Brewers Lineup

[MVP2110]

Thought this was a pretty interesting stat on our lineup last year

 

[Brock Beauchamp]

That second graph is surprising at a glance but upon consideration, it makes sense. The Brewers didn't run out many bad hitters last season. They ran out several uninspiring hitters but they certainly weren't bad.

[Brewcrew82]

1 hour ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

That second graph is surprising at a glance but upon consideration, it makes sense. The Brewers didn't run out many bad hitters last season. They ran out several uninspiring hitters but they certainly weren't bad.

Yeah. We just lacked the star power of the other NL playoff teams. Guys like Harper, Machado, Betts, Freeman, Goldschmidt, Arenado, etc.

Still should’ve been enough though if our pitching didn’t decline due to injuries and underperformance. 

[Redd Vencher]

Our lack of significant holes is why we had a better lineup than the MVP Yelich lineups and on par with the peak Braun and Fielder lineups.

[DR28]

11 minutes ago, Redd Vencher said:

Our lack of significant holes is why we had a better lineup than the MVP Yelich lineups and on par with the peak Braun and Fielder lineups.

Agreed and I dont see any black holes in our potential OD lineup of Yelich/Adames/Winker/Contreras/Tellez/Urias/Anderson/Taylor/Mitchell.

[Brock Beauchamp]

14 minutes ago, DR28 said:

Agreed and I dont see any black holes in our potential OD lineup of Yelich/Adames/Winker/Contreras/Tellez/Urias/Anderson/Taylor/Mitchell.

I think Mitchell could easily be a black hole but thankfully, there are other options should that happen.

[DR28]

9 minutes ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

I think Mitchell could easily be a black hole but thankfully, there are other options should that happen.

Right then Frelick takes over CF job.

Might actually be a better lineup... Frelick/Yelich/Adames/Winker/Contreras/Tellez/Urias/Anderson/Taylor

[brewcrewdue80]

Related to lineup topic so just putting in this thread.

I noticed yesterday Donavan of the Cards who took 3rd in NL for rookie of the year batting leadoff. So the question considering the rookies starts thus far I had was how many games did it take Donavan to break in to that role atop the lineup.

Based off of batting lineups last year, 8 games started. Then he cracked #2 followed 1st and 2 more 2nds. A month later he was secured with a top 2 in lineup almost regularly.

Brice Turang is on the Donavan bb/k trail with BA/OB trail now through 5 starts.  What game will it be before we see him in top 3 of lineup and Yelich in bottom half of lineup?

Not only does Yelich lead the team in Ks, but Gidp with 2(1 more than XBHs). While leading the team in BBs!  It doesn't need to be a permanent season thing, but when does Yelich get dropped to bottom of order or 7-9 really? At least for a few games testing a better leadoff batter by way of BA and Slg and ability to not strike out.  Donavan was a 3rd week callup, didn't break camp opening day. (Service manipulation) 

Think that's impressive to be able to then crack atop the order 8 starts later in front of Goldy and Arenado.

We're 26ABs in and only one ball hit by Yelich(his double) has gotten further than a base OF defense positioning. He shouldn't be the one getting 5 PAs in a game right now. He needs to be the one who will only get 4.

[Jake McKibbin]

19 hours ago, brewcrewdue80 said:

Related to lineup topic so just putting in this thread.

I noticed yesterday Donavan of the Cards who took 3rd in NL for rookie of the year batting leadoff. So the question considering the rookies starts thus far I had was how many games did it take Donavan to break in to that role atop the lineup.

Based off of batting lineups last year, 8 games started. Then he cracked #2 followed 1st and 2 more 2nds. A month later he was secured with a top 2 in lineup almost regularly.

Brice Turang is on the Donavan bb/k trail with BA/OB trail now through 5 starts.  What game will it be before we see him in top 3 of lineup and Yelich in bottom half of lineup?

Not only does Yelich lead the team in Ks, but Gidp with 2(1 more than XBHs). While leading the team in BBs!  It doesn't need to be a permanent season thing, but when does Yelich get dropped to bottom of order or 7-9 really? At least for a few games testing a better leadoff batter by way of BA and Slg and ability to not strike out.  Donavan was a 3rd week callup, didn't break camp opening day. (Service manipulation) 

Think that's impressive to be able to then crack atop the order 8 starts later in front of Goldy and Arenado.

We're 26ABs in and only one ball hit by Yelich(his double) has gotten further than a base OF defense positioning. He shouldn't be the one getting 5 PAs in a game right now. He needs to be the one who will only get 4.

One fun fact is yelich's percentage of sweet spot contact was 66.7% going into this series. He's not as far off as you'd think, had a poor start in two games but still a big player

[brewcrewdue80]

3 hours ago, Jake McKibbin said:

One fun fact is yelich's percentage of sweet spot contact was 66.7% going into this series. He's not as far off as you'd think, had a poor start in two games but still a big player

Small sample that sits at 50pct today. Savant list at 0 barrels, 87.5MPH exit velocity by far lowest for him. And somehow he's at an 8.7 launch angle. Which would be great for him if the EV was above 91 like typical.

