Episode 59 "John Axford Edition"

Breakdown of The Show:

Gomez Extension 0:00-16
Break
The Bench 16:00-28:00
Break
Most Impressive Camp Players 28:00-40:00
Break
Around The NL Central 40:00-47:00

VFBC Podcast Episode 31 "Dave Bush Edition"

Breakdown of The Show:

NLDS vs Dbacks "Good, Bad & Ugly" :00-19:51
Break
Prospects At Arizona Fall League 21:09-30:18
BReak
NLCS/ALCS Previews/Predictions 31:11-44:36
Break
Preview/Chalet Award Winner 45:27-56:54

VFBC Podcast Episode 29 "Chris Bosio Edition"

Breakdown of The Show:

Braun joins 30/30 Club, Batting Title/MVP Ahead? :00-16:17
Break
Lining Up Playoff Rotation 17:32-31:46
Break
Minor League Wrap 32:33-49:40
Break
Preview/Around NL Central/Chalet Award Winner 50:39-1:03:33

VFBC Podcast Episode 24

Breakdown of The Show:

Betancourt/McGehee On Fire! :00-12:54
Break
Gallardo, Is He The #1? 14:10-29:28
Break
Minor League Update 30:35-52:38
Break
Preview/Around NL Central/Chalet Award Winner 53:39-1:09:05

VFBC Podcast Episode 20

Breakdown of The Show:

Tied For 1st Going To The Break/Look Back & Ahead :00-33:06
Break
Minor League Talk 34:05-46:32
Break
Revisiting Season Predictions 48:06-1:16:53
Break
Preview/Around NL Central/Chalet Award Winner 1:19:00-1:31:32

VFBC Podcast Episode 17

Breakdown of The Show:

Randy Wolf's Impressive Season So Far :00-13:34
Break
SS, What To Do With Yuni Betancourt? In House and Trade 14:56-34:15
Break
Minor League Talk 35:14-1:02
Break
Preview/Around NL Central/Chalet Award Winner 1:03-1:14:48

VFBC Podcast Episode 12

Breakdown of The Show:

Road Trip Woes 00:00-12:54
Break
Bench Issues 14:02-26:47
Break
Minor League Talk 27:56-49:32
Break
Around NL Central/Brewer of The Week/Preview 50:24-58:02

YouTube Classic: All 27 Outs Of Jake Odorizzi/Adrian Rosario Combined No-Hitter

This is pretty awesome, video of all 27 outs in the Jake Odorizzi/Adrian Rosario combined no-hitter for the Timber Rattlers back in August. This video just gets me more pumped to see Odorizzi in the Brewers rotation sometime in 2012.

Gamel Raking In AAA, Should Start 11' In Milwaukee

I know some Brewers fans out there are down on Mat Gamel. They think, because he did not come up last season and hit right away ala Braun or Fielder that he is not very good. Well, I never got that feeling. I still think Gamel will hit and hit quite well at the big league level. I still somewhat attribute his slow start for the Brewers in 2009 to Ken Macha not playing him often enough (we all know the "zim-zam" situation), he never got a chance to adjust to big league pitching with regular playing time. He got off to a slow start this year after missing the beginning of the season with an injury. He had a stint at A+ Brevard County and then AA Huntsville. Now with 65 games at AAA Nashville his numbers are starting to look more "Gamelesque". .312/.385/.494 with 9 HR and 51 RBI.

Of course it would be nice to see Mat hit a few more HR's and I think he can be a 20 to 25 guy in the bigs. But as long as he can hit around .300, carry a high OBP and mash doubles I would be very happy. Basically what I am saying is I am more than comfortable with Gamel being in the Brewers Opening Day roster in 2011, I don't care if it's at 1B or RF (with Hart moving to 1B). We all know Prince should be and needs to be moved for pitching, Gamel is the man to fill that spot as the left handed power bat in the Brewers lineup.

