Milwaukee Brewers

I don't understand what they are thinking about Mark DiFelice

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:10:23 +0000

During Thursday evening's FSWisconsin broadcast, announcer Bill Schroeder was commenting that the move of Seth McClung to the starting rotation left the bullpen depleted of "long" relievers--those that could go more than two innings. This puzzled me, as Mark DiFelice used to be a starter...in fact, if McClung continues to have bad starts like last night, DiFelice should be, I think, given a chance to start with the Brewers. But no one in the organization seems to be thinking of DiFelice as a starter candidate.

First, he must have major league stuff, as he's been on the 25-man roster the entire season, posting a 4-0, 1.72 mark over 31.3 IP in 31 games to date (not to mention a 2.84 ERA in '08 over 19 IP). This year, DiFelice has pitched 2 innings on two occasions, and over an inning in five other games.

So, then, they must feel that his stuff drops off after two innings. DiFelice went 4 full innings in the World Baseball Classic against Venezuela, throwing 45 pitchers, with 33 of them for strikes, resulting in just 3 hits and 0 ER's. DiFelice was a starter at Nashville last season as well.

At the very least, DiFelice should be the "go-to" guy whenever a starter starts getting around in the 3rd or 4th inning...and if McClung or Suppan continue to have rough starts, I'd like to see DiFelice get a shot at starting before trading Alcides Escobar for a Jarrod Washburn.

Friday's Games of the Day

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 04:40:00 -0800

The Fourth of July Weekend kicks off with a full schedule of games. The Yankees look to start a new winning streak against the Blue Jays. The Brewers and Cubs continue their seesaw NL Central battle. The Brewers need wins to stay ahead in the division because the Cardinals and Reds are battling for positioning in the division. The Mets and Phillies begin a series that will determine which team is in first in the NL East on Monday. These games, and many more, can be found in Friday's Games of the Day.

Toronto at New York Yankees: The Mariners broke the Yankees seven-game winning streak but are 7-3 in their last 10 games. They look to have A.J. Burnett and company start a new win streak against the Jays and Brian Tallet. Four of Hideki Matsui's 6 hits off Tallet have gone for extra bases, with one being a long ball.

Milwaukee at Chicago Cubs: The Cubs took the first game of this series on Thursday. The Brewers and Jeff Suppan look to even the season series back up at 4-4 against Carlos Zambrano. Derek Lee has 21 hits off Suppan with 11 extra base hits (4 home runs). J.J. Hardy is only 2-for-19 against Zambrano. Mike Cameron is worse, 1-for-13 against Zambrano.

New York Mets at Philadelphia: The Phillies have lost 3 straight and are 3-7 in their last 10 games. They're now tied with the Marlins for first place in the NL East. The Mets find themselves only 1 game behind. This series will determine who's in first place in the division come Monday. The Phillies are relying on Rodrigo Lopez to get the win. Wonderful.

The NL Central Is Apparently Over

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 09:52:03 -0500

The Wisconsinians have declared the Milwaukee Brewers the 2009 National League Central champions:

Tear down that silly Wild Card pennant, here comes the big boy - the real deal. It's gonna happen. The Brewers WILL win the NL Central this year, and here's 5 reasons why.

Our friend Brad goes on to list four reasons (he forgot the all important No. 2).

Speaking of No. 2, they can tear down that "silly Wild Card pennant" from 2008, but they'll have to pry the Commemorative DVD of the 2008 Wild Card out of Wisconsinians' cold dead hands.

FB365's Morning Drive 7/2/09

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 07:41:55 +0000

Jordan Zimmermann is getting a lot of fantasy love lately. I was on this guy in late April. He out-pitched Josh Johnson yesterday.

Cody Ross hit his 14th bomb of the season of newly acquired Sean Burnett. Ross is slugging .633 vs. left handed pitching this season.

Josh Johnson left the game after only 3.1 innings. No injury, just a rain delay and 4 walks to go with a rising pitch count.

Ricky Romero continues to impress. He's stranding over 85% of runners and his FIP is a run higher than his ERA before his start yesterday. Walks and the AL East are my concerns, but he's definitely a guy worth rostering right now. He's only owned in 33% of Yahoo! leagues.

Brad Bergesen impressed against the Red Sox. He's not going to strikeout a ton of guys, but he's keeping the ball on the ground and keeping the walks to a minimum. His next start comes against the Mariners. If you need a spot start, he's worth another go.

