I haven't written a lot on here about the 2011 Milwaukee Brewers. That's because I haven't written a whole lot about anything on this blog this year because of family matters, and I'm not talking about Carl Winslow and Steve Urkel. Although at times I have been known to indulge in a late night marathon of the show on Nick at Night. Did I do that? But the lack of Brewers talk had nothing to do with the lack of things to talk about during the 2011 season. From the moves made during the offseason (which were covered in the "25 Brewers in 25 Days" entries), the non move of impending free agent Prince Fielder, to rookie manager Ron Roenicke, to the slow start, the midseason trades for Francisco "KRod" Rodriguez and Jerry Hairston, to the white-hot month of August, to winning the NL Central, beating the Arizona Diamondbacks in the NLDS, losing to the eventual World Series Champion St. Louis Cardinals in the NLCS, Ryan Braun winning MVP and his subsequent failed drug tests to the recent offseason free agent signings and trades. That pretty much brings us up to date from the last post I did on April 10.
There's a lot that went on this season and I know I only provided the headlines. I would have liked to go into more detail but by now you already know those stories. It took me until September 23 to honestly enjoy a game and to feel truly happy without feeling guilty about it. Loss and grief really change your perspective on things and change your way of thinking and feeling. In hindsight I wish I would have enjoyed the season a little more but it was impossible for me to do so at the time. So I figure I really can't regret that then. But now I have the entire offseason to think it over and rewatch some of the games that I missed during the year.
Prior to the season I wrote a series of blog entries titled "25 Brewers in 25 Days" in the weeks during Spring Training leading up to the 2011 season opener. That's when I made some overall team predictions as well as individual predictions for all of the players who I thought would make the 2011 Opening Day Roster. If you don't believe some of the things that I forecasted or to read the original articles, check out the "From the Archives" links to the right under March 2011. In this segment I will focus on the overall predictions as well as the offensive players. I will be covering the pitching in a later post.
Preseason Overall Predictions: The Brewers will finish with a 91-71 record and win the NL Central Division
- The Reds will finish 2nd, the Cardinals 3rd, Cubs 4th, Astros 5th and Pirates 6th
- The Brewers will set an all-time attendance record
- The Brewers will not lose more than 5 games in a row
- Ryan Braun, Rickie Weeks and Yovani Gallardo will make the NL All-Star Team (I originally picked Zack Greinke on 3/4/11 then changed it on 3/31/11 because Greinke will miss the first month of the season. Oh yeah, and Gallardo is a better pitcher. Yeah I said it, and I believe it.)
- By the end of the season, Sombreros will have taken over the left field bleachers and our numbers will be so big, the Brewers will be forced to recognize us with an official fan club like the Bucket Head Brigade
Season Overall Actual: The Brewers finished with a 96-66 record and won the NL Central Division. With 96 wins they set a franchise record by one-uping the 1982 team which finished at 95-67. Of course we all know what the 1982 team did (they lost in 7 games in the World Series to the St. Louis Cardinals) but the 2011 team once again saw their postseason end at the hands of the St. Louis Cardinals, this time in the National League Championship Series.
- The St. Louis Cardinals finished 2nd (90-72), Cincinnati Reds 3rd (79-83), Pittsburgh Pirates 4th (72-90), Chicago Cubs 5th (71-91) and Houston Astros 6th (56-106).
- The Brewers had a 7 game losing streak from April 30th - May 6th (my 30th Birthday) which were all on the road - a big problem for the Brewers during the early part of the season.
- Ryan Braun, Rickie Weeks and Prince Fielder made the NL All-Star team. Gallardo didn't make it most likely because his 10-5 record with a 3.76 ERA was rather pedestrian when compared with other elite pitchers in the National League
- The Sombrero got some TV time but not nearly enough to dedicate an "official" section to it. It might have worked if I stuck to my original plan - to order a few cases of sombreros from the Dollar Store and hand 10 out at each game we went to. That way there would have been more than 2 of them in the left field bleachers and we wouldn't have been hard to miss.
And now I will focus on the offensive players for the Milwaukee Brewers. My preseason prediction as made during the "25 Brewers in 25 Days" will be presented in
red and their actual end of the season stats will be listed in
green. The roster changes a lot from Opening Day to the end of the season, so there were some players in my articles who didn't make it to the end of the year and some players (like Jerry Hairston) who were added to the team midseason but deserve a mention in here. So here we go. This is one of my favorite things to do because I get to see on paper how well I know this team. Obviously you can't predict injuries (Rickie Weeks) or off years (Casey McGehee) that cause aberrations in my predictions, but that's part of the fun in all of this. My predictions don't take those into account because I don't want to think about those things marring what would otherwise be a very good season.
Prince Fielder
Preseason Prediction: .276 batting AVG, .404 OBP, 37 HRs, 105 RBIs, 103 runs scored and once again be able to have fun and do goofy home run celebrations like the "bowling pin explosion" in 2009 now that Ron Roenicke is going to let the players be themselves.
