Brewers (Sproat) vs Cubs (Imanaga): 5/18/25, 6:40pm

[formerlybis]

Doofus alert

[da swedish german]

Miz is going to been on "baseball tonight with buster olney" shortly 

[BarremlensTSSC]

14 minutes ago, formerlybis said:

Doofus alert

That will never not be funny.  Still not as stupid as him arguing with a fan during a game a couple of days ago.

[BarremlensTSSC]

1 minute ago, da swedish german said:

Miz is going to been on "baseball tonight with buster olney" shortly 

Probably just wants to be able to brag on discord that he actually talked to a human being named "Buster"

[BarremlensTSSC]

4 hours ago, markedman5 said:

 

I mean, when the MLB.com beat guy is starting to ask these questions there's a significant likelihood he knows this has been a topic of discussion internally and hasn't been able to report it.  I love McCalvy. He's a lot better than some of the other MLB.com beat guys but you know he knows a lot more than he ever reports.

[BarremlensTSSC]

2 hours ago, Jim French Stepstool said:

The contract, super 2, arby-eligibility stuff bores me to tears so there are folks on here much more attuned to that stuff than I am. Re Pratt, I assume you're correct.

I love how Pratt looks right now. Underneath the more publicized numbers he's taking some walks, not striking out much at all, and is hitting to all fields. And the defense has always been there. Fairness to Ortiz, his ABs have been much better in the last week & they value the glove (with good reason). Still, it looks to be only a matter of time. The way this organization has performed, I'll trust them as to when they deem that to be.

Depending on what happens with Contreras---we need to keep an eye on Quero, Dinges, even Matt Wood. Post-Contreras I could see them picking up a vet but one or a multiple of the others could be important. Other than that, over the next couple years it would be great if Burke or Adamczewski forced their hand. And Mike Boeve is someone who could challenge Black for a similar spot on the organizational totem pole.

The Super 2/arb eligibility rules are going to be a significant topic of discussion in the CBA talks, and if they change (which seems really likely even if a hardish cap/floor structure does not) it will be interesting to see if the guys whose call ups might have been delayed until after mid-May in 2026 will actually end up having to wait longer than they otherwise would before getting to arbitration or the free market.

Just speculation on my part, but some of the call ups from highly ranked prospects this season probably wouldn't have happened 3 years ago.  Part of that might be a recognition that MLB continues to skew younger than it was 15 years ago, but it's also possible that those owners and front offices don't really expect the super 2 rules and the extra year of control to be in place in the next CBA.

[BarremlensTSSC]

6 hours ago, sveumrules said:

PECOTA quite handily (94.0 wins to 86.9 wins) and FanGraphs by a narrower margin (88.4 wins to 86.2 wins) are still favoring the Cubs at this point in the season.

However, we know that PECOTA and the default FanGraphs projections have less than stellar histories when it comes to forecasting Brewers win totals. If we flip FanGraphs over to their Season to Date mode it swings things in the Brewers favor at 97.4 wins versus 93.2 wins for Chicago.

The midpoint of the two FanGraphs projections is 92 wins. Over the eight full seasons from 2017 to 2025 the Brewers won 734 games, or 91.75 per season.

I always enjoy the lengthy explanations as to why projection systems do a bad job with the Brewers that in the end seem to boil down to "if we change our system to get the Brewers right it would get like 10 other teams wrong, so..."  I will give them credit for transparency and not just taking whatever the projections are for the Brewers and adding 3 wins with some nebulous multiplier than would be enough to fool people like me if not the advanced stat guys who are way smarter than I am.  

[Jim French Stepstool]

2 hours ago, Brewcrew82 said:

Bauers in LF and Chourio in CF tonight vs. Imanaga. Giddy'up. 

That surprises me, maybe as much as Bauers getting the start vs the lefty. Given the way he's swinging the bat I'm fine with it, just can't say I expected it.

[Jim French Stepstool]

2 hours ago, Brewcrew82 said:

There was handwringing on here over Chourio's defense yesterday....

In far less innings, he's already been better than every single one of our OFers by OAA and FRV. 

That play yesterday was low probability. Mitchell, for instance, has failed at numerous other similar or higher probability plays this year. Chourio's range gave him a chance at a ball that normally the LF should make. 

He's fine in CF (no worse than Mitchell and Perkins this year). And elite in the corners. 

The last part of your post was my point all along. Fine in CF, but at this point in his career better in left. And if that's combined with a LF that hasn't been out there a whole lot, it concerns me. Fingers crossed.

[BarremlensTSSC]

2 hours ago, Brewcrew82 said:

Bauers in LF and Chourio in CF tonight vs. Imanaga. Giddy'up. 

Gonna be an adventure out there.  Chourio can play a good CF.  Whether he will or not tonight, well we'll see.  

[Frisbee Slider]

12 minutes ago, Jim French Stepstool said:

That surprises me, maybe as much as Bauers getting the start vs the lefty. Given the way he's swinging the bat I'm fine with it, just can't say I expected it.

If we can’t trust Perkins against LHP, when can we trust him? Also, Perkins has 0.2 bWAR this season 🤷‍♂️

[yfinn6]

Man, what I would give for like a 7 run 1st inning. 

[markedman5]

So they haven’t brought up an arm to replace Gasser yet? Obviously a fully rested pen so no big deal tonight……waiting on McGee? He was sent down May 3rd so he is eligible to return tomorrow?

[edfunderburk]

6 hours ago, Playing Catch said:

Wow. It just goes to show that for me, the Cubs manager could be Mother Theresa, and I'd be comfortable with people booing them. I see Craiggers wearing that hat, and I think, "Aww, I liked that guy!"

“Liked” … as in past tense - formerly, previously 

[Jim French Stepstool]

5 minutes ago, Frisbee Slider said:

If we can’t trust Perkins against LHP, when can we trust him? Also, Perkins has 0.2 bWAR this season 🤷‍♂️

Agreed. But you had Mitchell with the weird reverse splits. And Perkins hasn't been terrible vs LHP. At the end of the day this wouldn't have been my guess. But like I said, I can 100% understand wanting to get Bauers' bat out there.

[BarremlensTSSC]

Ugh FIIIINE.  So the powder blue jerseys are growing on me. So what.

[BarremlensTSSC]

Left field not right field Jackson!