Brewers Off to Best Start in Franchise History

In case you missed it - and judging by the attendance you haven't - the Brewers have managed to win a few games here and there and are threatening to run away with the NL Central.  As of this post, the Brewers are now 35-20 and have a healthy 4.5 game lead over the Cubs in the division.  They are 7-1 on their current homestand, have won or split their last 6 series (all against legit playoff contending teams), and are an astounding 18-7 since being swept in a 4-game series by the Cubs on April 29th.  Following the final game of that fateful series, Travis Shaw took a page out of Aaron Rodgers' playbook when he tweeted the letters "C-H-I-L-L" out to Brewers Nation.  Whether by coincidence or design, the Brewers have been firing on nearly all cylinders since then.  The offense leads the NL in runs and homeruns per game since May 10th, the defense has been solid, the pitching staff overall owns the 5th best ERA in the NL, and the bullpen continues to carry the team with the best ERA in all of baseball.  They say that you shouldn't really pay attention to the standings until Memorial Day; if the year so far is a true indication of this team, it's going to be a hell of a final 2/3rds of the season.

The hot start, while historic, shouldn't come as a complete shock.  This team was expected to be even better than last year and was picked by many pundits to make the playoffs.  However, what might have many Brewers fans on edge have is that they have certainly been in this position before, only to eventually fade down the stretch.  They did so infamously in 2007 and almost again in 2008.  In fact they've done so 3 of the past 5 seasons.  But what sets this team a part from those other teams to me is their depth.  The Brewers are seemingly conducting transactions on almost a daily basis and are on pace to surpass last year's total of 51 players used on the active roster.  Part of it is a product of necessity due to injury and underperformance - look no further than the surprising demotion of Orlando Arcia last year.  But part of it is also the fact that we have the talent to keep guys fresh.  Ryan Braun and Chase Anderson have both served brief DL stints earlier this month for basically what amounted to a sore back and diarrhea respectively.  It's not to say that we didn't miss them on the roster, but this team has the flexibility and talent to allow guys to get healthy and not miss a beat.  I personally was not concerned one bit when Corey Knebel and Eric Thames went down with injuries because I knew we had Josh Hader and Jesus Aguilar waiting in the wings.  I also know Arcia will get right and be back on the team when we need him down the stretch, because Tyler Saladino has been such a good find.  We demoted Jacob Barnes earlier this year because of basically 4 poor outings after being unscored upon most of April.  This team has the depth, and even more importantly the roster flexibility with many players still having minor league options.  The fact that we can keep almost a complete major league caliber team stocked between AA and AAA is extremely encouraging.  If this team can manage to keep this up and stay within sight of the finish line until September call-ups - and the return of Jimmy Nelson - then I have more confidence in this team making a long run into the playoffs than I ever have before.

STANDINGS AND UPCOMING SERIES AS OF 05.29:
Brewers 35-20, +4.5 (3 v. Cardinals, 3 @ White Sox)
Reds 19-36, -16.0 (3 @ Diamondbacks, 3 @ Padres)
Twins 22-27, -3.5 (3 @ Royals, 4 v. Indians)

2018 GAMES ATTENDED:
Erik - 2 (+9 worked)
Peter - 6

The Dark Knight Falls

A story that seems to have been glazed over in the media outside of New York is the end of Matt Harvey's turbulent tenure with the Mets.  After 3 years of injuries, struggles, and strained relationships with nearly everyone around him, the Mets finally cut ties on May 5th and designated him for assignment.  It's the end of a wild chapter for a pitcher who was at one time the face of MLB and well on his way to becoming the next Joe Namath in terms of popularity and exposure to the limelight.  It was only 5 years ago that a young Harvey burst onto the scene and placed 4th in Cy Young voting in his first full season and started for the Mets in the All-Star Game at Citi Field, which seems like forever ago now.  Harvey would miss all of 2014 recovering from Tommy John surgery, and came back to be a solid contributor during the Mets' journey to the World Series in 2015.  Just when he was starting to find his velocity again, he had season ending surgery in 2016 to relieve a nerve condition called Thoracic Outlet Syndrome and has not been the same since.  With a fastball now sitting in the low 90s, a lack of control, and a general disdain for the media, the Mets finally gave up on the once budding prospect and shipped him off to one of the few teams in the league that is bad enough to give him another chance - the Cincinnati Reds.

