Spring Training thread

[adambr2]

Braun's off to a nice start today... GRAND SLAM in his second at bat to follow up his solo shot in the first.

 

And some on here think Braun is a 4th OF.

 

He's arguably our best hitter.

 

This is misleading. Anyone saying Braun is a 4th OFer here is basing it on the fact that we have Yelich, Cain, and Santana.

 

And basing anything either way off a spring training game is downright silly.

[Never Outhustled]

Braun's off to a nice start today... GRAND SLAM in his second at bat to follow up his solo shot in the first.

 

And some on here think Braun is a 4th OF.

 

He's arguably our best hitter.

 

He's also arguably only our 6th most productive position player, behind Yelich, Cain, Santana, Shaw, Arcia. Arguments can also be made for Pina and Thames.

[wildcat83]

You're making an argument that Pina is more productive than Braun??? Was that supposed to be in blue?

[TURBO]

Braun's off to a nice start today... GRAND SLAM in his second at bat to follow up his solo shot in the first.

 

And some on here think Braun is a 4th OF.

 

He's arguably our best hitter.

 

He's also arguably only our 6th most productive position player, behind Yelich, Cain, Santana, Shaw, Arcia. Arguments can also be made for Pina and Thames.

 

DFA Braun!

[wildcat83]

Never Outhustled..... read Mr. Allens post on page 7 of the Braun willing to play 1st and 2nd base thread. Brauns stats stack up much better than you would think compared to Yellich, Cain, and Santana.

[tigerbrew]

Prefer to have Braun in RF than Yelich. If Braun plays 1B, RF and LF, that's pretty versatile and should have plenty of ABs. I've a feeling he will get the majority of his ABs in 1B.

[markedman5]

Wind was blowing out today per CC.

 

Yo with a good relief outing.....2 scorkess no walks and 3 ks

[Never Outhustled]

You're making an argument that Pina is more productive than Braun??? Was that supposed to be in blue?

 

I'm not making that argument, but if someone did, they'd simply point out that Pina was more WAR than Braun last year. Again, I'm not making that argument.

[TJseven7]

Today's line-up against the White Sox:

 

1. Cain (CF)

2. Yelich (LF)

3. Braun (1B)

4. Shaw (3B)

5. Santana (RF)

6. Thames (DH)

7. Piña ©

8. Villar (2B)

9. Arcia (SS)

 

Save for Thames at DH, this is what I expect the opening day line-up to look like. Which is awesome!

 

That is perfect! I'm good with Pina hitting 6th... I love that speed at 8 & 9.

 

Heard far too many times last year that bunting with the pitcher was stupid because we don't have speed on the basepaths. If this ends that, I'll be happy. Acria, please drive pina in so you or villar can get moving.

[brewmann04]

Sorry but Braun is still a legit hitter like Thames Braun and Shaw

[brewmann04]

Btw another solid outing by Williams today. Oh that Broxton kid hit a Hr today too. He has a lot of value to the Crew and glad David has not moved him yet

[TJseven7]

Sorry but Braun is still a legit hitter like Thames Braun and Shaw

 

Like yelich cain santana shaw you mean? Thames is a RHP only batter.

[brewmann04]

Yelich and Cain as the table setters but the three I mentioned as the hammers

[adambr2]

Sorry but Braun is still a legit hitter like Thames Braun and Shaw

 

Like yelich cain santana shaw you mean? Thames is a RHP only batter.

 

Weird but too small sample to be real meaningful stat:

 

The few times Thames actually got a start against LHP, he had a whopping 1.037 OPS against them.

 

But figure in late inning relievers and LOOGYs and that plummets. He had no shot against lefty specialists.

[TJseven7]

Sorry but Braun is still a legit hitter like Thames Braun and Shaw

 

Like yelich cain santana shaw you mean? Thames is a RHP only batter.

 

Weird but too small sample to be real meaningful stat:

 

The few times Thames actually got a start against LHP, he had a whopping 1.037 OPS against them.

 

But figure in late inning relievers and LOOGYs and that plummets. He had no shot against lefty specialists.

 

I'm still going to stick with the safe side of 918 vs 658. Especially with the 378 vs 264 obp. He wore down quick, didn't seem close to a 162 game guy and hes a rhp assassin. I'll take that. Especially with Braun who usually pounds lhp.

[Oxy]

The Braun haters on here are downright comical. I understand that he's not young anymore, and I understand that most players significantly regress at some point near Braun's current age.

 

Still, pretend it's the 7th inning of game 7 in the NLDS. The Dodgers are up 1-0 with Kershaw dealing. A couple guys got on base after an error and an infield single.

