Lineup

Rickie Weeks - Has obviously improved since last season as his batting average currently stands at .276, with 6 homers and 20 RBI. He may never reach the numbers he would have hoped for this season, but this is a huge step up from the previous three years.

Corey Hart -  Hart, who was elected to the 2008 MLB All Star game in the final roster spot, has started off to a decent .274 average with 3 homers, and 14 RBI. Not All Star numbers just yet, but there is still plenty of time.

Ryan Braun - Has convinced MLB fans that he can put up MVP numbers year after year. He has started off the season to a phenominal .349 average with 8 bombs and 28 RBI.

Prince Fielder - He would like to have a higher average as he currently stands at .264, but he has also hit 25 RBI which ranks in the top 10 in the National League. Maybe the diet isn't working so well...

J.J Hardy - The guy started off cold, and is still cold. Hardy is hitting a dismal .216 after the first month of the season. Brewers fans keep saying "It's still early" which is true, but every day it's getting later, and eventually that won't be a valid excuse if he keeps this up. On the other hand, Hardy has been known to have cold starts and then AMAZING middles and average ends. Last season he was batting about .230 before the All Star Break and then made a run for the All Star team as he raised to above .300 in the last 20 game's before the break.

Mike Cameron - Was picked up in 2007 for his defense, but has actually helped on the other side as well. Cameron is batting a solid .291, with 6 homers and 18 RBI.

Bill Hall - Another guy having an average season at .279 average. Hall's lasic surgery in the 2008 Offseason seems to have helped him see the ball.

Jason Kendell - Not throwing guys out on the base paths like last season when he led MLB in runners thrown out, but his defense is still decent. His average however is terrible in the low .230's. On the bright side, he has been a big help with the pitchers in calming them down and helping them with mechanics. He is more of a manager then a player this season.


Rotation

Yovani Gallardo - Has been outstanding thus far for Milwaukee as he has gone 4-1 with a 3.09 ERA in seven games started. As i said in my report on the Brewers rotation, he has the stuff of a Cy Young Winner. Also, Gallardo has pitched phenominal in every one of his seven starts except one when he allowed 7 runs in 5 innings of work.

Jeff Suppan - 2-2 with a 5.68 ERA may sound pretty bad, but considering his ERA was up in the 9's a couple weeks ago it's great. He has had some great outings lately and is a huge help with motivating the team.

Manny Parra - Has not gotten a whole lot of run support. And it shows as he is 1-4. His ERA however is pretty much average in the mid fours. His walks are down from last year which is a huge sign of improvment.

Braden Looper -  Started out red hot at 2-0 with a low ERA, but has dropped his last two starts. He now stands at a 4.18 ERA and a 2-2 record.

Dave Bush - Seems to be one of the most underrated pitchers in major league baseball. Lately he has been setting batters down without a problem, plus how many #5 pitchers do you know that take no-hitters into the 8th inning? Bush carries a 4.05 ERA and 1-0 record.

Bullpen

Since Hoffman got back Milwaukee's bullpen has been solid! Hoffman has just been lights out in his breif time pitching thus far. Hoffman has pitched six innings and carries a 0.00 ERA, is 5/5 in saves, and has only allowed three hits and walked none in those six innings. Most players have a prime of their career which is usually about 28-34 years old. Somehow Hoffman is getting better with age.


Team

Record: 18-13
On Pace For: 94-68
Place In NL Central: 2nd - 1.0 Games back of first.
Wildcard Place: 1st 

Following Arizona's 3-4 loss to the San Diego Padres today, it was confirmed that Diamondbacks skipper Bob Melvin, would be relieved of his duties. This came as no shock to Diamondbacks fans who have been speculating such a move for a few days now. 

Melvin managed four full seasons with the Diamondbacks reaching the postseason only once back in '07 where they made it to the NLCS. Melvin was also named the 2007 Manager Of The Year after his 90-72 record with Arizona.  It has not yet been confirmed who will be taking his place, but it has been reported that it could be Arizona third-base coach Chip Hale. 

Following the news Arizona catcher Chris Snyder was quoted as saying 

"As long as I play this game, he's going to be a man I've got an unbelievable amount of respect for." 

On Tuesday night, Washington’s exhilarating victory over New York and Carolina’s incredible come-from-behind defeat of New Jersey concluded the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Round 1 wrote another chapter of the most storied rivalry in the NHL: the Boston Bruins and the Montreal Canadiens. Led by Tim Thomas, one of the best goalies in hockey, and Michael Ryder, an ex-Canadien, the Bruins crushed Montreal, easily sweeping them in four games. The Bruins’ offense obliterated Montreal’s goalie, Carey Price, and the Bruins won each game by at least two goals. In the 240 minute long series, Montreal only had the lead for 23 minutes. Frustrated with Price’s performance and the lack of offence against their rivals in the Canadien’s 100th anniversary season, Montreal fans mocked Price by chanting, “Car-ey! Car-ey!” for the last minutes of Game 4. This surely boosted the confidence of the 21 year-old. The top-seeded Bruins will face the lowest remaining seed, the Carolina Hurricanes, in Round 2 and will have home ice advantage in every series they play in.