Season Actual: .299 batting AVG, .415 OBP, 38 HRs, 120 RBIs, 95 runs scored, 162 games played and the creator of "Beast Mode" which was the Brewers late season rally cry.
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Prince Fielder had a MVP caliber year and was the 2nd half of the best 1-2 punch in the Major Leagues. After many people thought he would get traded in the offseason to acquire some much needed pitching, he went on to put together one of the best seasons in his career. He ended up starting the All-Star Game and his 2-run homerun earned him the MVP of that game. They're were plenty of big prince moments throughout the year and I for one will miss his moonshot tape measure homeruns. We've never had a player quite like Prince before, and it will be tough to see him in a new uniform. But this is where the business aspect of sports really comes into play. For a mid/small market team like the Brewers who will top out at a $90 million payroll, they just can't afford to pay one player $22-25 million and still field a competitive team around him. We've already seen many times that offense and home runs don't mean shit unless you have quality pitching. I'd much rather have the pitching so buh bye Big Prince. But that doesn't mean that I won't miss him or the 6 years of exciting baseball that he brought to Milwaukee. It's just the way that it is and the sooner we accept it the sooner we can move on and talk about the 2012 team.
Rickie Weeks
Preseason Prediction: .275 AVG, .358 OBP, 27 HRs, 93 RBIs, 111 runs scored, millions of new fans (we're gonna need a bigger bandwagon) and no fan deaths despite the fact that he is a highly trained assassin.
Season Actual: .269 AVG, .350 OBP, 20 HRs, 49 RBIs, 77 runs scored, millions of new fans who voted him as a starter on the 2011 NL All-Star Team and he did behave himself by not pushing the self-destruct button on his wrist, laughing as he took out the entire stadium.
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Rickie Weeks was on his way to another banner year (his 2010 line of .269 avg, .366 obp, 29 HRs, 83 RBIs and 112 runs scored was a career best) before he severely sprained his ankle on July 27 that saw him miss all of August and most of September. And even when he did return you could tell that he was not 100%. If the Brewers weren't in the playoff hunt he would have been shut down for the rest of the season. Weeks does have a lot of power but his biggest asset is his speed, and that was taken away from him with the injury. I'm ecstatic that Weeks was finally recognized by the fans as being one of the premier 2nd basemen in the National League, and I'm proud to say that I finally own a Rickie Weeks #23 All-Star Game jersey. Now I just have to drop a couple of pounds to be able to wear it because the new style of jerseys run a little small, even for a XXL. Oh well. That's on my to-do list. It was hard watching Weeks try to push through his injury during the playoffs, and he was sorely missed. I doubt we would have won the NLCS with him healthy (because the pitching in the playoffs for the most part was horrendous) but more offense would have certainly helped. Weeks' offense is going to be counted on big time in 2012 because of the absence of Fielder but it is yet to be determined if he will bat leadoff or 5th in the lineup. Personally I think his power is too valuable to be wasted in the leadoff spot, but then again there aren't a lot of teams with power at the top. Either way, he is critical to the Brewers offense in 2012, as is him staying healthy for the entire season. We've got a lot riding on him, but Rickie is and still will always be my boy.
Yuniesky Betancourt
Preseason Prediction: .263 AVG, .292 OBP (which is unacceptable), 14 HRs, 78 RBIs, 136 games played, 17 errors
Season Actual: .252 AVG, .271 OBP (what's less than unacceptable?), 13 HRs, 67 RBIs, 152 games played, 21 errors
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Yuni B. came to Milwaukee as advertised, but honestly I didn't think that he would that good or that bad. When he was hot he went bonkers and carried the team offensivly. This was evident after the All-Star Break when his batting average rose from something like .240 to .270 in a month's time, which is pretty difficult to do in the latter half of the year when the at bats start to pile up. And then he made some of the best defensive plays I've seen all year - flipping it behind his back to Weeks or his perfect relay to Prince Fielder on a triple play. And then he committed 21 errors that can be counted in the stat line. The ones that don't show up are when he can't get to the ball because of his limited range or throws high and the runner reaches on an infield single. All I ask out of my shortstop is defense, as the players up the middle (catcher, 2nd base, shortstop and centerfield) are your most important ones defensively. If you watched him play defense at all this year you no doubt got frustrated, but not as frustrated as watching him at the plate. Sure, he did get hot at times and hit for a good amount of power, but in 556 at bats he walked only 16 times, for an on base percentage that was or near the league worst for an everyday player. The other thing that was frustrating about watching him was seeing him swing at the 1st pitching every time. I suppose if we want to stay positive we can say that he rarely struck out, but that was only because he failed to see 3 pitches in an at bat. He was a huge rally killer as well, and almost every time he came up with the bases loaded he hit into an inning ending double play groundout or popped it up in the infield when there was only one out, failing to get the runner in on a sac fly. One could go mad watching his plate discipline, and I have heard that they show his at bats to little leaguers as an instructional of what not to do. Yuni B. was a decent 1 year player but we only had him because we didn't have another shortstop. Personally I think we would have been better off without someone there and taking an automatic out, but Yuni B did do a pretty good job in the playoffs. But I'm glad that he is gone. There has to be a better option out there, right?
