KTE � The 2011 Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park

[TransMonk]

The New York Metropolitans travel to Milwaukee on Tuesday to battle the Brewers in a three game series. The Brewers are 33-26 and currently sit in 2nd place in the NL Central, 2 games behind the St. Louis Cardinals. The Brewers are winners of 20 of their last 27 games since snapping a 7 game losing streak on May 7th. Milwaukee�s offense is currently 2nd in the league in OPS and 4th in runs scored and their 67 HRs tie them for the best in the NL. Their pitching staff has a 3.67 ERA which is 6th best in the league and their pitchers have racked up 465 strikeouts this season which is 4th best in the NL.

*This KTE will not include stats from the Monday night game that the Brewers will be playing in Miami against the Marlins.

After starting off slowly, the Brewers are gaining steam under new manager Ron Roenicke and seem to have a decent pitching staff to go with their always potent offense. Newcomer Zach Greinke has started off slowly, but the rest of their rotation has been keeping the Brewers in games and while their bullpen has been spotty at times, they have settled down recently and the Brewers have been one of the best teams in all of baseball over the past month.

Probable Pitching Matchups:

Tuesday, June 7, 8:10 PM ET
Chris Capuano, LHP 3-6, 5.19 ERA vs. Shaun Marcum, RHP 6-2, 2.78 ERA
Chris Capuano returns to Miller Park to face his old ballclub on Tuesday. He will battle Shaun Marcum, who was acquired over the off-season from Toronto and has been brilliant so far for Milwaukee. Marcum�s home/away splits show that he is much better on the road as he has a 4.78 ERA in 5 starts at Miller Park.

Wednesday, June 8, 8:10 PM ET
Mike Pelfrey, RHP 3-4, 5.56 ERA vs. Randy Wolf, LHP 4-4, 3.69 ERA
Pelfrey faces veteran lefty Randy Wolf on Wednesday. Wolf has a 2.84 ERA in 5 starts at home this season. He was 1-2 with a 4.82 ERA in his 5 May starts.

Thursday, June 9, 8:10 PM ET
Jon Niese, LHP 4-5, 3.75 ERA vs. Yovani Gallardo, RHP 8-2, 3.72 ERA
In the finale, Niese will face off against the always formidable Yovanni Gallardo who leads the league with 8 wins. He was 5-1 with a 2.25 ERA in 6 May starts. Gallardo always pitches well against the Mets and has a 2.84 ERA in 4 career starts against New York.

Brewers Lineup:

2B Rickie Weeks ®: .287/.357/.498/.855, 11 HR, 26 RBI, 7 SB
Weeks continues to improve and is on pace to have the best offensive year of his career. I�ve been saying for years that he is not the ideal leadoff hitter, but the Brewers continue to use him in that capacity and is working out so far this year. He leads NL second basemen with 7 errors.

CF Carlos Gomez ®: .224/.280/.359/.638, 4 HR, 14 RBI, 14 SB
This ex-Met has been riding pine lately and losing time to Nyjer Morgan (stats below). Morgan allows the Brew Crew to have another left-handed batter in their righty dominated lineup and has been putting up some good numbers over the past few games. Gomez is still the fastest player in Milwaukee and will use his motor both on the base paths and in the field.

LF Ryan Braun ®: .306/.398/.565/.963, 13 HR, 42 RBI, 13 SB
As Milwaukee�s perennial MVP candidate, Braun is the model of offensive consistency. He is on pace to put up his best power numbers this season and just signed a contract extension to keep him in Milwaukee until 2021!

1B Prince Fielder (L): .287/.390/.546/.936, 13 HR, 45 RBI, 0 SB
Fielder is a great tandem to go along with Braun and is back to cruching the ball after a somewhat down season in 2010. He is in the final year of his contract (Boras client) and many in Milwaukee do not expect him back next season. He is also fucking fat.

3B Casey McGehee ®: .238/.297/.346/.642, 4 HR, 24 RBI, 0 SB
McGehee has seen a drop in his numbers this season following a solid 2010 showing. He is still a power threat and is hitting .364 in the �late & close� category.

