No bang for our outfield bucks

[brewers888]

Between Yelich, Garcia, Cain, and Bradley we are allocating over 50 million dollars to our outfield when only Yelich is an above average offensive player. Stearns has badly allocated resources on Garcia and Bradley when we needed legitimate bats in the lineup.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

I feel like this specific argument is happening in roughly six other threads simultaneously.

[adambr2]

I still expect a really nice year from Cain.

 

He was close to Yelich level in '19.

 

Obviously JBJ will be better than he has been.

[StearnsFTW]

But those 3 1/3 innings from Knebel!

 

Sample Size.

Sample Size.

Sample Size.

 

Let's give another couple months to see if JBJ actually has a .556 OPS or Garcia a .619 on, say, Father's Day.

 

It's frustrating that the only 2 well-paid OF we have that aren't hurt are struggling right now, but give it some time.

[PeaveyFury]

Between Yelich, Garcia, Cain, and Bradley we are allocating over 50 million dollars to our outfield when only Yelich is an above average offensive player. Stearns has badly allocated resources on Garcia and Bradley when we needed legitimate bats in the lineup.

 

Posters: "We DESPERATELY NEED BATS! GO GET MORE BATS! SPEND MORE MONEY ON BATS"

GM spends money on bats.

Same Posters: "NOT THOSE BATS!"

 

Should have added, those same posters while the team is winning close games despite not scoring many runs: "........"

[brewers888]

Between Yelich, Garcia, Cain, and Bradley we are allocating over 50 million dollars to our outfield when only Yelich is an above average offensive player. Stearns has badly allocated resources on Garcia and Bradley when we needed legitimate bats in the lineup.

 

Posters: "We DESPERATELY NEED BATS! GO GET MORE BATS! SPEND MORE MONEY ON BATS"

GM spends money on bats.

Same Posters: "NOT THOSE BATS!"

 

Should have added, those same posters while the team is winning close games despite not scoring many runs: "........"

 

We need more position players that can actually hit. Bradley was signed for his defense and Garcia is here for some unknown reason when he has had a spotty career at best.

 

The organization really needs to start drafting better position players with some pop in their bats. The pitching has obviously improved tons from the Melvin years but we have whiffed time and time again in developing some legitimate bats.

[brewers888]

As great as our starting pitching has been we can't expect them to shut the other team out every night.

[MrTPlush]

But those 3 1/3 innings from Knebel!

 

Sample Size.

Sample Size.

Sample Size.

 

Let's give another couple months to see if JBJ actually has a .556 OPS or Garcia a .619 on, say, Father's Day.

 

It's frustrating that the only 2 well-paid OF we have that aren't hurt are struggling right now, but give it some time.

 

Christian Yelich - Not a pretty 2020, broke a knee to end 2019, and has back problems

Avisail Garcia - Terrible in 2020 and not a great bat majority of his career

Jackie Bradley Jr. - Below average bat for most of his career

Lorenzo Cain - Wasn't good in 2019, decided not to play in 2020, and is 50 years old.

 

Their 2021 samples may be small, but there are quite a few reasons to be worried about them. They will all improve, but Bradkley Jr./Garcia? Meh, didn't expect much from them anyway. Yelich? I will stay optimistic there. Cain? Well, he is really old and has a full year of no action plus a poor 2019. I guess I won't be super upset if our 35 year old CFer isn't an offensive force. If we went back to the signing thread I bet most accepted that by 2021-2022 Cain would not be worth the money.

 

Again, I am not drawing conclusion on these guys...just pointing out why one might be worried past the small 2021 sample size. Of course we are a point in the season where two big games can take your OPS from .600 to .800+ in the blink of an eye.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

The organization really needs to start drafting better position players with some pop in their bats.

 

Yeah, players like Keston Hiu ... oh, wait.

[brewers888]

The organization really needs to start drafting better position players with some pop in their bats.

 

Yeah, players like Keston Hiu ... oh, wait.

 

I still think Hiura can be straightened out but Haines is not the guy to do it.

[PeaveyFury]

We need more position players that can actually hit. Bradley was signed for his defense and Garcia is here for some unknown reason when he has had a spotty career at best.

 

No complaints when the team is winning 2-1 & 3-2 games, though right? The team was built on pitching and defense, and that was apparent early on this offseason.

 

The organization really needs to start drafting better position players with some pop in their bats. The pitching has obviously improved tons from the Melvin years but we have whiffed time and time again in developing some legitimate bats.

 

They really do need to clean up from the dearth of prospects that came out of the Ray Montgomery drafts. Hopefully the last couple can infuse some talent into the system offensively.

[brewers888]

We need more position players that can actually hit. Bradley was signed for his defense and Garcia is here for some unknown reason when he has had a spotty career at best.

 

No complaints when the team is winning 2-1 & 3-2 games, though right? The team was built on pitching and defense, and that was apparent early on this offseason.

 

The organization really needs to start drafting better position players with some pop in their bats. The pitching has obviously improved tons from the Melvin years but we have whiffed time and time again in developing some legitimate bats.

