Young BrewCrew

by RedHopeful on Jul 20, 2007 11:57 PM EDT

When Sheets went down, I thought the Brewers were going to roll over and let the Cubs right by them in the standings. However, after their last couple of games I think they may still be able to hang on. Gallardo was quite impressive in last night's win and today Parra got to see his first major league action. He looked incredible in an inning and a third. Struck out 3 of the 5 hitters while throwing 15 pitches (13 for strikes.) Does anyone know if Parra will crack the starting lineup or will he just be used as a reliever for the rest of the year?

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Parra

I was really impressed by Parra tonight as well. I think the plan was to send him down when Spurling gets activated tomorrow.

I hope after tonight they give this a second thought and keep him in the pen for this season as Parra looks a hell of a lot better than Shouse.

Parra looks like a pretty good sleeper for next season.

by joltin joe dimaggio on Jul 21, 2007 12:01 AM EDT reply actions

Question

Why would the Brew Crew roll over all of a sudden after losing a guy who only plays once every 5 days? They must have been something right in the other 75+ games he never saw action in. BTW, is it reall that much of a difference between him and Gallardo? Mahalo

Matt

I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it.

by WayneCampbell05 on Jul 21, 2007 12:17 AM EDT reply actions

Answer

I guess I could've explained it a bit better but I didn't think I had to. The Brewers went into the All-star break posting a 3-7 record in their last ten games. During this stretch Bill Hall goes down with what appeared to be a pretty severe sprain that would keep him out at least for around 4 weeks. Then Ben Sheets first start after the break, he goes down with an injury. Meanwhile the Cubs have got fire and are like 19-5 in their last 24 games. Things SEEMED to be turning south, no???

The Brewers have gotten already so many contributions from their youngsters this year that you expect it to end. Breakout seasons for Hardy, Braun, Fielder and Hart while some guys expected to be better have floundered - Weeks, Hall, Bush and Capuano.

If Gallardo is as good as Sheets, don't you think he'd be pitching alongside with him in the rotation all year? He's got the stuff but he probably doesn't have the experience or knowledge. At least that's the right approach any ballclub should take - just look at Homer's struggles so far this season in Cincinnati as he dominated the minors like Gallardo.

I'm no commie, but the Reds shall be the best again!

by RedHopeful on Jul 21, 2007 1:13 AM EDT up reply actions

The rest of your statement is spot on

but the Gallardo not being up before has something to do with the fear of the super 2. Like Hughes and Bailey, the Brewers wanted to make sure that their super pitching prospect was ready for the major before bringing him up and accumulating service time. Arbitration awards have been progressing unprecedentedly higher since Alfonso Soriano in 2004. Clubs have become more weary of letting blue chip prospects "figure it out" in the majors early in the season due to not wanting to lose a full year of control. So Gallardo was not kept down because he wasn;t one of the best starting 5, but because the club wanted to make sure that was the case

by Trenchtown on Jul 21, 2007 5:26 AM EDT up reply actions

Deep Thoughts

I think the Brewers were smart with what they did with Gallardo. He still needs some seasoning so throwing him into the fire at the start of the season could have been detrimental to his development. I didn't say he was as good as Sheets though. I just don't think they're losing much.

BTW, while the Brewers were going 3-7 before the break, the Cubs were only 6-4. Despite going 20-5 they've only made up 4-5 games in the standings too. Believe me, it's been incredibly frustrating watching this terrific winning streak and still be 2 1/2 games out. I know it can't last and I think the Brew Crew are just as good as ever. They're a very good team even without Hall & Sheets. Also, if you look at their stats, Gallardo was much better than Bailey. All the strikeouts with little of the control problems Homer had. Mahalo

Matt

I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it.

by WayneCampbell05 on Jul 21, 2007 9:01 AM EDT up reply actions