Brewers (Gasser) vs Twins (Ober): 5/17/26, 1:10pm

[adambr2]

Is Yelich just toast as an outfielder for all time?

I mean, I know he’s been the regular DH for quite some time, but it wasn’t that long ago that he was at least a passable corner OFer. I just can’t believe that his defense has become such a liability that Jake Bauers is the preferred option.

[Bulldogboy]

2 minutes ago, adambr2 said:

Is Yelich just toast as an outfielder for all time?

I mean, I know he’s been the regular DH for quite some time, but it wasn’t that long ago that he was at least a passable corner OFer. I just can’t believe that his defense has become such a liability that Jake Bauers is the preferred option.

He can’t stay healthy just hitting. Put him in the field and it's the glue factory. 

[Jim French Stepstool]

1 hour ago, adambr2 said:

Is Yelich just toast as an outfielder for all time?

I mean, I know he’s been the regular DH for quite some time, but it wasn’t that long ago that he was at least a passable corner OFer. I just can’t believe that his defense has become such a liability that Jake Bauers is the preferred option.

He played twice out there this year w/one start before being IL'ed. After the back surgery I would imagine they thought they could put him out there on occasion, but now I'm sure they're understandably gun shy.

[BarremlensTSSC]

2 hours ago, wiguy94 said:

For those pining for Bauers getting OF reps that 8th inning is a good example of why you're not going to see it super often. The bad throw home on the sac fly but also on the near catch by Chourio, that would have been caught by Chourio if he was playing LF. Based on the OF alignment that should have been the LF ball. Chourio really had no business making that catch based on where he started on the play.

I don't think Murphy had a good game today. Pinch hitting Rengifo against a LHP was very questionable. Against LHP this season he's looked like Perkins has against RHP which is pitcher esque. Uncompetitive 3 pitch AB. The other moment I didn't like from Murphy was letting Frelick hit against Rogers then pinch hitting Vaughn for Mitchell. Frelick was Roger's third hitter so Rogers had to face him. You could have set up Vaughn against a LHP with the tying run on 2B. Instead you got Frelick against a LHP and Vaughn against a RHP. 

Another major story is the Brewers batters being horrific at challenging. 2 outs in the 8th with the tying run on 3rd base and Rengifo takes a high strike to go down 0-1 in the count and doesn't challenge. 2 outs in the 9th with the tying run on 3rd base and Frelick takes a high strike to go down 0-1 in the count and doesn't challenge. Massive swings on the likelihood to score in those situations when you go from 1-0 to 0-1.

The non-challenge from Rengifo was particularly puzzling to me.  He knew it was a ball and talked to the ump about it.  He acted like he didn't think he had a challenge left.

[BarremlensTSSC]

3 hours ago, trwi7 said:

If Chourio would be like 80% of Ronald Acuna he would be amazing as a corner outfield but the offense compared to what he was billed at has been fairly disappointing with the caveat that he could turn into an Acuna light type hitter.

He's 22.  He's at worst the second best hitter in the Brewers lineup.  Anyone disappointed in him at this point needs to look in the mirror and get real. And he's almost certainly not as good as he will be, barring injury.  I was as pumped up as anybody for Chourio and loved watching him play in the minors.  I'm not disappointed in him at all, fwiw.

[adambr2]

Yeah, I mean Jackson has some things he could work on. I’d like him to be a little bit less of a free swinger. But I mean, come on, the guy just turned 22 and has a 115 career OPS and has already been worth 6.6 WAR in his young career. And again, he just turned 22. When you look at some of the best homegrown Brewers over the last couple decades, Prince, Braun, Hardy, etc, Chourio is far ahead of where any of them were at age 22.

When Braun debuted he was nearly two years older than Jackson is now.

Chourio isn’t Acuña, not yet, but he’s so far down on the list of problems with this team.

[yourout]

3 hours ago, homer said:

He has a .233 average on balls in play. Last year it was .313. He's had some bad luck that will even out.

Per your comment above, his bat speed is identical to last year so he's not swinging harder. He ha da nice double today. Hopefully that is the start of a hot stretch.

Swinging harder doesn't automatically mean more bat speed.

It's all about timing and over torquing your midsection screws up the timing of the wrist action. Things have to stay in phase.

[yourout]

4 hours ago, wntrtxn21 said:

Frelick's bat has been one of the biggest disappointments so far this year. Two huge chokes in cosecutive ABs. Failing to get Bauers over by hitting the ball to the left side with and no outs and then the choke in the 9th. Yelich didn't help matters either by whiffing with the two runners on. The good news is Bauers came through to get one back and Milwaukee won two of three from the lowly Twins despite going 4 for 32 w/RISP.  Hopfully they'll start hitting again against the cubs. 

Actually 4-34 with RISP on the weekend.

[brewmann04]

I am not going to join in with the Jackson stuff. He 22 still coming off a hand injury. As for that left side pick a guy a guy move him up. The brewers have a lot of holes in the lineup 

[TURBO]

4 hours ago, homer said:

He has a .233 average on balls in play. Last year it was .313. He's had some bad luck that will even out.

