Brewers (Sproat) vs Tigers (Skubal): 4/23/26, 12:10pm

[Sixtolezcano]

1 hour ago, BarremlensTSSC said:

The Brewers aren't imploding.  They're 6-4 in their last 10 games and .500 over their last 20.  2 games over .500 after playing the whole season thus far without Priester, Chourio and Vaughn isn't terrible, particularly when you lose Yelich in the process.  You can lose a division in the first 6 weeks but you can't lose a division at any point of a season by going 13-11 over 24 games.  Things aren't great but they're far from terrible and they haven't started playing in the division yet.

You mean the division with the best overall record.

[BruisedCrew]

BTW, I did not see the game live, but saw the summaries and watched a condensed version.

I have no problem with Contreras swinging at that 3-0 pitch. You have your best right handed hitter at the plate with an opportunity to drive in a run and open up a big inning. As someone else said the next pitch might not have been as good to hit.

If he had swung at a bad pitch, it would’ve upset me, but if he had driven it like he did in his previous at bat, everyone would have thought that it was brilliant.

[Jim French Stepstool]

I missed much of the game, but one thing this dispels is the "Woe is me, Skubal & Skenes back-to-back" nonsense. The matchup today, if the baseball gods offer you a one run lead in the 8th you take it every time. And in many other matchups too for that matter. What you need to lean on right now, the run prevention, failed late.

I guess you could say the randomness of baseball that sometimes rears its' head did so today. A 3 run rally fueled by hits from Rengifo, Matos, Perkins, Ortiz, & Hamilton, otherwise known to some as "The DFA Quintet". Then a chance to add on short-circuited by arguably your best hitter so far this season.

[yourout]

Bummer on the blown save.

Wonder how many we have at this time compared to last season.

[adambr2]

1 hour ago, BruisedCrew said:

BTW, I did not see the game live, but saw the summaries and watched a condensed version.

I have no problem with Contreras swinging at that 3-0 pitch. You have your best right handed hitter at the plate with an opportunity to drive in a run and open up a big inning. As someone else said the next pitch might not have been as good to hit.

If he had swung at a bad pitch, it would’ve upset me, but if he had driven it like he did in his previous at bat, everyone would have thought that it was brilliant.

The cardinal sin of that play was less the swing and the fact that they didn’t have Turang on the run from 1st. If you’re assuming that you’re going to get a hittable pitch and green lighting Contreras, there is almost no downside to sending the runner, especially with another runner on 3rd. 

Had they done so a run would have scored and they would have still had a runner in scoring position with two outs. 

[Jim French Stepstool]

15 minutes ago, adambr2 said:

The cardinal sin of that play was less the swing and the fact that they didn’t have Turang on the run from 1st. If you’re assuming that you’re going to get a hittable pitch and green lighting Contreras, there is almost no downside to sending the runner, especially with another runner on 3rd. 

Had they done so a run would have scored and they would have still had a runner in scoring position with two outs. 

I don't know about sending him w/a 3-0 count. I'm not saying it's a bad idea, but the downside is it's a strike but not in a spot Contreras is looking for, he takes it & you make the 2nd out w/the runner still at 3rd. Or a swing and miss, same result.

Don't get me wrong. There's logic behind sending Turang. But with less than 2 outs & Contreras hitting I think they felt less reason to get 'cute'. Bottom line, you had Contreras at the plate with one out 1st & 3rd, and Turang with one out bases loaded & came up empty both times.

[Jopal78]

I kind of wish they had Collins and Mears back instead of Zerpa and Matos/Perkins,/Jones

[nate82]

Collins has been worse than Perkins/Matos so far this year and Mears has been better than Zerpa but not that much.  

[Frisbee Slider]

17 minutes ago, Jopal78 said:

I kind of wish they had Collins and Mears back instead of Zerpa and Matos/Perkins,/Jones

Zerpa has been a touch better than that. Mears isn’t striking anyone out but has otherwise been fine. 

[BruisedCrew]

3 hours ago, Jim French Stepstool said:

I missed much of the game, but one thing this dispels is the "Woe is me, Skubal & Skenes back-to-back" nonsense. The matchup today, if the baseball gods offer you a one run lead in the 8th you take it every time. And in many other matchups too for that matter. What you need to lean on right now, the run prevention, failed late.

I guess you could say the randomness of baseball that sometimes rears its' head did so today. A 3 run rally fueled by hits from Rengifo, Matos, Perkins, Ortiz, & Hamilton, otherwise known to some as "The DFA Quintet". Then a chance to add on short-circuited by arguably your best hitter so far this season.

I strongly disagree that pessimism about facing Skubal and Skenes is “nonsense”.

