Brewers (Harrison) vs Athletics (Springs): 6/8/26, 9:05pm

[KCBrewerfan34]

33 minutes ago, Frisbee Slider said:

How much of tonight was minor league stadium driven versus this is just what Las Vegas park factors will always be, even in new stadium?

New stadium will have a dome 

[Jim French Stepstool]

31 minutes ago, Frisbee Slider said:

How much of tonight was minor league stadium driven versus this is just what Las Vegas park factors will always be, even in new stadium?

It's going to be climate-controlled which I take to mean a dome, not retractable? either way it'll be much more enclosed than what we witnessed tonight.

[wiguy94]

31 minutes ago, Jim French Stepstool said:

It HAS to be, and I'm sure it will. This park is in a pretty open area too---a good 10-12 miles west of where all the buildings & fun stuff is---which doesn't help matters wind-wise. And the elevation IS pretty high there.

Pretty positive their stadium is supposed to be a dome with window panels in the OF. Dome with a humidor (which to my understanding AAA parks don't have so not sure they have one this weekend) should be pretty huge in turning into into a semi respectable park unlike this clown show AAA park.

[sveumrules]

2 hours ago, Bulldogboy said:

How do Brewers justify letting Contreras go? I still haven't heard it

It's not a straight up comparison because Contreras is still playing his Age 28 season, but as things currently stand there have been forty primary catchers to get at least 1,500 PA from age 24 to age 28 since 2005 (the first year someone was suspended for PEDs) with William coming in at a 124 wRC+ (7th) and 18.5 WAR (10th) on that leaderboard.

Assuming health he should pass all of Yasmani Grandal (19.4 WAR), Miguel Montero (19.5 WAR), and Yadier Molina (19.8 WAR) by season's end to land in 7th place but would need to go on some kind of tear to catch (punintentional) Cal Raleigh in 6th place with 22.9 WAR.

Since we already have him under team control for his age 29 season, let's see how some of those age 24 to age 28 catchers did from the age 30 and onward seasons that would be potentially covered if William were willing to sign an extension, or if the Brewers have to win a FA bidding war.

Buster Posey
24-28 (142 wRC+ | 32.5 WAR)
30-34 (116 wRC+ | 15.0 WAR)

Brian McCann
24-28 (118 wRC+ | 30.6 WAR)
30-35 (98 wRC+ | 11.9 WAR)

Jonathan Lucroy
24-28 (113 wRC+ | 29.1 WAR)
30-35 (90 wRC+ | 4.6 WAR)

Joe Mauer
24-28 (134 wRC+ | 26.2 WAR)
30-35 (109 wRC+ | 12.3 WAR)

Russell Martin
24-28 (104 wRC+ | 24.9 WAR)
30-36 (107 wRC+ | 23.2 WAR)

Yadier Molina
24-28 (101 wRC+ | 19.8 WAR)
30-39 (97 wRC+ | 26.9 WAR)

Miguel Montero
24-28 (113 wRC+ | 19.5 WAR)
30-34 (89 wRC+ | 7.7 WAR)

Yasmani Grandal
24-28 (111 wRC+ | 19.4 WAR)
30-35 (107 wRC+ | 11.8 WAR)

JT Realmuto
24-28 (108 wRC+ | 17.5 WAR)
30-35 (106 wRC+ | 18.0 WAR)

Catcher attrition rates are pretty brutal. Out of the nine best recent comps only three (Yadi, Martin, JTR) have produced into their thirties enough to justify the kind of contract William should eventually get. Posey would probably be right around a break even point.

A couple guys further down that age 24 to age 28 leaderboard in Victor Martinez (124 wRC+ | 12.6 WAR from age 30 to 37) and William's brother Willson (133 wRC+ | 13.9 WAR so far age 30 to 34) continued to rake into their thirties but both moved out from behind the plate too.

I wouldn't be opposed to extending Contreras if he is willing (especially if the new CBA somehow makes that more manageable for clubs at the bottom of the Economic Spectrum), but giving what will likely be a top two or three catcher contract of all time approaching or exceeding $200M isn't without risk.

