Poll: Who Should get the Majority of the Starts at 2B?

The votes are in, and you want Ray Durham at second base. 64% of you voted for Durham, while 36% want Rickie Weeks to see most of the playing time.

The Brewers acquired Durham before the trading deadline to bolster second base. Despite the trade, Rickie Weeks has still seen the majority of the playing time even though he's performed sub par this season. Here are their current numbers.

Rickie Weeks - .229 BA, 10 HR, 36 RBI, .335 OBP, 16 SB

Ray Durham - .285, 4 HR, 38 RBI, .375 OBP, 7 SB

Durham has had the much better year overall, and his on base percentage sure looks nice at the lead off position. Not only that, but Durham is also a major upgrade defensively. He doesn't have the best range but has only made three errors all season. Weeks has nine errors, and has made several errant throws on double play opportunities.

Weeks has come on strong though after the All-Star break, which he's been known to do over his career. Since the break Weeks is hitting .273 with a .369 on base percentage. Durham has not been as successful since the break as he's only hitting .229 with a .302 on base percentage. I wouldn't factor Durham's post All-Star numbers in too much though since he has had limited opportunities. Weeks has always been inconsistent, and the Brewers could use consistency down the stretch, which is why Ray Durham should see the majority of the playing time at second base.

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Poll: Should Jeff Suppan Stay in the Starting Rotation?

In our latest poll we asked if Jeff Suppan should remain in the Brewers' starting rotation. The majority of you believe he should not. 72% said he should be removed from the rotation, while just 28% wanted him as a starter.

This season has been a very up and down year for Suppan. He has put together some really good starts, but he's also put together some really awful starts too. As of now Suppan currently has a 7-7 record with a 4.70 ERA. Here's a month by month breakdown of his performance.

April - 5.19 ERA
May - 2.56 ERA
June - 4.33 ERA
July - 9.43 ERA
August - 1.93 ERA (Two Starts)

Suppan has been all over the place this season, and has been very erratic. His career numbers do show that he tends to come on strong towards the end of the season though. Last year Suppan posted a 3.90 ERA in August and a 3.86 ERA in September. In 2006 with the Cardinals, Suppan had a 3.44 ERA in August, a 2.15 ERA in September, and ended up as the MVP of the NLCS.

I think for now it's best to keep Suppan in the rotation. He catches a lot of flack due to his high paying salary, but I don't expect him to pitch like he did in July for the rest of the year. In the last three years Suppan has a 3.09 ERA after the All-Star break. The Brewers don't really have a better option than him, and based on his history he should finish strong.

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Poll: First Half MVP

Our latest poll asked who was the Brewers' first half MVP? The winner of the poll was Ben Sheets with 47%. I was slightly surprised to see Salomon Torres come in second place at 29%, while Ryan Braun was third with 23%.

I can't argue with Sheets winning the poll. He was the teams ace in the first half, won 10 games, had a sub 3 ERA, and started for the NL in the all-star game. Sheets was fantastic, and definitely deserving of the honor.

I was surprised to see Torres get more votes than Braun, but he was great. The Brewers needed someone to take hold of the closers role, and Torres got the job done. After watching Gagne blow all those saves you understand how valuable Torres is to this team.

If there was an MVP in the lineup it was definitely Braun. He started in the all-star game, and was far and away the Brewers top hitter. He also provided the team with consistency, which most of the lineup had trouble with in the first half.

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Poll: CC Sabathia Trade

After the big trade was made to acquire CC Sabathia we put up a poll asking if you liked the trade or not. 35 votes were turned in, and 27 people said they liked the trade, while 8 people were not in favor.

After today it'd be hard not to like what you see from Sabathia so far. After two games he's 2-0, and today he turned in an amazing performance with a complete game. He allowed only two runs, and struck out nine.

Oh yeah, and he hit a home run. Ben wrote when the trade went down that Sabathia would also help out the Brewers' offense. Good call on that one. Today was a great win for the Brewers heading into the all-star break. It sure is nice to have another stopper in the rotation.

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All-Stars Announced

The All-Star team was announced today and two Brewers were selected to the game. Ryan Braun was voted in as a starter, and Ben Sheets was also selected.

Corey Hart is in the final vote so make sure to vote for him. Hart is one of the most underrated players in the game, and really deserves to go to New York to show everyone what he's all about.

It's disappointing not to see J.J. Hardy selected. No one has been hotter than Hardy in the past few weeks. Right now Hardy is hitting .295 with 12 home runs. I definitely think he's more deserving than Christian Guzman, and Miguel Tejada, who were both selected as reserves.

Then there is Salomon Torres. I wasn't surprised he didn't make it, but he's done a great job. He hasn't been in the closers role as long as the guys who made the All-Star team, but his ERA is right up there with those guys, and better than some of them.

One other guy who I think needs to be mentioned is Brian Shouse. I know mostly closers are selected as relievers in the All-Star game, but Brian Shouse has done one heck of a job this season. The guy has a 2.08 ERA and all he does is get the job done time and time again. Shouse really deserves some recognition but not many people give him the credit he deserves.

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Which Prospect Excites you the Most?

We asked which prospect excites you the most? The turnout was very good. The choices were Matt LaPorta, Mat Gamel, Jeremy Jeffress, Alcides Escobar, Cole Gillespie, and Angel Salome.