 

Anyway, our RH lineup vs the LH starter netted 7 scoreless innings of 4 hit ball and 9ks.  Gotta wonder if the platoon lineups the last 3 years+ that have failed needs to adjust allowing an extra 1 or 2 LH bats facing the SP. Overlook stats since you've gotten to an Era where LHb face LH RPs more often than seeing LH SP.

[shanedog19]

I just hate that two of our best young players in Mitchell and Turang appear to be platoon players right now. They make up the core future of our team and should be playing everyday, regardless of the opposing pitcher.

[SF70]

39 minutes ago, shanedog19 said:

I just hate that two of our best young players in Mitchell and Turang appear to be platoon players right now. They make up the core future of our team and should be playing everyday, regardless of the opposing pitcher.

Absolutely.

Seems everyone (CC/FO? being the possible exception) realizes this obvious what’s best for the player which in the long-run is best for the team fact. But in this case, with the maturity of these rookies it will most likely be better in the short-run as well.

[Playing Catch]

Platooning is the way you avoid having "black holes" in the lineup. Platooning rookies in the first month(s) of their arrival to the big leagues simply makes sense, both in terms of their development and in terms of team success. You want them to experience success, maintain confidence, have opportunities to "catch their breath," and not have to be in positions where they feel pressure to carry an offense. Let's wait until June before we start questioning lineups that, to date, have been deep and dynamic, and have scored a lot of runs. Also, Yelich is getting on base at a strong clip. Nothing wrong with his leadoff production (granted yesterday helped his numbers quite a bit).

[shanedog19]

4 minutes ago, Playing Catch said:

Platooning is the way you avoid having "black holes" in the lineup. Platooning rookies in the first month(s) of their arrival to the big leagues simply makes sense, both in terms of their development and in terms of team success. You want them to experience success, maintain confidence, have opportunities to "catch their breath," and not have to be in positions where they feel pressure to carry an offense. Let's wait until June before we start questioning lineups that, to date, have been deep and dynamic, and have scored a lot of runs. Also, Yelich is getting on base at a strong clip. Nothing wrong with his leadoff production (granted yesterday helped his numbers quite a bit).

They have faced two LHP starters and haven't scored a run against either one. I'm all for giving the young guys a day off from time to time, but a strict platoon is not necessary IMO. 

[Playing Catch]

36 minutes ago, shanedog19 said:

They have faced two LHP starters and haven't scored a run against either one. I'm all for giving the young guys a day off from time to time, but a strict platoon is not necessary IMO. 

Fair point. The Brewers, by wOBA, have been much better against RHP (4th in MLB at .368) than LHP (18th in MLB at .322).

Upon further reflection, you may have me convinced. The Brewers have gone with Brosseau/Miller (w/Anderson in RF and Wiemer in CF) in favor of simply playing Mitchell and Turang against lefties. And beyond the hitting platoon, playing Mitchell and Turang would be a superior defensive scheme.

I would maintain, though, that the Brewers need to find out if Voit, Brosseau, and Miller can be counted on to mash lefties. If they don't play, we won't know. If they CAN'T hit lefties, than they have extremely limited value to the team, and the team will need to look at making changes, because it would be unfair to simply throw Mitchell and Turang to the wolves as rookies, and NEED them to produce in that role. Voit, Brosseau, and Miller need to lefties THIS season. There is plenty of time to find out if Turang and Mitchell can hit lefties.

[wiguy94]

59 minutes ago, shanedog19 said:

They have faced two LHP starters and haven't scored a run against either one. I'm all for giving the young guys a day off from time to time, but a strict platoon is not necessary IMO. 

Well this isn't true. We put up 5 runs in 4 innings against David Peterson in the final game of the Mets series.

[Playing Catch]

Well, it's now May 1st, and the numbers versus lefties are not good. The Brewers rank 29th in MLB in wRC+ versus left-handed pitchers.

Voit, Anderson, Brosseau, and Adames have been the prime culprits, combining for 14 hits in 100 at-bats versus lefties. Contreras, Miller, and Wiemer are all batting .300+, so they haven't been the issue. Turang is 0-10 versus lefties. Yelich, Tellez, and Winker have been fine.

Hopefully getting Tyrone Taylor and Urias back will help a little bit, but I'm on board with looking for a Voit replacement. I know there's a vocal minority here who want to see the reverse-split Hiura. Oddly, lefty-swinging Jon Singleton also has a career reverse split versus lefties. How is it the Brewers have so many guys with reverse splits?

[igor67]

Even just getting Taylor and replacing some blackhole ABs could be huge. On the plus side after a weekend against nothing but lefty starters we went 2-1.

[Ewitkows1]

How much longer is Winkler going to be on this team? No power , no defense, might as well bring Huira back.

[igor67]

I'm guessing at the moment Voit goes first. Winker had a solid start and there is still that hope in the upside. If Keston keeps putting up low K total weeks that has an impact, but unless there are other players showing they deserve the roster spot I'd guess Winker gets at least another month.