Rob

I'm not ready to cut bait on Howry yet... especially considering the way his fastball peaked in August last year... I'd like to see how he does if they aren't making him throw the slider 25% of the time.

Ascanio blew a 2 run lead in the 9th to a Blake DeWitt HR, but Iowa came back and scored 2 in the top of the 10th, which he held onto to win. Pie is 3 for 6 tonight with a double, a strikeout, and a caught stealing. His BA now sits at .288, despite that horrible start after his demotion.

Rickie Weeks seems to be the whipping boy for this one on the Brewerfan boards... I saw this there, and I had to bring it over. "Can't spell Rickie Weeks without 3 E's and 2 K's"

I'm really excited to see Kyler Burke starting to pull out of his season long funk... a double, a triple, a walk, and a strikeout tonight. He's brought his average up to .231 (it was around .150 a week or two ago) This is his 4th multi-hit game in a row.

That kid was definitely mining for nose gold.

Pie got gunned at 3rd trying to stretch a double into a triple.

sonuva...

Nice.

That's much better than a sac bunt, Bob.

Yeah... a big one.

Smooth... but I'll take it.

I highly doubt they bring up all of them. Team's just don't do that. I wasn't trying to say that we would bring all of them up... just that there wasn't a good reason to leave any of them at home. (Sans budget concerns)

The 40 man as it stands now... Jose Ascanio Neal Cotts Ryan Dempster Scott Eyre Chad Fox Chad Gaudin Angel Guzman (60 day DL) Adam Harben Rich Harden Kevin Hart Rich Hill Bob Howry Jon Lieber Ted Lilly Carlos Marmol Jason Marquis Sean Marshall Billy Petrick Carmen Pignatiello Jeff Samardzija Kerry Wood Michael Wuertz Carlos Zambrano Of the pitchers, Fox and Harben almost certainly wont be up in September. Hill and Petrick are longshots. Everybody else will probably be up, health permitting... though we may lose Lieber, Eyre, or Howry when Wood comes off the DL. Henry Blanco Geovany Soto Ronny Cedeno Mark DeRosa Mike Fontenot Jake Fox Micah Hoffpauir Derrek Lee Aramis Ramirez Ryan Theriot Daryle Ward Jim Edmonds Kosuke Fukudome Sam Fuld Reed Johnson Felix Pie Alfonso Soriano With the hitters, I see no reason why we wouldn't bring all of these guys up... each of them has something to offer. Be it Fuld for pinch running or a defensive replacement, or Fox when we need that power righty bat off the bench. Edit: For any other names to get called up, like Craig... he'd have to be added to the 40 man. It currently stands at 39, but Guzman coming off the 60 day DL would be 40. So Hendry and Lou would have to clear some space off the 40 man. Off the top of my head, Veal needs to be added to the 40 man after this season or risk being taken in the Rule 5... I'm not sure of anybody else.

If you're talking about the move made when Wood returns it would have to be Eyre. Lieber is already on the DL, so releasing him now wouldn't free up a roster spot for Wood. Releasing Eyre would make room for Wood. Given the market for LHP right now, I'd have to assume we'd trade Eyre rather than release him... somebody would certainly want him. I still think Cotts gets sent down.

Mind you, this is Dempster's walk year, and Lou really wants to get rid of Marquis... which helps clear out the rotation somewhat.

it's possible that you don't like fontenot because you're completely negative about everything, but you also could've fallen into the trap that so many people on this board fell into - they see a little white guy who's been in the minors for a while and think "there's no way this guy can play" or "lolololol grit." his minor league line of .291/.366/.437/.803 suggests the ability to get on base and provide a little pop. his median pecota projection for this year was .278/.353/.424/.777 - not great for a regular starter, but plenty good for a spot starter who can play either middle infield position. he's been better than expected, but even at his expected level of production, he would've been a useful part of the team. and please everyone, let's start to understand that bat speed has just as much to do with power as size does. hanley ramirez is another good example of this. Hanley is listed at 6'3" 195 lbs.

With an arm like his (and as much as we're paying him), we'd have to be stupid to send him to the pen without even giving him a shot at sticking in the rotation.

The way Lou was talking in the postgame, I'm starting to get real concerned that Samardzija wont be given the chance to crack the rotation next year.

Today feels great.

Probably. I just hope they let him start next season in the rotation.

Samardzija should always beat the runner to the bag.

Astros pull ahead 11-5.

ROFL

That's the amazing part.

SNEAKY POWER!!!