JenksFan5

Sheets is still struggling with his mechanics right now. He has been leaving his curveball up in the zone and has not had his usual pinpoint control. He said he figured it out midway through the start against St. Louis and finally felt like the old Sheets. Whatever that means. Expect his K rate to go up when the weather starts becoming warmer and more humid. Sheets loves throwing his curveball in high humidity. Hopefully he figured it out a little bit in his last start, but he has not been super sharp as of yet. As far as using the Cardinals series as a gauge of the Brewers, that was not my point. I was just saying how a few games that are blowouts really effects the overall run differential of a team. The Brewers hadn't really blown anybody out before the Cards series, but had been blown out 3 times. It just evened things out to where the numbers should be. The Brewers are a good team and a totally different team from past years. People need to realize it is more than just luck that they are winning games. Once St. Louis can put the whole Hancock thing behind them a little bit, you will realize that they are not that good of a team. It's convenient to use a teammates death for poor play, but it would inspire me personally to try to win even harder in his honor. You can play that card only so long. It's tragic yes, but don't use it as an excuse to say that the Brewers aren't a good team for sweeping the Cards just because they were in mourning. The Cubs had beaten them twice before the death of Hancock. The Cards are simply not playing good baseball right now. I would say that the Cubs are the most serious threat to the Brewers this year, especially if Lilly and Marquis continue to pitch as well as they have and Soriano starts to play like he is capable. It should be an interesting finish. The Astros and Cardinals lineups don't scare me and the Pirates are where the Brewers were a year or two ago. I hope teams keep thinking that "well it's the Brewers so they can't possibly be a good team and keep this up" because they will simply be overlooking a very capable team with no glaring weaknesses.

I think Pythagorus might have a different view of the Brewers expected wins after outscoring the Cardinals 23-3 in the three game series. Case and point why it is too early to use run differential as the sole measure for a teams expected wins. Maybe, just maybe, the Brewers are actually the most talented team in the NL Central.

I think that the Brewers are a better team than people give them credit for. Watching them day in and day out, they are winning without even playing great baseball right now. If you look at their run differential to this point, it really doesn't reflect in their record of 16-9, but they got blown out a couple of times that really skews the numbers. (10-1 vs. the Astros and 9-3 vs. the Cubs, and 10-2 vs. St. Louis) I think the sample size is a bit too small to use run differential at this point of the year when a couple of games can really effect the overall picture. The thing that makes the Brewers solid is their depth and their ability to get on base and hit for decent power up and down the lineup. There is not one or two guys that the team relies on, but usually there are different guys stepping up on different nights. Starting pitching is solid and the 8th and the 9th innings are almost automatic. Middle relief is the teams only weakness along with the 3B position, but Ryan Braun should fill that hole nicely (.304 7 HR, 15 RBI, 1.095 OPS at AAA). Sheets has been mediocre thus far and no one in the lineup has been absolutely raking. They have been getting enough clutch hits and pitching well enough to win, but have not been playing flawless baseball as of yet. I don't think that they will run away with the division, but they have definitely established themselves as the team to beat in the NL Central and I don't think 90 wins for them is out of the question.

The funny thing about Zambrano's comments about the Brewers is that the Brewers offense thus far this year has been far superior. I realize it is a small sample, but the Brewers offense has been significantly better. Milwaukee - .348 OBP .459 SLG .807 OPS (4th overall in NL in runs) Cincinatti - .310 OBP .360 SLG .670 OPS (11th in RS in NL)

Thanks. I just like to peruse the forums of all teams just to make myself a more educated baseball fan and pitch in when I can add some clarity to a subject and going to 30+ games a year at Miller Park, I thought I could add something to the discussion on proper attire for cold weather games at the Keg.

Don't worry about it being cold inside of Miller Park. You should be fine in a T-shirt and a sweatshirt. If you get cold easily, bring a light jacket. I was at the Dodger/Brewer game on Wednesday night and I had a sweatshirt on with a jersey over it and was perfectly comfortable and it was colder than it is going to be this weekend. The walk to and from the stadium on the other hand was cold so if you can't tough that out, bring a winter jacket, but you won't need it in the stadium. Enjoy the games.