Some things to read while hearing everything.
The Milwaukee Brewers were off on Monday but have 50 games remaining in the 2014 regular season. They’ll play the first of them tonight when Jimmy Nelson takes on Tim Lincecum and the San Francisco Giants, and Caitlin Sweica has the MLB.com preview.
Khris Davis and Scooter Gennett could both be in the starting lineup tonight, and both young Brewers have been big-league regulars for about a year now. Adam McCalvy of MLB.com talked to Davis and Gennett about their accomplishments to this point and their efforts to continue to improve.
The Brewers could opt to sit Davis tonight, though, to get new acquisition Gerardo Parra an opportunity to start. The jury is still out on the Brewers’ decision to acquire him for two minor leaguers: Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel notes that former MLB GM Jim Bowden gave the trade a C-plus, while Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic (via MLB Trade Rumors) cited sources saying Parra was on the decline and “getting even a decent piece for Parra is a great move” for the Diamondbacks.
Elsewhere in recent additions, we have Jeremy Jeffress. Recent bullpen struggles have led to the former first-round pick climbing the ladder pretty quickly among Brewers relievers, but Jordan Mader of Brew Crew Ball says “looking at him as the #1 right-handed option behind K-Rod in the pen right now is not putting him in a position to succeed.”
Jeffress has been thrust into key spots at least partially because of Will Smith’s recent struggles. Smith has a 9.82 ERA over his last 18 outings, and Adam Wieser of Disciples of Uecker has a look at what’s changed for him lately.
Mark Reynolds and his hot bat will likely be in the lineup tonight. He’s hitting .333 with a .400 on-base percentage and .963 slugging in his last nine games, but when he’s cold, he’s also very cold. Jeff Sullivan of FanGraphs has a gif of him swinging at a pitch that was 42 1/2 inches from the center of the strike zone on July 21. That was the second-wildest pitch to draw a swing across baseball in the entire month.
As of this moment, Matt Garza is projected to start Saturday’s game against the Dodgers, but it remains to be seen if he’ll be healthy enough to do so. The Brewers had no official word on Garza’s condition on Monday after he left Sunday’s game with an oblique strain (h/t @Haudricourt). If he can’t pitch, Marco Estrada would likely start in his place.
In the minors:
- Congratulations are due out this morning to Wisconsin Timber Rattlers pitcher Taylor Williams, who has been named the Midwest League’s Pitcher of the Week. Williams struck out 11 batters over seven scoreless innings in his last outing on Friday.
- Back on the field, the affiliates went 2-4 on Monday, but Huntsville snapped a five-game losing streak with a 2-1 win over Jacksonville. You can read about all of the day’s action in the Brewerfan.net Link Report.
- Alec Dopp of Brew Crew Ball used Monday’s Brewers off day to give us an update on which minor leaguers were hot and not for the month of July. Barring a postseason appearance, most of the affiliates’ seasons end on Labor Day weekend.
Today in power rankings:
- ESPN has the Brewers sixth this week, down one spot.
- Jonah Keri of Grantland has the Brewers seventh, also down one spot.
- Call to the Pen also has the Brewers seventh.
If you’d like more Brewers coverage today but you’re sick of reading, my weekly appearance on The Talking Cheeseheads with Ben Larson has been archived and can be heard here. This week we talked about a rough weekend in St. Louis and the important games yet to come.
Around baseball:
Angels: Placed pitcher Mike Morin on the DL with a foot laceration.
Dodgers: Placed reliever Chris Perez on the DL with bone spurs in his ankle.
Mets: Designated first baseman/outfielder Bobby Abreu for assignment.
Nationals: Placed outfielder Nate McLouth on the DL with a shoulder injury.
Pirates: Placed outfielder Andrew McCutchen on the DL with an oblique strain.
Rangers: Placed catcher Chris Gimenez on the paternity list.
Rays: Released pitchers Erik Bedard and Juan Carlos Oviedo.
Yankees: Placed pitcher David Phelps on the DL with elbow tendonitis.
Let’s go around the NL Central:
- The Reds are back at .500 this morning after a 7-1 loss to the Indians on Monday. Jay Bruce and Devin Mesoraco both had multihit games in the losing effort.
- The Brewers, Cardinals, Pirates and Cubs were all off on Monday.
| Team | W | L | GB | Today | Matchup |
| Brewers | 61 | 51 | — | vs Giants, 7:10 p.m. | Jimmy Nelson vs Tim Lincecum |
| Cardinals | 59 | 51 | 1 | vs Red Sox, 7:15 p.m. | Lance Lynn vs Rubby De La Rosa |
| Pirates | 59 | 52 | 1.5 | vs Marlins, 6:05 p.m. | Charlie Morton vs Brad Hand |
| Reds | 56 | 56 | 5 | @ Indians, 6:05 p.m. | Johnny Cueto vs Josh Tomlin |
| Cubs | 47 | 63 | 13 | @ Rockies, 7:40 p.m. | Travis Wood vs Brett Anderson |
Finally, with help from the Baseball Reference Play Index, we’d like to wish a happy birthday today to:
- Menasha, Wis., natve Eric Hinske, who turns 37. Hinske played 12 MLB seasons between 2002-13 as a member of the Blue Jays, Braves and five other teams.
- 1976 Brewer Bernie Carbo, who turns 67.
- Troy, Wis., native and Beloit College alum Doc Adkins, who would have turned 142. Adkins pitched in the majors as a member of the 1902 Boston Americans (Red Sox) and 1903 New York Highlanders (Yankees).
Plunk Everyone notes that Hinske’s 30 career HBP are the third-most ever for a position player born on August 5, and Carbo is fifth with 19.
Today is also the third anniversary of Craig Counsell snapping his franchise-record 45 at-bat hitless streak in 2011 and the 17th anniversary of Jeromy Burnitz homering in his fifth consecutive game in 1997. Follow the links for those events’ respective entries in Today In Brewer History at Brew Crew Ball.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to find something else to watch.
Drink up.