Yovani Gallardo struck out a career high 12 in 7 IP against the Mets. If Gallardo can reduce his walk rate, he's basically Lincecum light.

Gil Meche, coming off a "dead arm" period, threw 121 pitches in only 6 innings. His arm looked fine with a fastball sitting in the mid 90's, but minor injuries have been an issue this season. If I'm A Meche owner (or a Royals fan) I'm not happy about the pitch count at all.

Billy Butler, 4-4, continues to outperform James Loney, but it seems no one is paying attention.

Jason Hammel has been pitching well for the Rockies lately. He's not quite the ground ball pitcher Aaron Cooks is, but he is getting enough groundballs and limiting walks to be an NL-only add.

Troy Tulowitzki got cold just as fast as he got hot two weeks ago. I think he'll finish with an AVG around .270.

Jimmy Rollins took another o'fer, but so did most of the Phillies against Jair Jurjjens who only allowed 1 hit.

Justin Verlander was touched up last night. That makes two less than spectacular starts in a row. I'm not reading much into it.

Jose Contreras has struck out 8 batters in 3 of his last 4 starts.

Randy Wells pitched well again and got his third straight win. I'd start him again at home vs the Braves in his next start.

Johnny Cueto brought back the strikeout last night against the D-Backs. Of course the D-Backs are second only to the Marlins in team strikeouts.

Kevin Millwood and Jered Weaver squared off in a battle of the "sell highs". Neither faired particularly well and neither are likely to repeat their first half numbers in the second half.

Nelson Cruz left with a back injury. It didn't sound serious, but I never like to hear about back problems. Keep an eye on the situation.

Albert Pujols did not hit a homerun, but he did go 2-2 with a stolen base. Can he go 60/20!!? Not likely, but this is just amazing to watch.

Matt Cain continues to strand runners like crazy. 8 Cardinals left on base and only 3 strikeouts.

Adam Wainwright struck out a career high 12 in 9 innings. He's throwing a curveball or slider on nearly 40% of his pitches. That combined with only 132 innings pitched last season raises a bit of a red flag for potential time missed later this season.

Adrian Gonzalez did play last night after leaving the game with a knee injury the night before. He went 0-3 in the game and is now hitting .268.

Thursday's Games of the Day

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 04:45:00 -0800

Thursday brings us another short schedule with only nine games scheduled. Thursday is still filled with good games. The Mets and Pirates finish a series that began in June. Houston and San Diego face off in a matchup of teams just out of last place in their divisions. The Phillies look to beat the Braves and stay in first in the NL East. And the Brewers and Cubs renew their rivalry. Those games and more can be found below.

New York Mets at Pittsburgh: This game is a makeup of the June 3 game that was postponed. If Paul Maholm and the Pirates beat the Mets again, will Carlos Beltran comment again about how the Mets shouldn't lose to the Pirates? The Mets are depleted and throw Tim Redding out there. Adam LaRoche has four homers against the Mets since 2006, including one off Redding.

Houston at San Diego: Because a series between two teams in next to last place is better than a series between two teams in last place. The surprising Wandy Rodriguez takes the mound for Houston. Adrian Gonzalez's status for the game is in doubt, which obviously doesn't help the Padres.

Philadelphia at Atlanta: The Phillies need a win here to keep from falling behind the Marlins in the NL East. The Braves would extend their winning streak to four games if they win. Both JA Happ and Javier Vazquez go for their 6th win. Happ has a 9.00 ERA against the Braves. Chase Utley has a .333 average and 5 RBI against Vazquez.

Brewers go for sweep of Mets

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 17:43:38 +0000

June ended up better after my last post. Interleage play is over and the Crew is 3-2 since they resumed National League ball, including a pair of impressive wins over the Mets. The offense has come to life, aided a little bit by errors and blunders from the Giants and Mets, but things are shaping back up. J.J. Hardy appears to be on one of his hot streaks at just the right time. And Milwaukee once again finds itself atop the N.L. Central.

Mike Burns looked good last night, which is good, because Manny Parra got shelled in his most recent appearance in Nashville.

What can I say about Casey McGehee. The guy has been on fire, so much so that there is talk of sending Gamel back down to the minors because he is not getting any work at the Major League level. He dropped a pop fly that cost Looper a pair of runs the other night, and came back with his first career grand slam in the bottom of the same inning. The fact that we got him from the Cubs is just icing on the cake.

