Giants (Alexander) vs Brewers (TBD): 5/25/23, 6:40pm

[phnxcrew]

I feel like year after year, 3-4 scrubs on the giants have an OPS higher than nearly every player on the brewers.  weren’t we supposed to copy their hitting facility? 

[BruisedCrew]

19 minutes ago, Sixtolezcano said:

I sure hope this won’t be another shutout, but it sure is headed that way.

Now that the game is out of reach I’m expecting a meaningless solo homer to break up the shutout. 

[brewers888]

Wiemer is no where near being a major league hitter.

[yourout]

6 minutes ago, brewers888 said:

Wiemer is no where near being a major league hitter.

What I don't get is how an organization cannot see some of the mechanical issues with our hitters and deal with it in the minors instead of waiting till they get to The bigs where they just get eaten for lunch.

[Brewce]

6 minutes ago, yourout said:

What I don't get is how an organization cannot see some of the mechanical issues with our hitters and deal with it in the minors instead of waiting till they get to The bigs where they just get eaten for lunch.

I agree with you but I'm not sure Weimer would be in the big leagues if Frelick and Mitchell weren't hurt. 

[sobomp3]

Look, I don’t post here much but let’s call it like it is. This team just treading water right now should be seen as an accomplishment with all the injuries. Let’s see what happens when they are back to (almost) full strength. 

[Jim French Stepstool]

 I just went through the entire thread & am shocked that Counsell hasn't gotten any criticism for PHing Winker for Ruf in the 4th. Bullpen day for Frisco. They had LHs to use. I don't know why you'd burn off Ruf so early in the game.

I was a Winker defender when he first started receiving criticism here. His first handful of games he was swinging OK, then the illness & injury back-to-back. The further he's gotten away from the health issues.......I won't say the worse he's become, but he certainly isn't showing any semblance of the guy from the first couple weeks. If they insist on a LH bat for that roster spot he may have until Frelick is deemed ready.

[wiguy94]

11 minutes ago, Jim French Stepstool said:

 I just went through the entire thread & am shocked that Counsell hasn't gotten any criticism for PHing Winker for Ruf in the 4th. Bullpen day for Frisco. They had LHs to use. I don't know why you'd burn off Ruf so early in the game.

I was a Winker defender when he first started receiving criticism here. His first handful of games he was swinging OK, then the illness & injury back-to-back. The further he's gotten away from the health issues.......I won't say the worse he's become, but he certainly isn't showing any semblance of the guy from the first couple weeks. If they insist on a LH bat for that roster spot he may have until Frelick is deemed ready.

I didn't complain about that here but I did elsewhere. It pissed me off. Ruf nearly hits a HR in his first AB and then CC pinch hits the walking corpse that is Jesse Winker for him? Winker predictably did absolutely nothing in his 3 AB. He honestly looks more washed than LoCain did last year by my eye. Cain couldn't hit anymore but still was a great defensive OF until his last inning. Winker can't hit, can't run, can't field. His only asset is the ability to draw a walk...which will probably fade when pitchers realize he can't hit the ball and just start attacking him.

At this point, I think I would rather see Big Jon Singleton called up from AAA to run a DH platoon with Ruf than to see Jesse Winker take another AB.

[BlightyBrew]

 9 innings Crew had to work with, they K for a total of 4.1 innings.  Hard to do anything when nearly half your chances you can't even put the ball in play.

If they don't HR we don't score.  

[BruisedCrew]

10 hours ago, sobomp3 said:

Look, I don’t post here much but let’s call it like it is. This team just treading water right now should be seen as an accomplishment with all the injuries. Let’s see what happens when they are back to (almost) full strength. 

I recognize the injuries, but I don’t think they have had a huge impact on the offense, and I don’t see Urias coming back or adding another rookie as adding much to that. 

The injuries to the pitchers have had a bigger impact, but they are also much longer term. The only thing keeping the Brewers afloat is the expanded playoffs and the weak division because 85 wins (or even less) could be enough to make the playoffs. 

I have a hard time lowering my standards to the point of accepting a team this flawed as a playoff contender after watching some of the Brewers teams of the Yount-Molitor era that were much stronger and much more fun to watch that couldn’t come close to the playoffs. 
 

 

[Jim French Stepstool]

3 hours ago, BruisedCrew said:

I recognize the injuries, but I don’t think they have had a huge impact on the offense, and I don’t see Urias coming back or adding another rookie as adding much to that. 

