Phillies at Brewers; Monday, September 1 @ 3:10 p.m.: Jacob Misiorowski (4.33 ERA, 3.14 FIP) vs. Taijuan Walker (3.63 ERA, 4.66 FIP)

[willie key]

3 minutes ago, 82brewcrew82 said:

I would think mid-month at best.

Mid month.   Good lord

[SomewhereInTime]

16 minutes ago, da swedish german said:

we had a lot of very average pitchers playing well this summer. no dawgs. just mentally weak guys with some physical talent 

I think we have some very mentally weak fans who need the off day tomorrow more than the players do.

[TURBO]

51 minutes ago, BarremlensTSSC said:

Jesus, people.  It's baseball.  They're going to lose games.  Calm down.

Why do you feel the need to constantly tell others how to post, how to feel, and how to act.

If the IGT threads irritate you so much, I'd suggest you don't check into the IGT threads.

Just knock it off.

[ClearWaterWI]

If you had told me the Brewers would go 9–10 during their ‘19 games in 18 days’ stretch, I would’ve assumed they’d lost the division lead

 

h

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

Baseball drives you nuts.

It never feels good to drop a game in the standings this time of year. Honestly, these times are always the most stressful. The math says you're good, but we also know the Cubs have a one in 15 shot to catch us, and that's not nothing. It's the time of year where I don't even really know what to be invested in. Just hope we win, and the rest shakes itself out. 

Today was a fascinating baseball game. We didn't pitch well enough to win. Or the Phillies pitched slightly less poorly. Or the Philly offense just hung in there a little better than ours. Maybe that lineup is just really darn good. Maybe it's all of that. 

We went 9-10 in a brutal stretch. We picked up half a game since beginning of last week. Dropped 1.5 since the end of the Cubs series. Could've been better. Could've been worse. I think the toll on the bullpen is a legit worry. Some guys are going to have to step here, especially if Miller is toast. We have to get some length from our starters or win some games 12-5 or something in these next 17 games, I would think. DL Hall makes a big difference if he's back. Gasser too. We're also in this weird in between phase where we have to play to win in order to secure the division (plus bye, because division without bye isn't all that meaningful seeing as we've done that multiple times over the past couple years), but we also have to think about October. I don't know. This stretch was just a grind, and we came out okay. There's still work to be done. But hard to gripe too much.

On today's game, here's one thing. I've watched a lot of baseball in my life, and I usually have a pretty good sense of what's going on. I can tell if a pitch is a ball before it gets to homeplate. When a ball comes off the bat, I can usually tell if it's a hit or not (even ground balls up the middle, which has been an adjustment). Close plays at first. Tag plays. All the same. I'm not always right, but I have a sense. Check swings, I have ZERO idea what's happening. Flip a coin. They are the black box of baseball. So many routine judgement calls get made in the course of a game, and it all feels totally arbitrary. I don't think there's a way to fix that. Maybe it's just uncertainty we have to live with. I can get behind that. Living with uncertainty is important. But I don't blame Murphy for getting upset today. You figure you get one of the two coin flips in the Realmuto AB. Didn't happen. Them's the brakes.

Deep breaths, day off, let's roll up at least 12 more wins before the month's out.

[Jim French Stepstool]

I briefly looked at one of the earlier pages & one of the first things I read was that the Miz hype is nonsense. So I think it's best not to waste my time.

As to the elephant in the room, to be honest I've seen further go-arounds than the Realmuto checked swing. But did he go? I think so, yeah. If this was 25 years ago & Mariano Rivera was in Yankee Stadium in the same situation would he have gotten the call? Of course. But Uribe had a bad start to the inning. Falling behind Schwarber 3-0 is almost always going to be a problem, and after the K you had your only RHH in the first four (albeit a good stick) in Realmuto, followed by a LHH who only had to close his eyes & swing to find a hole the entire day. That was a get-ahead, stay-ahead AB, and at 2-2 he missed pretty badly to run it full.

Didn't seem horrible at the time, but the leadoff walk by Misiorowski to Kepler in the 5th, things kinda hinged on that. I honestly think if he gets that first out there's a great chance he goes five w/one run allowed & you still have two lefties to go to in the BP, three if you add Zastryzny. Another no-no was Mears going 0-2 on Realmuto, then eventually hitting him. Can't do that vs a potent team; the Brewers have proven that by taking advantage of mistakes all year long.

Brandon Marsh, Bryson Stott, & Harrison Bader combined for nine base hits. And they weren't all on bad pitches. If they do even a hint of that for the rest of the year Philly will probably be world champs.

