HR King! No, Not Prince

Prince's homer/posing/bat flip was nice and all, but I'm far more impressed with the fact that Braden Looper leads the NL in home runs allowed. Lucky for him, he also leads the league in run support, so he is lucky not be like 2-10 right now. He is an absolute mystery wrapped inside a conundrum. Is he good? Does he suck total balls? Is he better/worse/same as Suppan? I personally believe that he is probably worse than Soup on the whole. Granted, Suppan can be absolutely awful, but he can be really good too. Looper gives us average and awful. He is a classic number 5 starter, except that he is our number 3 right now, which sucks. He did randomly have 3 hits last night, which for a pitcher is like going 8 for 8.

Seth McClung tried really, really hard to lose the game last night, but failed even at that. He continues to unimpress me.

Semi-Daily Brew Crew Hangover #9

If someone had told me in February that 14 games into the season, Braden Looper would be our unquestioned best starting pitcher, I would have guessed our record would be 2-12. While we aren't far from that, I still don't think it is a great sign going forward. But Looper has been pretty impressive. He throws a strike on the first pitch almost every single time, which seems to be key to getting guys out because major league hitters rarely swing at the first pitch.

Mr. Coffey got another save, and while he didn't look great doing it, I still think he would be a serviceable closer if and when Hoffman dies of old age. Villa actually looked really good last night too. Is it just the pressure of closing or starting that he can't handle? Because his stuff was disgusting last night.

How do you go from giving up 11 runs one night, to nearly shutting a team out the next? And Philly didn't even threaten much until the ninth. If we can somehow coax a win out of "Bushie" today, it would be a huge, huge step in the right direction.

Afternoon games while I have nothing to do at work are great. I will be staring at my computer screen with the "Penske File" open on my desk and a pen in my hand between 12 and 3 today.

AS AN ASIDE:

Thompson got outbid by Syracuse for Paulus when he refused to give up a pair of free shoes and a helmet.

I Guess I Should Post Something

- The NFL free agent situation as it pertains to the Green Bay Packers is getting a bit awkward for me. While all of the other teams are seemingly blowing every nickel they can find, the Packers have had exactly ONE player even come to Green Bay for a visit. Two guys are already off the board that I thought the Packers might be interested in making a run at. And from everything I've read, the Packers didn't even talk to the guys (Haynesworth and Canty). To be fair, I think both guys probably got overpaid, and I don't think the Packers should overpay guys. But their "system" seems to be to wait until anyone I've heard of has been signed by someone else, so they don't have to spend any money. Now, maybe Ted Thompson is some kind of mad scientist genius who has a Moneyball-esque system to evaluate talent. But if that is the case, it hasn't really paid off yet. I am still giving Thompson my trust (prepare for a 10,000 word rebuttal from Richard), but the whole thing is getting a little tiresome. Obviously, we were lacking in talent at alot of places on defense (see d-line), and we switched to a system we probably don't have pieces for, so I would at least like to see a little effort here.

-Shout out to jsonline.com's excellent Free Agent/Packer blog.

-Why all the talk of the Vikings being interested in Jay Cutler? They are already the overwhelming favorites because of the Sage Rosenfels trade. The Vikings can only play one QB, right? Oh wait, Sage Rosenfels fucking sucks.

-Braden Looper is the the DL because he pulled a muscle sneezing. Gagne pulled one trying to shoot himself up. Fielder pulled one walking to first base. Weeks pulled one swinging and missing. Might as well start this train up early.

-March Madness is on-ish. Arch Madness starts tomorrow, and I'm getting the feeling that a win or two by CU will get them an at-large. You might remember about a month ago when I said if they won out, they would get an at-large. Well, they proceeded to win ten straight. Also, I think Bucky is safe, and I think the World Baseball Classic might be a distraction to work for a few weeks.

-Leinie's Classic Amber? Meh. Tastes an awful lot like La Crosse Lager, although I don't believe it is fully krausened. (Ed. note: I have to point out that in the spell check "krausened" came up as "kerosene". I don't think this is a coincidence).

-I've already lost a pound on my diet.

-Work sucks my dick.