Brewers at Reds; Wednesday, June 4 @ 11:40 a.m.: DL Hall (1.69 ERA) vs. Andrew Abbott (1.51 ERA, 3.15 FIP)

[markedman5]

5 minutes ago, Team Canada said:

Why is Mears in this game? He pitched 6/1. Alexander pitched 5/31. Or yes, Ashby.

Alexander is gone

[Team Canada]

Don't look now, but Chourio may be rounding into summer form.

[Team Canada]

Just now, markedman5 said:

Alexander is gone

D'oh! You're right, that was the Quintana move.

[adambr2]

Really nice job to keep riding the momentum despite the loss yesterday and take the series. 

Hot take: (or maybe not really a hot take at all) the Brewers’ pitching system in general (including Hook, the pitching lab, and all aspects of the organizational pitching coaching/development) is far more valuable than any individual player on the team. 

[willie key]

Great performance today.  

[duewizard]

Great win. The Hall-Priester tandem seems to be working. Get the Padres on Friday!

[BeerSlide]

Still too small a sample but reasons for optimism 

[Joseph Zarr]

The Crew have now won 12 consecutive series vs the Reds. That's pretty snazzy.

[Joseph Zarr]

AND, I just watched RHP Ryan Birchard set a career high with 10 strikeouts (to 2 BB - 2 solo jacks in there). T-Rats about to pull to 0.500 and lead 8-2 with two down in the 7th and final frame. Good day for early Brewers baseball!

[sveumrules]

4 minutes ago, Team Canada said:

Don't look now, but Chourio may be rounding into summer form.

First 15 Games (68 PA)
313/309/657 (162 wRC+)
0.0 BB% | 25.0 K%

Next 33 Games (146 PA)
200/233/300 (46 wRC+)
3.4 BB% | 21.2 K%

13 Games Before Today (61 PA)
316/361/491 (138 wRC+)
6.6 BB% | 16.4 K%

060224 to 092924 (397 PA)
305/360/527 (143 wRC+)
7.3 BB% | 18.4 K%

Took him a couple months to get there (again), but the last couple weeks have definitely been the closest we've gotten to the Chourio from the last four months of 2024.

[MilwaukeeBeers]

I still think Chourio overall is still a bit too aggressive in his approach. He is swinging too much early in the count and out of the zone as a result. However, it is good to see him striking the ball with more authority consistently.

[sveumrules]

18 minutes ago, adambr2 said:

Hot take: (or maybe not really a hot take at all) the Brewers’ pitching system in general (including Hook, the pitching lab, and all aspects of the organizational pitching coaching/development) is far more valuable than any individual player on the team. 

The whole pitching infrastructure is huge no doubt, but going back to 2023 Brewers pitchers have been middle of the pack with a 100 FIP- (17th) and 34.3 fWAR (18th)

It's when the defense (+130 DRS | +85 FRV) gets introduced to the equation that they ascend to the upper echelons with an 89 ERA- (1st) and 53.7 rWAR (2nd).

[owbc]

22 minutes ago, adambr2 said:

Really nice job to keep riding the momentum despite the loss yesterday and take the series. 

Hot take: (or maybe not really a hot take at all) the Brewers’ pitching system in general (including Hook, the pitching lab, and all aspects of the organizational pitching coaching/development) is far more valuable than any individual player on the team. 

Pitching machine go brrrrrrrr + acquire superstar in brilliant trade heist every 5 years + role players all embody their feisty manager = success 

 

Edit: Sveum’s comment above about run prevention via defense probably belongs somewhere in this equation too 

[Playing Catch]

It bugs me that "Brewers [supposedly] Live" cuts away from Murphy's post-game presser.

[owbc]

7 minutes ago, sveumrules said:

The whole pitching infrastructure is huge no doubt, but going back to 2023 Brewers pitchers have been middle of the pack with a 100 FIP- (17th) and 34.3fWAR (18th)

It's when the defense (+130 DRS | +85 FRV) gets introduced to the equation that they ascend to the upper echelons with an 89 ERA- (1st) and 53.7 rWAR (2nd).

That’s insane. I wonder how much we spend on pitching relative to other teams that are in the middle of the pack. Our bang for the buck is probably pretty high. 

[formerlybis]

3 hours ago, formerlybis said:

Yeah, and a lineup with Monasterio, Cameron, Hasse all in (and the usual Ortiz situation) doesn't inspire confidence against a guy who threw 7 innings of one-hit ball at the Cubs last time out.

But, it's baseball...

Yes, it is baseball.

Add in Collins as a PH-LF and that bunch drove in 7 of the 9 runs today, when I was expecting a total of 2 runs or less.

And how 'bout the job of DQ Halster?

[tmwiese55]

Was surprised to see Mears too but I think we all know that they know it too.  It was clearly by intent not stupidity.  I'd guess, Mears off since the 1st so by Friday that's 5 days off, which they didn't love.  And I'd guess Ashby is in a situation where they want multiple innings and subsequently days off due to health management.  So they might have it that if he pitched today he wouldn't be available on Friday (especially for 2-4 innings) if needed.  Thus you're left with the guy who hasn't pitched in the longest in Mears. 