The Brewers send Yovani Gallardo to the mound today against Mike Pelfrey. Game time is 1:05

Brews end June on a high note

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 14:55:12 +0000

Some years ago, the Brewers were noted for their "June Swoon"--in other words, they'd head into June with a winning record, only to fall apart in June and finish the month near the bottom of the division.

Earlier in the week, I overhead on the radio that that the '09 Brewers had an identical record to their Wild Card team of last year--meaning, that these new Brewers weren't following the trends of the past.

After Tuesday night's thrilling win over the Mets, the Crew stands at 42-35, alone in first in the NL Central, and a full three games ahead in the loss column over the Cardinals, Reds, and Cubs.

The offense is still there--Braunie is hitting .327 with 16 HR's, and even Fielder is above the .300 mark at .307 with 20 HR's. Cubs' cast-off Casey McGehee, filling in for Weeks and Hall, is hitting .325, begging the question...When is the last time the Brewers had three .300 hitters at the half-way point? McGehee probably doesn't have enough PA's yet to qualify for an official listing in the MLB or team rankings...but if he continues to pound the ball, he'll continue to get playing time.

Yovani Gallard has developed into the ace of the staff, too, posting a more than respectable 8-4, 2.86, with 102 K's, and while Braden Looper and Jeff Suppan still linger around the 4.90 area for ERA, Mike Burns has posted a 1-1, 3.31 over three games and shows promise. Trevor Hoffman has been almost lights out at the back end of the bullpen, save a few recent setbacks.

So...do the Brewers have enough pieces to win the NL Central? Right now, GM Doug Melvin seems to be thinking that he will only add someone late in July if the team is in contention, sort of an insurance policy to insure that the team makes the postseason again. Right now, he's waiting to see how the Crew fares in the remainder of their games before the All-Star break, which is the toughest stretch so far this season: four games at the Cubs, followed by three at home against the Cardinals, and three more at home against the team with the best record in the NL and the early frontrunner to win the NL Pennant, the Dodgers.

The first 11 of June games are crucial to the Brewers' playoff hopes; 7-8 wins, and they are the favorites, and Melvin can start shopping for insurance; 6 or less wins, and the race is tighter. ~~Should be~~ Will be a great month for Brewers' fans either way.

Wednesday's Games of the Day

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 04:35:00 -0800

July begins with several teams either looking to extend winning streaks or stop losing streaks. San Francisco and St. Louis continue a series that impacts the early Wild Card race. Colorado looks to turn their luck around against the Dodgers. Plenty of pitchers are looking for win number eight, nine, or ten on July 1. Nyjer Morgan joins the Nationals. Adam Jones and Marco Scutaro begin July looking to end recent slumps. Those, and plenty of other good storylines, can be found in Wednesday's Games of the Day.

Washington at Florida: The Nyjer Morgan era begins in Washington. He and his new teammates will face the 7-1 Josh Johnson. Johnson is 4-0 agains the Nats in his career. Nick Johnson has a .556 batting average against Josh Johnson.

Tampa Bay at Toronto: The Rays keep rolling. They defeated Toronto 4-1 on Tuesday running their win streak to 8 games and handing Toronto their fourth straight loss. The series finale features James Shields and Ricky Romero, two very exciting pitchers. Shields is 0-2 with a 4.09 ERA in his last three starts against the Jays. Look for him to turn it around thanks to his team being hot right now. He'll get help from Marco Scutaro who is in the midst of a 1-for-16 slump with his last hit coming on June 26.

Boston at Baltimore: Josh Beckett goes for win number 10 against Brad Bergesen. Bergesen was 3-0 in June. Beckett is 4-1 lifetime at Camden Yards. I'm looking for Adam Jones to rebound from a poor June. Doing it against Josh Beckett might not happen. Teammate Luke Scott has a .545 batting average with 1 homer and 3 RBI against Beckett.

Fantasy Baseball: Milwaukee Brewers IF Casey McGehee

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 11:55:00 -0500

When Milwaukee Brewers 2B Rickie Weeks injured his wrist and was ruled out for the year in May, the Brewers (and Weeks' fantasy owners) were immediately in need of a suitable replacement. Enter Casey McGehee.

In 110 at-bats through Monday, McGehee is hitting .336 with five home runs and 21 RBI with 20 runs scored and 10 doubles. He is also sporting a .400 on-base percentage and a .564 slugging percentage, which are both very solid numbers. He had been bothered by knee and ankle injuries earlier this month but has not missed significant playing time.