After losing the first two games of the series on home ice, the Washington Capitals realized they would have to make some changes in order to beat the New York Rangers and advance. In Game 1, Washington goalie Jose Theodore allowed 4 goals while only saving 17. Wasting no time, Washington employed rookie Simeon Varlamov to protect the net for the remaining games. Although he had only played in six career NHL games, Varlamov guarded the goal with confidence, allowing only seven goals in the next six games. Rangers coach, John Tortorella, was suspended for Game 6 after throwing a water bottle over the glass and striking a Capitals fan in the third period of Game 5. This hurt New York, helping the Capitals win Game 6 against the manager-less Rangers to force a seventh game. Although Alexander Ovechkin had a quiet series, his teammates found ways to overpower New York’s all-star goalie, Henrik Lundqvist and win the series. Alexander Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals will battle it out with Malkin, Crosby, and the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Conference Semi-Finals.

The series between the New Jersey Devils and the underdog Carolina Hurricanes was the most suspenseful and surprising series in the Eastern Conference. It was a battle of goalies, and Carolina’s Cam Ward gave the swift and experienced Martin Brodeur something to think about over the summer. Back and fourth the series went, and after six games, the series was knotted up at three games a piece. In Game 4, Hurricanes’ left-wing Jussi Jokinen scored a goal with .2 seconds left in regulation to give the Canes the win. No goal in playoff history has been scored with less time remaining in regulation. At the time of this outstanding feat, no one could have predicted the similarities that would occur in Game 7. Down by one goal with a minute and a half left in the Game 7, Carolina was in danger of losing the game and, ultimately, ending their season. However, after an outstanding play at the blue line, some crisp passing, and a clean one-timer, Jokinen tied the game up at 3. Only 48 seconds later, Eric Staal silenced 17,000 Devils fans as he charged through the neutral zone and launched a puck straight into the back of the net to win the series for Carolina.

The Pittsburgh Penguins finished off the Philadelphia Flyers in six tiring games. The Flyers tried to avenge their loss to the Penguins in last year’s Conference Finals. Although after the first four games of the series the Pens were up three games to one, the Flyers soared back and, until the middle of Game 6, it seemed like a game seven would be unavoidable. Although Philly was leading by three goals, Pittsburgh took momentum after winning a fight and bounced back to score five unanswered goals, including two by Sidney Crosby, to end the series and extend the Flyers’ Stanley Cup drought to 34 years.

The San Jose Sharks won the President’s Trophy for finishing the regular season with more points than any other team in the NHL, at 117. Their first round opponent, the Anaheim Ducks, had the lowest point total of any team to reach the playoffs. That’s why this series was the biggest upset of all. The Sharks, like the Capitals, lost the first two games of the series at home. San Jose stars Patrick Marleau and Joe Thornton did not shine brightly until Game 5, in which Marleau had a goal and an assist and Thornton had two goals and two assists. During the series, the Sharks were shut out twice by Ducks goalie Jonas Hiller and Anaheim’s defense, led by Chris Pronger and Scott Niedermayer. The Ducks finished off the Sharks in Anaheim in Game 6 and attained the confidence they need to take on Detroit in the Conference Semi-Finals.

If you thought Detroit was too worried about the failing auto industry to focus on hockey, you were wrong. The defending Stanley Cup Champions breezed by the Blue Jackets, sweeping them in four games. Steve Mason, a rookie on the Blue Jackets, was one of the best goalies in the NHL during the regular season. However, the pressure of the playoffs got to him, and he gave up a staggering 18 goals to Detroit in just four games. Detroit had eight different players with four or more points in the series against the Blue Jackets, while the Blue Jackets had none. Detroit goaltender Chris Osgood played fantastically, holding Columbus to less than 2 goals per game.

The St. Louis Blues spent the majority of their season in the moldy basement of the Western Conference but surprised the entire league when they crept up nine ranks into sixth place and qualified for the playoffs. In Round 1, they matched up with the Canucks. Although the Vancouver Canucks had fewer points at the end of the season than the Blackhawks, they were awarded the third seed because they won their division and the three division leaders automatically take the top three seeds. Though the Canucks swept the Blues and played superior hockey, three of the four games were one-goal games. The real hero of the series for Vancouver was Robert Luongo, who only allowed five goals over a span of four games- the best stretch by any goalie so far in the ‘09 playoffs. The streaking Vancouver Canucks will play the Chicago Blackhawks in Round 2.

The Calgary Flames were clinging onto the third seed until the last couple games of the season, in which the Canucks stole their division lead. Because of this, the Flames dropped to the fifth seed, lining them up to face the hot Chicago Blackhawks. After four games, each team had won both of their home games. However, in the long run, Calgary could not measure up to the power and agility of the Blackhawks. The Blackhawks took advantage on the power play and had a wide range of players score goals throughout the series; something that injury-ridden Calgary could not match.

With the upsets and buzzer-beaters of Round 1 came an extraordinary amount of excitement and suspense- both of which will continue throughout the 2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

A list of the Round 2 match-ups and dates can be found at:
http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/schedule

The Detroit Lions coming off a dismal 0-16 season had a big job to do going into the 2009 NFL Draft. Their mission; Rebuild the franchise. Detroit led off tonight's draft by picking Mathew Stafford, a Quarterback out of Georgia.The Lions wasted no time getting a deal done with Stafford and signed him to a six-year deal with $41.7 million in guarentees and a maxium value of $78 million.

In an interview following the pick Stafford was asked why he wanted to be a Detroit Lion. He responded by saying

"I always loved a good challenge. I'm a competitive guy, I'm going to try to get ready as quick as I can.

"I put a lot of pressure on myself to be great anyway."

The Lions also drafted Brandon Pettigrew of Oklahoma State with the 20th overall pick, which they picked up in a trade with Dallas that sent WR, Roy Williams  to the Cowboys.