[wiguy94]

27 minutes ago, Jim French Stepstool said:

The Brewers winning was the best news of the night. A close #2 is Clint Vondrack won't be behind the plate the next two days. It was brutal, for both sides.

Probably an excuse but I really think that whole game is different for the Brewers if the ump was a total trainwreck. He took two strikeouts away from Harrison in the 1st and 2nd innings. Without that Harrison is at 1 run and like 20 pitches through two innings instead of 2 runs and 40 pitches. That combined with a couple of joke HR I think really got into Harrison's head.

[Jim French Stepstool]

6 minutes ago, wiguy94 said:

Pretty positive their stadium is supposed to be a dome with window panels in the OF. Dome with a humidor (which to my understanding AAA parks don't have so not sure they have one this weekend) should be pretty huge in turning into into a semi respectable park unlike this clown show AAA park.

Yeah, after my post I was curious & looked it up. Pretty much sounds like what you anticipate.

[Jim French Stepstool]

7 minutes ago, wiguy94 said:

Probably an excuse but I really think that whole game is different for the Brewers if the ump was a total trainwreck. He took two strikeouts away from Harrison in the 1st and 2nd innings. Without that Harrison is at 1 run and like 20 pitches through two innings instead of 2 runs and 40 pitches. That combined with a couple of joke HR I think really got into Harrison's head.

Loss of poise for the first time that I've seen from him. Don't really blame him.

[Jim French Stepstool]

11 minutes ago, sveumrules said:

 

 

 

A couple guys further down that age 24 to age 28 leaderboard in Victor Martinez (124 wRC+ | 12.6 WAR from age 30 to 37) and William's brother Willson (133 wRC+ | 13.9 WAR so far age 30 to 34) continued to rake into their thirties but both moved out from behind the plate too.

 

Doesn't seem very long ago that I had visions of Contreras at 1B & Quero behind the plate, before he would've even NEEDED to move.

[wiguy94]

I legit can't get over the absurdity that was Joel Kuhnel tonight. This guy averaged 94.3mph on his sinker this year for the A's. Tonight he sat 98.9. He looked absolutely filthy. I have no idea how this happened but if this is even remotely sustainable the Brewers might have done it again.

[torts]

That is a box score I did not expect to wake up to.  Way to go brewers!!!!!!!

[igor67]

I also vote for instant classic, I saw it had 21 pages this morning and my first thought was cheese sandwich.

[BruisedCrew]

I went to bed in the sixth thinning with the Brewers trailing 9 to 5. I woke up about 1230 and looked at my phone to see that the Brewers were ahead 14 to 10 but within seconds it was 14 to 14.

I’m glad the Brewers won, but MLB should be embarrassed that they allowed a game to be played in that stadium. In addition to the de facto Little League dimensions, the rock hard surface brought back bad memories from the Astroturf days.

Two more games like that could destroy the pitching staff for days. 

[Brian]

6 hours ago, edfunderburk said:

Rengifo has a highlight video … quick - trade him while he has some value 

The scary thing is that  he is hitting 8 points better than Caleb Durbin. 

[Frisbee Slider]

8 hours ago, Bulldogboy said:

4-3 is getting to be an issue 

Milwaukee batters lead all of baseball in outs hit to the second baseman with 224. Seven ahead of the Dodgers despite two fewer games. 

Sal Frelick paces the Brewers with 33.

source

[RobertCrawley]

Could not stay awake. Glad we won!

[TwinsBrewersWorldSeries]

Just incredible

[Brian]

1 hour ago, torts said:

That is a box score I did not expect to wake up to.  Way to go brewers!!!!!!!

Here are seven fun facts from one of the wildest contests we’ve seen in a good while.