Casey McGehee
Preseason Prediction: .279 AVG, 21 HRs, 105 RBIs and perhaps a little more National attention, although Prince Fielder in a contract year and Ryan Braun's clothing line will distract them from seriously appreciating what he does.
Season Actual: .223 AVG, 13 HRs, 67 RBIs, 20 errors and the only attention he got was from the fans screaming for him to be benched because of his dismal year.
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Casey McGehee had an awful year and he would have been the first one to say it. As I pointed out in my "25 in 25" video on him he seems like a very hardworking blue collar kind of player and generally speaking those are the kind of people who are often the most realistic and critical of themselves. They don't like to get anything for free and like to earn all of their accolades. He certainly earned to be benched towards the end of the year but he didn't deserve to be traded this offseason to Pittsburgh in exchange for Jose Veras, a relief pitcher. But with Prince Fielder a free agent and the Brewers needing to pick up a power bat, McGehee was expendable because the best available power bat on the market was 3rd baseman Aramis Ramirez. McGehee simply didn't have a place on the 2012 club. But that will be discussed more in the future if I choose to do a 2012 season preview. McGehee's stat line in 2011 wasn't all that bad (except for the batting average) but after he came off of a 2010 season that saw him hit .285 with 23 HRs and 104 RBIs I suppose the fans just expected more of him. Later in the season he would be benched in favor of Jerry Hairston Jr. and McGehee would not start any of the games in the Postseason. It was a pretty hard fall from grace for the team MVP in 2011 and I was hoping that he would get a shot at redemption in 2012. He was such a good story having been picked up off of waivers and given a chance to succeed in the majors and he took full advantage of it. I wish him all the best in Pittsburgh but I will take Ramirez's offense and defense over McGehee any day. Tough luck for a guy who really was a fan favorite but that's the business of baseball.
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Ryan Braun
Preseason Prediction: .313 AVG, 33 HRs, 108 RBIs, 102 runs scored, heavily involved in creating the new Italian dishes and appetizers at Graffito and getting a restraining order against the two lunatics in the left field bleachers who keep harassing him.
Season Actual: .332 AVG, 33 HRs, 111 RBIs, 109 runs scored, not able to get anyone a waterfront table at Skips-a-fritos and more than able to ignore those wackos in the left field bleachers who won't shut up with Brauny this and Brauny that and end all of their insults with pal.
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Everybody loves Ryan Braun. And they should considering his 2011 stat line that ended up winning him the National League MVP award. For all intensive purposes he had a perfect year. His OBP was .397 and he stole 33 basis on top of all the other stats that people notice. On the defensive side of the ball he had 8 assists and only 1 error, although he still does play a little safe in left field considering his athletic ability and speed. In April he signed a 5 year contract extension for $105 million that will keep him in a Brewers uniform through 2020, essentially making him the face of this era's franchise. That most likely will also keep him him through the rest of his career (or at least the productive years of it) so I'm going to have to get used to Brauny being around town for a while. I just don't like the guy. And nothing that he has done or will ever do will convince me otherwise. And let me clear this up - I like everything he does on the field and we are fortunate to have a player of his caliber. He's the only superstar player we have now that Prince Fielder has skipped town. So before you give me shit about hating on Braun I got nothing against him as a player. It's the off field stuff that just rubs me the wrong way. From the way too PC media answers to his clothing line and restaurants to his gelled up hair-do to his "I'm better than you" swagger that I can't stand. He just seems like a dick. He's the kind of player that I would hate if he was on the other team. But since he is our guy I'll take everything that he has and more. He had so many clutch hits and moments during the 2011 season but none as big as when he hit a homerun against the Marlins on Friday September 23 that broke a tie and gave the Brewers a 4-1 lead in the game that would ultimately clinch them the National League Central Division title. He was pretty good in the playoffs as well but his 2011 season will most likely be tarnished by news that broke in December that Braun had failed a drug test in October that showed he had elevated levels of testosterone in his system. As I am writing this (February 12, 2002) we still don't know if he will serve a 50 game suspension for failing the test but even being associated with cheating and drugs will forever tarnish his 2011 MVP winning season and most likely his entire career. That for me certainly doesn't help me improve my already negative view of him but I'm still waiting to form an opinion until I hear the truth. So who knows man. But I'm still waiting on my buy 1 Shrimp Caprese get one free pal.
