Brewers' Corey Hart's Power Stroke Makes Him Trade Bait

Corey Hart has always had potential and is a former All-Star. The 28-year old outfielder is having a career year so far with a league-leading 13 homers and 33 RBIs.

It's clear that unless the Brewers get more starting pitching that they aren't going anywhere this year. It brings up a great question that many baseball analysts have discussed: should the Brewers trade Corey Hart for a starting pitcher?

On one hand they might be able to land a top prospect pitcher or a capable pitcher that they could have in their rotation for years to come. It doesn't look like a lot of big name hitters are going to be traded at this year's trade deadline so Hart will definitely be a target for many teams in the playoff race.

On another hand who would fill Hart's spot if he left? He's only 28 and is just now entering his prime. It could be a big mistake that could haunt them for years if he becomes consistent and hits close to 30 homers each year for the next four or five years.

It is a very good topic to discuss and they should at least take a look at what they could get for Hart. They already were discussing trading him to the Mets for John Maine this past off-season, so they could obviously get a lot more than Maine now that he's producing big numbers.

Doug Melvin needs to look at his options here, because this is one of his worst pitching staffs in years. How much longer can Melvin keep throwing out pitchers that have barely any Major League experience? The bullpen is another mess that he needs to clean up instead of throwing guys out there like Jeff Suppan, Marco Estrada and Manny Parra.

Hart may be their biggest trading chip since Carlos Lee. Their lineup would lose his power and his ability to come through in the clutch, but if he can land a decent starting pitcher then they have to deal him.

The End Is Near For Jeff Suppan

When is it time to say, "enough is enough" after seeing a pitcher struggle each time he takes the mound? When do you admit you made a mistake on a bad contract and cut bait with a player? The time is now for the Brewers to cut bait with starting pitcher Jeff Suppan.

Suppan has a 7.28 ERA after giving up five runs in the past two games. He has been brutal as a starter and as a reliever. There is no room for Suppan on the roster and the Brewers just called up Kameron Loe from Triple A.

Suppan had a decent first year with the Brewers in 2007 when he won twelve games, but has been awful since then. He was signed to be a big addition to a struggling pitching staff in 2007, but never lived up to his four-year $42 million contract.

MLB Trade Rumors.com had an interesting idea in what the Mets should do with their struggling highly paid starter Oliver Perez. Their possible idea was for the Brewers to trade Suppan to the Mets for Perez, and reunite Perez with former pitching coach Pick Peterson. This would be funny since the Mets want Perez out of town and Suppan has worn out his welcome in Milwaukee.

We will see what the Brewers do with Suppan but it doesn't look good for him. If he can't pitch well in the bullpen then what purpose does he serve on the team? Is he a highly paid cheerleader? The end is near for Suppan and it will be interesting to see if he gets picked up by another team this year or the rest of his career.

Randy Wolf Gives Brewers Seven Strong Innings For Win

It had been so long since a Brewers' starter had gone at least seven innings that it felt like a miracle when Randy Wolf went seven strong innings to defeat the Astros in the 6-1 victory at Miller Park last night.

Wolf had been struggling mightily over his last two starts, with 12 runs to the Cardinals and the Pirates. He also had been walking too many batters with 25 in just 54.2 innings. Last night, he only had three walks with four ks and no earned runs.

This also gave the bullpen a much needed night off after going through every reliever over the weekend. Ryan Braun hit his eight homer of the year and Rickie Weeks broke out of a huge slump to go 3-5 with a homer, two RBIs and two runs.

Is this something to build on? Brewers fans have to hope so since they have struggled so much at home this year. They have to at least win the series against Houston and then have the Mets this weekend.

They have Chris Narveson on the mound tonight, who has been one of the most consistent starters on the staff and the Astros have their ace in Roy Oswalt. Oswalt has had the worst run support in the majors with just 2.07 average runs per start. Will Narveson make it three straight wins tonight? We shall see.

John Axford Helps Brewers Steal One At Target Field

It wasn't pretty, but rookie reliever John Axford helped the Milwaukee Brewers close out a 4-3 victory against the Minnesota Twins, the only game they won in the series. Axford was called upon in the ninth since Carlos Villanueva had already pitched two innings in Saturday's extra innings game.