McGehee has seen time at 2B (18 games) and 3B (13 games) this season and is probably eligible at both spots in many fantasy leagues. Being part of a productive Milwaukee offense led by 1B Prince Fielder and LF Ryan Braun certainly helps his fantasy value if he can continue to hit well and get on base.

3B Bill Hall remains a threat to take away playing time, but with his struggles (.208, 5 HR, 18 RBI in 178 at-bats this season) McGehee seems to be the better option right now for manager Ken Macha. Top prospect Mat Gamel could also see time at 3B as long as he remains with the Brewers, but he is hitting just .236 with two home runs and 12 RBI and has struck out 32 times in 89 major league at-bats this season and has struggled playing 3B in the minors. All in all, McGehee should remain in the lineup on a nearly every-day basis as long as he is productive offensively.

If you find yourself in need of an infielder with dual-position eligibility McGehee could be a solid free agent option if he is available, particularly in AL-only leagues. He is someone worth watching in mixed leagues right now, but he is really only worth immediate consideration as a potential free agent addition in the deepest mixed leagues.

Mariano Gets Save No. 500

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 11:05:00 -0800

Last night Mariano Rivera became the second player in MLB history to record 500 saves.

Not only did he record a save, he actaully was allowed to bat in the eighth inning. In this at bat, he worked a walk with the bases loaded, giving him an RBI.

Good day for the Sandman, Just for fun, here is the career leaderboard for saves, from Baseball Reference:

Rank	Player (age)	Saves	Throws
1.	Trevor Hoffman (41)	571	R
2.	Mariano Rivera (39)	500	R
3.	Lee Smith	478	R
4.	John Franco	424	L
5.	Dennis Eckersley+	390	R
6.	Billy Wagner (37)	385	L
7.	Jeff Reardon	367	R
8.	Troy Percival (39)	358	R
9.	Randy Myers	347	L
10.	Rollie Fingers+	341	R
11.	John Wetteland	330	R
12.	Roberto Hernandez	326	R
13.	Jose Mesa	321	R
14.	Todd Jones	319	R
15.	Rick Aguilera	318	R

Strange to think that the top two save artists are still playing. Also, how is Jose Mesa on this list? Can Hoffman make it to 600? We shall see.

FB365's Morning Drive 6/29/09

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 07:19:25 +0000

Grady Sizemore is 6 for 20 since returning from the DL. There may still be time to buy low with owners still worried about a recurrence of his elbow inflammation. I am not incredibly worried about his previous injury. Will Carroll of Baseball Prospectus put it this way:

...the medical staff believes that they're beyond the recurrence stage. Bursitis is a painful condition, but once corrected it tends not to recur. It's just the "getting ahead of it" that often takes something like a DL stint or even minor surgery to help.

http://baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=9075

Aaron Hill keeps on mashing. 19 homeruns now on the year.

Brad Lidge allowed 1 hit (bunt single) and one walk, but did not allow a run to score in his action since landing on the DL. He got the save, but his stuff and control, slider in particular, did not look so sharp.

Tommy Hanson ran the NL East two headed monster this week and came out 2-0. The strikeouts are not there yet, but his stuff looks very good. I don't think he's going to make quite the impact the pre-season hype built up, but he should be a solid option the rest of the way.

Brad Penny matched up fairly well against Hanson, but was struck by the long ball twice (Chipper Jones and Garret Anderson). I'm not a believer in Penny, but maybe Mark from Fantasy Baseball Hot Stove can convince me otherwise.

Zack Greinke gets it done again, though he is clearly not as dominant as when the season started. I would actually be fine with selling high on Greinke for a top-notch hitter right now. After all Greinke did rank number 11 on Razzball's 20 Risky Pitchers for 2009. Also, strikeouts trending down.

Since I said buy low on Wieters he has gone just about o'fer everything. Killing me Matt, killing me.

B.J. Upton had a 5 star day. A homer, stolen base, 2 runs and an RBI. Can you say HUGE second half?

Alexei Ramirez added his 10th homerun of the season yesterday. He now has 10 homeruns and 11 steals. More importantly "The Cuban Missle" has raised his AVG to .267. Ramirez started out very slow last season as well. Does his game rise with the summer heat? I'd buy low to find out.

Brandon Inge hit a game winning homerun off of Jose Valverde. It was Inge's 18th of the season. I have to admit, I sort of liked the guy after his hot start to the season, but I never would have thought he'd be approaching the all-star break with close to 20 bombs. His K/BB rate is pretty much the same as it was last season, but his HR/FB rate is through the roof.