I remember the Mets World Series run of 2015 with the likes of Noah Syndergaard, Steven Matz, and Jacob DeGrom and thinking how dominant of a rotation this would be for the next 5 years.  With Harvey now flamed out and Matz and DeGrom both going through elbow injuries, it looks like the window may already be closing.  I'm going to 2 of the games of the Mets-Brewers series next weekend and I don't even know who's left in the rotation.  It just goes to show that for every Chicago Cubs or Houston Astros where every part of the rebuild falls into place, there is a team like the Mets.  Here's hoping they bring back Bartolo Colon.

STANDINGS AND UPCOMING SERIES AS OF 05.17:

Brewers 26-18, -- (3 @ Twins, 3 v. Diamondbacks, 4 v. Mets)

Reds 15-29, -11.0 (4 v. Cubs, 3 v. Pirates, 3 @ Rockies)

Twins 18-21, -1.5 (3 v. Brewers, 3 v. Tigers, 3 @ Mariners)

2018 GAMES ATTENDED:

Erik - 2 (+6 worked)

Peter - 4

Albert Pujols Joins Elite Company

If you would have told me in Spring Training that I'd be writing two posts about the Angels this year and neither would involve Mike Trout I would have laughed, but here we are.  This past weekend, Albert Pujols became just the 32nd member of the 3,000 hit club, with an opposite field looping single off of Mike Leake of the Mariners.  In doing so he became just the 4th player ever to reach both the 3,000 hit and 600 HR milestones, joining Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, and Alex Rodriguez.  Barring some unforeseen steroid accusation a la A-Rod, Pujols has all but cemented himself as a 1st-ballot Hall of Famer and without question one of the greatest right-handed hitters of all time.

With the Brewers being a National League team for my entire adult life, my memories of Pujols come from his glory days with the Cardinals.  For over a decade, he murdered us every single time we played them and largely contributed to my utter disdain for the team.  To say Pujols has dropped off with the Angels would be an understatement, but even at age 38 he is still productive enough to hit cleanup for a playoff contending team.  It can be argued that the shift in the free agent market dynamics we are currently seeing started with the albatross contract he signed in his age 32 season in 2012, but in the end, even just his numbers with St. Louis alone are nearly hall-of fame worthy.  My hatred of constantly being beaten by him stemmed from a place of respect for his talent.  No matter how much longer he keeps playing, I will remember him as one of the greatest hitters I have seen live due in large part to the number of games we played the Cards each year.  Pujols is amazingly still signed through 2021, so when he is finally done playing, it is not that far-fetched to speculate he will be in the top 5 in homeruns and top 10 in hits of all time.  He has largely been forgotten since becoming an Angel due to many factors - drop in production, injuries, and playing on the West Coast in a smaller market to name a few - but this week's historic event has rightfully reminded every baseball fan of just how good and historic a hitter that Albert "The Machine" Pujols really is.

STANDINGS AND UPCOMING SERIES AS OF 05.08:
Brewers 20-15, -1.0 (2 v. Indians, 4 @ Rockies, 3 @ Diamondbacks)
Reds 8-27, -13.0 (3 v. Mets, 4 @ Dodgers, 3 @ Giants)
Twins 14-17, -1.5 (2 @ Cardinals, 4 @ Angels, 1 v. Mariners, 2 v. Cardinals)

2018 GAMES ATTENDED:
Erik - 2 (+5 worked)
Peter - 3