Carlos Gomez
Preseason Prediction: .272 AVG, .313 OBP, 7 HRs, 41 RBIs, 27 stolen bases, 139 games played, golden glove type defense
Season Actual:
.225 AVG, .276 OBP, 8 HRs, 24 RBIs, 16 stolen bases, 94 games played and defense so good he sacrificed his body to make a play
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Carlos Gomez found his role in 2011. Along with Nyjer Morgan he was in a platoon in center field and started only against left handed pitchers. He also was brought in late in games as a defensive replacement and as a pinch runner on the bases. He was basically regulated to speed and defense, which are his 2 best assets. I really had hoped that he would finally learn some plate discipline and take some more walks so he could start everyday but his OBP was a paltry .276. His batting average also fell to a career low and he disappointed me because I had made a pretty bold statement that he was finally going to have that breakout year. It's almost a good thing that he didn't because he no longer has that "what if?" and "potential" tag on him because after 5 years in the big leagues by now he is what he is. And there is nothing wrong with that if he is used properly. Manager Ron Roenicke was showing during the 2011 season that he understood where to use Gomez and he ended up making some pretty amazing highlight reel plays including a tumbling catch in Arizona on July 20 in which he fractured his clavicle and went on the DL for a good 6 weeks. His 2011 season will be remembered for a moment in which he was perfectly used. He was put in the game in the top of the 8th for his defense and got his first at bat in the bottom of the 10th when he singled with 1 out. With Nyjer Morgan batting he stole 2nd base and the rest is history. In case you don't remember or were too drunk when it happened Morgan "tickled" a single up the middle scoring Gomez and the Brewers walked it off and earned a spot in the National League Championship Series. Crazy things happen when Gomez is able to just get on base and more times than not this exact situation (steal 2nd then score) plays out. If used properly like this Gomez will be an integral piece of this team in 2012.
Corey Hart
Preseason Prediction: .278 AVG, 26 HRs, 91 RBIs, 21 stolen bases and the subject of many over the cubicle walls debate between Mike and I.
Season Actual: .285 AVG, 26 HRs, 63 RBIs, 7 stolen bases and nary a mention when Mike and I do our daily Brewers talk
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By now everyone should know of my disdain for Brewers right fielder Corey Hart. I think that I've made it perfectly clear and I think it was a mistake that the Brewers are retaining his services through the 2014 season. He's going to make about $9 million a year and he puts up some pretty good numbers, but I just don't think that they are worthy of that salary even of that is the going rate for those kind of numbers. Oh well. Not much that I can do about that one so I might as well just deal with it. Hart kind of had an off year but it's kind of not his fault while at the same time he is to blame for it. Hart missed the first month of the year or so with a strained oblique injury and started off slow as far as the power numbers are concerned. Then at some point in the season he was moved into the leadoff position so that Rickie Weeks could drop to the #5 position and provide some protection behind Prince Fielder. In the #1 spot you are less likely to drive in runs so his RBI numbers fell in 2011. But I also blame him a bit because he always seems to have an up year followed by a down year. In 2008 and 2010 he made the All Star team and was on of the top outfielders in all of baseball. In 2009 and 2011 he hit fewer home runs and RBIs than in the years prior and mostly disappointed. While that gets me all riled up because he was mostly average in 2011 by his history that means that 2012 will be a banner year once again. So I'm willing to give Hart a pass this past year and hope for great things again in the future. I've exhausted all that I can say about him now because I have wasted too much of my life bitching about him. For further proof go to the Pookon's Ill Labels section on the right and click on Corey Hart. That will take you to many fantastic articles including my personal favorite (and the one that got picked up by Yahoo Sports and was included in their Top 10 stories of the day back in 2010) "Corey Hart is a Bitch." And that about sums it up for me.
Jonathon Lucroy
Preseason Prediction: .268 AVG, .320 OBP, 11 HRs, 62 RBIs, 127 games played and respect from the Brewers fans even though they kept the picture of the kid who came with the wallet.
Season Actual: .265 AVG, .313 OBP, 12 HRs, 59 RBIs, 136 games played and the next Brewers jersey that I'm getting and also the player I'm encouraging all Brewers fans to get behind this year.
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All I have to say is booyah motherfucker! In yo' face! In yo' face! Of all the players that I made a prediction on I was the closest on Lucroy although now I wish that he would have done better. I guess that goes to show that I had set my sights a little lower during this guy's second season but in a way that's a good thing. In 2011 it is my belief that he focused more on his game calling skills and defensive abilities rather than his offense. His bat was always there in the minor leagues and it will come along fine in the major leagues. But anyone who watched a good amount of Brewers games could tell last year that he wasn't always on the same page as the pitching staff, which led to George Kottaras being called upon to be the personal catcher of Randy Wolf. Lucroy is learning on the job in the major leagues and sometimes that might have been a little daunting for the 25 year old. But from what I hear he is one of the hardest working players both in the clubhouse and also studying game film and statistical research and his desire to improve is something that will take him far. He had to learn 2 new starting pitchers (Greinke and Marcum) as well as all of the new veteran arms in bullpen (Hawkins, Saito and Rodriguez) and did an admirable job. I'm not sure if working with veteran arms is good or bad but for a young catcher it would seem to be more difficult because they would rather call the game versus letting Lucroy do it. Doesn't give him a lot of flexibility to use his own skills and work to his strengths. Who knows what really happened but I was more than pleased with Lucroy and the pitching staff was one of the strengths of this team and 4 of the 5 starters had an ERA under 4.00. And all 5 of them had 10 or more wins. And the bullpen you ask? It was as lockdown as it gets and K-Rod and Axford shut the door in the 8th and 9th innings. How much of that credit goes to the pitchers themselves and how much goes to Lucroy? I'm not really sure. 2012 (his 3rd year in the league) will be a pretty good indicator of his long term success and I look forward to seeing him play another130 games.
