Brew Crew Report (5/21/03)

Brewers Roundup:

*The most surprising event in the last month had to be the complete domination of the Brewers for the Cubs at Miller Park. The Cubs swept the Brewers for the first time ever in Milwaukee, in a four-game series. Before the Chicago sweep, neither team had ever taken all four games from the other.

*The Brewers took two of three from the Cincinnati Reds at Miller Park including a walk-off homerun by Eddie Perez, only to be burnt by the homerun and Aaron Boone in the season finale.

*The Brewers have won the first two games of the San Diego series at Miller Park including a walk-off homerun by John Vander Wal to prevail after a Geoff Jenkins mistake diving for a ball in Left Field, allowing a run to score. The Brewers welcome back fan favorite announcer Matt Vasgersian back to Milwaukee, now sitting in the San Diego broadcasting booth.

*Matt Kinney is the best pitcher in the Majors on pitches 1-90. He holds the opponents to a .146 batting average when he is between 1-90 pitchers, which is the lowest in the Majors. However, after pitch 90 opponents are hitting a lofty .444 against him.

Jeffrey Hammonds and Alex Sanchez:

Alex Sanchez has been benched for the last two weeks because of constant basepad and batting mistakes. Instead of doing what he does best, shooting the ball to left, he has been swinging for the fences popping balls up and striking out too much for someone who has less then warning track power. His batting average fell nearly 50 points during that period of time. However, Tuesday he got the call off of the bench driving in the tying run late in the game against San Diego.

The Jeffrey Hammonds situation is still left unknown since suffering a high ankle sprain over a month ago. I have been hearing that Jeffrey has been ready to play ever since he came off of the disabled list. The Brewers have told the AP that his ankle is still injured and he is out due to injury, however Jeffrey has expressed differently.

In their absence, John Vander Wal, Scott Podsednik, and Brady Clark have been playing very good. They have come up with key hits in clutch situations and have shown the patience that Sanchez lacks. My best theory on why Hammonds is still out is the fact that his contract is up at the end of this season. Of course, the Brewers aren't going to make the mistake of resigning him to another large deal. Jeffrey is going to have to take a huge paycut next year with whatever team he plays for. This year Jeffrey will make $7 Million. That is nearly twice as much as Geoff Jenkins and Richie Sexson are making this year, and the staff Ace Ben Sheets is making nearly a third of that.

The fact is, that the truth is not coming out and the truth isn't even known by the Brewers roster. Clark and Podsednik are blooming in his absence but, Jeffrey will play at some point in the near future. As of right now, the Brewers have three players on their roster that are currently producing the least. Hammonds has been explained and Enrique Cruz and Matt Ford were Rule 5 Draft Selections. By the Rule 5 transcript, they have to be in the Majors for at least one season or they will be lost back to their respected teams. The Brewers are putting a lot into Cruz and Ford by dedicating themselves to keeping them on the roster.

Prince Fielder:

Everyone knows that Prince Fielder has the bat to be in the big leagues. He is showing off his bat once again this year for the Beloit Snappers. There are two questions about him. Is his defense good enough? And, will his wait get out of control?

He has the frame of his daddy Cecil Fielder. Basically, that is at the limit of athletic possibility for a baseball player for their size. The question is if he will be able to keep it under control. From what I hear he is on a fairly good training program dedicated to keep his weight under control and improve his glove. I am currently doing research on him since he and Corey Hart are the most known and promising prospects.

Importance of Free Agent Draft:

With such a high pick in the June Free Agent Draft, how important is this draft for the Brewers?

It is very important. When you are this high, you have to take the best talent available. You cannot waste a pick this high on an unknown or a prospect on which there is any question. Look for me to cover this subject more and more as we approach the draft.

Brewers Player of the Month:

Wes Helms, 3B

L. 30 day: .271 23H 13R 6HR 19RBI

Wes' bat has improved dramatically. Not only has he flashed off his glove at third, and his rocket arm but he has been hitting bombs and getting on base. He notices his recent success possibly due to an altered batting stance allowing him to stay back on the ball a little longer then he used to. In the last week, he has hit a grand slam and has given the Brewers leads early in the game with timely base hits and a three-run homerun.

Brewers Attitude:

There is no secret around the Brewers Clubhouse that talent wise, they are going to be overmatched a lot of nights. What is special about this Brewer team is that they lack the mindset of failure. They never give up, and they always keep the pressure on. Their record might not show it but, this is the case. With bare crowds and being in the cellar of the NL Central, the team is still excited about what remains to come this season.

This mindset has to be credited to the coaching staff. Ned Yost and has staff have done a great job of making mental winners out of a mediocre at best team. Over time this team will win, whether it be next year or in three years.

Correspondents Note:

My appologies for not getting a report up in nearly a month. I was proud of the fact that I was able to get four columns up last month, that has to be a record or something. However, I have fallen off of the horse and am trying to get back on. You can still read my Feature Article on the main page of Fantasy Info Central, it basically covers historic events that took place in baseball over the years in the month of April. I plan on doing one for May, but I am not sure if it will happen just due to the fact that there might be some more stats/information friendly Articles that are in the mix. However, if that is the case, I will still write one up and put it on the message board. Remember that you can also check out the thread in the message board, updated daily, with short descriptions of each event.

Remember, every Monday at 6:00 CST, we have live chat sessions on the FIC Message Board. I try to make it as much as possible and would gladly answer all of your questions along with just talks sports with you. That is what we are here for. Also, check out www.brewerfan.net for my contributions to that site. They have been a good partner of mine and are a very nice place to find all of the Brewers Information that you need about the Minor Leagues and the upcoming Free Agent Draft.

You can feel free to e-mail me anytime at brewers@fantasyinfocentral.com , about anything that you want. If you are ever on AIM, my screen name is RetroJenks so give me a shoutout.