In a sense its a good thing that you essentially don't have a 'bad pitcher' in the pen at this point to eat innings in this situation. Ashby is the closest thing to it for sure but his multi inning status and injury history limit him. So moreso than bashing the coach for bullpen use here, its likely more appropriate to discuss whether Ashby should be on the team. Though I didn't do any digging to see his option status and if he can be send down. If he can't be, well then it is what it is 

[Jim French Stepstool]

Whoever had Monasterio, Cameron, Haase & Collins combining for 7 ribbies..........yahtzee.

Some real vindication lately. Had he still had options I would've sent Priester to Nashville awhile ago. But he seems to be taking to the bulk role (or whatever you want to call it) that he's been put in on the road trip. And this is a pretty nice infield to be hitting multiple ground balls at.

Also Cameron. To me his ABs looked horrible in his first 3-4 games. But he's staying on the ball & it's starting to jump off his bat. Four-thirty-seven is no joke; didn't know he had that in him. He certainly has earned the ABs vs LHP if not more.

Maybe the last two innings were a case of us being ultra-familiar with Miley. But I'm thinking he's cooked. A terrific individual who would be an asset to any organization if he chooses to make baseball a career when he's done playing.

Here's what I think they're going to do with Ortiz: Nothing. I believe he'll be at SS for the remainder of the year & if he doesn't hit, then he doesn't hit & they'll send up a batter for him if trailing late. Monasterio might get a little more run there than he would otherwise get. They'll be content to live with Ortiz saving runs--he did it again today. I suppose if there's a non-contender that has a SS in his last year that can defend well---not so-so, well---a deal could happen. But I have no idea if there's anyone out there like that. Some of you who scour rosters might know better.

If I'm the opposition Chourio would scare the hell out of me. Such a tender age, plate discipline & pitch recognition extremely inconsistent, yet he's still productive enough to put up more than respectable numbers. Whatever his ceiling is, we're all fortunate to see him working towards it here.

[HarryDoyle]

45 minutes ago, markedman5 said:

That’s a mind boggling 12 straight series wins vs the reds…….lol

Hell of a road trip and a happy flight 

Too bad we don't play them again until mid August.

[Jim French Stepstool]

9 hours ago, Team Canada said:

I will take this piggyback all day long if it's going to turn out like this!

Yep. What makes this work is not needing much of anything past Priester. In two such games they've used the BP (after him) for one inning total. Beautiful stuff if it continues to unfold that way.

[Jopal78]

12 minutes ago, Jim French Stepstool said:

Yep. What makes this work is not needing much of anything past Priester. In two such games they've used the BP for one inning total. Beautiful stuff if it continues to unfold that way.

Murphy is a genius. Hehe. Just needed to get a couple of arms healthy to raise the talent floor

[BruisedCrew]

Ashby got up late when the lead got up to 9-1. Maybe he wasn’t warmed up adequately to be comfortable bringing him in. So, they stuck with Mears who was preparing to enter with a 6-1 lead, was heated up, and hadn’t pitched for a few days. 
 

At this,point Ashby might be the guy they plan to go to when they are a few runs behind, early, a position they haven’t faced for awhile

[wiguy94]

33 minutes ago, tmwiese55 said:

Was surprised to see Mears too but I think we all know that they know it too.  It was clearly by intent not stupidity.  I'd guess, Mears off since the 1st so by Friday that's 5 days off, which they didn't love.  And I'd guess Ashby is in a situation where they want multiple innings and subsequently days off due to health management.  So they might have it that if he pitched today he wouldn't be available on Friday (especially for 2-4 innings) if needed.  Thus you're left with the guy who hasn't pitched in the longest in Mears. 

In a sense its a good thing that you essentially don't have a 'bad pitcher' in the pen at this point to eat innings in this situation. Ashby is the closest thing to it for sure but his multi inning status and injury history limit him. So moreso than bashing the coach for bullpen use here, its likely more appropriate to discuss whether Ashby should be on the team. Though I didn't do any digging to see his option status and if he can be send down. If he can't be, well then it is what it is 

Ashby has looked totally fine in his two outings this year. A bit wild in the second one but certainly nothing that should have him this deep in the doghouse. He has great stuff and his track record as a reliever in MLB has been superb.

[Sixtolezcano]

2 hours ago, Brian said:

"Hotter than a stolen tamale"

Or maybe a D.C. TACO.

[tmwiese55]

1 minute ago, wiguy94 said:

Ashby has looked totally fine in his two outings this year. A bit wild in the second one but certainly nothing that should have him this deep in the doghouse. He has great stuff and his track record as a reliever in MLB has been superb.

Sure.  I wasn't saying it was doghouse even.   More that it might be that he's the type that needs multiple days off since he's used to longer outings, thus if used today he wouldn't be available Friday for the role he's intended.         But just saw the post that he was beginning to warm up, so it was likely out of what that poster said.   Especially since Mears was warmed up anyway and hadn't pitched in a few days