Episode 61 "Livan Hernandez Edition"

Breakdown of The Show:

The Axford Problem/Bullpen Woes 0-18:00

Break

Injuries Cause Early Roster Shakeup 18:00-38:30

Break

Preview/Around NL Central/Chalet Award Winner 38:30-45:30
Break
Deleted Scene 45:30-58:30

Episode 57 "Francisco Rodriguez Edition"

Breakdown of The Show:

Hart to Have Knee Surgery, Faith In Gamel? 0:00-17:00
Break
Rotation/Bullpen Take Shape 17:00-39:00
Break
Brewers In WBC 39:00-49:00
Break
News & Notes 49:00-1:00:00

VFBC Podcast Episode 4

Breakdown of The Show:

Injury Updates, Serious? (Greinke, Braun, Weeks, Hart, Parra, etc.) :00-25:29
Break
Bench Spots (Who gets the final couple spots?) 26:31-45:10
Break
Bullpen (Who gets the final couple spots?) 45:59-1:02:18
Break
News and Notes (Maple Street Press, Rick Peterson, Axford Theme Song) 1:03:33-1:17:16

If Braun Goes To The DL

If Ryan ends up having to spend some time on the DL with this intercostal/back injury I think the best scenario for the team is to call up Mat Gamel to start at 3B and start Bill Hall in LF (which he is doing tonight in Pittsburgh). Yes Gamel makes errors at 3B and Hall has been stellar there. But with Braun's bat gone you need someone who also has a big stick. Neither of our backup OF's Nelson or Duffy do really and I shutter to think of Gwynn getting called up and getting a lot of regular playing time. So you have Gamel come up and play 3B with his electric left handed bat and you move Hall to LF to keep his bat in the lineup and he has played in the OF before all be it in CF. Obviously this is all speculation but with Braun sitting out his third consecutive games you have to wonder if a DL stint is imminent. Although he did have an MRI today that was negative, which is good news.

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.

Riske To DL, RJ Swindle To Milwaukee

This move did not shock me one bit. You could tell in spring and in the one game Riske pitched in the regular season that he still is not right. We all remember watching Riske get lit up last year and then he went the DL as it was revealed he has a bone spur in his elbow. Well seeing him pitch in 2009 and this trip to the DL proves he probably never recovered. It's a shame we have only seen the good Riske (you know the one we gave that nice contract to) for that little bit at the beginning of 2008. If he was 100% healthy he would be a great help to our bullpen. I don't know if we will see that in 2009.

Taking Riske's spot will be left handed reliever RJ Swindle. Swindle is a side-winder similar to Brian Shouse. Never hurts to have two left handed pitchers to bring out of the pen, now the Brewers have that with Swindle and Stetter. Brewers start a 9 game, three city, east coast road trip tomorrow in New York at the new Mets stadium Citi Field, which from the looks of it on TV is an awesome ballpark. I like the fact the Brewers have Bush and Gallardo going in the first two games, but then have Suppan finishing out the series on Sunday.

Braun Had An MRI Today

Haudricourt reported on his JSonline blog that the MRI showed no structural damage to Ryan. Which means no cracked rib or any kind of tears. After I read that I let out a GIGANTIC sigh of relief, as I'm sure the rest of Brewers Nation did when or if they read the news somewhere. If Braun would have had some kind of damage who knows how long he could have been out with an injury like that. But he still does have "tightness" in that area and is now day to day. This means and it is probably a good idea that Ryan will not play again until he feels no "tightness". If that means he doesn't play till opening day I'm completely okay with that. In fact I would prefer it. I do wonder thought if he sits out the rest of spring training and it is still feeling "tight", will they DL him or let him miss some of the beginning of the season? It's a good question and I can't even speculate on the answer. All I know is Ryan is VERY important to the clubs success this season and for years to come. Stay tuned.....

Not Good At All

Today in his first game back with the Crew, Ryan Braun left the game against the Dodgers after two AB's with more "tightness" in his right side (intercostal, ribs, whatever you wanna call it). First of all I don't understand why he was even in the lineup when he said he was not 100%? I have a bad feeling this is going to linger all season and as good as Ryan is we saw how much it affected him last September when he batted like .200 something (maybe less then the Mendoza line)? Yes he hit the big grandslam against the Pirates and the game winning bomb against the Cubs to clinch the Wild Card but he was not the Ryan Braun we all know and love because of that intercostal injury. I would say he has to be shut down the next 12 days before opening day and hope that much rest will totally heel his right side or at least make it not feel as "tight". Bottomline is he shouldn't have played Sunday night for team USA or today for the Brewers. I just have an awful taste in my mouth that this is going to be a year long thing and that is going to suck for all of Brewers Nation.