Craig Counsell
Preseason Prediction: .270 AVG, .337 OPB, 2 HRs, 34 RBIs and the pride of Whitefish Bay, Milwaukee and the entire state of Wisconsin, even though they haven't come up with a stat for that yet.
Season Actual: .178 AVG, .280 OBP, 1 HRs, 9 RBIs and loved more for what he has done on and off the field in his career instead of this troubling year.
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Craig Counsell should buy Casey McGehee something nice because if it wasn't for him being the lightning rod, Counsell certainly would've got the brunt of the criticism from angry fans. Oh he still got his fair share of grief, especially during a hitless 0-45 streak that lasted from June 10 to August 6 with most of the at bats coming as a pinch hitter, but not nearly as much as McGehee for a few reasons. Counsell isn't a regular player and therefore is not counted on to produce. Also his glove is far superior than his bat and he mostly comes in as a defensive replacement. And finally Counsell is a huge fan favorite and grew up in nearby Whitefish Bay so no matter what he does he will always be one of our own. Oh and did I also mention that he is 41 years old?That's why it made it so hard to hate on him. He was just a savvy old veteran who was nearing the end of his career. It was really hard to watch him go out like this because Counsell has had so many great moments in his career that saw him be a big part of two World Series Championship teams (the Florida Marlins in 1997 and the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2001) as well as being instrumental in the Milwaukee Brewers success since rejoining the team in 2007. He will forever be one of my favorite Brewers players (along with Bill Hall) but 2011 will be a forgotten one of his 16-year career. His age and declining performance forced him to retire following the season but he has since accepted a position in the front office as a special assistant to General Manager Doug Melvin. And although the 2012 team will certainly miss him in the clubhouse he's at least around to help out should they need him. It was great to see James' friend and former neighbor one last time in 2011 but it's times like this that baseball becomes a business and a player batting .178 is just not cutting it despite what he adds with defense and clubhouse leadership.
Mark Kotsay
Preseason Prediction: .263 AVG, .330 OBP, 5 HRs, 33 RBIs and his wife will get creepy oogled by me on the club level when she sits up there with the other player's wives. I can't help it. I'm lonely.
Season Actual: .270 AVG, .329 OBP, 3 HRs, 31 RBIs and I acted like a true gentleman in the presence of Jamie Kotsay. That's because of the restraining order. I never got within 100 yards so I could ogle her up close. Damn laws.
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When the Brewers signed Mark Kotsay my friend Katie, who is a die-hard Oakland A's fan who lives in Sacramento, California, told me to take care of him. Apparently she took a liking to him while he was there from 2004-2007 and became one of her favorite players during his tenure. I really liked the signing of the veteran outfielder because it gave us an option off of the bench and a more than capable replacement in the outfield when a starter needed a day off. I was pretty spot on with Kotsay as well because I knew his role. Braun and Hart were going to play almost every day unless they were injured and Morgan and Gomez settled into a nice platoon in centerfield. He got a little more playing time than I expected because of injuries to Hart to open the season and Gomez in the later part of the year. Overall he did his job, and that's all you can really ask for in a veteran bench player. Every year one of these kinds of players is signed and ends up in this role for one season and then is gone. I'm glad we got something out of him and I look forward to the next one year veteran that the Brewers will sign and add to the long list of players that played here for one year out of their 15 years in the major leagues.
Wil Nieves
Preseason Prediction: .225 AVG, 2 HRs, 18 RBIs, 54 games played
Season Actual: .140 AVG, 0 HRs, 0 RBIs, 20 games played
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By the end of the 2011 season I forgot that we even had Wil Nieves. That's how big of an impact that he had on this season. He was signed to be a veteran backup catcher known primarily for his defense to give Jonathon Lucroy a rest every 5th day. By the time May came around he had yet to produce an RBI and he was batting well below .200 (he's a career .221 hitter) so they decided to send him down to the minors and replaced him with George Kottaras. He was eventually traded for cash in July. He did nothing in his Brewers career except be one of those random players that 10 years from now I will throw his name out to friends during our epic battles of "Most Random Brewers Player" trivia game. That's when guys' names like John Vander Wal (2003) and Joe "The Garbage Man" Winklesas (2006) come up. My era of Brewers knowledge spans mostly from 2000-present so any of the players I throw out come from those teams. But since I've been around for nearly every home game and watch every road game, I remember these players. Helps me to always one-up my friends with the most random of players. I am king of the Random Brewers Player Game.