The injuries to the pitchers have had a bigger impact, but they are also much longer term. The only thing keeping the Brewers afloat is the expanded playoffs and the weak division because 85 wins (or even less) could be enough to make the playoffs. 

I have a hard time lowering my standards to the point of accepting a team this flawed as a playoff contender after watching some of the Brewers teams of the Yount-Molitor era that were much stronger and much more fun to watch that couldn’t come close to the playoffs. 
 

 

I think what's keeping them afloat is that they're 27-23 through 50 games, despite the injuries. The offense certainly is flawed. Too much reliance on the HR ball, way too much guessing at the plate, and very little ability to fight off/take a pitch when guessing wrong. I don't have grandiose expectations as to their ceiling as hitters, but if you think everyone on the roster is performing as well as they can we'll just have to disagree. The last 112 will tell more of a tale than the first 50 have.

"Playoffs" certainly has taken on a whole different meaning today than in the late 70s-80s, no doubt about that.

[BruisedCrew]

2 hours ago, Jim French Stepstool said:

I think what's keeping them afloat is that they're 27-23 through 50 games, despite the injuries. The offense certainly is flawed. Too much reliance on the HR ball, way too much guessing at the plate, and very little ability to fight off/take a pitch when guessing wrong. I don't have grandiose expectations as to their ceiling as hitters, but if you think everyone on the roster is performing as well as they can we'll just have to disagree. The last 112 will tell more of a tale than the first 50 have.

"Playoffs" certainly has taken on a whole different meaning today than in the late 70s-80s, no doubt about that.

I’m certainly not saying that every player on the roster is performing as well as they can. But as a group I’m not sure that sitting back and waiting for them to produce more runs than they have in the first 50 games (and especially the last 44 games) is going to be successful. 
 

While there are some hitters that have clearly underperformed (with Adames topping the list) there are some who have produced as much or more than should be expected from them, like Miller, Tellez, and Anderson. There are a lot of question marks, like whether Yelich can maintain his pace of the last month, whether Contreras is going to labor some in his first year as a full time number one catcher, whether the rookies can figure out MLB pitching, etc.  

While the team is 27-23, they are also 13-18 in their last 31 games as the injuries to the SP have piled up. If Woodruff and Miley don’t return until after the All Star break (a definite possibility) the next 40 games might look more like the last 31 than the first 19. They certainly won’t be close to “full strength” before then even if they are fortunate enough to not have any more major injuries. 
 

[Jim French Stepstool]

1 hour ago, BruisedCrew said:

I’m certainly not saying that every player on the roster is performing as well as they can. But as a group I’m not sure that sitting back and waiting for them to produce more runs than they have in the first 50 games (and especially the last 44 games) is going to be successful. 
 

While there are some hitters that have clearly underperformed (with Adames topping the list) there are some who have produced as much or more than should be expected from them, like Miller, Tellez, and Anderson. There are a lot of question marks, like whether Yelich can maintain his pace of the last month, whether Contreras is going to labor some in his first year as a full time number one catcher, whether the rookies can figure out MLB pitching, etc.  

While the team is 27-23, they are also 13-18 in their last 31 games as the injuries to the SP have piled up. If Woodruff and Miley don’t return until after the All Star break (a definite possibility) the next 40 games might look more like the last 31 than the first 19. They certainly won’t be close to “full strength” before then even if they are fortunate enough to not have any more major injuries. 
 

I would say not having any more major injuries would be more like regressing to the mean than fortunate, given what they've gone through so far. 

I'm as unsure as you are as to how the offense will perform down the road. That's why the run prevention aspect is so important & always will be. It's why Anderson having to play a lot of RF as opposed to 3B is disappointing to me (although I understand it). You hope you can get 2 or 3 putting up good ABs at the same time. With Wiemer, Turang, maybe Frelick IMO it's a question of when, not if. "Adjusting to the adjustments" is a process. Next month or two? Next year? Stay tuned. You hope for continued good ABs from Ruf. Yeah, he appeared to be toast & was released. Guys like that get 2nd winds with a change of scenery. It happens.

I think Adames will climb out of this & get hot. I also believe he'll follow that up with yet another stretch where he'll make himself look like a clown with the poor ABs. 

Agree re Contreras. I think Caratini will be important in that regard.

I'm looking forward to the question marks being answered, the process playing out. I always do.