Welcome Back To The Show Chris Capuano

What an amazing story, after having a second Tommy John surgery and not pitching in a MLB game since 2007, Chris Capuano is back. After last nights Brewers win (probably the best of the season thanks to Gallardo/Hart) the Brewers purchased Chris's contract from AAA Nashville. Cappy actually pitched last night for the Sounds, pitching 4 scoreless innings before being pulled to catch a plane. Chris is not on the 40 man roster so the Brewers will have to make two moves, one to clear a 40 man spot and another to clear a 25 man spot. Estrada, Axford and Braddock all have options, but they have pitched very well. Suppan and Vargas could be DFA options. It will be interesting to see what they do. The other question is does Capunao start or come out of the pen? Perhaps he takes Parra's spot in the rotation after Manny starts tonight. We'll see.

Today May 29th, Capuano had an out clause in his contract that he could become a free agent if not called up to the big leagues. And with how well Chris pitched at A+ Brevard County and AAA Nashville (3-1, 1.77 ERA, 33 K's, 4 BB's in 6 starts) it was obvious that the Brewers would promote him. It's a tremendous story of courage, guts and never giving up for Chris Capuano to make it all the way back. A lot of guys have come back from one Tommy John surgery, not many at all make it back from a second. The last time Chris pitched in a Brewers uniform? September 28th, 2007 vs the San Diego Padres. 2007 was a tough year for Chris, but he was very good in 2005 and 2006. Even making the NL All-Star team in 06'. Cappy has always been a fan favorite in Milwaukee because of his performance, intensity and tremendous work ethic. And to make it back he had to use all of those attributes. Welcome back Chris, we missed you. When he makes his first appearance at Miller Park I expect a long standing ovation.

Reader Poll Results

"Which pitching prospect has the highest ceiling?"

Eric Arnett: 6% (1 Vote)

Jake Odorizzi: 43% (7 Votes)

Kyle Heckathorn: 6% (1 Vote)

Wily Peralta: 18% (3 Votes)

Mark Rogers: 25% (4 Votes)

Parra Not Going To Nashville, Insanity

Even though Manny Parra has pretty much sucked all of this 2009 season, and is making Jeff Suppan look like Cy Young, the Brewers have no plans to demote him to Nashville for even a little bit. I have to say I STRONGLY disagree with GM Doug Melvin on this. I don't disagree with Doug to often, I trust in him and feels he almost always does what is right for the club. But this has be scratching my head. Parra is now 3-7 on the season after last nights massacre in which Parra surrendered 11 hits and 10 earned runs in just 4 innings of work. His ERA is 6.75 and he has an astronomical WHIP of 1.83, that is just not acceptable for a starter on a team with a chance to win their division.

I'm not saying demote him for the season and I'm not even saying I have totally lost confidence in Parra someday being a good starting pitcher. (although, I could easily see him as the next Ben Hendrickson. A guy who is a stud in AAA and shows a ton of promise but can't get it done in the bigs) What I am saying is Parra should go down to AAA Nashville for at least a few starts, maybe even a month to work on whatever it is physically and mentally that is not allowing him to get it done, we all know he has the "stuff" but the results are just not there, at all. It worked for Dave Bush last season, he went down for just one start because of Gallardo's injury was right back up and was money the rest of the season and has been great so far this season. Besides Parra going down to work on his game, perhaps it would be a humbling experience for a young pitcher that nothing in this game is guaranteed and you have to produce.

Lorenzo Cain Possibly Done For Season

Talk about shitty news a day after a fantastic Brewers game. This comes from down on the farm as Cain a CF who is the Brewers #6 rated prospect tore his MCL in a game last night for AA Huntsville diving for a ball. According to the blog post at JSonline by Haudricourt, Assistant GM Gord Ash says Cain will probably miss the rest of the season but could be ready to play in the Arizona Fall League. This news just sucks as Cain had a real chance to become the starting CF for the Brewers in 2010. With this injury that could be pushed back to 2011. Best wishes to Lorenzo, hopefully he can rehab and come back the way he was before the injury. He was in a bit of slump at Huntsville but this kid has shown a lot of promise.