RF Corey Hart ®: .281/.328/.491/.819, 5 HR, 14 RBI, 2 SB
Hart is Milwaukee�s resident Met-killer. He hit 3 homeruns in last year�s three game series against the Mets at Miller Park and nearly hit a fourth that Jeff Francoeur caught at the wall. He then hit one more at Citi Field in September.

SS Yuniesky Betancourt ®: .232/.260/.335/.595, 3 HR, 20 RBI, 0 SB
Betancourt was the throw in from the Royals in the Greinke deal and shows the Brewers� glaring need for a productive shortstop (ahem). Betancourt hit just .178 in May and has 7 errors at short this season.

C Jonathan Lucroy ®: .292/.331/.458/.790, 6 HR, 26 RBI, 0 SB
Lucroy has taken over the reigns as Milwaukee�s catcher after a decent rookie season in 2010. He is producing even more offensively this year and makes this lineup even more dangerous. He is hitting .397 this season at Miller Park and is excellent with RISP.

Brewer Bench:

C Wil Nieves ®: .152/.204/.196/.400, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 0 SB

IF Josh Wilson ®: .375/.375/.125/1.500, 2 HR, 2 RBI, 0 SB

UT Craig Counsell (L): .197/.303/.212/.515, 0 HR, 3 RBI, 1 SB

OF Mark Kotsay (L): .250/.339/.298/.637, 0 HR, 8 RBI, 3 SB

OF Nyjer Morgan (L): .356/.406/.593/.999, 1 HR, 5 RBI, 2 SB

As noted above, Morgan has gotten some starts lately and has looked pretty good. Wisconsin native Craig Counsell is somehow still playing at 40 (that Arizona WS was 10 years ago�jeez time flies).

Brewer Bullpen:

John Axford 1-1, 3.29 ERA, 28 G, 16 Svs, 27.1 IP, 36 K, 1.537 WHIP

Zach Braddock (L) 0-1, 2.70 ERA, 14 G, 0 Svs, 10 IP, 9 K, 1.200 WHIP

Tim Dillard 1-0, 3.18 ERA, 4 G, 0 Svs, 5.2 IP, 7 K, 0.529 WHIP

Marco Estrada 1-2, 3.76 ERA, 15 G, 0 Svs, 38.1 IP, 32 K, 1.122 WHIP

Kameron Loe 2-5, 4.03 ERA, 32 G, 1 Svs, 29 IP, 24 K, 1.172 WHIP

LaTroy Hawkins 0-0, 0.63 ERA, 15 G, 0 Svs, 14.1 IP, 7 K, 1.395 WHIP

Sergio Mitre 0-1, 2.25 ERA, 17 G, 0 Svs, 24 IP, 9 K, 1.167 WHIP

Milwaukee has the 5th best bullpen ERA in the NL and while John Axford had some early struggles as closer, he has settled down and has pitched very well during the Brewers� hot streak in May.

Ex-Met Brewers:
Carlos Gomez

Ex-Brewer Mets:
Chris Capuano

Mets vs. Brewers in 2010: 2 wins, 5 losses
Mets vs. Brewers All Time: 54 wins, 35 Losses

Milwaukee is a very good team and will create many problems for the Mets this week. In my mind, they are the team that is going to make the most noise in the NL Central. If (and I�m not here to ruffle any feathers or start any doom or gloom, so this is a big if) the Mets were to trade Jose Reyes at the deadline, I think the Brewers would be a perfect fit for a Reyes rental. Prince Fielder is most likely gone after 2011, so their gap of opportunity to win it all may be closing. Unfortunately, after the Greinke and Marcum deals, their farm system is not much better than our own, so I�m not sure that what they will have left to give up will match Reyes� value. Either way, beating Milwaukee will be a tough task this week. I will make the trip to the Tuesday and Thursday games and will be rooting hard for wins.

