Five Things I Know I Think

Welcome to the May edition of ‘Five Things I Know I Think.’

The Milwaukee Brewers are just 11-14 this month after going 20-8 to begin the season. But luckily, they’re still atop the NL Central — even if it is by only 1.5 games.

In April, I touched on Wei-Chung Wang, Francisco Rodriguez and the Brewers rumored interest in free agent first baseman Kendrys Morales. Let’s see what I’m thinking about this month.

1. I think the Brewers bench is really hurting them late in games. They just removed (finally) Jeff Bianchi (.145/.172/.145) from the 40-man roster and replaced him with Irving Falu who is offensively handicapped as well. The only thing Logan Schafer can do is play outfield as he is a slouch with the bat, Elian Herrera is an average backup at the very best, and Mark Reynolds and Lyle Overbay aren’t contact guys that teams need on their bench. Frankly, I have no faith in these guys coming up with a clutch hit off the bench. I think Doug Melvin would be wise to try to improve his bench before the trade deadline.

2. I think Carlos Gomez has a real shot at the MVP award. If he can keep his average up above .300, continue to skyrocket pitches out of stadiums and keep playing a mean center field, he’ll be right up there in votes at the end of the season. I feel lucky that I get to watch him play night in and night out. I would like to thank the New York Mets and Minnesota Twins for telling Gomez to hit the ball on the ground. If not for that horrible advice, it’s doubtful he’d be a Brewer.

3. I think “Xero Vanderbilt” (@nicklsax) is the scum of the earth. He threatened Khris Davis‘ life and the life of his family on Twitter, while using a racial slur. It’s people like him that makes me question the sanity of the human race. Seriously. How stupid and ignorant do you have to be?

4. I think it’s nice to see J.J. Hardy back in Miller Park again. Although we traded him for Carlos Gomez, a trade that the Brewers clearly won, Hardy was always a fan favorite and an all-around good guy. I’m glad to see him having a successful career in Baltimore and will continue to wish him the best.

5. I think these so-called “prospect experts” overlooked Jimmy Nelson. Nelson is having a tremendous season in Triple-A, and will almost surely be on the Opening Day roster in 2015. He made one start for the Brewers this season, and even though he lacked control, he still pitched magnificently. Hopefully, he’ll continue to dazzle so I can keep calling out the experts who didn’t view him as a top prospect.