It Might Be Time For Manny Parra To Take A Trip To Nashville

Lets face it, Manny Parra's first three starts have been pretty awful. His second he only gave up 3 runs in 6 innings, but his first and third starts just plain terrible, going 4.1 and 4 respectively. I really thought this would be Manny's break out season, that he would really show everyone that he can be the strong #2 we need behind ace Yovani Gallardo. Well so far Parra has been not even close. In is three starts he has 9 walks and he seems to have pretty much no control whatsoever of his fastball. He seems to be able to throw his off speed stuff for strikes but just struggles to no end to get his fastball over to get ahead in the count. Is it physical? Or mental? I'm not really sure.

What I'm getting at is if Manny has another bad starts or two, it may be time to send him down to AAA Nashville to get himself right. It worked last season for Dave Bush, maybe it would work for Manny as well. The questions is who takes his spot in the rotation for a turn or two? Conventional wisdom says Seth McClung, but if Macha wants a lefty to replace him how about calling up Chase Wright from Nashville for a shot? He can't be any worse then Manny has been, can he?

It's Almost Here.....

A little less then 19 hours from now the Brewers will FINALLY open the 2009 season at AT+T Park in San Francisco. I could not be more excited. Just watching bits and pieces of "MLB Tonight" on MLB Network and catching some of the games on ESPN today have just wet my appetite for getting to see my team play tomorrow for the first time in a game that counts. I think I can sum up my excitement best in the text message I sent my buddy today. "Starting tomorrow, we have something to do and look forward to just about every single day for the next 6 months." Even Suppan getting the nod on opening day can't hamper my excitement about tomorrow. I'm using 3 hours of "sick time" tomorrow and leaving the office at 2pm so I can be home, changed into Brewers gear, comfortable in my chair with a beer cracked open in plenty of time before the first pitch from Tim Lincecum to Rickie Weeks.

I was pretty pumped today when the Timber Rattlers released their roster for the start of the 2009 season and Brett Lawrie and Cutter Dykstra were on that list. It's going to be fun making the trek a bit north to Appleton this summer getting to watch two of the Brewers top prospects just get going in their careers. It's nice that the Brewers have a minor league team in state again, gives you more of a reason to go to a minor league game when you can go see the future of your MLB team.

Brewers Still Behind 2004's 1st Round Pick

Nice article by Haudricourt today at JSonline about former 1st round pick Mark Rogers. It is a shame Rogers has had the shoulder issues that have stalled his path to the Major Leagues. Like Tom states in the article right now a 1-2-3 punch of Gallardo, Parra and Rogers would look awful nice atop the rotation. Rogers was taken in the 1st round in 04' when Yovani Gallardo was taken in the 2nd round. The Brewers must still think enough of Rogers since they added him to their 40 man roster to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft.

Because of the shoulder injury and two procedures Rogers has missed the last two seasons. Crazy to think he has not thrown a single pitch in 2007 or 2008. He is feeling no pain now and is rearing to go. Hopefully he can shake of the rust of two seasons of not pitching and get right into it this spring. With the Brewers lack of depth at starting pitching it would be great to see Rogers do well in spring so that he can start at AA Huntsville or AAA Nashville and be ready if the Brewers need him at some point in 2009. I don't know how much the injuries have hurt his velocity but when he was drafted he had an electric fastball and a great curveball.

In Case You Were Wondering, The Future Looks Bright In Milwaukee. Much Like The Present.

Check out the numbers are top prospects are putting up right now.

Matt Gamel - 3B, Huntsville Stars (AA)

.333/.400/.546 19 HR 94 RBI

Alcides Escobar - SS, Huntsville Stars (AA)

.335/.370/.440 8 HR 72 RBI

Angel Salome - C, Huntsville Stars (AA)

.364/.416/.560 11 HR 80 RBI

Brewers Draft A Catcher In 1st Round Of 2008 MLB Draft

With the 16th overall Pick in the 1st Round of the 2008 MLB Draft the Brewers took Brett Lawrie a catcher out of Brookswood SS high school in Langley, B.C. Canada. Lawrie is a right handed hard hitting 18 year old who has also played some 3B and 2B. He has plenty of wood bat experience playing for Team Canada's National Junior Team which is a huge reason the Brewers took him. Some compare him to a young Craig Biggio, that sounds pretty good if you ask me. Seems like a good pick, we are not real deep in the system as far as catcher's go. Besides Vinny Rottino in AAA and Angel Salome in AA we are pretty thin so this pick makes sense. Click here for more information on Lawrie. No game today for the Brewers, it's a team off day before they start their 3 game series in Colorado Friday night.