[willie key]

2 minutes ago, Jim French Stepstool said:

I briefly looked at one of the earlier pages & one of the first things I read was that the Miz hype is nonsense. So I think it's best not to waste my time.

As to the elephant in the room, to be honest I've seen further go-arounds than the Realmuto checked swing. But did he go? I think so, yeah. If this was 25 years ago & Mariano Rivera was in Yankee Stadium in the same situation would he have gotten the call? Of course. But Uribe had a bad start to the inning. Falling behind Schwarber 3-0 is almost always going to be a problem, and after the K you had your only RHH in the first four (albeit a good stick) in Realmuto, followed by a LHH who only had to close his eyes & swing to find a hole the entire day. That was a get-ahead, stay-ahead AB, and at 2-2 he missed pretty badly to run it full.

Didn't seem horrible at the time, but the leadoff walk by Misiorowski to Kepler in the 5th, things kinda hinged on that. I honestly think if he gets that first out there's a great chance he goes five w/one run allowed & you still have two lefties to go to in the BP, three if you add Zastryzny. Another no-no was Mears going 0-2 on Realmuto, then eventually hitting him. Can't do that vs a potent team; the Brewers have proven that by taking advantage of mistakes all year long.

Brandon Marsh, Bryson Stott, & Harrison Bader combined for nine base hits. And they weren't all on bad pitches. If they do even a hint of that for the rest of the year Philly will probably be world champs.

It was nonsense.   Maybe he will be a reliable pitcher for us in the future who knows.   But the hype was nonsense.    He probably shouldn’t even be on the roster right now.    Is he helping or hurting the team

[Jim French Stepstool]

6 minutes ago, Cool Hand Lucroy said:

 But hard to gripe too much.

 

If you need help making it easier, there's some folks on here who would be happy to give you a tutorial.😛

[Nola Beery]

1 hour ago, BarremlensTSSC said:

Jesus, people.  It's baseball.  They're going to lose games.  Calm down.

This is EXACTLY the place to vent, whine, commiserate, pi$s, moan &c. 

[OldSchoolSnapper]

10 minutes ago, ClearWaterWI said:

If you had told me the Brewers would go 9–10 during their ‘19 games in 18 days’ stretch, I would’ve assumed they’d lost the division lead

 

h

Weren't they 9.5 up? I don't know if it's mathematically possible to give that up going 9-10. 

I'd probably have guessed they were 4 up. The Cubs never ran away with their easy schedule.

 

[TURBO]

2 minutes ago, willie key said:

It was nonsense.   Maybe he will be a reliable pitcher for us in the future who knows.   But the hype was nonsense.    He probably shouldn’t even be on the roster right now.    Is he helping or hurting the team

I really want to disagree with this, but I can't.

I'm wondering if he bought into his own hype?  I mean, he's just a kid, some of what was going on had to effect him.

I think he can fill a roll on the roster, but I don't think he is a starter right now.  Maybe a multiple inning relief guy.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

2 minutes ago, TURBO said:

I really want to disagree with this, but I can't.

I'm wondering if he bought into his own hype?  I mean, he's just a kid, some of what was going on had to effect him.

I think he can fill a roll on the roster, but I don't think he is a starter right now.  Maybe a multiple inning relief guy.

He can go through the order once. It's very clear he can't get past that right now. He can start a game and throw a couple innings, which does matter, but he can't be stretched out for 5 innings anymore. 

[Jim French Stepstool]

6 hours ago, willie key said:

It was nonsense.   Maybe he will be a reliable pitcher for us in the future who knows.   But the hype was nonsense.    He probably shouldn’t even be on the roster right now.    Is he helping or hurting the team

No, it wasn't. You can disagree with prospect ratings if you'd like; that's your prerogative. But he would be coveted by every single team in MLB. He has all the tools & talent to be dominant. That's where the hype comes from, He certainly isn't a finished product. He's run hot & cold. The ability, the potential, the tools haven't changed one iota. Don't confuse 'hype' with a proclamation that the guy is at the top of his game at the MLB level from day one.

If you think he could be a reliable pitcher down the road, then the hype isn't 'nonsense'.

His going into the 5th inning & no longer, no, that doesn't help. But right now he's no different in that regard than anyone save for Peralta at times. If he could be replaced by an innings eater guaranteed to go 6-7 & give you 3 runs or less, let Chris Hook know. He'd appreciate knowing who it is.