Matt Gamel batted leadoff yesterday. That's interesting if it sticks.

Was this the turning point for Francisco Liriano? Throwing 92-95 with a slider in the high 80's yesterday. I'm still not convinced, though he kept the ball down nicely yesterday. His last two starts have come against National League foes. His next start against the Tigers will be a big one.

Aaron Cook continues to pull a 2008 on us. Despite allowing 9.1 hits per 9 IP and a 1.61 K/BB rate, Cook continues to put the ball on the ground and get outs. Look, at this point you ride em till he bucks ya.

Jaun Rivera: 44.7% owned in ESPN leagues and 43% owned in Yahoo! Leagues. That's up from 5.3% in ESPN and 4% in Yahoo! On June 9th, but still, .305, 12 HR, 41 RBI...Those numbers are scary close to Carlos Lee right now.

I am going to mention Clay Zavada for 2 reasons. 1) He's awesome. 2) Shout out to Dave from Goose Joak for this sweet 1971 Topps retro card upon request.

Jose Lopez is now 8 for 12 in his last 3 games. He should be in for a nice second half.

As I passed along the other day, it looks more and more like Adrian Beltre will not play through the pain much longer.

Matt Kemp was actually able to fight off Juan Castro for the 7th spot in the Dodgers lineup yesterday. He hit his 10th homer of the year. I bet Mitch Kemp would bat higher than Matt Kemp if it were up to Joe Torre.

Francisco Rodriguez had an embarrassing outing last night. He walked three and allowed one hit, but the bases loaded walk to Mariano Rivera was the kicker. Come on Mets fans! I've watched Frankie pull this kind of stuff for years in Anaheim! Consider yourself lucky he hasn't done it more often in 2009.

Luis Castillo has reached base in all but one game since June 22nd. So why not move him (.279 AVG, .375 OBP) to the 8th spot and hand leadoff duties to Daniel Murphy (.248 AVG, .316 OBP)? Can a Mets fan please help me understand the wacky mind of Jerry Manuel?

How about that Chad Gaudin fella? One hit, 9 K in 8 1/3 innings against the slugging, albeit slumping, Rangers offense. His strikeout numbers are huge over his last 3 starts. His next few starts come against NL West foes. Go ahead and ride him out.

Scott Hairston hit his 9th homer of the season. The bottom line with Hairston is that he has the power for sure and his contact rate and plate discipline have shown improvements over last season. His AVG has been helped by a .347 BABIP and should end up closer to .270. The Padres have a bit of a situation on their hands trying to get playing time between Hairston, Gwynn Jr., Headley and Blanks in the outfield. Deeper leagues will find value in Hairston's power, but he may not get enough regular at bats for standard leagues.

Monday's Games of the Day

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 04:40:00 -0800

Twelve games are scheduled on Monday as we return to intraleague play. The biggest story is Roy Halladay making his return against the Tampa Bay Rays. We also have Boston facing Baltimore with Jon Lester on the hill. The Mets attempt to make their way past the Phillies in the NL East. Also, Albert Pujols and Tim Lincecum face off in St. Louis.

Boston at Baltimore: The Red Sox are 12 games ahead of the Orioles. The O's are 23-18 at home and the Sox are 21-19 on the road. That makes this an even series. What doesn't make the series even is the fact that Boston swept the Orioles in four games earlier this season. Baltimore's Nick Markakis does not hit Jon Lester. Ditto for Luke Scott.

Chicago Cubs at Pittsburgh: Rich Harden looks to get back on track while Zach Duke goes for his NL-lead tying ninth win of the season. Alfonso Soriano has Duke's number. He hits .517 off Duke with six extra-base hits, including two home runs.

New York Mets at Milwaukee: The Mets can't find a way to get ahead of the Phillies in the NL East. Fernando Nieve is 3-0 and takes the mound for the Mets in Milwaukee.

Rising/Falling: Goin' with McGehee?

