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Aug 22, 2010; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Milwaukee Brewers pitcher

We’re reaching the dog days of Spring Training, as Opening Day is less than two weeks away. There are only a few spots to go around. A couple posts here have already looked at the one remaining spot on the bench that is likely to go to either Brooks Conrad or Taylor Green. I’m going to look at the bullpen, the best and most competitive position battle in Brewers camp.

First, let’s look at the spots that have been locked up.

John Axford
Francisco Rodriguez
Jose Veras
Kameron Loe
Marco Estrada

Axford, Rodriguez, Veras and Loe were all above average each of the last two years, which gives the Brewers a strong back end of the bullpen. I’m not totally convinced Estrada should be a lock for the roster, but that could just be all the times Ron Roenicke misused him in the NLCS clouding my judgment. He did a nice job during the season filling in as an emergency starter, although he was not as good as a reliever (which is definitely an unusual trend).

Anyway. That leaves exactly two bullpen spots for five legitimate contenders: Zach Braddock, Manny Parra, Tim Dillard, Brandon Kintzler, and Mike McClendon. I thought Michael Fiers might have a shot as well, but he’s already been optioned to AAA to be a starter in Nashville.

I like Brandon Kintzler, but he’s been injured much of camp, so even if he comes back strong, he has likely run out of time.

It seems Braddock and Parra would be in direct competition, both being left-handers. I’m a big fan of Braddock, but he’s got a couple things working against him. First of all, he missed much of last season due to some pretty extenuating personal/health circumstances. It seems reasonable for the Brewers to want to see him prove himself a bit in Nashville before giving him big league innings. Secondly, and more importantly, he’s a victim of the Options Game. Braddock has two minor league options remaining, while Parra has none. With all the time and money the Brewers have invested into Parra and his rehabilitation, I don’t expect them to cut him loose now without even seeing what he can do.

So, I’m expecting Parra to make the team and Braddock to start in Nashville.

The other battle isn’t as easy to call. Dillard and McClendon have both had some success in limited stints with the Brewers. Dillard single-handedly won them a game in Florida last year by digging them out of a near impossible extra innings jam, and he’s shown very strong k/bb ratios the last couple years (since he moved to his sidearm delivery), which is probably my favorite stat for pitchers. Complicating matters for the Brewers is the fact that Dillard is out of options, and it could be difficult to pass him through waivers.

McClendon is an interesting case, too. He’s done well enough in MLB cups of coffee in both 2010 and 2011, and he has solid AAA numbers in those seasons as well. McClendon appears to have an option left.

While it may seem this is as cut and dried as McClendon has an option and Dillard does not, I don’t think this one is as simple as Parra/Braddock. The Parra case is a bit unusual; the Brewers should simply pick the best pitcher in this case. They’ve slipped Dillard through waivers before, so maybe it could happen again.

My preference is toward Dillard, but the difference is probably negligible. My official guess for the last two spots is Manny Parra and Tim Dillard, although I expect we’ll see Braddock, McClendon, Kintzler, and possibly Santo Manzanillo, Juan Perez, and Mike Fiers in Milwaukee at some point throughout the season. Injuries are inevitable, but I think the Brewers have some solid depth at reliever. Like last season, the bullpen should be a strength.

You may remember that Steve was so unique because he was not a part of the wide world of sports media (blogging, tweeting, and so on).  In our many conversations, he said that he would like to try writing.  I told him that if he had an idea, that I would be more than happy to post it on RtB. 

Last week, Steve came to me with a terrific idea.  SS wanted to play an entire Brewers season on MLB 2K12 for the X-Box 360.  This is great for me because, I am not a video game guy.  So, in just a weeks time, Steve has the results of the 2012 Brewers season.  Via the Microsoft Corporation and 2k Sports, of course.  Wait until you see the World Series result…

Take it away Steve:

Allow myself to introduce…myself…again. I’m the guy that represented the Brewers in the MLB Fan Cave contest. I ran on a platform of being a normal guy and try to just be myself. However, as it turns out: being myself didn’t turn the Fan Cave judges on because I didn’t make it to New York. But that’s okay because that will give me more time to be myself.  Oh wait…

Part of being myself is being a huge gamer. My Xbox 360 is probably my most prized possession, and I have a ridiculous Gamerscore that is north of 100,000. Long before I started my Fan Cave dream, I spent years (yes years!) selling video games. So, what I’m trying to say is, I know what I’m talking about.