Axford got into trouble early when Orlando Hudson hit a lead-off double, but was able to strike out Justin Morneau and Michael Cuddyer.

Then more trouble was brewing as Delmon Young hit a seeing-eye single up the middle. Jim Thome pinch-hit for Brendan Harris and was walked to load the bases.

This brought up the rookie shortstop, Trevor Plouffe, who had stepped up for the injured Jeff Hardy. Plouffe ended up striking out and Axford became the latest reliever to get a save.

The interesting part of this game was when Trevor Hoffman was asked to come into the eight inning to set-up Axford. Hoffman looked like a completely different pitcher.

Pitching coach Rick Peterson must have seen something in Hoffman's delivery, because he was fooling batters and throwing strikes. He had a clean one-two-three inning and looks like he is coming back to form.

It might be only a matter of time until Hoffman gets back into his groove as the closer. If Peterson has truly helped fix whatever was making Hoffman struggle then he deserves another shot, but it will take at least a few more clean appearances for him to regain the closer's job.

Corey Hart continued his power surge with his ninth homer and Prince Fielder continued to heat up at the plate when he crushed his seventh of the year. Rookie Marco Estrada, Zach Braddock and Manny Parra helped the struggling pitching staff hold the Twins to two runs over the first seven innings and may have saved Ken Macha's job for now.

Their next series is against the struggling Houston Astros and the Brewers need to sweep them in order to get things going again. We'll see what happens but this victory was very crucial.

Villanueva Helps Crew Snap Streak

It was the bottom of the ninth and manager Ken Macha was faced with a very difficult decision on who to bring out to close it out.

The Brewers had a 4-3 lead and Trevor Hoffman was unavailable to work on his mechanics.

Macha brought out their best reliever to date: Carlos Villanueva. Villanueva got Ronny Cedeno to fly out, but then hit Ryan Doumit.

Luckily he was able to get Delwyn Young to ground into a double play to close it out. He got the only save thus far that was by a reliever other than Hoffman.

One has to wonder will Macha stick with Villanueva or will he have the guts to go back to Hoffman once he has worked on his "mechanics"?

Unless Villanueva implodes I would think Macha has to stick with him. No matter what Hoffman may say, he can't go back to Hoffman right now.

Villanueva just had a clean ninth inning, something Hoffman hasn't done since he closed out the Padres weeks ago. How do you not stick with him?

Another positive from last night was another quality start from Chris Narveson. Narveson has been a bright spot in a struggling Brewers rotation.

He has been their second most consistent starter besides ace Yovani Gallardo.He has a 4.24 ERA in May with a 3-1 record and 22 strike-outs and only eight walks.

Macha decided to shake things up a little last night as he decided to bat Prince Fielder third and Ryan Braun fourth. It didn't really do much as Prince went 1-4 and Braun went hitless. Macha will probably stick with it though since they one their first in ten games.

Punchless Brew Crew Lose Again

Seven straight losses and things are getting really bad. It looked like the Brewers were going to make a comeback last night, but ended up losing 6-3. Yovani Gallardo pitched decent, but still can't go deep enough into the game that Ken Macha would like. He only went six innings and then Todd Coffey came in and blew it once again, like all of the Brewers relievers have as of late.

Jim Edmonds just went on the DL, so they are another outfielder short. How many games do they have to lose for Doug Melvin to make a move? Clearly pitching coach Rick Peterson has not been the answer that they had hoped and Ken Macha hasn't shown any optimism for fans over the last year and a half.

You know it's bad when Manny Parra has to go into the rotation since he has a 5.10 career ERA. It also takes away another reliever from the bullpen since he was in there the whole year. We'll see if Parra shows anything today, but things are not going in the right direction at all.

Brewers Swept on Homestand

The Brewers struggles continued as the Phillies came into Miller Park and wrecked havoc. The Braves had just swept the Brewers the previous three games and the Phillies did exactly the same thing. Things can't be any worse right now for the Brewers. Players are getting injured, pitchers are struggling and hitters are failing to get the big hit with runners on. For example, the Brewers had the bases loaded Saturday and Rickie Weeks and Craig Counsell both stroke out.

