27-year old lefty swinging 1B Prince Fielder has really been solid this year for the Brewers, in his possible free agent walk year. Fielder has played in 136 games for the Brewers so far this year and he is 140 for 477 (.294 avg, .951 OPS) with 81 runs scored, 29 homers and 102 RBIs. He has walked 88 times while whiffing 85 times, as he has shown a good eye at the plate to go along with his big time power. Fielder has now played in 972 games in his first 7 years with the Brewers and he is 966 for 3,435 (.281 avg, .924 OPS) with 557 runs scored, 221 homers, 638 RBIs and 15 stolen bases.   MLB betting lines looking good for the Brewers

The Brewers have lost 28-year old lefty starter/reliever Manny Parra for the rest of the season due to elbow surgery that he underwent yesterday. Parra pitched in 8 games (1 start) in AAA-ball for the Brewers this year and he was 1-1 with a 5.11 ERA and a 1.38 WHIP. Parra has pitched in 110 games (74 starts) in his first four years with the Brewers and he is 24-30 with a 5.13 ERA and a 1.64 WHIP. The Brewers probably could have used Parra out of the bullpen in September, but they will have to wait until next year to use him.

36-year old lefty reliever Randy Flores has opted out of his minor league deal with the Brewers and he has become a free agent. Flores pitched in 10 games (0 starts) in AAA-ball for the Brewers and he was 1-1 with 2 saves, a 3.27 ERA and a 1.55 WHIP. He has now pitched in 58 games (0 starts) in AAA-ball for the Padres, Yankees and Brewers this year in which he is 3-6 with 6 saves, a 3.05 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP. Flores was informed that the Brewers weren’t going to call him up when rosters expand tomorrow, which led to his opting out of his contract. The Brewers shouldn’t miss him too much, but I do expect some team to sign him for September.

28-year old righty reliever John Axford has really been solid this year as the full-time closer for the Brewers. Axford has pitched in 62 games (0 starts) for the Brewers so far this year and he is 2-2 with 38 saves, a 2.23 ERA and a 1.25 WHIP. He has only given up 53 hits in 60 2/3 innings this year while whiffing 73 batters. He has been nails in August so far, working in 11 games in which he is 0-0 with 7 saves, a 0.87 ERA and a 1.16 WHIP. Axford is a big reason why the Brewers are opening up a big lead (9.5 games) on the Cardinals, as he slams the door when he comes into the game.

40-year old lefty swinging infielder Craig Counsell has been awful for the Brewers so far this year. He has played in 13 games for the Brewers so far this month and he is 4 for 13 (.308 avg, .808 OPS). Before you get too excited about those numbers, Counsell was 0 for 31 (.000 avg, .030 OPS) with 1 run scored and 1 walk in July. Counsell has now played in 87 games for the Brewers so far this year and he is 22 for 130 (.169 avg, .473 OPS) with 14 runs scored, 4 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. Those numbers show that Counsell is near the very end of his major league career. He has played in 691 games in his six years with the Brewers and he is 420 for 1,741 (.241 avg, .659 OPS) with 212 runs scored, 12 homers, 125 RBIs and 30 stolen bases. Counsell has been a decent reserve player for the Brewers until this season but it’s time to pull the plug on his major league career.