The Brewers offseason has left a lot of questions so I couldn’t resist the urge to try to answer a few of them for you.  With the help of  MLB 2K12.

This could possibly be the last year that 2K sports makes an MLB game, so I wanted to see the effort that could be their last hoorah. When I started up the game I was greeted with some Skrillex – Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites.  Felt right at home. I played two games right away, and in those games Mat Gamel hit 3 HRs.

How Mat Gamel does this season is one of those huge questions. If Mat was such a beast in those couple games, I needed to know what would happen over the course of an entire season. I played a whole season, with some great results not just for Mat but the whole team.

Mat Gamel led the team in HRs, RBI, Batting average, Slugging, and OPS. 28/98/.289/.502/.857 respectively. So according to this game Mat Gamel fills in at first base continuing the #BeastMode from last season.  And he does it in style

So you said great results Steve, what else happened?

•  Well, to any Brewers fan’s excitement, we got out to a hot start with 50 wins by the All-Star break.
• Despite the start, there was one bad piece of injury news early in the season: Zack Grienke was put on the DL with a torn finger ligament and was out most of the season.
• WAIT…What? How did we keep winning? Brandon Kintzler stepped up big time. 12 wins, 1.39 ERA, and a 0.93 WHIP.
• Great pitching didn’t stop there. Gallardo, Wolf, and Marcum also added 12 wins. Chris Narveson led the team with 13 wins. When Grienke came back in August he played in 19 games going 9-4 with a 0.95 ERA and a 0.83 WHIP. However, no Brewers pitchers came close to 200 K’s.
• Braun had a down year….WAAAY down. 14 HR, 69 RBI, 81 R, .295 AVG, and 27 SB.
• Interesting stat – Nyjer Morgan came back and had 39 stolen bases

Cool stats, hot start, but how did the Brewers finish?

We ended the season 93-69 with a 6 game lead over the Reds in the division. So a lot of the same success as last year.  You can stop worrying.  On the flip side, we had the same luck in the playoffs as we did last year. We had no problem advancing from the NLDS but went on to be swept by the Phillies in the NLCS (sad face). The Phillies lose the World Series though…to the Twins. (What?!)

Don’t get too down though; it’s just a video game. There’s a reason why we still play the games in real life (Just ask Lehigh). Ironically, I see the same success.  I have been firm in saying we have 92-ish wins in us. It was great fun looking ahead to the 2012 Brewers season through a video game. But remember, this is a video game that thinks the Twins win the World Series and that John Axford looks like this:

I’m not sure I can put much stock into that. It has been awesome being a Brewers fan lately, as we all know, and it should be no different this year. So, here’s to the real games getting started I’m sure no one can wait.

This week there was so much news happening, I could add hundreds of things to the junk drawer.  So in honor of March Madness, these are things that I am putting in the junk drawer to forget.  Here are some things I am “Mad” about and deserve to be junked.

First Handful of Players Re-Assigned

This bugs me because I wanted to see more of a couple of these guys.  Primarily, I think it is madness that Brock Kjeldgaard did not get more time.  Brock was sent to Huntsville Alabama, along with pitcher Cody Scarpetta.  Then, it was Taylor Jungmann and Jed Bradley who were designated to minor league camp. That was not surprising beacuse those two have never even pitched in the system.   Anderson De La Rosa was the 5th player and he followed Jungmann and Bradley to minor league Summer camp.  We hardly had any time to see these guys, but clearly the organization does not think they are ready.  Therefore, I am forced to accept this, but it does not mean I have to like it.  This also sucks for Colin Bennett, who picked Kjeldgaard to follow this spring.  Sorry pal.  Better luck next season. 

