Nine games in.........

[Jim French Stepstool]

Lots of family stuff going on the last couple weeks so I haven't seen every pitch of every game, much as I would like to. But I have some observations that may or may not pique interest here:

1. Brewer rookie crops have come & gone over the years, but I've never seen one that combines skill & athleticism like this one. Garrett Mitchell still has contact issues at times. But these guys know how to play the game, and are also really, really fun to watch. That's a rare combo. And it looks like there's still more to come in the system.

2. Not sure which game it was.....I think it was the day after he hit the grand slam......Brice Turang came up with the bases loaded & fell behind 0-2. The next two pitches were IIRC both off speed, low, but over the plate. With two strikes, he managed to lay off both. He eventually flew out but that kind of plate discipline from a rookie---who had homered the previous day---just impressed the hell out of me. Opposing players who can do that just kill you. it's nice to have one on our side.

3. I feel like this roster misses Tyrone Taylor. The reason I say that is I'd really like to see Anderson plug in at 3B every day instead of toggling between third & RF, and the same with Wiemer going between RF & CF. Not that they can't play both spots, but in the long term I think you're better off with your regulars--which they both are right now--settling in at one spot. Whenever possible, leave the versatility to the guys who aren't out there every day. Taylor being available would accomplish that. But right now it is what it is, and it's working.

4. We need to acknowledge that this organization just knows how to put together a bullpen. Hader is gone, Boxberger is gone, Cousins has hit a speed bump in his development, and they just keep finding the parts to plug in. Kudos to whatever scout kept tabs on Varland & recommended snapping him up.

5. It almost seems to me like Burnes has it in his head that people are going to attack him early & it's affecting his ability to jump out ahead in the count. I didn't see all of his first two outings but the sample I viewed looked like that to me. Anyone else?

6. Are our 3 most talented defenders all rookies? How often does it happen that you can even consider the possibility?

[wiguy94]

16 minutes ago, Jim French Stepstool said:

Lots of family stuff going on the last couple weeks so I haven't seen every pitch of every game, much as I would like to. But I have some observations that may or may not pique interest here:

1. Brewer rookie crops have come & gone over the years, but I've never seen one that combines skill & athleticism like this one. Garrett Mitchell still has contact issues at times. But these guys know how to play the game, and are also really, really fun to watch. That's a rare combo. And it looks like there's still more to come in the system.

2. Not sure which game it was.....I think it was the day after he hit the grand slam......Brice Turang came up with the bases loaded & fell behind 0-2. The next two pitches were IIRC both off speed, low, but over the plate. With two strikes, he managed to lay off both. He eventually flew out but that kind of plate discipline from a rookie---who had homered the previous day---just impressed the hell out of me. Opposing players who can do that just kill you. it's nice to have one on our side.

3. I feel like this roster misses Tyrone Taylor. The reason I say that is I'd really like to see Anderson plug in at 3B every day instead of toggling between third & RF, and the same with Wiemer going between RF & CF. Not that they can't play both spots, but in the long term I think you're better off with your regulars--which they both are right now--settling in at one spot. Whenever possible, leave the versatility to the guys who aren't out there every day. Taylor being available would accomplish that. But right now it is what it is, and it's working.

4. We need to acknowledge that this organization just knows how to put together a bullpen. Hader is gone, Boxberger is gone, Cousins has hit a speed bump in his development, and they just keep finding the parts to plug in. Kudos to whatever scout kept tabs on Varland & recommended snapping him up.

5. It almost seems to me like Burnes has it in his head that people are going to attack him early & it's affecting his ability to jump out ahead in the count. I didn't see all of his first two outings but the sample I viewed looked like that to me. Anyone else?

6. Are our 3 most talented defenders all rookies? How often does it happen that you can even consider the possibility?

I'd still say Adames is our most talented defender. Elite defensive SS with a plus arm. Turang and Wiemer have looked really good. Mitchell to me is the worst of the 4 defensively. Not that he isn't good. Just doesn't seem as fluid as those 3. 

