Brewers

From Jayson Stark's rumblin stumblin grumblin's

The Maddux who has had the biggest impact on the National League in 2007 might not be Greg. It could be his big brother Mike, who has turned into one of the best pitching coaches in the biz in Milwaukee.

There are plenty of examples of pitchers Maddux has turned around. But how about his three closers -- Dan Kolb (signed after getting released by Texas), Derrick Turnbow (a waiver claim) and Francisco Cordero (who had a 7.50 ERA last year this time in Texas).

"Let's just say it's not by accident these three guys all developed into All-Star closers," said manager Ned Yost. Maddux told Rumblings he doesn't want any accolades. "I'll take the blame," he said. "Let them [the pitchers] get the credit." Sorry. He gets it anyway.

Maddux built back Cordero's psyche and expanded his repertoire. He encouraged Turnbow to go home last winter, after a brutal year, and "hit the eraser button." And now he reminds The Chief constantly to slow down and "control the pace of the game." And how did Maddux figure out the secret to controlling that pace? By doing such a lousy job of it during his own career, he said. "That's how I learned," he laughed. "By looking back on my playing days and figuring out all the things I wish I'd done different."

• While everybody was fixating on J.J. Hardy's home run total, we might have missed his most incredible stat of all. He has been so locked in, 57 percent of his swings have put the ball in play this year. That's the fourth-best percentage in the NL. And no one else in the top 10 has hit more than two homers. "I can't tell you how badly I missed on J.J. Hardy as an offensive player," said one executive who scouted Hardy in high school. "I loved his hands in the field. He had an unbelievable arm. But I thought there was no way his bat would work at all. Too much swinging and missing." Hey, not anymore.

That is amazing!

Brewers Prediction

Now that I have gotten to see that good and the bad of the Brewers, I am ready to make a final prediction on the Brewers.

I've got them at: 87-77
They are now: 25-14
Their remaining record: 62-63

I think that 87-77 will give them the NL Cental, with the next best team being 1-2 games over .500 (either Houston or Chicago).

I think that JJ Hardy will finish at .305 with 26 HRs and about 90-95 RBI's/runs.
I think that Jeff Suppan will finish with an ERA of 3.8 and 15 wins.
I think that the Brewer's won't, but should trade Geoff Jenkins at the trade deadline.
I think that Yovanni Gallardo will only be brought up if there are injuries to two starting pitchers (Villanueva would get first crack at the rotation).
I think that Ryan Braun will come up this year after a slump for his bat at 3rd, but not for interleague play as a DH because, unlike with Prince Fielder a few years back, there are good players sitting on the bench being good soldiers about their reduced playing time.

Brewers

JJ Hardy is a monster. He hit a 3 run jack on a 0-2 mistake. Are you kidding? It was ironic to see Wes Helms come to the plate in the 8th getting it done. He was a terrible Brewer for a few years. A remnant of guys the Brewers used to need and give playing time to, in the mold of John Vander Wal (picture, right) and the like.

The Brewers may have lost with the lauded 8th-9th combo not coming through, but it really didn't seem that bad to me. You lose some of those games. It is just they way baseball is played.

JJ Hardy

Jason Stark, ESPN.com: Has anybody noticed the one Barry Bonds story lately that the whole world seems to have missed? Bonds' agent, Jeff Borris, has. "If the season ended today," Borris said, "isn't Barry the MVP?" Well, yeah, as a matter of fact -- the brilliance of Jose Reyes, Chipper Jones, Derrek Lee and J.J. Hardy notwithstanding. Bonds is back to being his .800-slugging, .500-on-base-percentage, lead-the-league-in-homers self again. And he's creating three more runs per 27 outs than anyone else in the league. "He's even played left field decently," said one NL exec, with slight amazement.

I don't care at all about the Barry Bonds stuff, but the fact that JJ Hardy is mentioned on the short list of MVP candidates is nothing short of remarkable.
Let's look at his credentials (NL):
-Tied for 6th in HR's with 9
-Tied for 7th in RBI's with 27 (He bats in the 2 hole)
-10th in BA at .331 (22nd in OBP at .384, good for a 2 hitter)
-5th in slugging at .604
-He is currently 8th in fielding % amongst SS at .977, but there are not enough games to separate all those guys out who are essentially within one error of each other.

I'm not sure that's an MVP, but that is damn sure an allstar behind Reyes.