The bullpen continues to struggle and the rotation is now battered even more with Doug Davis going to the DL for a heart problem. Is there any hope right now for this struggling squad? There is no hope unless the pitching staff can turn things around and hitters can start getting hits with men on base.

G.m. Doug Melvin has to do something. Whether it's firing Ken Macha, Rick Peterson or making a trade or signing. Wouldn't Jarred Washburn be a fine addition to a struggling pitching staff? Wouldn't Jermaine Dye's bat look good in the lineup with Carlos Gomez on the DL and Jim Edmonds possibly joining him? Things have to start turning around soon or they may end up being the cellar dweller.

Brewers Bullpen Continues Slide

You would think that after Yovani Gallardo only gave up two runs through six innings yesterday that everything would be fine. You would be wrong. After Gallardo was pulled, Manny Parra gave up two runs, Carlos Villanueva gave up two and Trevor Hoffman gave up three in the final score of 9-2. What a pathetic display of pitching by this bullpen lately. Everything seemed to be going in the right direction after the last road trip, but clearly things are not.

The offense also continues their woes as they struggled for the second straight game without Ryan Braun and Carlos Gomez. Gomez recently went on the fifteen-day DL and they will miss his speed and defense for sure. With Braun out of the lineup, Jim Edmonds was batting third and that's not going to get it done no matter how well he's been doing this year. Derek Lowe shut them down yesterday. Yes, the same Derek Lowe that has a 5.73 ERA on the year.

How long does general manager Doug Melvin wait until we see his next move? Something has to be done about the poor bullpen and the fact that their starting pitchers can't go longer than six innings lately. Even when they pitch well, they don't pitch deep enough into games to give the bullpen a break. All sorts of problems are plaguing this team right now and with the Phillies coming to town this weekend, things are not looking good.

Braves Continue Dominance Over Brewers

If you thought Monday's blow-out was bad, last night's game was even worse. The Braves won 11-3, but Dave Bush threw a quality start and the bullpen imploded. Mitch Stetter gave up three runs and the normally reliable Carlos Villanueva gave up four.

Troy Glaus homered and drove in three runs as they dominated the Brewers once again. If it isn't the starting pitching struggling, it's the bullpen or offense. This is a tough team to figure out. Unless they get things figured out soon they can forget about contending this year.

The Brewers need Yovani Gallardo to keep up his dominance lately and shut down the suddenly dangerous Braves lineup. Gallardo has been nothing short of stellar as of late. He has thrown three out the past five games for quality starts and has double digit strikeouts in back-to-back games. They face off against the struggling Derek Lowe, who is four and three with a 6.16 ERA and a 1.66 WHIP. They have to win today's game since they can't afford to get swept at home by the Braves. We shall see what happens.

Hanson Blanks Brewers

After sweeping the Arizona Diamondbacks, The Brewers were shut down by Braves young right-hander Tommy Hanson. Hanson threw eight innings of shut-out ball with eight strikeouts and one walk. Reliever Jesse Chavez gave up the two-run homer to Casey McGehee in the ninth.

This was a very disappointing effort after the Brewers were on a roll after their last road trip. Doug Davis got knocked around again, giving up three earned through five, six walks and four strikeouts. Rickie Weeks had an error in the sixth and that gave way to a huge inning by the Braves when Martin Prado hit a grand slam.

Davis hasn't given the Brewers much this year other than a ton of walks and few innings. One has to think how long he will stick in the rotation. Maybe Ken Macha will have a game of musical chairs with Davis and Jeff Suppan. Who's worse right now?

Dave Bush takes the mound tonight against Tim Hudson and they need this victory in order to avoid losing a second straight series at home. Hudson is having a solid start to the season with a record of two and one with a 2.82 ERA. We shall see how they do tonight against Hudson and hopefully Bush can avoid a losing streak.