[Jim French Stepstool]

7 hours ago, wiguy94 said:

I'd still say Adames is our most talented defender. Elite defensive SS with a plus arm. Turang and Wiemer have looked really good. Mitchell to me is the worst of the 4 defensively. Not that he isn't good. Just doesn't seem as fluid as those 3. 

Adames is certainly the one who would knock out one of those three. But there still seems to be the occasional brain cramp that I find disappointing. A couple tonight, in fact.

[wiguy94]

Just now, Jim French Stepstool said:

Adames is certainly the one who would knock out one of those three. But there still seems to be the occasional brain cramp that I find disappointing. A couple tonight, in fact.

Yeah rough day for me to make that comment with how Adames looked tonight. 

[kestrel79]

The speed all 3 rookies have is what surprised me the most. They don't get in many double plays, get infield hits, steal bases, run down fly balls for outs that were extra base hits last year, run hard out of the box. I've really enjoyed seeing them fly. And we still have more on the way! :)

[CheezWizHed]

Early in the season, I'd suspect part of moving people around is to see where they fit best.  And giving people enough of a chance hitting to see what they are capable of this year.  

We have both Urias and Taylor out right now... both are slightly above average hitters (104-112 OPS+ range the last two years).  The first one back, probably pushed Owen Miller off the roster: 

• TT to the OF rotation with Mitchell and Wiemer and BA to 3rd
• Urias to 2B/3B rotation with Truang/BA and BA rotating in the OF with Mitchell and Wiemer)

When both are back, Voit is the most likely candidate (at least for now).  Wiemer could be sent down, but simply is playing too well. 

And we start to have a logjam for playing time.  Mitchell, Wiemer, BA, and Turang are all hitting/fielding well enough to be deserve a starting position.  I don't have an issue with TT being a backup OF, but Urias has been good enough historically to start too.  

I have to imagine that Taylor is a prime trade candidate right now... we simply have too many people better than he is at playing CF (with Frelick and Chourio waiting in the wings) to need him.

[KeithStone53151]

18 hours ago, wiguy94 said:

I'd still say Adames is our most talented defender. Elite defensive SS with a plus arm. Turang and Wiemer have looked really good. Mitchell to me is the worst of the 4 defensively. Not that he isn't good. Just doesn't seem as fluid as those 3. 

It's tough to say for sure which are better as we haven't seen too much of the rookies yet. Mitchell has good instincts in the outfield with 80 grade speed you can't teach...he'll get to plays that plenty of other CF(Tyler O'Neill) won't get close on. I wouldn't discount him. Adames is certainly the safe bet to say is the most talented as he has a few years of being a plus defender under his belt and is in his prime. But those rookies certainly could challenge for it, Turang makes defense look so easy when it really isn't and Wiemer is a prototypicial RF with great instincts and enough speed to play CF. Also don't sleep on BAv2, he's made some really slick plays at 3b already...though in RF is probably more of an average defender.

[KeithStone53151]

4 minutes ago, CheezWizHed said:

Early in the season, I'd suspect part of moving people around is to see where they fit best.  And giving people enough of a chance hitting to see what they are capable of this year.  

We have both Urias and Taylor out right now... both are slightly above average hitters (104-112 OPS+ range the last two years).  The first one back, probably pushed Owen Miller off the roster: 

• TT to the OF rotation with Mitchell and Wiemer and BA to 3rd
• Urias to 2B/3B rotation with Truang/BA and BA rotating in the OF with Mitchell and Wiemer)

When both are back, Voit is the most likely candidate (at least for now).  Wiemer could be sent down, but simply is playing too well. 

And we start to have a logjam for playing time.  Mitchell, Wiemer, BA, and Turang are all hitting/fielding well enough to be deserve a starting position.  I don't have an issue with TT being a backup OF, but Urias has been good enough historically to start too.  

