You know…I’m only THIS good at coaching. Photo: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

When the cat is away, the mice will play.  Welcome to the first ever episode of the Reviewing the Brew Podcast.  Ben and Colin were unable to make it, so they turned everything over to staff writer Justin Schultz and I.  Curt Hogg was supposed to be there, but you will have to listen to find out why he did not show up.  I hope you all enjoy the first (and in all likelihood, last) episode of the Reviewing the Brew podcast.  So, I won’t keep you in suspense any longer.  Here is episode 7 of season two.

Justin and I talked about…

• Ron Roenicke being a bad manager (this is almost half of the podcast)
• The current road trip
• We answer a few listener questions
• I apologize to Mr. and Mrs. Schultz
• K-Rod and all of the wonderful things he brings to the table
• We pick our players, pitchers, and goats of the week
• Do a little Curt bashing
• My wife calls me a dick
• Talk about the passing of Dick Trickle
• Finish it off with about 15 minutes of nonsense

Please be sure to go over and follow Justin and myself on Twitter.  I will be unable to be on the podcast next week, but do not fret my pets…I will return in episode 9.  That is unless Ben and Colin ban me for bad behavior.

Last month, we gave away a $300 worth of Sports Memorabilia…This month, FanSided and Reviewing the Brew have teamed up with Deals2Buy.com to give away a LG Electronics 42-Inch LED TV!!!

This LG Electronics 42-Inch LED TV is provided by Deals2Buy, a leading website for deals, discounts and close-out inventory offers. Focused on delivering best-of-web pricing, Deals2Buy is known among tech-savvy consumers as the one stop shop for deals on items like laptops, cameras, televisions and other technology products – as well as apparel, accessories, travel, and even credit card offers. Sign up for the Deals2Buy Hot Deal Alerts newsletter and follow them on Twitter and Facebook to stay in the know about the hottest deals every day!

To enter, simply like us on Facebook and sign up for our daily email newsletter, FanSided Daily. It is completely free and customizable to your unique rooting interest. Then earn additional entries by sharing the contest with friends!

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Open to legal residents of the 50 United States and D.C., 18 years and older, who are the owners of the property depicted in the photo. Begins: 9:00 a.m. C.T. on 5/15/13. Ends: 11:59 p.m. C.T. on 6/15/13. Subject to Official Rules at www.fansided.com. Void where prohibited. Sponsor: FanSided. This contest is in no way sponsored, endorsed, administered by, or associated with, Facebook.

As of this publication, Colin Bennett has not yet returned to his home. He is presumed to be drunk and extremely emotional.

(more…)

The smile of a true leader. (Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports)

2010 was also the season that Hernandez won the American League Cy Young Award.

With 13 wins.

The case of King Felix provides a proper transition into digressing upon the subjectivity and, to put in bluntly, the uselessness of wins as a stat for pitchers.

Within the confines of the 2013 Milwaukee Brewers, Kyle Lohse examples this notion to its full extent. Lohse has been the Brewers’ top starting pitcher, posting a 3.53 earned run average and 3.77 FIP, both tops among Milwaukee starters.

Yet, the first stat shown following the score in the game recap, one of the pitching triple crown categories, and the number by which the careers of most pitchers are assessed shows that Lohse really hasn’t been worthy of much praise.

Kyle Lohse has one win.

Through seven weeks, does this void the value of signing Kyle Lohse? I mean, he won 16 games last season and has one this year, right? Start the mob! Incite the riot! Send Kyle Lohse back to St. Louis where he’ll throw complete game shutouts!

Or come to grips that using wins as a primary way to assess a pitcher’s value makes less sense than asking Bob Uecker to run a marathon.

Wins are not only dependent on how well/poor the starting pitcher pitches on any given day, but also subject to the opposing starter’s performance, the offensive production, any defensive miscues behind the starter, pitch count, managerial decisions, and the bullpen performances of both teams.

For Lohse in 2013, seemingly all of these have gone the wrong way for Lohse.

Lohse holds a 1-4 record, but his ERA would indicate anything but that (Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports)

On April 12 at Busch Stadium, he surrendered only six baserunners and two runs in seven innings, yet the Cardinals limited Milwaukee to two hits and no runs over nine innings as Lohse took his first loss as a starter. At the time, it was arguably the top start for any Brewers starter to that point…yet Lohse lost.

Furthermore, Lohse has posted career-high LOB% and BB/9 through seven starts (entering Tuesday night’s start in Pittsburgh) in addition to his highest K/9 rate since 2006. These, along with a FIP that ranks among the top 50 in Major League Baseball, are far more effective in assessing Lohse’s value.

Rather simply, Lohse has just been unlucky this season–arguably the unluckiest pitcher in all of baseball. Repeatedly he has been “squeezed” by home plate umpires, seemingly more so than other starters(on May 3, what should have been an inning-ended strike three according to Pitch F/X and Lohse himself was called a ball, and Matt Holliday took advantage of the new life by blasting a two-run homer off the scoreboard).

In his four losses, Lohse has been the recipient of three runs of support. Outside of a seven-run outburst against San Diego, the offense has provided Lohse with seven runs in six starts.

Good news for Lohse and the Brewers is that, over the course of 162 games, this pattern won’t stay the same. He won’t face Shelby Miller or Adam Wainwright or Clayton Kershaw every fifth day. There’s a Barry Zito or Edwin Jackson in there somewhere. The offense won’t average 2.0 runs per game for him all season. The #LohseLeadership is just too strong.

Once the wins begin to balance out the losses, though, it still won’t even serve as the determining factor for Lohse and for pitchers in general. While it’s nice to register as the winning pitcher, the game of baseball is just so crazy, so unpredictable that they serve far down on the register of ways to evaluate a pitcher.

Just ask Felix Hernandez and his mantelpiece.