The Brewers Bench Needs Some "Muscle" As In Russell "The Muscle"

.373 AVG 11 HR 33 RBI's, .716 SLG .451 OBP, 1.167 OPS

Those numbers above would be the season stats thus far for 3B Russell Branyan in AAA Nashville. Now Branyan has been quite the journeymen over the course of his career and I sure wouldn't expect him to put up those kind of numbers in the big leagues since he never really has and I wouldn't want him starting everyday. But what Branyan has always brought to the table is the ability to hit the long ball, slug a high percentage and walk a lot giving him a high on base percentage. He won't ever hit for a high average and he does strikeout a lot. But with the way Bill Hall has hit against righties this season and our black hole known as power from the left side off the bench why not call Branyan up? That way you have a guy to bring off the bench late in the game who can poke one out and can give Hall a day off once in awhile against a tough RHP. If they call Branyan up you send Tony Gwynn down. Bottomline is although Gwynn can give you some speed as a pinch runner and plays a good CF he just can't hit. He is an okay left handed slap hitter but we already have one of those on our bench back up infielder Craig Counsell. Another reason we don't need Gwynn is we have two other backup OF's on the roser Gabe Kapler and Joe Dillon. I hope at some point soon GM Doug Melvin realizes this as well and we get to see Russ in a Brewers uniform once again. Branyan is a huge fan favorite at Brewerfan.net where he is known as 3TO (three true basbeall outcomes: HR, K, BB) and who could forget his 2-HR game on Opening Day at Miller Park in 2005?

Some Bits Of News And My Thoughts

• Chris Capuano will indeed need a second "Tommy John" surgery to repair his elbow. He tore the ligament in spring training and tried to just rehab it, but to no avail. This will put him on the shelf for a calender year and is a huge knock to his career. I feel bad for Cappy, a true good guy on the Brewers team and was looking like the stud of the Richie Sexson trade. Won 18 games for the Brewers in 2005 and made the All-Star team in 2006. Last season struggled to a 5-12 record and an ERA over 5. But actually made a lot of nice starts that got wasted by no run supports from the offense. I wish Cappy the best, but it's gonna be a long road back for him.

• I'm quite glad Ned Yost went back to Eric Gagne so quickly in a save situation. And although Gagne gave up a hit and a walk in the 9th yesterday against the Dodgers, he got the job down and converted his 10th save in 15 trys. We need Gagne in that closer role to be successful or the whole bullpen gets screwed up if you have a closer by committee pen. But with that said, Gagne has thrown 3 innings in two days. I hope to God Yost doesn't trot him out there tonight, give him a day off.

• Ryan Braun is simply on fire! Back to hitting like the Braun we saw during his entire rookie season last year. This hot streak that kind of started at the end of the Florida series and exploded in the Cardinals series has continued at the start of the Dodgers series with his 2-4 yesterday with a double and a triple. Braun line for the season is now; .294 AVG, 9 HR's, 29 RBI, .563 SLG, .325 OBP for an OPS of .888.
  

• After the Brewers couldn't get anyone starting pitcher not named Ben Sheets to get a win they now have three in a row with Suppan, Bush and Villanueva all getting "W's" in the past three games. Hopefully Manny Parra continues that trend tonight in game 2 of the Dodgers series.

• Down on the farm in AA Huntsville, OF Matt LaPorta and 3B Matt Gamel are ripping the cover off the ball. The Brewers top two prospects are looking more and more like they may be Major League ready next season and will probably get promoted to AAA at some point this season.