[willie key]

The thing is like to know is when does a guy like Miz get stretched out?    Like what is the magical time when “ok now we are really gonna do it”.   It’s almost self defeating to a point.    If you don’t get stretched out than how do you finally become stretched out?     At some point pitchers need to pitch.  This is kind of why we are where we are in September because no one is ready to pitch   

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

1 minute ago, willie key said:

The thing is like to know is when does a guy like Miz get stretched out?    Like what is the magical time when “ok now we are really gonna do it”.   It’s almost self defeating to a point.    If you don’t get stretched out than how do you finally become stretched out?     At some point pitchers need to pitch.  This is kid of why we are where we are in September because no one is ready to pitch   

The answer is: next year.

The Brewers want him in October. They are going to limit his innings. He'll start a middle inning clean and go one time through max. 

It's first-year Hader, with the idea that Miz actually will move to start. Kind of like they did with Burnes, and remember how awful his first year starting went.

[Jim French Stepstool]

22 minutes ago, Cool Hand Lucroy said:

Baseball drives you nuts.

It never feels good to drop a game in the standings this time of year. Honestly, these times are always the most stressful. The math says you're good, but we also know the Cubs have a one in 15 shot to catch us, and that's not nothing. It's the time of year where I don't even really know what to be invested in. Just hope we win, and the rest shakes itself out. 

Today was a fascinating baseball game. We didn't pitch well enough to win. Or the Phillies pitched slightly less poorly. Or the Philly offense just hung in there a little better than ours. Maybe that lineup is just really darn good. Maybe it's all of that. 

We went 9-10 in a brutal stretch. We picked up half a game since beginning of last week. Dropped 1.5 since the end of the Cubs series. Could've been better. Could've been worse. I think the toll on the bullpen is a legit worry. Some guys are going to have to step here, especially if Miller is toast. We have to get some length from our starters or win some games 12-5 or something in these next 17 games, I would think. DL Hall makes a big difference if he's back. Gasser too. We're also in this weird in between phase where we have to play to win in order to secure the division (plus bye, because division without bye isn't all that meaningful seeing as we've done that multiple times over the past couple years), but we also have to think about October. I don't know. This stretch was just a grind, and we came out okay. There's still work to be done. But hard to gripe too much.

On today's game, here's one thing. I've watched a lot of baseball in my life, and I usually have a pretty good sense of what's going on. I can tell if a pitch is a ball before it gets to homeplate. When a ball comes off the bat, I can usually tell if it's a hit or not (even ground balls up the middle, which has been an adjustment). Close plays at first. Tag plays. All the same. I'm not always right, but I have a sense. Check swings, I have ZERO idea what's happening. Flip a coin. They are the black box of baseball. So many routine judgement calls get made in the course of a game, and it all feels totally arbitrary. I don't think there's a way to fix that. Maybe it's just uncertainty we have to live with. I can get behind that. Living with uncertainty is important. But I don't blame Murphy for getting upset today. You figure you get one of the two coin flips in the Realmuto AB. Didn't happen. Them's the brakes.

Deep breaths, day off, let's roll up at least 12 more wins before the month's out.

Great post. I'm not even thinking about Hall but if he makes it back, great. From what I understand Megill has a BP scheduled. It'll be interesting to hear the aftermath of that.

I keep hearing from some about Chicago needing to lose, and I keep running to the standings to see just how far out of 1st place we are. WE need to WIN our share of games; period. Nothing has been clinched, which is fine with 23 games left. But you'd think we're being chased by the '27 Yankees.

[willie key]

3 minutes ago, Jim French Stepstool said:

No, it wasn't. You can disagree with prospect ratings if you'd like; that's your prerogative. But he would be coveted by every single team in MLB. He has all the tools & talent to be dominant. That's where the hype comes from, He certainly isn't a finished product. He's run hot & cold. The ability, the potential, the tools haven't changed one iota. Don't confuse 'hype' with a proclamation that the guy is at the top of his game at the MLB level from day one.

If you think he could be a reliable pitcher down the road, then the hype isn't 'nonsense'.

His going into the 5th inning & no longer, no, that doesn't help. But right now he's no different in that regard than anyone save for Peralta at times. If he could be replaced by an innings eater guaranteed to go 6-7 & give you 3 runs or less, let Chris Hook know. He'd appreciate it.

We are probably differing on the definition of “hype” so it’s probably not worth debating.    If you are going by being a prospect then Henderson maybe should be more hyped.    He’s actually a high prospect who’s pitched better than miz.  
 

but in the short term, I’m not saying it will happen but if Jim French had to bet your life on who could get 6 innings 3 earned runs or less next start that you want.   Would you bet Miz or Patrick. 
 

it ain’t a great choice but I just don’t see Miz doing that ever this year.    Make him a reliever if he can warm up in time or replace him

[willie key]

2 minutes ago, Jim French Stepstool said:

Great post. I'm not even thinking about Hall but if he makes it back, great. From what I understand Megill has a BP scheduled. It'll be interesting to hear the aftermath of that.