I have to imagine that Taylor is a prime trade candidate right now... we simply have too many people better than he is at playing CF (with Frelick and Chourio waiting in the wings) to need him.

I suspect by the time Urias is back, someone else will have taken a knock. I would tend to agree that Voit is probably on the block as well if we're all healthy at one time and the rookies are still playing well by late May....and Voit is still not hitting. I also suspect at some point, one or more of the rookies will start getting attacked different by pitchers and MLB pitchers will expose an exploitable weakness(see Hiura high fastball). I'm not intending to be overly negative, but the odds of 3 rookies crushing it and sticking all at once without facing significant adversity is unlikely...and honestly if all 3 do stick and continue crushing then it's hard to really be concerned about how Taylor/Urias are handled as they'll be more or less glued to the bench if they stay anyways.

[CheezWizHed]

Voit seems to be the most "volatile" of our bubble players.  His career line has been very inconsistent while rarely playing a full season.  He was a nice low-risk grab late in the season, but he is going to need to start hitting soon if he wants to stick. 

I fully agree the rookies will struggle.  But I also think all three have higher ceilings than Taylor or Urias and should get the priority until there is a weakness exploited.  And you know that neither TT nor Urias will remain "glued" to the bench...and to be fair, they shouldn't.  They are good enough players in the MLB to be used in the right spots. 

[Jim French Stepstool]

4 hours ago, CheezWizHed said:

 

I have to imagine that Taylor is a prime trade candidate right now... we simply have too many people better than he is at playing CF (with Frelick and Chourio waiting in the wings) to need him.

Seeing as how he hits from the right side & plays a pretty good CF I think Taylor has a spot on this years' team. Looking to '24 & beyond I agree it's hard to see a role for him. 

When we still had Ruiz it looked pretty likely one of the young OFs would be dealt. These things usually work themselves out but in a couple years the potential OF logjam will be even more interesting.

[igor67]

Between being right handed, good defense and veteran enough to handle bench duty that Taylor is a good fit as a 5th OFer (he's already shown himself to be an above average 4th OFer). Filling DH ABs isn't terribly difficult, so I think it just comes down to having some emergency type options for 1st base.

[Robocaller]

I have no faith in our bullpen, though more hope than at the beginning of the season. It will take 40 games before I change my mind much. 

But yeah, promising things going on.

 

[jonescm128]

The biggest thing for me I have noticed so far is that this team is going to be extremely exciting to watch and its going to be a lot of fun. The team seems to be enjoying themselves - something that was definitely missing last year. 

[CheezWizHed]

18 hours ago, Jim French Stepstool said:

Seeing as how he hits from the right side & plays a pretty good CF I think Taylor has a spot on this years' team. Looking to '24 & beyond I agree it's hard to see a role for him. 

When we still had Ruiz it looked pretty likely one of the young OFs would be dealt. These things usually work themselves out but in a couple years the potential OF logjam will be even more interesting.

And since Ruiz was dealt, I guess it was pretty likely. 😂

But Wiemer is eating Taylors lunch right now.  Right handed, plays a good CF (much better than I expected).  So unless Wiemer tanks, I think TT might be a trade chip this year.  TT enters arby next year and while he is a nice player... I doubt we offer him arbitration with so many young OFers coming. 

Plus some people think Chourio (also plays CF and is right handed) could be up this year too. 

I isn't a stretch that next year's OF is Yeli, Chourio, Mitchell, Weimer, and Frelick.  Even if Yeli goes to DH, it is hard to see room for TT on an arby contract as the 5th OFer. 

[igor67]

On the other hand while I could even see Frelick being a notably better player than Taylor, he may well have way more value in trade if we are dealing an OFer. Taylor could net us a potentially useful player, but maybe Frelick is the key part that can net us more of a difference maker, maybe a starting pitcher who is about to enter arbitration? Or maybe just multiple younger pitchers?