Per your comment above, his bat speed is identical to last year so he's not swinging harder. He ha da nice double today. Hopefully that is the start of a hot stretch.

So in your defense of Frelick, that swing where he drops his back leg, that's not causing any of his bad luck?  If that isn't fixed, nothing is going to even out, it will probably get even worse.

[homer]

10 hours ago, TURBO said:

So in your defense of Frelick, that swing where he drops his back leg, that's not causing any of his bad luck?  If that isn't fixed, nothing is going to even out, it will probably get even worse.

I don't know. He was doing it last year too. Maybe he's doing it more this year? Again, hard to say. 

[BarremlensTSSC]

On 5/17/2026 at 8:01 AM, Frisbee Slider said:

Since 1970

Man I hated the Twins when I was a kid in the 70s and 80s and the Brewers were in the AL.  They used to play the craziest games and the Twins seemed to be the only team that could make Yount lose his cool on the field.

[BruisedCrew]

15 hours ago, Jim French Stepstool said:

I can only imagine if some folks here were Cubs fans after losing 2/3 to the Sox. 

The losing team in Chicago today using a back-back-back of the BP guy in the last inning is a great point. It's almost as if a lot of these managers manage, you know, kinda the same.

There is some difference because the Cubs had already used Webb, Milner, and Palencia, who seem to be their top available relievers, plus Maton. So, Counsell didn’t seem to have a lot more options. 

But, I didn’t want to see Megill, Uribe, or Ashby in a game that they were losing and were probably going to lose regardless of who pitched.

[Jimbo]

26 minutes ago, BarremlensTSSC said:

Man I hated the Twins when I was a kid in the 70s and 80s and the Brewers were in the AL.  They used to play the craziest games and the Twins seemed to be the only team that could make Yount lose his cool on the field.

It took a while to get over it, but the 1987 WS win got under my skin for the longest time.  The 5th best record in the AL.  Fewer wins than the Brewers.

 

[jay87shot]

I didn't watch the game but why was Woodford in for the 8th. With Patrick saving the bullpen Saturday I feel like there should have been better options. Even Drohan has proven to be a better option than Woodford in a 4-3 game.

[JRob1125]

30 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

It took a while to get over it, but the 1987 WS win got under my skin for the longest time.  The 5th best record in the AL.  Fewer wins than the Brewers.

 

I was 12 when the Brewers moved to the NL and didn't start closing following them until the year before, but I can clearly remember hating the Twins even before that. The Tigers too

I'm completely neutral on them now

[igor67]

i wouldn't mind a Jett Williams call-up on the road to shake things up a bit. Gives some more options to reduce ABs from Ortiz, Hamilton, Rengifo, and Perkins. Can't say for sure if he will hit better, but at the moment it is hard to hit much worse...

[Brian]

11 hours ago, TURBO said:

So in your defense of Frelick, that swing where he drops his back leg, that's not causing any of his bad luck?  If that isn't fixed, nothing is going to even out, it will probably get even worse.

I agree and think he is over swinging more than ever.  Also, he made major headlines during 2025 Spring Training when he reported to camp weighing 192 pounds, adding 25 pounds of muscle after his weight had dropped down to 167 pounds at the end of the 2024 season. 

In 2026 he looks scrawny again. Even though they didn't change his posted weight. 

[BruisedCrew]

1 hour ago, BarremlensTSSC said:

Man I hated the Twins when I was a kid in the 70s and 80s and the Brewers were in the AL.  They used to play the craziest games and the Twins seemed to be the only team that could make Yount lose his cool on the field.

I think what I hated about the Twins in the 80’s was watching the games played in the Humpty Dump Dome.  It seemed like at least once every series, at a key moment a routine pop up would be lost in the white roof, leading to a big inning.  Plus the playing surface seemed even spongier than other artificial fields, leading to some bizarre bounces.

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the Twins had a huge home vs road differential and they were able to win two World Series without winning a road game. 

[Jopal78]

1 hour ago, BruisedCrew said:

I think what I hated about the Twins in the 80’s was watching the games played in the Humpty Dump Dome.  It seemed like at least once every series, at a key moment a routine pop up would be lost in the white roof, leading to a big inning.  Plus the playing surface seemed even spongier than other artificial fields, leading to some bizarre bounces.

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the Twins had a huge home vs road differential and they were able to win two World Series without winning a road game. 

I don’t really consider the Twins to be any sort of rival to the Brewers. They’ve been in the NL for nearly 30 years. When they were in the AL they had far more intense rivalries than with Minnesota.

Then again, I thought inter league play was dumb after the novelty wore off but enough people dig Yankees/Mets, Cubs/White Sox, etc, that they need to craft these “home and away” geographic rivalries .

[Brian]

On 5/17/2026 at 4:13 PM, trwi7 said:

We could literally play 3 games against the Cubs that may not be within 5 runs.  Play for the game today.  If tomorrow's game is like 8-3 either way it's going to look pretty stupid holding our top relievers back today.

Well it was 6 runs, 9-3 but it was the Brewers who won game one.