We’ve seen this flick before.
After hanging on to beat the Cubs on Tuesday night, the Brewers are going for a sweep of the Cubs this afternoon in Wrigley. A sweep would be really nice, and considering the slide the Cubs are on (seven games and counting, with some of the worst pitching you could imagine), it would appear that the Brewers actually have a decent chance of pulling it off.
The only problem? Ryan Dempster is starting for the Cubs.
Dempster is 13-3 in his career against the Brewers, with a 2.81 ERA in 156.2 innings. He’s averaging 8.5 strikeouts per 9 innings against the Brewers, which is the 5th highest K/9 rate against teams in which he’s made at least 10 starts. He’s essentially a few starts away from having the equivilent of a Cy Young-candidate season against the Brewers alone.
The Brewers did manage to beat the Cubs in Dempster’s last start against them on June 10, but you have to go back to May 9th of last year for the last time Dempster was charged with the loss.
By now you know I try to be level-headed in this space. I don’t usually spout off on rants. And really, these numbers probably don’t mean all that much. There’s nothing about the Brewers that suddenly turns him into an amazing pitcher.
But I hate Ryan Dempster. I hate everything about him. I hate that stupid glove wiggle he does in the middle of his pitching motion. I hate his Harry Caray impression. I hate the fact that the Brewers can’t seem to hit his crap fastball (10 runs below average last year, 7.2 runs below average this year). I hate the fact that he threw at Ryan Braun.
So I hope the Brewers have another 18-1 beatdown stored up somewhere. It’s nothing personal, Mr. Dempster, I just hate your guts.
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