parra pitch than in getting the best possible rotation they can.

[Ennder]

The Cubs had a .700 OPS last month and yet scored more runs than almost every team in baseball over that period. Marshall and Marquis are looking shaky lately, Lilly lost command of his curve his last start, Zambrano is having some problems with his foot. If you have watched their games every little thing has bounced their way in the last month, errors, wild pitches winning games, bad calls by umps, ground balls finding holes every time a runner is on etc etc.

 

Don't be blinded by the record, they have been extremely lucky to play much over .500 ball over the past month. I think the division is still up for grabs.

[clancyphile]

The Cubs had a .700 OPS last month and yet scored more runs than almost every team in baseball over that period. Marshall and Marquis are looking shaky lately, Lilly lost command of his curve his last start, Zambrano is having some problems with his foot. If you have watched their games every little thing has bounced their way in the last month, errors, wild pitches winning games, bad calls by umps, ground balls finding holes every time a runner is on etc etc.

 

Don't be blinded by the record, they have been extremely lucky to play much over .500 ball over the past month. I think the division is still up for grabs.

 

When have the Brewers ever had good luck?

[Bucky Rules]

I still believe that the Brewers have better players than the Cubs. And I still believe that players win games. So... I still believe that the Brewers will win the division.

We do need our starters to be able to go deeper into games, though. I think we've got a good bullpen, if we don't need to use everyone virtually every game. If we continue to have to pitch (or even warmup) all of our main guys 4-5 times a week, August will be a very scary month.

[jlau20]

The thing that makes me nervous would be that after this homestand we have six more road games than home games to end the year. Quite frankly, with our play on the road, those games could be the difference between winning the division and losing it.

[rluzinski]

When have the Brewers ever had good luck?

 

You don't think luck played any part at in the 24-10 start?

[imaji]

I hate to admit it, but I do think the Cubs are the better team. They don't have a SP that anyone looks at and says, "Nice, he's pitching against us today," whereas we have Suppan and Vargas (I think Capuano has begun his climb out of the toilet). They have three of the best hitters in the league and the younger guys, while maybe playing a little over their heads, seem to fit into their roles quite nicely. And now their bullpen pretty strong, too.

ESPN1000 in Chicago, has a saying on MJH (afternoon drive)...Zambrano and Lilly, the rest look silly. And they're right. Oh, and Dempster got lit up today. The Cubs staff isn't any better than ours if Sheets gets back 100% soon. I'll take Ben and Yo vs Zambrano and Lilly, and Bush/Suppan/Vargas isn't any worse than Marquis/Marshall/Hill.