Sun, 28 Jun 2009 20:43:21 +0000

FB365:

The Rising: Casey McGehee - What do we know about this mysterious character from the Brewers farm system? Well, we know he's on fire. McGehee is currently hitting .344 with 4 HR for the Brewers in 96 at bats. He also caries eligibility at 2B and 3B. Is he for real? In a word; no. One glance at his minor league numbers would be about the last time you would do so. In 2577 minor league at bats McGehee hit .279/.31/.409 with 54 HR. This past offseason he was selected off of waivers by the Brewers form the Cubs. What he has done at the Major League level this month is mostly smoke and mirrors. The AVG is being extremely helped by a .394 BABIP as well as his spot in the batting order. Opponents felt they could pitch to him with Braun and Fielder to follow in the order. Once opposing teams find his weakness and exploit it there will be a big fall off in any type of production from McGehee.

The Falling: Juan Pierre - His impact immediately following the Manny Ramirez suspension was nothing short of amazing. However, when Manny returns his fall from fantasy grace will be equally as amazing. Over the last months worth of games for the Dodgers, Pierre has only hit .259 with 9 SB. There is no way he replaces Matt Kemp or Andre Ethier in the lineup anyway. Your chance to sell Pierre for anything at all is nearing its end. Besides, it's not as if he was doing anything different than what Scott Podsednik was doing.

Brett Greenfield, fantasyphenoms.com:

The Rising: Fernando Nieve - With injuries to Oliver Perez and John Maine, the Mets were forced to look for alternatives within their farm system. The 27-year-old Nieve has stepped up and been a savior for a battered Mets team. Fernando has made three starts and currently holds a 1.31 ERA and a 0.97 WHIP. In twenty innings he's struck out 13 batters, which isn't terrible. Jerry Manuel has indicated that Nieve will remain in the rotation for the foreseeable future. Proof that he's been pretty good is in the teams he's faced: The Yankees, The Rays and The Cardinals. He has provided the Mets with a quality start in each of the three starts, has gone at least six innings and has given up fewer than three runs in each. He's still available in many leagues but is worth taking a flier on when you consider the ballpark he'll be pitching in and the potential offense behind him once healthy.

The Falling: Kelly Johnson - The Braves' second baseman was drafted in all leagues likely as a middle infielder and in some, a starting second baseman. Currently batting .215, Kelly has been dropped in many leagues. Among regulars, Johnson has the fewest base hits in the month of June. He's nine for 69 and sporting a .130 AVG. He's yet to homer and has only three extra base hits this month, all being doubles. With such a low AVG and lack of walks, comes few opportunities to score runs or drive them in. Johnson has rendered himself useless and is landing on many waiver wires across the nation.

MLB Notebook Looking for Part Time Writers

Sat, 27 Jun 2009 08:40:00 -0800

This is an official announcement for MLB Notebook:

MLB Notebook is looking for Part Time writers. I can't put a number on how many we are hoping to add, because if we get 10 really great writers that apply, I will be tempted to add them all. Here are some details on what being a Part Time writer is all about:

2-3 Posts a week - Could be more if you have the drive to do it, but we only expect 2 each week.
Love of baseball - If you don't love the game, we don't love you.
Writing Experience - We would prefer to add writers who have a proven body of work.
Volunteer - Technically this is a volunteer gig, because we have no real money to pay anyone. However, this could change depending on site revenue. But, even though you aren't being paid, the exposure you get here is beneficial.

This gig is great for someone who writes about a single team for another site (like Ricky does), and wants a place to write about other teams and baseball in general.

If you are interested please contact Zach via email: sportsnotebook@gmail.com

Mitch Stetter Making His Mark

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 17:30:00 -0800

A record that I doubt very few people before recently have ever really thought about some one achieving: 15 consecutive strikeouts by a pitcher. It seems that someone had to have done it in the Majors before Brewers reliever Mitch Stetter accomplished it in his last outing on Wednesday extending an already current 11 strikeout streak. And how does one accomplish this feat. Lets ask the man himself.

"Obviously, it's sheer luck when you go back and look at it," Stetter said after Wednesday's game.

There you have it! Never before accomplished by a Major League pitcher because the previous 10,000 or so pitchers were unlucky.

A lefty specialist or "LOOGY", Stetter does get a good amount of Ks in his career. In 219 minor league games, Stetter had 9.1 K/9 and and even a better one in the Majors with a 11.1 K/9 in 71 games. A junk ball pitcher if you will, Stetter throws from an insane far release point from the pitching rubber. Depending on the pitch, Stetter can throw anywhere from 3.5 to over 5 feet towards first base! The only other lefty that goes nearly as far out is Blue Jays own LOOGY Jesse Carlson, but he barley goes past four feet. Here is the release point chart Stetters appearance on Wednesday.