It’s not that they can’t be beaten, but you can’t  deny that the probability of winning is lower when facing those pitchers than others. The Brewers were able to scrape out 4 runs, but still lost.

I’ll bet the Reds aren’t unhappy about getting to play the Tigers this weekend without having to face Skubal. The Brewers have never had that good fortune, and are now 0-3 in games that he’s started. 

[BarremlensTSSC]

3 hours ago, Sixtolezcano said:

You mean the division with the best overall record.

Yeah. That one.  lol.  What's your point?

[BarremlensTSSC]

5 hours ago, adambr2 said:

I haven’t checked the math on this but I know they were 5-5 in their last 10 when I looked at the standings yesterday so I don’t see any possibility that they’re 6-4 in their last 10 now.

You're right.  They're 5-5 in their last 10.  They're doomed.  lol.

[BarremlensTSSC]

Completely beyond me why people want to freak out because the Brewers are 2 games over .500 on April 23rd.  But hey, you guys do you.

[adambr2]

10 minutes ago, BarremlensTSSC said:

Completely beyond me why people want to freak out because the Brewers are 2 games over .500 on April 23rd.  But hey, you guys do you.

Not freaking out at all. Just pointing out the inaccuracy.

I’ve said all along they just need to tread water and at least stay within striking distance of 1st until mid to late May when they start getting healthy again.

[Jim French Stepstool]

1 hour ago, BruisedCrew said:

I strongly disagree that pessimism about facing Skubal and Skenes is “nonsense”.

It’s not that they can’t be beaten, but you can’t  deny that the probability of winning is lower when facing those pitchers than others. The Brewers were able to scrape out 4 runs, but still lost.

I’ll bet the Reds aren’t unhappy about getting to play the Tigers this weekend without having to face Skubal. The Brewers have never had that good fortune, and are now 0-3 in games that he’s started. 

My point is, it turned out to be a non-factor today. Skubal had nothing to do with them losing the game. You got to the late innings with a lead, and at that point the mismatch re the two starting pitchers was officially a wash. A couple of failures from your bigger guns, but overall I applaud their approach vs a very tough customer. And I applaud Sproat for righting the ship after a rocky first 4-5 hitters.

But sure, you'd always like to avoid an ace if you can.

 

[Jim French Stepstool]

1 hour ago, nate82 said:

Collins has been worse than Perkins/Matos so far this year and Mears has been better than Zerpa but not that much.  

Big picture, IMO Collins won't be missed much and if he's missed at all right now it's due to an OF who hasn't seen the field yet, and an OF-DH who hasn't played in about 10 days.

Mears would be nice as another RHP for the 5th-6th-7th, but if you don't have Zerpa then Ashby's arm might REALLY fall off from overuse.

[BarremlensTSSC]

54 minutes ago, adambr2 said:

Not freaking out at all. Just pointing out the inaccuracy.

I’ve said all along they just need to tread water and at least stay within striking distance of 1st until mid to late May when they start getting healthy again.

Maybe not, but you are unreasonably negative.

In any event, since you're "just pointing out the inaccuracy" and ignoring or agreeing with the larger point, well then enjoy your pedantry.

 

[Jim French Stepstool]

6 hours ago, Bulldogboy said:

I'll try again. What does he do well? Does he do anything that makes you say great move there? Just asking questions. Nobody seems to ever answer. 

Apologies if you're referring to something else, but in the 8th Zerpa retired the first man he faced, then had two LHH scheduled. One was hitting over .300 for the season & the other had two hits earlier in the game. 

So maybe you want to go to a RHP to keep Jahmai Jones on the bench & keep Colt Keith in the game? In that case there are 30 managers in MLB who would love to borrow your crystal ball because I doubt anyone who wants to keep their job would do that. Like someone said in a game thread the other day, not everything has to be someones' fault.

Or are you kvetching about something else?

[BruisedCrew]

4 hours ago, adambr2 said:

The cardinal sin of that play was less the swing and the fact that they didn’t have Turang on the run from 1st. If you’re assuming that you’re going to get a hittable pitch and green lighting Contreras, there is almost no downside to sending the runner, especially with another runner on 3rd. 

Had they done so a run would have scored and they would have still had a runner in scoring position with two outs. 

Sending a runner on a 3-0 pitch would be really unusual.

A hitter having a green light doesn’t mean “swing”. It should mean look for your pitch and if you get it, drive it.

I can pretty much guarantee that, if Turang had been running, and Contreras took a strike because it wasn’t  what he was looking for, and Turang was thrown out, a lot of the same people who are now saying he should have been running would be saying “way to run yourself out of an inning”,