If Hoffman Starts The Year On The DL.....

Seth McClung my get the save opportunities. This according to ESPN's Buster Olney. I really hope this is true. Before the Brewers signed Trevor Hoffman and it was up in the air on who would be the closer I was very outspoken that McClung should get the opportunity. Then we signed Hoffman and I was happy with that. But with Hoffman possibly missing the first few weeks of the season with this oblique strain I think Seth should be option one. He has the closer mentality and the closer "stuff". This would be a great little audition for McClung so after this season or next when Hoffman is gone we could have our closer in waiting. Of course best case scenario is that Hoffman recovers quick and doesn't have to go on the DL. But right now that seems unlikely from everything I have heard and read.

Braun Has Another Right "Intercostal" Strain, Brewers Nation Gasps

The same side that bothered Braun last season and really slowed him down in August and September has hit him again. Damn. Yesterday Braun was lifted in the 8th inning of the USA's game vs Netherlands in the WBC. Braun went 2-4 in the game and is now batting .429 in the tourney one of the few US players hitting on a consistent basis. He is not day-to-day with the injury and will probably not play tomorrow night. Braun will stay with the team in Miami for now and be examined by the Team USA trainers.

You know, I have been a huge advocate of the WBC and still am since injuries can happen in spring training games just as they can in this tournament. And I have loved seeing Braun rake for Team USA in the WBC, but he is too important to the Brewers and with as much as the injury slowed him last season I think it would be best for the Brewers to have Braun come back the Arizona and shut down for a week or two to totally heal up the "intercostal". Braun's swing looks good and he is really hitting so I don't think the time off will hurt him. We need him 100% going into the season can't take any chances. The one good thing is that any which way it does not seem serious at all but he still probably needs some time off to rest it.

Looper Seeing Doctor Monday

Braden Looper is gonna see a Doctor tomorrow in Phoenix to see how serious the oblique injury is that he felt minutes before his start on Saturday. He felt the pain on the left side of his lower back while warming up in the bullpen before the game vs the Angels. As soon as he told the club he was feeling the pain he was scratched. And rightfully so, why risk damaging whatever it is more this early into spring training. Hopefully this is nothing serious and they are just be cautious. Besides Trevor Hoffman, Looper was the only major signing the Brewers made in free agency this offseason so it would be a major blow if he was out a long period of time.

Just in case though, better get McClung ready and Wright, Green and Capuano on standby.

Hall Injured, Before Position Players Even Report?

Billy Hall who had the inside track to be the starting 3B this season or at least half of a platoon with Mike Lamb now will not. At least at the start of the season. Hall tore his left calf muscle yesterday while exercising on his own, position players don't even officially report until the 17th. Tough break for Hall who will now miss 4 to 6 weeks which could carry into the beginning of the regular season. I feel bad for Hall as I think he had a chance to put it together again like he did in 05' and 06' after having lasik eye surgery. Now Hall will have to make up for missed time to do that.

If there is anybody happy about this news it has to be Casey McGehee and Mat Gamel. Those two will now get more reps at 3B. McGehee is a right handed batter who may get the opportunity to platoon with Mike Lamb in Hall's place. Gamel is the Brewers 2nd best prospect who now has the chance to show everyone his glove has improved and if he blows everyone away with hist bat which is possible he could start at 3B opening day for the Crew. Everyone knows Gamel's bat can play in the bigs already, but his glove is considered worse then Braun's was in 2007. However, Gamel has improved each year with the glove so maybe he makes a big enough jump this year to make the opening day roster. Stay tuned.

Sheets And Surgery

What a fucked up offseason it has been for Ben Sheets. And the other day it got even more fucked. Sheets will in fact have to have surgery on his elbow. And now it looks very unlikely that any team will sign Sheets until after June when he is ready to pitch again after the surgery and thus screwing the Brewers out of a draft pick. Apparently there is some rule that if a class A or B free agent does not sign with a team until after the draft the team that is losing that player does not get a pick.

The Texas Rangers were all set to give Sheets a 2 year deal but then he failed his physical because of the elbow and then it was decided that surgery was the only option. Because Ben hurt the elbow during the 2008 season when he was a Brewer, they will be on the hook for the cost of the surgery.

Man the Ben Sheets story has just turned into more and more of a mess with every injury he has had. Sheets is a guy who when healthy is as good as ANY pitcher in MLB but since his healthy and fantastic 2004 season Ben has not had a clean season of health. Missing parts of 05', 06' 07' and 08' with various injury's. I have always been a Sheets fan and wish him the best. I was still holding out hope he would return to Milwaukee but that ship has sailed. And now we won't even get a draft pick out of it.