George Kottaras
Preseason Prediction: .234 AVG, 8 HRs, 24 RBIs, 59 games played
Season Actual: .252 AVG, 5 HRs, 17 RBIs, 49 games played and responsible for doing my taxes from here on out thanks to Tim "The Franchise" Allen of WSSP Sportsradio 1250 nicknaming him "The Accountant."
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George Kottaras started off the season with the Brewers out of Spring Training because of Lucroy's thumb injury then was sent down to the minors shortly after Lucroy returned from the DL. He didn't stay down there long and in mid-May was brought back up for good when WIl Nieves proved to be useless. Kottaras fulfilled the same role that he did in 2010 - backup to Lucroy and Randy Wolf's personal catcher. He has a fair amount of pop in his bat and got his fair share of pinch hitting oppotunities in 2011. Former manager Ken Macha was reluctant to use his back-up catcher but current manager Ron Roenicke never shied away from it and Kottaras was allowed to come into the game in tight situations. Because Lucroy and Wolf never got on the same page he almost always caught Wolf and by luck of the draw ended up starting against a lot lefthanded pitchers. Even though irregular playing time and poor match-ups marred most of his season he still put up some pretty decent numbers. I have no problem with him as the backup catcher and I wouldn't be opposed to him assuming that same role in 2012. And with Randy Wolf under contract for the last year of his three year deal I don't see why he won't play every 5th day.
Erick Almonte
Preseason Prediction: .262 AVG, 3 HRs, 17 RBIs, 91 games payed (mostly as a pinch hitter, look for him to start less than 20 games) and not nearly as vital to the US citizens as Del Monte is in providing them with quality food products.
Season Actual:
.103 AVG, 1 HR, 3 RBIs, 16 games played
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Erick Almonte sucks and he is a bum. I don't know why he made the team.
In his "25 in 25" article I spent more time talking about one of the largest food companies Del Monte instead of him and that paid off. The video I filmed also had my favorite backdrop - Miller Park. Del Monte makes more money off of canned squash in a minute than Erick Almonte will make in his entire life so you tell me which one you'd rather suck up to. Almonte never gave me a gift basket filled with cans of French style green beans, lite pear halves, Kibbles 'N Bits and individual snack size fruit cocktail cups. Delmonte did. They know how to treat their high rollers. Del Monte's products are a step above the industry standard and are available at prices suitable for the American working family. They offer high quality products in many assorted varieties and have been nourishing families, enriching lives and bringing wholesome goodness to the table since 1892. As for Erick Almonte? Sadly he's still in the Brewers minor league system so this may not be the last we've seen of him. Dear God I hope so.
Jeremy Reed
Preseason Prediction: n/a
Season Actual:
.000 AVG, 0 HRs, 0 RBIs, 7 games played
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I barely remember Jeremy Reed but he did make the Opening Day roster and was included in my "25 in 25" article on the backup outfielders. He lasted all the way until April 11th and was designated for assignment to make room for Lucroy (the Brewers carried 3 catchers for a little bit). No one seemed to notice. The only reason that he made the team was because Corey Hart opened the season on the DL. Once Brewers management figured out that he was not going to help out the team he was forgotten about and traded sometime during the summer for cash. They probably took that cash and bought a couple of scratch-off tickets. That would be a better investment than pocketing the money. At least with scratch-offs you have the chance of winning even though the odds aren't the greatest. When I wrote about him last March I didn't bother to say much because I knew he would be the first one out the door. Moving on.
Brandon Boggs
Preseason Prediction: n/a
Season Actual:
.158 AVG, 2 HRs, 2 RBIs, 16 games played
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Now we are really scraping the bottom of the barrel. Brandon Boggs was probably slated to make the Opening Day roster as a backup outfielder but the Brewers traded for Nyjer Morgan a week before the season started and the rest is history. We all know what Morgan ended up doing (for a refresher course see the bottom of the article) but I don't certainly don't remember Boggs hitting 2 solo homeruns in 19 at bats. They must have been garbage runs late in meaningless games. Whatever the case may be he spent most of the season down in AAA and provided some outfield depth that we never needed because Braun, Hart and Morgan/Gomez were very productive in 2011. You'll see minor leaguers like this float around Spring Training and grab hold of different teams trying to hang on to a big league club. Sometimes they pan out but chances are if you have never heard of them they won't stick around too long. Last I heard he signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates for 2012.
