Brewers acquire Frankie Montas

[Brian]

10 hours ago, gregmag said:

Frankie Montas, ladies and gentlemen. Seven innings of brutally efficient one-hit ball, on the road against technically the (now former) second-place team in the division. He was still hitting 97 in the 7th. 

In no way am I saying I saw this coming, but maybe the Brewers brain trust know what they’re doing. 

I agree 100% plus the blessing of having Craig Counsell abandon ship for $$$$. 

[ToolShed55]

40 minutes ago, markedman5 said:

It’s so much fun being a fan of a team that seems to have a lot of smart people running it.

2 innings into the next IGT, when we're losing.

"Fire everyone!!!" ;)

 

[Brian]

4 minutes ago, ToolShed55 said:

2 innings into the next IGT, when we're losing.

"Fire everyone!!!" ;)

 

Just for the bipolar Brewers fans. 

[snoogans8056]

3 hours ago, formerlybis said:

It's hard to say whether this matters or not, but there was some mention in a recent article about Chourio that the Spanish-speakers amongst the Brewers hang out on the road. He mentioned Montas as part of that group. I don't know the Reds roster very well (i.e., whether there was a group of Spanish-speaking players), but he seems to have been embraced fairly quickly here.

It is fun to see how everyone interacts with Chourio. Just the subtle picking on him, helmet taps, and brush offs. I don't know if we'd have had this turnaround from him without all those guys.

[shanedog19]

1 hour ago, CheezWizHed said:

How do we win more than one division in 2024? If we win the NL-Central and the NL-East Does that mean we play ourselves in the playoffs?  Or if it is NL-Central and AL-Central, do we get two shots at the WS? 😂

What I meant was a potential trip to the NLCS or maybe even a World Series!

[igor67]

The FIP numbers for me are important because Montas first starts were nothing special, and the 3rd he gave up the 3 unearned runs so you could kind of read his overall performance a couple of different ways.

[Underachiever]

2 hours ago, CheezWizHed said:

How do we win more than one division in 2024? If we win the NL-Central and the NL-East Does that mean we play ourselves in the playoffs?  Or if it is NL-Central and AL-Central, do we get two shots at the WS? 😂

You just know if the Brewers played themselves, the batters would be salivating at the thought of getting at those weak starters, and the pitchers would be champing at the bit to face this sorry group of hitters.

[markedman5]

1 hour ago, Brian said:

I agree 100% plus the blessing of having Craig Counsell abandon ship for $$$$. 

The one thing CC managed to prove this year is that the Brewers( and almost every team other than the Cubs) were correct in how they compensated managers.

 

[Brian]

1 hour ago, Underachiever said:

You just know if the Brewers played themselves, the batters would be salivating at the thought of getting at those weak starters, and the pitchers would be champing at the bit to face this sorry group of hitters.

Is this Jimmy Kimmel?

[CheezWizHed]

18 hours ago, shanedog19 said:

What I meant was a potential trip to the NLCS or maybe even a World Series!

One of my major skills is to read something the wrong way (intentionally) and run with it. 😉

[Playing Catch]

21 hours ago, homer said:

LOL yeah it's probably a coincidence but I feel like this isn't the first time a guy came to the Brewers and all of a sudden added a few ticks to the fastball. I have no idea how the pitching lab would go about doing that.

I wonder if it isn't simply an "attitude adjustment". As in, "We want you to go right after hitters. Attack them. Use the heater! Strike them out using your fastball(s)."

Instead of pitching to control the fastball on the edges, they are telling him, "Never mind maneuvers, just go straight at 'em."

[Brian]

On 8/21/2024 at 11:50 AM, CheezWizHed said:

I wonder if certain pitches are more taxing on your arm than others? Thus, avoiding those pitches gives you a bit more for your other pitches (on average over 6 innings).

I always thought the slider was the hardest on the arm.

 

[Lathund]

On 8/21/2024 at 6:46 PM, homer said:

LOL yeah it's probably a coincidence but I feel like this isn't the first time a guy came to the Brewers and all of a sudden added a few ticks to the fastball. I have no idea how the pitching lab would go about doing that.

He's also someone who was hurt last year, and the velo started ticking up throughout the season. Could just be that he's finally fully healthy. But yeah, sometimes a simple mechanical tweak can do a lot too. I just think that the Reds would've found the low-hanging fruit. Derek Johnson is pretty good at his job too, after all. 

[sveumrules]

Thru July 31st, the Brewers rotation was at 513.2 IP (30th) | 100 ERA- (13th) | 7.1 rWAR (16th).

Since trading for Montas at the deadline its 228.2 IP (8th) | 92 ERA- (8th) | 4.0 rWAR (9th).

The early season bullpen that put up 445.2 IP (1st) | 80 ERA- (3rd) | +8.82 WPA (2nd) thru July 31st and was never going to be able to hold up under such a heavy workload has posted 151 IP (18th) | 69 ERA- (3rd) | +4.24 WPA (2nd) since August 1st. 

[Fear The Chorizo]

On 8/24/2024 at 10:44 AM, Brian said:

I always thought the slider was the hardest on the arm.

 

Splitfinger fastballs probably are harder overall on the arm because of the tension pitchers need to put on the baseball with the fingers (and tendons going further into the forearm to the elbow) - traditional sliders are also hard on the elbow ("turn the door knob" sort of release action), but as Bauer indicates above grip adjustments can create an effective slider without so much torque on the elbow.

[wallus]

I pretty much just trust the front office when it comes to pitching these days. We've come a long way.

[formerlybis]

6 hours ago, sveumrules said:

Thru July 31st, the Brewers rotation was at 513.2 IP (30th) | 100 ERA- (13th) | 7.1 rWAR (16th).

Since trading for Montas at the deadline its 228.2 IP (8th) | 92 ERA- (8th) | 4.0 rWAR (9th).

The early season bullpen that put up 445.2 IP (1st) | 80 ERA- (3rd) | +8.82 WPA (2nd) thru July 31st and was never going to be able to hold up under such a heavy workload has posted 151 IP (18th) | 69 ERA- (2nd) | +4.24 WPA (2nd) since August 1st. 

Just curious - which team has a bullpen with better ERA- and WPA? My guess is the Guardians, but let's see.

[sveumrules]

5 minutes ago, formerlybis said:

Just curious - which team has a bullpen with better ERA- and WPA? My guess is the Guardians, but let's see.

For the first four months it was CLE (61) and ATL (71) on ERA- and CLE (+11.02) on WPA.

Since August 1st its DET (65) and LAA (68) on ERA- and PHI (+4.27) on WPA.

CLE bullpen has come down a little to "only" a 77 ERA- (6th) and +3.63 WPA (4th) since August 1st.

[KurtRussell]

Here's a question: Who says no to Montas's $20 million mutual option next year? I'm not certain it's the Brewers anymore.

[Frisbee Slider]

15 minutes ago, KurtRussell said:

Here's a question: Who says no to Montas's $20 mutual option next year? I'm not certain it's the Brewers anymore.

At this point, we should absolutely pick up one year option, right?

[KurtRussell]

1 minute ago, Frisbee Slider said:

At this point, we should absolutely pick up one year option, right?

If nothing else, he should be tradeable at that price. But wouldn't mind keeping him if we lose Adames and trade Williams. 

[LouisEly]

1 hour ago, KurtRussell said:

Here's a question: Who says no to Montas's $20 million mutual option next year? I'm not certain it's the Brewers anymore.

It's an option with a $2M buyout, not a guaranteed contract year, so the Brewers have until 5 days after the end of the World Series to sign him to an extension and tear up the option year.