Brewers (8) vs Dodgers (12) 7/10 -- Tastes Great, Less Filling
Tastes Great:
Mat Gamel--Please Macha and Melvin, make a good decision for a change and let this kid play every day. Put McGehee at second everyday (as long as he continues to produce) and have Counsell play two days a week between short, second, and third. Every time the Brewers have let Gamel play several days in a row he's only gotten better. When they've jerked him around and kept him on the bench for several days in a row, he's struggled when he gets back in. And believe it or not he's actually hit lefties much better than he has righties. Let him play!!!!!!!!!
J.J. Hardy--I told you all he would come around. A home run to the opposite field, a hit to the opposite field, and a line-out to the opposite field for a sac fly tell you this guy is locked in and ready to explode.
Mike Cameron--Like J.J., several of his hits were the other way, which is a great sign for Cam.
Frank Catalanotto--After being under-utilized in favor of Jody Gerut in pinch-hitting and late-game situations, Frankie took advantage of the scant playing time he gets.
Less Filling:
1-4 in the order--A combined 3 for 17, although thanks to a few walks and the guys behind them they did score a few runs. "Leadoff" hitter Jason Kendall was nothing special (weird I know.)
Ken Macha--The players have definitely been sub-par lately, but Macha has done a terrible job managing this team, especially the bullpen, in the last month or so. There's not much that can be done about Hoffman blowing the save, but then bringing in an already over-worked and ineffective Villanueva for the 10th was ridiculous. Wouldn't Seth McClung have made a ton more sense there? I'm no big fan of McClung, but he was much fresher than Villy (who has been terrible lately anyway) and would seem to be more suited for a potential long stint in extras. McClung's thrown 1 1/3 innings in one appearance in the last 8 days, while Villy had thrown 2 2/3 (which included last night getting no one out) in four appearances in that time. What the hell are you doing leaving a guy in to give up 6 runs in extra innings?
Braden Looper--Any time you give up four home runs you deserve to be here. Otherwise he wasn't too bad.
Trevor Hoffman--Has given up runs in four of his last eight outings. His pitches continue to be up, and other teams are going hard at him early in the count. His stuff just isn't good enough to catch that much of the plate. As we saw early in the year, he has to be pinpoint perfect with his fastball, and lately he hasn't been.
Mat Gamel--Please Macha and Melvin, make a good decision for a change and let this kid play every day. Put McGehee at second everyday (as long as he continues to produce) and have Counsell play two days a week between short, second, and third. Every time the Brewers have let Gamel play several days in a row he's only gotten better. When they've jerked him around and kept him on the bench for several days in a row, he's struggled when he gets back in. And believe it or not he's actually hit lefties much better than he has righties. Let him play!!!!!!!!!
J.J. Hardy--I told you all he would come around. A home run to the opposite field, a hit to the opposite field, and a line-out to the opposite field for a sac fly tell you this guy is locked in and ready to explode.
Mike Cameron--Like J.J., several of his hits were the other way, which is a great sign for Cam.
Frank Catalanotto--After being under-utilized in favor of Jody Gerut in pinch-hitting and late-game situations, Frankie took advantage of the scant playing time he gets.
Less Filling:
1-4 in the order--A combined 3 for 17, although thanks to a few walks and the guys behind them they did score a few runs. "Leadoff" hitter Jason Kendall was nothing special (weird I know.)
Ken Macha--The players have definitely been sub-par lately, but Macha has done a terrible job managing this team, especially the bullpen, in the last month or so. There's not much that can be done about Hoffman blowing the save, but then bringing in an already over-worked and ineffective Villanueva for the 10th was ridiculous. Wouldn't Seth McClung have made a ton more sense there? I'm no big fan of McClung, but he was much fresher than Villy (who has been terrible lately anyway) and would seem to be more suited for a potential long stint in extras. McClung's thrown 1 1/3 innings in one appearance in the last 8 days, while Villy had thrown 2 2/3 (which included last night getting no one out) in four appearances in that time. What the hell are you doing leaving a guy in to give up 6 runs in extra innings?
Braden Looper--Any time you give up four home runs you deserve to be here. Otherwise he wasn't too bad.
Trevor Hoffman--Has given up runs in four of his last eight outings. His pitches continue to be up, and other teams are going hard at him early in the count. His stuff just isn't good enough to catch that much of the plate. As we saw early in the year, he has to be pinpoint perfect with his fastball, and lately he hasn't been.
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