Josh Wilson
Preseason Prediction: n/a
Season Actual:
.227 AVG, .266 OBP, 2 HRs, 4 RBIs, 54 games played
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I actually kind of remember Josh Wilson. He was picked up off of waivers in May and made a couple of starts during the course of the season although he was mostly regulated to pinch hitting. He lasted until the end of the year but I think I forgot about him mostly because he didn't make the playoff roster. But he also doesn't stick with me because he didn't make much of an impact on the 2011 season. His stats alone suggest that he shouldn't have even been on the team but he probably stuck around because the other options weren't that much of an upgrade so you might as well stick with the guy who's been there before. I think he played average defense and was a body to stick out there because ghost players don't field the ball all too well. Times might have changed but when I was a kid all ghost players did was occupy a base and run to the next one when I got a base hit. Times were tough in my neighborhood and it was just me, my brother James and our friend Danny that played ball. When you only have 3 people you have to occupy the rest of the field somehow. Might as well be ghost players. Sure are enough ghosts to go around. And since I grew up as one of the Ghostbusters I ain't afraid of no ghosts. And most definitely not when they are my teammates.
Taylor Green
Preseason Prediction: n/a
Season Actual:
.270 AVG, .270 OBP, 0 HRs, 1 RBI, 20 games played
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3rd baseman Taylor Green was promoted from AAA Nashville on August 31 in a move that many fans had been clamoring for during much of the season due to Casey McGehee's struggles. Rosters expand from 25 to 40 on September 1st but anyone called up during September is not eligible for the postseason roster, which is why he was called up a day early. Green did make a few starts but most of his action came as a pinch hitter and he took to it well despite being a rookie. He had found plenty of success in the minors and was an Minor League All-Star during his healthy years and was Brewers Organization Player of the Year in 2007 when he was in A ball. Injuries derailed his ascension to the big leagues but I'm glad he finally got a taste of big league ball in 2011. And he hopefully also gained some good experience by making the Postseason roster and spending a couple of extra weeks with the team in October. The Brewers signed Aramis Ramirez to play 3rd base for the next 3 years so who knows what will become of Green (whose natural position is 3rd) but he still will have a chance to make the 2012 team as a backup utility infielder who could play 1st, 2nd and 3rd. And I know it's a very small sample size but he also proved he could pinch hit, which could make him very valuable in 2012. Time will tell but I'm sure this isn't the last we've seen of Green.
Felipe Lopez
Preseason Prediction: n/a
Season Actual:
.182 AVG, .245 OBP, 0 HRs, 3 RBI, 16 games played
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When Rickie Weeks severely sprained his ankle in late July the Brewers got desperate for a 2nd baseman and they traded for Felipe Lopez hoping for the same results they got out of him in the 2nd half of 2009 - .320 AVG, 3 HRs and 32 RBIs in 66 games following a midseason trade from Arizona. But as you can see from the numbers above the 2nd time wasn't a charm. That only works for the 3rd time which I hope doesn't happen for Lopez. Hell it was worth a shot because the Tampa Bay Rays had enough of him and it only took some cash to get him. I'm guessing it was a sack of nickels. An unspecified amount in a beige sack with a $ sign on it of course. Like the kind that robbers used to steal from the bank vaults in the Old West. It was obvious that Weeks would be out for a very long time and when Lopez struggled they traded for Jerry Hairston Jr. and when he took over that made Lopez a goner. Most people probably won't remember his 2nd stint with the Brewers nor should they. I'm just glad they had the foresight to acquire Hairston because he was such a key piece in winning the NL Central and advancing to the NLCS.
Mat Gamel
Preseason Prediction: n/a
Season Actual:
.115 AVG, .148 OBP, 0 HRs, 2 RBI, 10 games played
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Mat Gamel. What can you say about him in 2011. Not a whole hell of a lot but I'm glad for his sake he didn't give up his apartment in Nashville when he was called up to the majors during Interleague Play. That's because he was only up in the bigs for about 2 weeks and was sent back down to AAA to learn 1st base. With the impending free agency of Prince Fielder he was moved across the diamond. He was originally a 3rd baseman but it turns out that he had a worse glove than Ryan Braun. Do you even remember Brauny playing 3rd base his rookie year? And how bad he was? I can't really remember that too much because his bat won him the NL Rookie of the Year and forgave his defense. And Gamel is supposedly worse? His minor league numbers certainly back that up but we didn't see enough in 2011 to really judge because he was primarily used as a DH at American League ballparks. In 2012 he will be playing 1st base which will hopefully limit his error total and if his minor league offensive numbers are any indication he should be just fine. So disregard anything you've seen of him in the Major Leagues and give him a chance. 2012 is a make or break year for this former top prospect.
Jerry Hairston Jr.
Preseason Prediction: n/a
Season Actual:
.274 AVG, .348 OBP, 1 HR, 7 RBIs, 45 games played
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Where would we have been in 2011 without Jerry Hairston Jr.? Obviously he was never a part of our plan on Opening Day but that's what makes the trade deadline so exciting. The K-Rod trade was the one that grabbed all the headlines and at the time the Hairston trade went under the radar. At first he wasn't getting a whole lot of playing time but by the end of the season he saw time at 2nd, 3rd and also in centerfield. His numbers don't jump out as being overly impressive but the game isn't played on paper. He filled in two huge holes (first for Rickie Weeks and then for Casey McGehee) and his defense was for the most part outstanding. He did make 2 crucial errors in the NLCS but overall he was a much better defender than Casey McGehee and started every game at 3rd in the Postseason. Often times it is those players that come out of nowhere that end up being the difference makers and you need one or two of them every year to push your team over the edge. I look forward to seeing who that guy will be in 2012 but we know for sure it won't be Hairston who signed a 2 year $6 million deal with the LA Dodgers. It would have been nice to have him back but not at $3 million per year. Thanks for the memories Jerry but I'll take my chances with the top card off of the deck.