The Brewers LIVE for 15-14 games
It goes without saying that 15-14 is quite an unusual final score: It’s only happened 18 times since at least 1900, including once in the postseason (Game 4 of the 1993 World Series). But before Monday, the most recent time it had happened sure seems familiar. It was back on Aug. 17, 2019, when a 15-14 road game at Nationals Park was won by ... the Brewers, naturally. Before that, you’d have to go back to Aug. 5, 2001, to find the previous 15-14 game, and that one was a classic: Cleveland pulled off the biggest comeback in MLB history to beat Seattle, rallying late from a 12-0 deficit.

That’s a lot of runs …
The 29 combined runs scored in Monday’s game smashed the previous MLB-wide season high of 25, which was set by the Giants in a 19-6 win over the Rockies on May 31. But it hasn’t actually been that long since two teams topped that: The Pirates and Rockies combined to plate 33 runs in a 17-16 thriller on Aug. 1, 2025, at Coors Field.

And a lot of homers
Las Vegas Ballpark, the current home of the A’s Triple-A affiliate, proved to be a true launching pad when the A’s and Brewers opened their series in Sin City. The two clubs combined for 11 homers, with the A’s actually launching seven despite the loss, including two apiece for lefty sluggers Nick Kurtz and Tyler Soderstrom. This season, the only other team to hit seven homers in a game was the Giants ... just three days earlier in an 18-3 romp at Wrigley Field. The 11 combined home runs were the most since the Royals and Orioles also combined for 11 on May 4, 2025, in Baltimore.

 

How many hits?
The Brewers managed their 15 runs on 18 hits, two more than the Athletics’ 16 hits in their losing effort. First baseman Andrew Vaughn led the way with four hits for Milwaukee, while three A’s (Kurtz, Soderstrom and catcher Shea Langeliers) each had three. In 2026, only the May 31 Giants-Rockies clash featured more combined hits (35) than Monday’s game (34). Last season, only six teams both recorded and allowed at least 16 hits in a game -- and one of them was the Brewers, who had 17 and gave up 18 in (you guessed it) another road win, on June 22, 2025, in Minnesota.

Challenging times
The two teams combined to issue 16 ABS challenges on Monday, shattering the previous record of 12 since ABS came to the Major Leagues beginning this season. The A’s were also involved in one of the two games with 12 combined challenges, their home contest against the Cardinals on May 14. On Monday, the Brewers went 5-for-7 on their challenges, while the A’s were 6-of-9 -- despite losing their second challenge in the bottom of the ninth, they received another for each extra inning and lost a third in the 12th.

Tired arms
Both the Brewers and A’s used seven pitchers in Monday’s slugfest, and the 14 hurlers combined to throw 441 pitches. That was a season high, surpassing 432 pitches thrown in the 13-inning Rays-Pirates contest on April 18 at PNC Park. Including the postseason, the most recent game with more was the 18-inning Game 3 of the 2025 World Series (609); the previous regular-season game with more was the April 4, 2025, Rockies-Giants game (447), which went 11 innings. The A’s alone threw 238 pitches, the most by a single team in a regular-season game since … the A’s, on March 31, 2025, against the Cubs (246).

A long night at the yard
With so much offensive firepower, it’s little surprise Monday’s game took quite a while to complete. A 7:05 p.m. Pacific Time start, the contest took four hours and 14 minutes to finish, the longest game of the season. In fact, the 12-inning contest even outlasted the two 13-inning games played in 2026 -- Rays-Pirates on April 18 and Rays-Orioles on May 25, both four hours, 12 minutes. Monday’s marathon was the longest regular-season game in the Majors since the Marlins and Twins played 13 innings in four hours, 16 minutes on Sept. 26, 2024.

[Tedaldtada]

4 hours ago, wiguy94 said:

I legit can't get over the absurdity that was Joel Kuhnel tonight. This guy averaged 94.3mph on his sinker this year for the A's. Tonight he sat 98.9. He looked absolutely filthy. I have no idea how this happened but if this is even remotely sustainable the Brewers might have done it again.

Touched 100 on the TV readout. That’ll play.

[folly412]

Getting the extra arm is a good move just for this series' sake.  Might need another move or two just to spare the bullpen.