 

They really do need to clean up from the dearth of prospects that came out of the Ray Montgomery drafts. Hopefully the last couple can infuse some talent into the system offensively.

 

Its not sustainable to expect to win 2-1 every night. You can sugarcoat things all you want but the offense was terrible last season and doesn't look to be any better this season.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

The organization really needs to start drafting better position players with some pop in their bats.

 

Yeah, players like Keston Hiu ... oh, wait.

 

I still think Hiura can be straightened out but Haines is not the guy to do it.

 

You're right. Hiura is the one to do it. His approach at the plate right now is a dumpster fire. That's on him.

[PeaveyFury]

Its not sustainable to expect to win 2-1 every night.

 

Perhaps. It's also not sustainable to expect to win 8-6 each night. The Brewers are banking on some guys returning closer to career norms. That has happened in the case of a guy like Narvaez, but it hasn't yet with Cain/Yelich etc. since they suffered early injuries.

 

Continuing to complain about it when the team is in first place doesn't make sense to me.

[Hopper]

 

You're right. Hiura is the one to do it. His approach at the plate right now is a dumpster fire. That's on him.

 

You are ok with Haines and his track record then?

I understand you are the board cheerleader, and nothing and no one should be criticized, but c'mon dude.

[pacopete4]

 

You're right. Hiura is the one to do it. His approach at the plate right now is a dumpster fire. That's on him.

 

You are ok with Haines and his track record then?

I understand you are the board cheerleader, and nothing and no one should be criticized, but c'mon dude.

 

Your snark continues... But I will say that I'm sure he's just pointing out that a hitting coach is something of need but Keston has to be the one to decide to change his approach. If he doesn't, he won't be long for the MLB.

[Hopper]

Snark?

The general concept of "snark" is everyplace, even the mods take part. lol

If I am acting differently than anyone else on this board, I apologize.

I'll pull back.

[PeaveyFury]

Unless someone is arguing that Hiura should be added to the OF rotation for some reason, let's keep the Hiura discussion to one of the half dozen other threads it could belong to.

[MrTPlush]

Unless someone is arguing that Hiura should be added to the OF rotation for some reason, let's keep the Hiura discussion to one of the half dozen other threads it could belong to.

 

[sarcasm]The AAA one?[/sarcasm]

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

 

You're right. Hiura is the one to do it. His approach at the plate right now is a dumpster fire. That's on him.

 

You are ok with Haines and his track record then?

I understand you are the board cheerleader, and nothing and no one should be criticized, but c'mon dude.

 

Now this is diverting into two different arguments. Is Haines the problem, or is "not acquiring the right bats" the problem? I get the idea that perhaps a new voice is needed in that area, but brewers888 is arguing that the team doesn't have the right personnel to sustain the offense. I'm not exactly sure if both of those arguments make sense simultaneously. I mean, if Haines doesn't have the right pieces, how can he possibly be successful?

[brewers888]

I don't get this idea that we shouldn't complain about the offense or lack of it because of the fact that the pitching has carried the team to a solid record so far. If the Packers win their first three games by an average score of 50-45 would it not be normal to be concerned about the defense despite a 3-0 record.

 

The offense was without a doubt terrible last season and it has continued so far this season. Yes the record is good but we have to know that the pitching can't continue to win the team games when nearly the entire lineup is struggling. At the very least Haines needs to be shown the door and I would be shocked if we didn't need to acquire at least one if not two bats at the deadline.

[PeaveyFury]

I don't get this idea that we shouldn't complain about the offense or lack of it because of the fact that the pitching has carried the team to a solid record so far.

 

Because that's literally how the team was designed to operate this year.

[Warning Track Power]

Does anyone have any insight on JBJ as to whether he is a vocal/silent person on the field and in the clubhouse? He seems to be very, very quiet on the field and doesn't appear to be a very vocal person at all. Not a lot of personality on the field or in the dugout ala Cain.

 

I am wondering if that is just him or if he is in a funk and still getting used to being in Milwaukee and not Boston.

[Hopper]

I don't get this idea that we shouldn't complain about the offense or lack of it because of the fact that the pitching has carried the team to a solid record so far.

 

Because that's literally how the team was designed to operate this year.

 

If that is truly the case, what happens when our pitching hits a slump, which is surely going to happen?

I don't buy "this team is built for defense" theory completely.

Signing guys who can only play defense is never a good idea.

I have to believe they expected JBJ and Wong to hit a little bit better than most here are expecting.

Wong has done his part, he can't keep up this pace, but if he can add some kind of consistent offense to his defense, we are in good shape.

JBJ just has to step up his offense or the defense only theory will sink us.

[sveumrules]

So far our outfielders have hit to the tune of a 79 wRC+, 27th in MLB.

 

They have however, excelled on the bases (+1.6, 8th) & in the field (+6.4, 2nd) so their overall contribution has been closer to average (0.8 WAR, 15th).

 

Considering they've been able to turn in average overall production despite not hitting & missing time to injury from major contributors, it looks like Stearns & company's plan to focus on depth, speed & defense to mitigate downside risk has worked out pretty well to this point.