Nyjer Morgan
Preseason Prediction: .285 AVG, .345 OBP, 2 HRs, 29 RBIs, 24 stolen bases and be the fastest Nyjer on the team.
Season Actual:
.304 AVG, .357 OBP, 4 HRs, 37 RBIs, 13 stolen bases, 61 runs scored and able to run a personal relay race along with Tony Plush, Tony Hush, Tony Clutch, Tony Gumbo, Antonio Picante and Tony Tombstone.
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Nyjer Morgan ended up surprising everyone with his on and off field play in 2011. His reputation and antics definitely proceeded him and he was known as someone who played the game maybe a little too hard and was involved in fights and collisions on the field. His mouth often got him in trouble and he was viewed as a clubhouse distraction. That was with the Pittsburgh Pirates and Washington Nationals, two losing clubs that had nothing better to talk about than his behavior. I was worried about how his crazy personality would affect the team but it ended being one of the best things of the entire season. And the difference? Winning. When a team is winning things that were previously an issue can be overlooked by glancing at the overall picture. When the Brewers are winning nearly every home game and Tony Plush spouts out his post game, "Ahhhhhh! Gotta go!" and runs away we laugh because he seems like he's having so much fun. When you're 15 games above .500 have as much fun as you want. When you're 15 games below .500 you better shut your mouth. What's so fun about losing? Morgan and his multiple alter egos fit in well in Milwaukee this season and his Beast Mode move captivated the entire Brewer Nation. No player in recent memory caught the fascination of Brewers fans as much as Morgan and T-Plush merchandise was selling like hot cakes. They couldn't keep that shit on the shelves and he tickled Brewers fans all season long but nowhere near as hard as when he had the game winning hit in the 10th inning of the NLDS Game 5 that scored Carlos Gomez and sent the Brewers to the NLCS. For that alone he goes down in Brewers history and will be one of the most well loved players of all time. Hell of a debut in a Brewers uniform. It will be interesting to see what he has in store for 2012 and if he can duplicate the success he had in 2011. Another year like this would certainly help to alleviate the loss of Prince Fielder but I just hope that he doesn't come crashing hard back down to reality. And I also hope that the Brewers keep up their winning ways because if they don't then Plushdamentals and "Ahhhh! Gotta Go!" just aren't funny anymore. With the pitching staff returning in full from last year I don't see that happening, and I have no doubt we will repeat as NL Central Division Champions and return to the playoffs. Nyjer Morgan has been busy working on his hockey skills in the offseason. Let's just hope he hasn't forgotten how important he is to the team's success in 2012.
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Well that's the 2011 Season Wrap-Up for the Milwaukee Brewers offense. I'll cover the pitchers soon. Notice that I didn't say too much about the defense except for players like Yuniesky Betancourt and Casey McGehee who's range and defense really hindered the team. That's because with the exception of Carlos Gomez and Ryan Braun this is pretty poor team defensively and it ultimately cost them a trip to the World Series. Their pitching and offense was so good for the entire season that we were able to overlook the defensive flaws because it didn't really hinder us too much. But in the Postseason when every at bat and every play is magnified and highly scrutinized those defensive errors became huge. And with the exception of Yovani Gallardo the pitching staff fell apart in October doomed their chances at moving on to the next round. Pitching and defense win Championships and in the playoffs we just didn't have it. It didn't matter how well Braun and Fielder hit because we ended up just giving away too many runs. When you dig a hole every night it's hard to dig yourself out of it.
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The offense overall wasn't a problem although at times there were some issues at the leadoff spot, the #5 spot and the bottom 3. That sounds like a big ass problem but when you have Nyjer Morgan, Rickie Weeks, Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder in the lineup the rest of the guys really don't have to do that much. Corey Hart and Yuni B got hot at some pretty good times and Lucroy was steady all year. Going into the season we knew that the offense was going to be fine and hit a ton of homeruns. It would have been nice to see them be a little more consistent and take advantage of their speed and play more small ball but that's how it was in 2011. Can't really get mad at them when they were crushing the ball out of the park. Bernie loves to slide after all and they were just pleasing their mustached mascot. 2011 was one hell of a ride and the difference between this year and the 2009-2010 seasons (when they didn't make the playoffs) was the pitching staff. With the acquisitions of Grienke, Marcum and K-Rod the Brewers finally realized that pitching is the key to success. But that of course is a topic that will be covered at a later date. I'm running out of time though as the 2012 season is right around the corner. Sorry for the delay in getting this article out but life comes first man. I know that now more than ever. Take care my friends.
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