Brew Crew Turn Things Around on Trip

The Brewers entered the last road trip losing two out of three to the Pirates at home, then lost three out of four to the Padres. This past week helped turned things around for the struggling Brewers. They went five and one, taking two out of three from the Dodgers and sweeping the Diamondbacks. The biggest thing that helped the team was the starting pitching. They did not have one bad start and their only loss came when LaTroy Hawkins blew the lead and gave up the walk-off grand slam to Andre Ethier. The offense came alive after basically not showing up in San Diego.

This was exactly what they needed and hopefully this sparks the team as they take on the Braves and the Phillies this week. Prince Fielder is finally starting to heat up as he now has four homers and fifteen RBIs. Even Gregg Zaun is turning it around with these numbers: .259 2 hrs 13 RBIs. As long as they can get to the Braves top starting pitchers Tommy Hanson and Tim Hudson, they should have no problem with the struggling Braves. The Braves offense is one of the worst in the league right now and may not have the red-hot rookie Jason Heyward, who's been nursing a strained groin.

The Phillies are a different story. They rank sixth in runs scored and tenth in team ERA. This will be a much tougher task. At least they don't have to face Roy Halladay. Although Cole Hamels has been just as dominant lately, who they face Saturday. They need to at least go .500 this week and hopefully this last road trip will spark them.

Brewers Crush Struggling Dodgers

The Brewers were on a huge slump with the bats last week, but are starting to show some signs of life the last two games. Is it more of the bats coming alive or how bad the Dodgers pitching has been? Well when Alcides Escobar is driving in runs in the eight spot, things are not looking good for the Dodgers. Clayton Kershaw and Chad Billingsley were supposed to be the aces of this staff, but haven't shown any consistency and the Brewers have taken advantage. Rickie Weeks broke out of a mini-slump for a 3-5 game with three RBIs. Billingsley gave up fours runs in the first inning and that was enough damage for the Brew Crew.

Doug Davis only gave the team five and a third innings, but only gave up three runs. The bullpen was terrific and shut out the Dodgers the rest of the way. Carlos Villanueva is starting to look like the MVP of the pitching staff. He has a 0.89 ERA and pitches almost every game. Maybe this is a sign of a turnaround for the struggling Brewers. They need the sweep in the worst way tonight as they take on John Ely (Yes the Dodgers rotation has been that bad), who has a 7.50 ERA.

Bats Come Alive in LA

After four straight games of basically giving the starting pitchers zero run support, the Brewers' bats came alive last night against the young Clayton Kershaw. This was easily Kershaw's worst start of the year as he gave up seven runs, five hits and two walks. The big blow was the two-run homer by Prince Fielder after Ryan Braun had a bases-clearing double in the second. The Brewers did everything right last night. They were patient, capitalized on Kershaw's mistakes and drove in plenty of runs.

Not only did the bats come alive, but Chris Narveson gave the crew six strong innings, giving up three runs and four hits. Narveson has had two solid starts thus far and hopefully he will continue to give them quality starts moving forward. Gregg Zaun hit his first homer of the year and raised his average to a respectable .257 after going hit-less in the first five games of the year. Zaun has suddenly become another solid bat in the lineup.

Tonight they face the inconsistent Chad Billingsley (2-1 4.85 ERA 23 ks 12 bbs 1.62 WHIP). Billingsley had a rough start to the season, but has pitched two consecutive quality starts. The Brewers bring Doug Davis to the mound who has also struggled out of the gate. Can the Brew Crew keep it going tonight? We shall see.

Can the Real Offense Please Stand Up?

The Brewers' slide continued over the weekend as they lost the series to the San Diego Padres. The high-powered offense was no where to be found and if it weren't for Yovani Gallardo's gem and home-run on Saturday, they would've been swept. Things just keep getting worse for the Brew Crew. All of a sudden they can't buy a base hit. Things don't get any easier as they take their road trip to Los Angeles and have to face two of their best starting pitchers in Clayton Kershaw and Chad Billingsley.

They are hitting .268 as a team and if it weren't for some of those 20 and 17 run performances against the Pirates, it would be much worse. If they can't turn things around quickly who is to be held accountable? Ken Macha? Doug Melvin? They stand at 10-15 and tied with the pathetic Pittsburgh Pirates. Is this how far this team has fallen? That they have to be in the same place as the Pirates? Things can't get much worse right now.