Brewers (Peralta) vs Pirates (TBD): 9/6/23, 11:35am

[Brock Beauchamp]

Another very early start in the getaway game with the Pirates. The Brewers really need to win this series, as the Cubs continue to refuse to lose.

[Austin Tatious]

Let’s hope Freddy can keep rolling.  We could use it.  

[treego14]

[wibadgers23]

Frelick back in the cleanup spot. Why?

[TURBO]

2 minutes ago, wibadgers23 said:

Frelick back in the cleanup spot. Why?

Because he is our clean-up hitter.  Duh?

[treego14]

[treego14]

3 minutes ago, wibadgers23 said:

Frelick back in the cleanup spot. Why?

He had a great night last night!

[sveumrules]

98 games pre-Frelick
86 wRC+ | 4.16 R/G

40 games with Frelick
94 wRC+ | 4.98 R/G

107 games pre-SantanCanha
87 wRC+ | 4.15 R/G

31 games with SantanCanha
93 wRC+ | 5.26 R/G

Wherever CC puts them in the lineup, the additions of Sal SantanCanha have definitely given the offense a boost the last thirty forty games.

[treego14]

[Jake McKibbin]

Colin Selby starting for the Pirates. He's a right handed opener, with a 1.43 WHIP on the season.

He's got a big old sinker, but not much movement wise, and it's been smacked around a bit to start his career. Likely going a maximum of two innings

His off speed stuff is getting a lot of swing and miss, so important not to let him get ahead of you too often

[Brewcrew82]

25 minutes ago, Jake McKibbin said:

Colin Selby starting for the Pirates. He's a right handed opener, with a 1.43 WHIP on the season.

He's got a big old sinker, but not much movement wise, and it's been smacked around a bit to start his career. Likely going a maximum of two innings

His off speed stuff is getting a lot of swing and miss, so important not to let him get ahead of you too often

Makes you wonder who’s the long guy today. You gotta think they wouldn’t have an opener if it was Keller pitching….That would be significant with the way that guy’s been throwing the ball.

[Jake McKibbin]

2 minutes ago, Brewcrew82 said:

Makes you wonder who’s the long guy today. You gotta think they wouldn’t have an opener if it was Keller pitching….That would be significant with the way that guy’s been throwing the ball.

On Saturday, Bailey Falter came in after a couple of innings from hatch, he's a lefty too so it maybe fits. Hasn't had the best of seasons, hanging the curveball a lot, so not too terrified if he does come in. Should be able to do damage, he's not striking out many, averaging regular hard hits, but doesn't allow many walks so the Brewers will need to him out of the way

[Brewcrew82]

Frelick’s BA is going to rise here very soon. .271 BABIP is more than 50 points below his minor league average. 

Garrett Mitchell gets a lot of love from the fan base for how he’s performed in his brief major league stint, but he’s the exact opposite of Frelick in terms of being a huge beneficiary of BABIP luck. Not to mention a 40% K rate vs a 16% K rate for Sal. 

[Jake McKibbin]

1 minute ago, Brewcrew82 said:

Frelick’s BA is going to rise here very soon. .271 BABIP is more than 50 points below his minor league average. 

Garrett Mitchell gets a lot of love from the fan base for how he’s performed in his brief major league stint, but he’s the exact opposite of Frelick in terms of being a huge beneficiary of BABIP luck. Not to mention a 40% K rate vs a 16% K rate for Sal. 

Part of the issue for Frelick is he hasn't made quality contact, a lot of balls in play from pop ups and weak grounders. It'll come I'm sure, just the usual rookie adapting to the increased quality in the big leagues

[Brewcrew82]

1 minute ago, Jake McKibbin said:

Part of the issue for Frelick is he hasn't made quality contact, a lot of balls in play from pop ups and weak grounders. It'll come I'm sure, just the usual rookie adapting to the increased quality in the big leagues

True. There’s a little projecting involved for Frelick that he will start to make harder contact as he continues to adjust to major league pitching. I don’t see why you wouldn’t project that though given how he’s hit the ball everywhere he’s been. Perhaps his double and triple last night are evidence that he’s figuring it out a bit.

[BruisedCrew]

I would think translating BABIP from the minors to MLB would be a tough proposition. In addition to it being more difficult to make hard contact against MLB pitching, MLB fielding is likely to be a lot better. 

Whenever I hear someone say a player has hit everywhere he has played, a picture of Hiura immediately pops into my head. 

I’m very much in the “show me” camp when it comes to expectations for rookies, and IMHO Frelick is in the early stages of that evaluation. 
 

That having been said, while I would put Canha fourth before Frelick, neither is a vintage cleanup hitter so who goes fourth and who goes sixth probably doesn’t make mush difference. But, with the bases loaded I’d rather have either before Adames.
 

[owbc]

14 minutes ago, Brewcrew82 said:

True. There’s a little projecting involved for Frelick that he will start to make harder contact as he continues to adjust to major league pitching. I don’t see why you wouldn’t project that though given how he’s hit the ball everywhere he’s been. Perhaps his double and triple last night are evidence that he’s figuring it out a bit.

Sal has issues with breaking pitches, to put it lightly. 

[Brewcrew82]

14 minutes ago, owbc said:

Sal has issues with breaking pitches, to put it lightly. 

Sure and most rookies do. But you gotta like the minor league track record over any other of our rookies. 

[Brewcrew82]

15 minutes ago, BruisedCrew said:

I would think translating BABIP from the minors to MLB would be a tough proposition. In addition to it being more difficult to make hard contact against MLB pitching, MLB fielding is likely to be a lot better. 

Whenever I hear someone say a player has hit everywhere he has played, a picture of Hiura immediately pops into my head. 

I’m very much in the “show me” camp when it comes to expectations for rookies, and IMHO Frelick is in the early stages of that evaluation. 
 

That having been said, while I would put Canha fourth before Frelick, neither is a vintage cleanup hitter so who goes fourth and who goes sixth probably doesn’t make mush difference. But, with the bases loaded I’d rather have either before Adames.
 

The difference between Hiura and Frelick is K rate. And it’s a major, major difference. Hiura struck out 26% of the time in AAA and his K rate kept increasing at every level of the minors. Looking back, that was evidence that he had a huge hole in his swing that major league pitchers would be able to exploit, and they did, despite his reputation as a “bonafide hitter”.

Frelick, who already started out as a high-contact hitter, has seen his K rate shrink at each minor league stop, culminating in a 8% K rate last year in AAA, which was one of the best in all the minors.

As for BABIP, yes it’s harder to maintain in the majors due to higher quality pitching and fielding. But we’re talking about a more than .50 point difference here for someone who has always maintained a high BABIP due to his speed. That cries for some positive regression, even if it’s not quite to his minor league levels.

[Underachiever]

Intimate gathering at PNC today.

[dlk9s]

The silence at the park is deafening.

Not that I blame the fans. Tough to pull the trigger on a ticket for a losing team on a weekday/weeknight.

[dlk9s]

Seriously, just throw Frelick low breaking balls. Just the eye test, but it seems like he hasn't figured those out at the big league level.

[Brewcrew82]

Willy picks up Sal.

[Team Canada]

Well that'll work.

[ReverendBrewmeister]

Huge 3-run homer for Adames with two outs. Great start!