Brewers at Blue Jays; Friday, August 29 @ 6:07 p.m.: Freddy Peralta (2.68 ERA, 3.69 FIP) vs. Shane Bieber (1.50 ERA, 2.79 FIP)

[treego14]

[treego14]

Freddy is Ready

TO 

Drive Shane inSane!

[torts]

[adambr2]

Stop losing. 

[liveforoctober]

Take this for what it's worth ... but for the last week+ or so every game I have thought "yeah we got this one" we have lost and every game where I haven't felt great we have pulled out with about a 90% accuracy...

.. and I don't have a good feeling about this one. Bet accordingly.

[BruisedCrew]

These next two series could go a long way toward showing us whether the Brewers recent 5-8 stretch is just an inevitable blip after an unsustainable hot streak or the start of a September swoon like the one suffered by the 2008 Brewers. 

A 10-17 finish like that would definitely put the division title at risk.

[treego14]

17 minutes ago, BruisedCrew said:

These next two series could go a long way toward showing us whether the Brewers recent 5-8 stretch is just an inevitable blip after an unsustainable hot streak or the start of a September swoon like the one suffered by the 2008 Brewers. 

A 10-17 finish like that would definitely put the division title at risk.

The Brewers will cruise to the division crown!

No need to frown!

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

2 hours ago, BruisedCrew said:

These next two series could go a long way toward showing us whether the Brewers recent 5-8 stretch is just an inevitable blip after an unsustainable hot streak or the start of a September swoon like the one suffered by the 2008 Brewers. 

A 10-17 finish like that would definitely put the division title at risk.

Given the choice between 2008 and 2014, I would absolutely take 2008.

;)

[kestrel79]

2014 somehow still goes under the radar...that was so depressing. Weren't we up leading the Division through August and choked? I think we only won a couple games all month in Sept. 

I'd rather them lose now and get hot for the playoffs, then keep playing well now and get cold for the playoffs.

[markedman5]

No announcement yet of Chourio being activated 

 

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

20 minutes ago, kestrel79 said:

2014 somehow still goes under the radar...that was so depressing. Weren't we up leading the Division through August and choked? I think we only won a couple games all month in Sept. 

I'd rather them lose now and get hot for the playoffs, then keep playing well now and get cold for the playoffs.

It was awful. We were up 3 after sweeping the Dodgers in LA mid-August. But we finished 12-25 and ended up 8 games back.

Probably the most depressing stretch of Brewers baseball I can remember (it's not as depressing when you know you're going to be bad, like it was throughout much of the 90s and 00s), especially when we started 2015 going like 4-17 or something. 

Come a long way since then!

[willie key]

McGee pitched well for us when we were in a bind.   

[markedman5]

 

[BruisedCrew]

34 minutes ago, kestrel79 said:

2014 somehow still goes under the radar...that was so depressing. Weren't we up leading the Division through August and choked? I think we only won a couple games all month in Sept. 

I'd rather them lose now and get hot for the playoffs, then keep playing well now and get cold for the playoffs.

I chose 2008 for the comparison over 2014 because I think the setup to the home stretch is more similar.

In 2014 the Brewers had a good start and led the division by as much as 6.5 games in early July.. But they lost 11 of 12 just before the All Star break to surrender that lead. They recovered for about a month to hold on to a small lead that did reach 3 games on August 17 Then they lost 8 of 10 to end the month to fall back into a tie  heading into September. (Obviously the teams chasing them were not exactly tearing it up.)'

Starting September, though they were tied for first place, they looked like a team in free fall. Then they lost 8 of their first 9 in September to fall 6 games back, and it was all over. Going 9-16 in July and 13-14 in August didn't carry the mark of a champion. so, the 9-17 September was not that shocking. They finished losing 25 of their last 36.

In 2008, though, after a slow start, the Brewers had pulled to about 10 games over .500 when they made the Sabbathia trade just before the All Star break. After the break they reeled off 8 wins to tie the Cubs for  first place. The four day massacre by the Cubs at Miller Park put a damper on hopes to win the division, so attention turned to the wild card race.

In August, the Brewers went 21-7 and though they couldn't gain ground on the Cubs, they went into September with a record of 80-56, second best in the NL, and 4.5 games ahead of the Mets and 5.5 games ahead of the Phillies. They only had to finish ahead of one of those teams for the one and only wild card spot because one of them would win the east.

The Brewers position looked strong and I don't think anyone anticipated what was coming next. The Brewers started the month getting swept by the Mets in a series at Miller Park. The next weekend they went into a 4 game series in Philadelphia still leading the Mets by .5 game, and the Phillies and charging Astros by 3.5 games.

