The Brewers took another step towards their fifth straight post-season appearance with an 8-1 win against the Phoenix Speed Devils in Phoenix. And it was appropriate that they moved to within one win (or San Francisco loss) of clinching the pennant behind the arm of rookie left-hander
Austin Bond. Having watched fellow young hurler
Bryant Cox get demolished by the Speed Devils (and remember, this is the best hitter's park in the WPK) the day before (
Cox gave up 7 runs on 12 hits in just 4 innings pitched),
Bond shut down the home team on 5 hits in an impressive complete game victory, the only run allowed being of the unearned variety.
(EDIT: Oh, and I just realized that our next series, starting today, is against San Francisco. So a Brewers win is synonymous with a San Francisco loss, at least for the next three games.)
Brewers 4th outfielder
Eric Hammock led the way offensively with a 5 for 5 day, hitting a pair of doubles to get to 12 on the season and also hit his 14th home run. We haven't talked about
Hammock much here. He's a conundrum. On pretty much any other team in the WPK he would be the starting right fielder and likely hitting cleanup in the lineup. His offensive numbers aren't a fluke or the result of a small sample size. He has a reasonable .316 BABIP and all scouting indications are that he is a gifted batter, possessed with near elite contact skills, gap power, home run power, and even ability to avoid striking out. His on-base skills, his eye, is at least above average. And this coming off-season he will probably find himself traded to another team, where he will probably become a force and even an MVP candidate. There is just no place for him in the Denver outfield. And not only because it is a talented and crowded outfield, but because he doesn't play Brewers baseball. He isn't a horrible defensive right fielder, but his range is merely average (-2.7 ZR), he is prone to sloppy play (7 errors), although he does have a strong arm. He's a slow runner, though a bit above average on the base paths. He's reportedly smart and certainly not a bad clubhouse presence. He's just not a Brewer. (Basically, he is another Mike Lovett. Like Lovett it will be best if the Brewers can at least find him a nice home in the SJL.)
On the other hand, young
Matt Catlett is a Brewer outfielder.
Catlett went 3 for 5 in this latest win, hitting his 16th double and 6th home run.
Catlett is an excellent defensive left fielder and an above average center fielder, though his arm is merely average at best. He has even better contact skills than
Hammock, but far less power. He's a fast runner and has elite base stealing and base running savvy. He's a sparkplug and profiles as durable. In 264 plate appearances this season he is hitting .363/.391/.524 and has put up 3.0 WAR. (For comparison,
Hammock has 2.4 WAR with 241 plate appearances.) And while veteran center fielder
Joe McPhillips has had another fine season (.307/.389/.536, 4.3 WAR) with Joe's propensity for injury, it will be valuable to have a player who can step in and start in center with very little drop off in production, if any. The trick in 1981 will just be finding enough playing time for four talented outfielders, including
Catlett,
McPhillips,
Val Guzman, and MVP
Antonio Acuna.
Speaking of durability and injuries, the Brewers 29-year old first baseman
Brett Taranto is considered an Iron Man and up until now has never suffered any injury, of any length or severity, in his professional baseball career. That ended in yesterday's game when he had to be pulled from the game in the first inning. The diagnosis is a sprained elbow and the injury is considered day to day with a moderate effect on his throwing but in an abundance of caution the team will be placing him on the 10-day IL and he might not be back to full-strength until the second round of the post-season, if the Brewers make it that far. Fortunately the team has some good options in his absence, primarily
Ben Flynn but also third baseman
Jake DiCesare (
Jose Figueroa can take over as the third base starter).
Taranto was having a somewhat disappointing season well into the month of August, but he's had a surge here late in the season and he will be missed in the lineup.