Next up, Milwaukee. (and some Cubs)

[Ghosts of 1990]

I watched a lot of the Cubs/Milwaukee series (I bet on the games each night) and here's a few observations. I also bet the games when Milwaukee was playing San Fran.... so I've been watching them a bit in this young season:


-Prince Fielder looks like he is about to get hot. I hope we can miss the rush that he is about to put on. He looks like he's ready for one of those 4 homer weeks. Swing is starting to come together. Watch for him to get white hot soon.

-I am so unimpressed by Milwaukee's starting pitching. I like their lineup pretty well but talk about giving yourself no chance. Tomorrow night's starter vs. us will be their headliner pretty much, Yovani Gallardo. Of course he's coming off injury (ironically against us) and he is the best they've got. From there we'll face a decent lefty in Manny Parra who will give us fits just becasue he's a lefty, and then Braden Looper who can be solid but is a pretty run of the mill righty. If we can get to the righty Gallardo tomorrow night I like our chances to win this series.

-The Milwaukee bullpen is thin as well. There just aren't arms down there that are impressive to me.

-Hardy and Weeks are pretty good up the middle defensively. I've seen them make several "wow" plays. Better then I thought.

-Ryan Braun is off to a slow start. He's such a good hitter in their 3 spot that you just have to hope he doesn't get healthy until we leave town.

Cubs
-They work counts and are patient at the plate. They drew 4 bases loaded base on balls tonight against the Brewers. We have to throw strikes because they're disciplined as far as the strike zone goes. They won't fish.

-Soriano is on fire and doing everything offensively. Could be a 40 HR year but only 80 RBI from that leadoff spot.

-Marmol should be closing and not Kevin Gregg. Gregg is so shaky and Marmol just has lights out stuff.

[Newman4]

I agree about Milwaukee's pitching being less than impressive. I think they are rated a little high by prognosticators IMO. If Braun and Prince either struggle or are injured, I think they fall pretty hard.

[Jerome]

Good summary. Tip for starting pitchers leading off the game against Soriano. Don't throw fastballs anywhere near the plate. In fact, don't throw anything near the plate.

http://jeromesredscare.blogspot.com

[schmidty622]

If we go into Milwaukee with the same type of approach at the plate that we have had so far we should be able to chase their starters pretty quickly.
- I've never really been overly impressed with Gallardo but he does have talent. He has the best stuff of the three we will face and it will be key to make him hit his spots and not chase bad pitches.
- I'm not too worried about Parra; Bruce, Votto, Hariston, and EE have all hit him pretty hard.
- Looper worries me a bit more as our hitters just have not been successful against him. Although Taveras has had some success.

Really with Volquez, Arroyo, and Owings going I could see this series going either way. 2-1 or 1-2. I'm a tad worried about Owings as he hasn't thrown a meaningful pitch in what? Two weeks? Hopefully Volquez and Arroyo bounce back and get us a couple of quality outings on the tail of Harang's complete game.

[bgwilly31]

When will owings get his first start>?

And what happened to him starting against the pirates >?

Sorry im sure i missed something.

Also are on ESPN tonight. Just as i was turning off the TV i thought i saw that we are monday night baseball tonight.

[schmidty622]

Originally Posted by bgwilly31

When will owings get his first start>?

And what happened to him starting against the pirates >?

Sorry im sure i missed something.

Also are on ESPN tonight. Just as i was turning off the TV i thought i saw that we are monday night baseball tonight.

Owings starts Wednesday. He missed his first start due to the rainout. I haven't heard if we are Monday night baseball or not.

[bgwilly31]

Originally Posted by schmidty622

Owings starts Wednesday. He missed his first start due to the rainout. I haven't heard if we are Monday night baseball or not.

Were not MNB. Padres and mets are i just looked it up. I dont know what i saw this morning. Its monday.

[Bumstead]

Yovani Gallardo is by far the Brewers best pitcher. He will give the Reds problems. He also has some pop in his bat, just ask the last team he faced. He is one of the best young pitchers in the game as long as he keeps his largeness in control...

Parra: patience is the key here. If the Reds are patient this guy will wear down between 70-80 pitches and we can get to him.

Looper...whatever. Mediocre pitcher that the Reds should be able to hit.

The key will be getting to the Brewers bullpen by the 6th inning as they are super shallow there. If the Reds can get by Gallardo for a win, they should have a shot at a sweep...we'll see. The Reds have to be patient and hit any mistakes.

Bum

Agreed with prince fielder. After getting a grand slam stolen from him last night he'll be hungry to hit one out soon.

Our SP is iffy. I think Gallardo, Parra will pull through but I dont know much about Looper yet and so far Suppan has been less than good. Our bullpen, Julio sucks and should be cut, however Hoffman should be back soon so that'll put ease on us.

As for the cubbies:
They have bullpen issues of there own to worry about. They signed a Eric Gagne and wouldnt suprise me to see Mamol be the closer later this week.

[Newman4]

Good thing is that Gallardo is a righty. Makes me feels better against our lineup. Parra is nothing special...if we can't hit him then without a doubt we will struggle all year against LHP. Braden Looper should be hittable.

[bgwilly31]

Originally Posted by adamb10

Agreed with prince fielder. After getting a grand slam stolen from him last night he'll be hungry to hit one out soon.

Our SP is iffy. I think Gallardo, Parra will pull through but I dont know much about Looper yet and so far Suppan has been less than good. Our bullpen, Julio sucks and should be cut, however Hoffman should be back soon so that'll put ease on us.

As for the cubbies:
They have bullpen issues of there own to worry about. They signed a Eric Gagne and wouldnt suprise me to see Mamol be the closer later this week.

Behind enemy lines are we.

[xavr1]

Big series at Milwaukee. I agree with everything you said about their pitching, but think you might be overlooking Parra just a bit. He has some good stuff and, if we dont get the bats going early, it could be a long night against him. Gallardo is their guy, but he is certainly not unhittable. Dusty needs to preach patience at the plate and let the guys relax a bit. So much pressure on these young kids can be overwhelming early in the season. Winning at Milwaukee will go a long way to keeping our heads above water in April.

[Bumstead]

hmmm...we have a shot at the sweep that somebody said could happen... That's pretty big against the team that is supposed to finish 2nd in the division and on the road, don't you think?

[schmidty622]

Thought I would continue with the next series.

Cincinnati Reds (4-3) at Houston Astros (1-6)

Projected Starters:

Friday 4/17 - Roy Oswalt v Johnny Cueto

Saturday 4/18 - Wandy Rodriguez v Aaron Harang

Sunday 4/19 - Brian Moehler v Edinson Volquez

Monday 4/20 - Mike Hampton v Bronson Arroyo

Houston's Typical Lineup:

1. K. Matsui 2B
2. M. Tejada SS
3. L. Berkman 1B
4. C. Lee LF
5. H. Pence RF
6. G. Blum 3B
7. M. Bourn CF
8. I. Rodriguez C
9. Pitcher

Closer and Set up:

RHP - Jose Valverde
RHP LaTroy Hawkins

[schmidty622]

I like us to split this series. I think we can when with Harang and Volquez (even with his recent failure - he's facing Brian Moehler) onthe bump but have my doubts about Arroyo and Cueto, especially since Cueto is going against the greatest Red killer ever in Oswalt.