Edited June 6, 2011 by Guest

[Gwreck]

I recall Axford looking like a ridiculous hipster with a bad mustache when we saw him at the very end of last season at Shea. Photo here.

Ruben Tejada hit a walk-off double to the wall in left field to beat him.

Nice KTE.

Edited June 6, 2011 by Guest

[TransMonk]

[A Boy Named Seo]

Wow, that's awesome. He looks like the Reds mascot.

PS - solid knowledge, Monky.

[Guest themetfairy]

Thanks for the inside scoop TM!

[Willets Point]

TransMonk wrote:

Hipsters play baseball now? Does he wear skinny uniform pants and ride a fixie in from the bullpen?

[Edgy MD]

I figure any team that has employed Rollie Fingers has to indulge any reliever who wants to break out the moustache wax.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Really. He's smack in the spirit of the thing.



/Maybe I'm rocking a hipster-stache now... and maybe I am.

[Guest The Second Spitter]

That's frigging awesome - i'd do it, but for the daily threat of getting bashed.

Great KTE, TM.

[Willets Point]

I still think it would be fun if there were hipsters playing baseball. In fact, there could be a whole expansion team: The Brooklyn Hipsters.

[Fman99]

Well done sir. I gots me some knowledge now.

[Guest OlerudOwned]

I hope that former major-junior hockey player Nyjer Morgan doesn't get so fired up over the Cup finals that he winds up having a big series.

[Guest OlerudOwned]

Willets Point wrote: I still think it would be fun if there were hipsters playing baseball. In fact, there could be a whole expansion team: The Brooklyn Hipsters.

Back when there were (false) rumors that the Nets would be renamed the Brooklyn New Yorkers after their eventual move, someone threw together a concept riding on that same train of thought.

http://www.tauntr.com/blog/introducing-brooklyn-new-yorkers

[Willets Point]

^
|
Awesome

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Nice work Monky, have a good time and a Leiny or two at the games.

Here's a piece on Chris Capuano. He strikes me as one of those weird guys whose skin is all sharklike and shaved.