 

There are few players in the entire league let alone on the Brewers roster I'd rather have at the plate than Ryan Braun.

 

 

(I also understand how over the course of the entire season, Manny Pina could be more valuable than Braun. But there are a dozen waiver wire/scrapheap catchers I'd be comfortable with replacing Pina if he goes down. There aren't a dozen waiver wire/scrapheap players who I'd be comfortable facing Kershaw in the playoffs.)

 

 

Enjoy watching a HOF caliber hitter while we have him.

[TJseven7]

The Braun haters on here are downright comical. I understand that he's not young anymore, and I understand that most players significantly regress at some point near Braun's current age.

 

Still, pretend it's the 7th inning of game 7 in the NLDS. The Dodgers are up 1-0 with Kershaw dealing. A couple guys got on base after an error and an infield single.

 

There are few players in the entire league let alone on the Brewers roster I'd rather have at the plate than Ryan Braun.

 

 

(I also understand how over the course of the entire season, Manny Pina could be more valuable than Braun. But there are a dozen waiver wire/scrapheap catchers I'd be comfortable with replacing Pina if he goes down. There aren't a dozen waiver wire/scrapheap players who I'd be comfortable facing Kershaw in the playoffs.)

 

 

Enjoy watching a HOF caliber hitter while we have him.

 

Don't worry he hit a few HRs today so now those people want to bench santana because of aguilar.

[adambr2]

Still, pretend it's the 7th inning of game 7 in the NLDS. The Dodgers are up 1-0 with Kershaw dealing. A couple guys got on base after an error and an infield single.

 

There are few players in the entire league let alone on the Brewers roster I'd rather have at the plate than Ryan Braun.

 

Enjoy watching a HOF caliber hitter while we have him.

 

"Clutch" stats are always kind of subjective and vary from year to year, but Braun's OPS in 'late and close situations' are as follows the last 3 years.

 

2017: .616

2016: .791

2015: .745

 

In his prime, I'll certainly take Braun in those situations. At his current productivity level and age, there are many, many players I'd take over Ryan Braun in the 7th inning of the NLDS against Clayton Kershaw.

 

He isn't a HOF caliber bat anymore. He used to be. That time has passed.

 

Also, he isn't sniffing the HOF, which I know isn't what you said but his defensive deficiencies and PED scandal push him way out of that conversation.

[brewerfan82]

Not sure where your stats were pulled from (as I'm sure that could be defined differently in different places), but on MLB.com they have the following for Braun's Late / Close OPS' the past 3 years:

 

2017: .778

2016: .910

2015: .890

 

Compared to the median OPS for teams league-wide the past few years: .717, .703, .679, still pretty good looking. That said, as you mentioned, those stats are pretty spotty because of sample sizes.

[adambr2]

Not sure where your stats were pulled from (as I'm sure that could be defined differently in different places), but on MLB.com they have the following for Braun's Late / Close OPS' the past 3 years:

 

2017: .778

2016: .910

2015: .890

 

Compared to the median OPS for teams league-wide the past few years: .717, .703, .679, still pretty good looking. That said, as you mentioned, those stats are pretty spotty because of sample sizes.

 

Not sure. I used Baseball Reference. As you said the sample size isn't really meaningful in any case, and "clutch" is a pretty subjective term that can vary between being a really big thing to not really even a thing at all depending on who you ask. For what its worth Braun has a career .748 OPS against Kershaw. Which is fine I suppose given that it's Kershaw.

 

My only objection is to the idea that today's version of Braun is someone you'd want with the top hitters in the league against the Kershaws of the world, given that A) His 'clutch' hitting isn't something that stands out from his career hitting numbers, and B) At his age his hitting skills have clearly deteriorated to where he's certainly not the hitter he was in his prime.

[tigerbrew]

Rangers vs Brewers 13/03/2018 Full Game

 

https://youtu.be/wIubqc0F1Is

 

 

Braun played well at 1B and good ABs vs Hamels. Braun should be the regular 1B starter, he's a better hitter than Thames.

 

Albers looked great, I think he's going to be a very good FA signing for the Brewers.

[jerichoholicninja]

50% of the Marlins position players in their starting lineup today were Brewers property last year: Yadiel Rivera, Isan Diaz, Garrett Cooper, and Lewis Brinson.

[wildcat2237]

Suter getting tattoed today by the rangers. 4 runs in two innings.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

Suter getting tattoed today by the rangers. 4 runs in two innings.

 

Some poor defense in the 1st, and a leadoff HR in the 2nd, then settled in fine. I don't think it changes anything. He's in the rotation to start the year.

[markedman5]

Apparently wind is blowing out again