Oct 4, 2011; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Shaun Marcum against the Arizona Diamondbacks during game three of the 2011 NLDS at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-US PRESSWIRE

Shaun Marcum Is Still Not Pitching

This is frustrating for a few reasons.  Part of me wants to believe that he is genuinely having issues, but the Satan part of me thinks that he is milking it a little bit.  Why would he do that?  Shaun was clearly bitter that he was open to a long-term extension and the Brewers apparently were not.  Now, I do not doubt that he has some tightness in his shoulder.  That does not mean that he is not milking this thing for all it is worth.  Why would you risk injury in Spring Training, when you need to be pitching for a contract?  Just think about it for me.  It makes sense.  But, Marcum has been working with Rick Kranitz and was scheduled to throw off of a mound today.  So maybe I am blowing this out of proportion.  It wouldn’t be the worst thing ever if he started the regular season healthy. 

Brandon Kintzler Needs Nerve Testing

Kintzler had X-rays on his forearm earlier this week.  His discomfort was initially self-diagnosed as a screw moving.  Last season Kintzler had surgery to repair a hairline fracture in his arm, which involved a screw.  It is possible that the screw is still the root of the problem however.  Brandon now believes that the screw could be “pinching a nerve”.  If you have never had a pinched nerve, it is terribly uncomfortable.  It does not hurt necessarily, but it certainly is not something you enjoy.  This is good news however.  Hopefully this is something he can recover from and we can get some innings out of him.  Guy has good stuff, it would be a shame to watch him sit on the shelf for another season. 

John Axford Gets Into Politics

This may sound absurd, but John Axford has publicly thrown his support behind the highly controversial Stache Act.  If you do not know what I am talking about, follow this link.  This glorious movement was sent to me by an old friend, Shawn Anderson of The Hall of Very Good.  For those of you who do not know, Shawn is an avid baseball fan and a member/writer for the American Mustache Institute.  The AMI is responsible for this glorious piece of legislation.  You should really educate yourself on this.  It is one of the more genius things ever and I am not surprised that John Axford is on board with this.  Thanks Shawn. Oh, and for the record…nothing about this makes me “Mad”.  I just felt like it deserved some love.

**Special Note** Shawn and I will be doing a pre-season chat soon, so be on the look-out.  It is gonna blow your mind. 

Not related to the Junk Drawer, but the Brewers won today over the Padres 6-4.  Taylor Green hit a 2-run homer, Chris Narveson looked pretty sweet, and Tyler Thornburg has now thrown 5 consecutive scoreless innings.  That win puts us at .500 on the Spring!!!   Whooeeeee!!!!

Go Brewers!!

- Josh Wilson and Mark DeFelice were both out-righted to Triple-A this afternoon.  This move takes them off of the Brewers 40-man roster.  This move is not surprising to anyone.  Wilson should be thankful he has a job at all and DeFelice was nothing more than a stop gap this season.  These two men were moved from the 40-man roster to make room for…

- Brandon Kintzler and Manny Parra were both reinstated from the DL (Kintzler was on 15 day, Parra was on 60 day).  Manny Parra did not make an appearance this entire season, unless you count Spring Training.  Kintzler showed some promise this season, but he also showed some Jeff Suppan. 

- Who knew?  Apparently, Chris Narveson had surgery on his left hip after the Brewers were bounced from postseason play.  Did anyone else know that he was having hip troubles?  Maybe that is why Roenicke refused to throw Narveson in Game 6 of the NLCS…but I doubt it.  As of now, there is no word as to the extent or type of injury.  Tom Haudricort is reporting that Narveson will be ready in time for Spring Training. 

- The Brewers also took it upon themselves to re-sign middle infielder Edwin Maysonet to a minor-league deal.  His deal comes complete with money and an invite to spring training.  Maysonet spent his entire 2011 season playing in Nashville, were he hit .290 and committed 23 errors.  The batting average is nice, but that seems like a lot of errors for a guy who is 30 years old and still in the minor leagues.  I am a bit surprised that Maysonet was so high on the teams radar and Brandon Boggs was not. 

That’s all for now.  But, with the World Series ending as soon as tomorrow, we are going to see a lot of roster adjustments over the next few weeks.