After a 4 game massacre in that series that led to the panic firing of Ned Yost the Brewers were tied with the Philles and 1 game behind the Mets. They responded to the Yost firing by losing 4 of the next 5 and found themselves 2.5 games behind the fading Mets, who had surrendered the division lead to the Phillies.

We all know the ending. The Brewers won 6 of their last 7, including a 3 game home sweep over the last place Pirates, and 2 of 3 over the Cubs, who were resting players to get ready for the playoffs. to take the wild card from the Mets, who lost 5 of their last 8.

Anyway, the lesson from this is that a team that looks great in August can suddenly and unpredictably fall flat, I'm not predicting that the same thing will happen this year, but a long stretch of losing always begins with a short stretch of losing. It's important to keep that short stretch from mushrooming. 

At least this year, with the expansion of the number of wild card teams, a spot in the playoffs is everything but mathematically guaranteed. But nobody wants to see the team limping into the playoffs like in 2008.

[BruisedCrew]

36 minutes ago, willie key said:

McGee pitched well for us when we were in a bind.   

He will probably be back. I think the Nashville shuttle will be busy in September

[BruisedCrew]

37 minutes ago, markedman5 said:

 

Looks like they are going to see how Chourio looks and feels in pregame warmups before making a decision. If he can't show that he can run at full speed without hesitation there is no point activating him.

[wiguy94]

3 minutes ago, BruisedCrew said:

He will probably be back. I think the Nashville shuttle will be busy in September

I'd guess probably not with McGee as he's been optioned 5 times this year now. If you recall him in September you need to expose him to waivers if you want to send him back down.

[Nola Beery]

1 hour ago, kestrel79 said:

2014 somehow still goes under the radar...that was so depressing. Weren't we up leading the Division through August and choked? I think we only won a couple games all month in Sept. 

I'd rather them lose now and get hot for the playoffs, then keep playing well now and get cold for the playoffs.

Yeah. If only it worked that way!

[markedman5]

My feeling all along was that they would find out when feels he is good to go and then wait another day or 2.

 

[markedman5]

 

[Nola Beery]

CONFESSION: The Blue Jays are my second favorite team. For reasons not worth explaining, I was a Montreal Expos fan from the 1970's until they went to DC. Toronto gradually became a form of replacement because, well, I like Canada, for more reasons not worth explaining.  I'd love for this series to be a preview of the World Series.  But rest assured that I would be cheering for the Brewers all the way, just like I will be tonight.  <end of confession>

[markedman5]

 

[markedman5]

3 minutes ago, Nola Beery said:

CONFESSION: The Blue Jays are my second favorite team. For reasons not worth explaining, I was a Montreal Expos fan from the 1970's until they went to DC. Toronto gradually became a replacement because, well, I like Canada, for more reasons not worth explaining.  I'd love for this series to be a preview of the World Series.  But rest assured that I would be cheering for the Brewers all the way, just like I will be tonight.  <end of confession>

I was a Cardinals fan growing up after the Braves had left……..when Brewers arrived I remained a fan of both since they were in different leagues …..it was pretty easy.

Then 1982 happened………after that I was no longer a Cards fan.

[Frisbee Slider]

38 minutes ago, wiguy94 said:

I'd guess probably not with McGee as he's been optioned 5 times this year now. If you recall him in September you need to expose him to waivers if you want to send him back down.

At some point, it probably is OK exposing him to waivers. We seem to find a dozen Easton McGees per year.

[Nola Beery]

15 minutes ago, markedman5 said:

I was a Cardinals fan growing up after the Braves had left……..when Brewers arrived I remained a fan of both since they were in different leagues …..it was pretty easy.

Then 1982 happened………after that I was no longer a Cards fan.

Funny how affections change.  I liked the Wallbangers, but I couldn't really love any AL team (including Toronto) because of the DH. I had a lukewarm "default" affection for the Dodgers going waaaaayyyy back.  And I even thought I preferred LA in 2018.  But this guy, Tom, a big Brewers fan from WI, sat next to me in choir.  We'd sneak peeks at the phone to check on the game.  He converted me during that series, and I was impressed with the fight the Brewers put up, so I was sorry the Brewers lost.  After that, I thought I needed to "make a commitment" to a team. Milwaukee was now in the NL, and the DH didn't matter anyway. Plus... the mascot made beer! It was a no-brainer; I made a deliberate decision to rejoice and suffer with the Brewers -as I have done. 😆🙁 It's a bit like when I moved to New Orleans in '78 when the Saints were terrible (as they will this year):  I decided THIS is my NFL team, come hell or highwater (no pun intended on today's dark Katrina anniversary.)