After the Brewers took the finale in Cincy last Sunday and the opener Monday in Chicago, Milwaukee fans had high hopes for a big week in the NL Central. However, the club then blew two late leads in back to back games to lose the series against the Cubs. After coming back to Miller Park following that series, the http://www.brewersfanaticsjersey.com/jonathan-lucroy-jersey-c-13.html Brewers did what they have done for the last umpteen years against the Cardinals they lost two out of three. Still their country cousins.

Still, at 9 10, the Brewers trail the first place Cubs by just two games and are doing enough good things to hope for around .500 baseball for a while.

MLB Milwaukee Brewers at Chicago Cubs
Caylor Arnold USA TODAY Sports
TOP HITTING STORY When the Brewers divested themselves of Jonathan Lucroy last July and Martin Maldonado in the offseason, serious questions arose over what the Brewers would look like this season behind the dish. They’ve looked better than fine so far. Last week, Jett Bandy while continuing his time share with Manny Pina hit .400 with three homers, slugging 1.067 and getting on base at a .438 clip. His OPS of 1.504 led the team. Bandy’s defense lags a bit behind Pina’s, but they get production at the plate from both.

Honorable Mention Ryan Braun continued to look like the best Brewer hitter ever, and his TVR is off the charts that’s Trade Value Rising for the uninitiated . Braunie slashed .381/.458/.857 for an OPS 1.315 on the week, with three homers of his own. The trio of Eric Thames, Braun, and Travis Shaw in the 2 3 4 spots of the order has been very effective http://www.brewersfanaticsjersey.com/will-smith-jersey-c-10.html, and it would be a shame to break that up and, truth be told, I don’t expect it to be broken up , but as long as the Brewers are in a defined rebuild mode rumors such as this will continue to be floated. At least they will be by internet nerds like me.

MLB Milwaukee Brewers at San Francisco Giants
Kenny Karst USA TODAY Sports
TOP PITCHING STORY Trading top prospects or spending lots of money on bullpen arms continues to puzzle me OK, an arm like Aroldis Chapman might be worth it , because players like Jacob Barnes show up yearly to do the job for next to nothing. Barnes made four appearances this week, working four innings and allowing one hit and one walk, no runs http://www.brewersfanaticsjersey.com/tyler-thornburg-jersey-c-11.html, and striking out eight. He recorded his first save of the season, and in a week that saw several close games go against Milwaukee and their relievers in the late innings, he was a shining star yup, for relievers, you’re a shining star, no matter who you are . In ten appearances this season, Barnes has yet to allow a run and has a WHIP of 0.68. Seems acceptable.

Honorable Mention The Brewers used five plus million of their unused payroll dollars to sign veteran Neftali Feliz to be their closer Carlos Torres Jersey, which certainly isn’t going to break the bank and could lead to a mid season deal if he pitches effectively and other teams panic at the edge of contention. Feliz saved two games last week but blew a save and notched a loss in a ninth inning melt down against the Cubs. I don’t really see much reason to switch to Corey Knebel or Barnes to closer as we know, the seventh and eighth innings are just as important as the ninth at this point. But it’s worth keeping in mind that Feliz was hurt or struggled in the four seasons prior to 2016, so it’s no guarantee that he’ll be effectively enough to keep his job as closer all year.

IMHO Last night the Brewers’ turned a ninth inning, 2 1 deficit into a 4 1 Cardinal lead with some shoddy defense and, admittedly, some good Cardinal hitting . Domingo Santana took the http://www.brewersfanaticsjersey.com/carlos-torres-jersey-c-12.html error to allow the last run to score on a somewhat poor throw in to Jonathan Villar, but once again Villar turned in a less than stellar effort to keep the throw in front of him. Sure, it was a short hop, but since when do you turn your body and try and block the throw with your rear end? And then get up slowly and jog after the ball while the fourth run scores. Errors happen. Slumps happen. Even mental mistakes happen. But effort is totally in your control.

COMMENT OF THE WEEK Kirk Nieuwenhuis has been designated for assignment by the Brewers. BCB commentors were somehow able to move past the pain and heartbreak of moving on from Capt. Kirk, and happily participated in speculation of when and if a replacement would be named. That might not happen for a while, as several not so good options remain on the roster to spell Keon Broxton in center including Domingo Santana, Hernan Perez, and Nick Franklin.

tecatetremblay had some advice for Kirk in rehabilitating his major league career
After Jimmy Nelson tries to gain a split with the Cards today, the Brewers welcome the Cincinnati Reds and Atlanta Braves for three games each at Miller Park. I’m interested to see the Braves odd amalgamation of grizzled vets and young prospects; they were trying to present a team that would be competitive while continuing their rebuild, but their early 6 11 record doesn’t bode well for this being a successful strategy. At least they are 4 3 at home.