Mets' Chris Capuano is always working, never wasting time NEW YORK � En route to Citi Field on Sunday afternoon, Mets pitcher Chris Capuano spent 15 minutes planning the evening ahead. Time management aids him, so he performs this ritual as he travels to whatever ballpark he considers a workplace that day. He was two nights away from his start tonight in Milwaukee, his professional home for seven years. He had thrown a bullpen session the day before. Thus he considered his lifting program, his running program, the amount of extra video he wanted to study, some additional minutes devoted to hitting and fielding. With a plan formulated, his day could begin. �I�ve never been someone who likes to come in to work and just hang out,� Capuano said. Dawdling does not suit him. His time before games is not spent lingering at his locker. A five-day routine for Capuano (3-6, 5.19 ERA) involves a regimented schedule of activity. There is time for recovery with ice and heat, for side sessions and for film study. Those are the basics. Capuano writes his own scouting reports on opposing lineups, noting tendencies and establishing a plan of attack. During batting practice, he often retreats to the indoor cages for individual work � Mets manager Terry Collins considers him one of the team�s best bunters. In those hours immediately before a start, he treats his body like a tuning fork. If he feels too much adrenaline, he soothes himself with breathing exercises and visualization. If he feels flat, he cranks alternative rock in his headphones. �There are always little things that you can be doing,� Capuano said. At 32, he is studious and industrious, a survivor in a game that tends to discard pitchers with 87-mph fastballs and a pair of reconstructive elbow operations. His perspective is colored by his age and his shape-shifting status. He was an All-Star, then an injury risk cast onto the scrap heap for two seasons, and now a reclamation project signed to a $1.5 million flier by the Mets. The knowledge creates a dualism in his approach. On the mound, he practices tunnel vision, insisting he concentrates only on each individual pitch. Off the mound, he takes the long view, refusing to deviate from his routine based on his performance. He operates so that each start carries the same significance, even a reunion with former teammates at Miller Park. �I don�t feel like I want to go back and stick it to them,� Capuano said. �I don�t feel like I want to go back there and reminisce about sitting down by the lake and going to all these restaurants, you know what I mean?� Due to his injury history, a pitch count of 100 precludes him from appearing in the final third of games. Yet he has produced for the Mets. �Might even be getting a little more than I had expected,� said pitching coach Dan Warthen. One must delve beneath Capuano�s ERA to discern his value this season. Luck has not helped his cause. Opposing hitters are connecting with a .328 batting average on balls in play, which is nearly 30 points above the norm for a starter. Capuano ranks second on the starting staff behind Jon Niese in expected fielding-independent pitching (3.86), which measures a pitcher�s ERA by removing fielding considerations from the equation and normalizing home run expectancy, which provides a better indicator of future performance. The future is what he plans for. �Anyone who excels anywhere, the only way to do that is to organize your time,� Capuano said. �Set goals each day. Set long-term goals. Set short-term goals. And plan your day. That�s how I used to be in school.� As an undergrad at Duke, Capuano divided the day into segments, vacillating between study and sport. In the classroom, he graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a degree in economics. On the diamond, he pitched well enough to be selected in the eighth round by Arizona in the 1999 draft. More than a decade later, his capacity for activity resonated with former Blue Devils head coach Steve Traylor. �God, he was such a hard worker,� Traylor said. �He was just relentless. He was relentless in his workouts, his lifting, his running, getting his pitching workouts in.� Inside the Mets clubhouse, Capuano�s presence is similar. The team�s resident ace-in-theory, Dillon Gee, quipped that perhaps he should spend less time dawdling by his locker during the week. In conversation, Capuano reinforced to Gee how a set routine �keeps you even-keel,� Gee said. Capuano insists he is not unique. He is only more organized than most, spending those 15 minutes each day to organize his thoughts and plan for the day. �I just keep those things in my head,� Capuano said, �so that when I get here, I can just attack a day and not just drift through it.� For more Mets coverage, follow Andy McCullough on Twitter at twitter.com/Ledger_NYMets Andy McCullough: amccullough@starledger.com

[MFS62]

Thanks, Monk.
Good job.

And if any of the reporters write that the Mets might trade Reyes to the Brewers, we'll all know they heard it here first.

Later

[TransMonk]

The Brewers won again on Monday, sweeping a four game series from the Marlins in Florida, and are on a five game winning streak.

Milwaukee is 20-6 overall since May 9, best in the majors.

[Ceetar]

TransMonk wrote: The Brewers won again on Monday, sweeping a four game series from the Marlins in Florida, and are on a five game winning streak. Milwaukee is 20-6 overall since May 9, best in the majors.

Well..they're due to cool off a little right?

Mets are 3/4 and 5/8 and are due to have a little bit of a hot streak right?

[TransMonk]

True...

I can honestly say that in my 20+ years of Metly fandom while living in Wisconsin, that this is the first time I'll be going to see the Mets play Milwaukee (on edit...I guess they have only been in the NL since 1998) where I truly believe that the Brewers have a better team than my Mets.

That will make me all the more happy if we beat the shit out of them. Let's Go Mets!

Edited June 7, 2011 by Guest

[metirish]

Nice work Monk, enjoy the games....Brewers are hot, tall task ahead.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

The Crew of Brew isn't just hot. They're great.

Patience/working their pitchers early might be key-- that bullpen's been decent of late, but it's the soft underbelly.

[TransMonk]

John Axford's wife gave birth to a baby boy early this morning.

Sounds like Axford is too cool for paternity leave, though.

[Frayed Knot]

The other thing to remember about Thursday's pitcher Gallardo ... dude can hit!!


"Only" a .213 career hitter but [u:zgq3woei]Nine[/u:zgq3woei] HRs in just 202 ABs

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

TransMonk wrote: John Axford's wife gave birth to a baby boy early this morning. Sounds like Axford is too cool for paternity leave, though.

Also, he's home. I mean, it's a short drive to the stadium. Why would you need leave?

/I love Jason Bay!