I keep hearing from some about Chicago needing to lose, and I keep running to the standings to see just how far out of 1st place we are. WE need to WIN our share of games; period. Nothing has been clinched, which is fine with 23 games left. But you'd think we're being chased by the '27 Yankees.

I think the angst comes from who they are playing.   I looked and they got the damn nationals next.  Cripes

 

[adambr2]

I really think this pitching staff could benefit from more of a piggybacking approach, both to be more effective and limit innings. 

Miz should not be throwing past the 4th inning at this point, regardless of how he’s looked in the first 4 innings. We’re just not getting the length we need out of the rotation anyway.

So why not cap Miz, Woodruff, Gasser, and Fedde/Hall (once he gets stretched back out) at 4 innings each and have two piggyback spots in the rotation? Yeah, you’ll have to go a man down in the pen (we’re a man up right now with the extra guy), but you’ll have your most effective guys and you won’t have to ask as much out of them because you’ll be getting 7-8 innings of length in at least 2 spots in your rotation. 

[Jim French Stepstool]

7 minutes ago, willie key said:

 

but in the short term, I’m not saying it will happen but if Jim French had to bet your life on who could get 6 innings 3 earned runs or less next start that you want.   Would you bet Miz or Patrick. 
 

 

If you emphasize the '6 innings' aspect I'd have to roll the dice with Patrick. But Misiorowski could go five & give up one or zero. Also, Patrick has gone 6 innings once in his last 8 starts for Milwaukee (I don't know what the game logs are in his Nashville starts but he's averaging less than 6 down there). 

It's a good debate, & if you're looking for a replacement starter Patrick would probably be the guy. Right now they have someone who is dominant when he's on, and they're giving him room to grow within his parameters.

In his last nine-and-a-third innings he's walked two. If it was six or seven you'd probably be getting your way.

[Brewluver]

19 minutes ago, adambr2 said:

I really think this pitching staff could benefit from more of a piggybacking approach,

I'm not sure how this approach would be helpful ??

[Brian]

1 hour ago, Nola Beery said:

If your best hope is that your starter can  last maybe 5 innings, every game is a bullpen game. And your bullpen is eventually gonna run out of gas.

That is true except for Peralta and Quintana. 

[Jim French Stepstool]

38 minutes ago, willie key said:

   If you are going by being a prospect then Henderson maybe should be more hyped.    He’s actually a high prospect who’s pitched better than miz.  
 

 

Henderson has been very good before going on the shelf. But we're talking about someone who throws over 100MPH, and who has a slider in the mid 90s along with a curveball. And a change that he actually locates well most of the time.  Unless it's a Steve Dalkowski or a Bruce Williams who makes you scared to stand in the on-deck circle for fear of being hit, that's always going to garner a lot of attention.

I think Henderson has a heck of a future if he can stay healthy.

[SomewhereInTime]

32 minutes ago, Jim French Stepstool said:

Great post. I'm not even thinking about Hall but if he makes it back, great. From what I understand Megill has a BP scheduled. It'll be interesting to hear the aftermath of that.

I keep hearing from some about Chicago needing to lose, and I keep running to the standings to see just how far out of 1st place we are. WE need to WIN our share of games; period. Nothing has been clinched, which is fine with 23 games left. But you'd think we're being chased by the '27 Yankees.

Another thing people need to understand is it isn't the end of the world if the Cubs pull off the miracle comeback.  It isn't the old days where season is over if you don't win the division.  They could lose every game the rest of the way and still probably get in the postseason.  The WC bye would be nice but you still have to win NLDS and NLCS to get to WS.

It also wouldn't necessarily be a good thing to clinch in two weeks and then have two weeks of meaningless baseball and then a full weak off between the season and NLDS.

I guess what I'm saying is I want them to win the division but don't want the race to be easy and over quickly this month.

[Jim French Stepstool]

1 minute ago, SomewhereInTime said:

 

It also wouldn't necessarily be a good thing to clinch in two weeks and then have two weeks of meaningless baseball and then a full weak off between the season and NLDS.

 

That happened one year under Counsell in the regular season & things just felt a little 'off' when the playoffs started. But it gives you the opportunity to set your rotation & pen so I wouldn't turn it down.

Sitting for awhile after the playoffs start sucks. But the $$$$$$ that results in expanded playoffs will always trump that. Baseball got it right when they had the one-gamer (maybe expand to best of three) between two WCs, then that team joins the division champs. Couldn't leave well enough alone.