Matt LaPorta received the most votes with 16, which was good for 37% of the vote. Fellow Huntsville Star, Matt Gamel, finished in second with 11 votes, which made up 25% of the vote. Angel Salome was third with 13%, followed by Alcides Escobar at 11%, Cole Gillespie with 9%, and Jeremy Jeffress had 2%.

Matt LaPorta won the poll which makes sense, since he is probably the closest to the big leagues. Currently at Double-A Huntsville LaPorta is hitting .297 with an outstanding on base percentage of .411. He's slugged 19 home runs and has 58 RBI.

In all 43 votes were turned in. Thank you to everyone that voted.

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Who Should Close?

We asked the question, "who should close?" and the winner of the poll was Guillermo Mota. The choices were Mota, Eric Gagne, Salomon Torres, David Riske, or closer by committee. Gagne and Riske are both on the disabled list so neither of them can close obviously. Before Gagne was placed on the DL I said Guillermo Mota was the right man for the closers job. Now I believe the right man is Salomon Torres.

Torres has been doing the closing since Gagne's been on the shelf and he's done an admirable job. On the season Torres has 3 saves with a 2.81 ERA in 32 innings pitched. The only reliever with an ERA better than Torres besides the newly acquired Julian Taverez, is lefty specialist, Brian Shouse. Shouse is just that though, a lefty specialist, not a closer.

Guillermo Mota has been a very sold addition to the Brewers bullpen. He's pitched 21.2 innings and has an ERA of 3.32 with 25 strike outs. He makes a very solid setup man. However he hasn't performed too well in the ninth inning when given the chance.

Someone who looks very intriguing is Tim Dillard, who was recently called up from Nashville. He hasn't allowed a run in the few appearances he's made thus far and looks promising. He's got excellent velocity throwing 96mph. I don't think he should be put into late inning situations just yet but he seems to have the potential to close down the line.

For now it's good to see Torres closing ball games, something Gagne unfortunately wasn't able to do with any consistency. If Torres continues to pitch well he should continue being the teams closer upon Gagne's return.

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Which Young Pitcher Will Have the Best Year?

We asked the question, "Which young pitcher will have the best year?" and the choices were Yovani Gallardo, Manny Parra, and Carlos Villanueva. Unfortunately, it can no longer be Gallardo since he is most likely out for the year with a torn ACL. What's surprising is that Manny Parra tied Gallardo in votes, and this was before Gallardo went down with the injury.

Parra, 25, made his Brewers debut last season and pitched in 26.1 innings. He posted a 3.76 ERA. This season he's off to a rocky start with a 5.86 ERA and a 1-2 record. With the exception of his last start in Houston where he allowed 5 runs, Parra has pitched well enough to keep the Brewers in games. Expect the lefty to finish the season with an ERA in between last years and his current one this season.

Carlos Villanueva, 24, is in his first full season as a starter. Like Parra, he's also off to a rough start. Villanueva has a record of 1-3 and a 5.56 ERA. He's been effective most of the time but had two starts where he has been roughed up for at least 5 runs. His career ERA at the moment is 4.14. It should be expected that he lowers his ERA. Right now Villanueva is killing left handed hitters holding them to a .203 clip but right handers are batting .386 against him. Once he lowers that average versus right handed batters he should return to performing at his career averages.

Neither Parra or Villanueva is going to perform to the level of Yovani Gallardo. However, both should be serviceable starters. They are an upgrade over what the Brewers have had in the past from number 4 and 5 starters. Expect them both to have an ERA of around 4 to 4.50.

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Which Newcomer Will Have the Greatest Impact?

We've had a poll on here for a while asking the question, "Which newcomer will have the greatest impact?" The choices were Eric Gagne, Mike Cameron, David Riske, and Jason Kendall. The top choice, with 68% of the vote (11 votes) was Eric Gagne. Jason Kendall finished second with 25% (4 votes) while David Riske had 6% (1 vote) and Mike Cameron received no votes.

Before the season started I would have said Eric Gagne would have the greatest impact. Now I don't necessarily think that is the case. After the first week of the season Kendall is doing great and Gagne not so much. Still, it's very early but I think Kendall will have the greatest impact of the newcomers.

Going into tonight's game against the Reds, Kendall is batting .526 with a .565 on base percentage and 5 RBI's. Obviously he won't hit that well the entire season but his quick start is encouraging. His hitting is not the thing that gives him the edge over Gagne for making the greatest impact however. His ability behind the plate calling a game is where he is making the greatest impact. Last year Johnny Estrada was horrible in pretty much every aspect. Kendall is clicking with all the pitchers already, especially Ben Sheets. He is a veteran with experience and one of the best game callers in baseball. Most media outlets criticized the Kendall signing but it could end up being one of the most important signings of the off-season in all of baseball.

Gagne came over to Milwaukee signing a 1 year, $10 million dollar contract. After only 3 innings of work he's already blown 2 saves and has an ERA of 12.00. Many think Gagne has lost a step but I believe he will still turn in a solid season. Why do I think that? Two words, Jason Kendall. The closer is an important role but Kendall is playing nearly every day and will impact the way Gagne performs so he will have the greatest impact of all the newcomers this season.

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