[Brian]

4 hours ago, wiguy94 said:

I legit can't get over the absurdity that was Joel Kuhnel tonight. This guy averaged 94.3mph on his sinker this year for the A's. Tonight he sat 98.9. He looked absolutely filthy. I have no idea how this happened but if this is even remotely sustainable the Brewers might have done it again.

Joel Kuhnel is also built like an offensive lineman @ 6'5" , 290 pounds. 

[Frisbee Slider]

I’m sure there is more to Hook and Henderson’s magic? 🤷‍♂️

[formerlybis]

As bad as playing at this ballpark is for the Brewers' pitching staff for the next 2, the A's have 3 more there on this homestand. Just survive these next two.

[Jimbo]

The score was 4-2 when I turned it off.  Just another ho-hum game.

Man of the Match: Andrew Vaughn (WPA = +0.54).

Each team had a win prob > 95% at different points.  Second big comeback win for the Brewers.

 

[Bulldogboy]

6 hours ago, sveumrules said:

It's not a straight up comparison because Contreras is still playing his Age 28 season, but as things currently stand there have been forty primary catchers to get at least 1,500 PA from age 24 to age 28 since 2005 (the first year someone was suspended for PEDs) with William coming in at a 124 wRC+ (7th) and 18.5 WAR (10th) on that leaderboard.

Assuming health he should pass all of Yasmani Grandal (19.4 WAR), Miguel Montero (19.5 WAR), and Yadier Molina (19.8 WAR) by season's end to land in 7th place but would need to go on some kind of tear to catch (punintentional) Cal Raleigh in 6th place with 22.9 WAR.

Since we already have him under team control for his age 29 season, let's see how some of those age 24 to age 28 catchers did from the age 30 and onward seasons that would be potentially covered if William were willing to sign an extension, or if the Brewers have to win a FA bidding war.

Buster Posey
24-28 (142 wRC+ | 32.5 WAR)
30-34 (116 wRC+ | 15.0 WAR)

Brian McCann
24-28 (118 wRC+ | 30.6 WAR)
30-35 (98 wRC+ | 11.9 WAR)

Jonathan Lucroy
24-28 (113 wRC+ | 29.1 WAR)
30-35 (90 wRC+ | 4.6 WAR)

Joe Mauer
24-28 (134 wRC+ | 26.2 WAR)
30-35 (109 wRC+ | 12.3 WAR)

Russell Martin
24-28 (104 wRC+ | 24.9 WAR)
30-36 (107 wRC+ | 23.2 WAR)

Yadier Molina
24-28 (101 wRC+ | 19.8 WAR)
30-39 (97 wRC+ | 26.9 WAR)

Miguel Montero
24-28 (113 wRC+ | 19.5 WAR)
30-34 (89 wRC+ | 7.7 WAR)

Yasmani Grandal
24-28 (111 wRC+ | 19.4 WAR)
30-35 (107 wRC+ | 11.8 WAR)

JT Realmuto
24-28 (108 wRC+ | 17.5 WAR)
30-35 (106 wRC+ | 18.0 WAR)

Catcher attrition rates are pretty brutal. Out of the nine best recent comps only three (Yadi, Martin, JTR) have produced into their thirties enough to justify the kind of contract William should eventually get. Posey would probably be right around a break even point.

A couple guys further down that age 24 to age 28 leaderboard in Victor Martinez (124 wRC+ | 12.6 WAR from age 30 to 37) and William's brother Willson (133 wRC+ | 13.9 WAR so far age 30 to 34) continued to rake into their thirties but both moved out from behind the plate too.

I wouldn't be opposed to extending Contreras if he is willing (especially if the new CBA somehow makes that more manageable for clubs at the bottom of the Economic Spectrum), but giving what will likely be a top two or three catcher contract of all time approaching or exceeding $200M isn't without risk.

I appreciate this deep dive. Very interesting. It is a risk and the Yelich situation does make you gun shy but if he's willing to take a little less on 3-4 year deal I would  do. His impact on the staff the running game and the offense makes him a special situation in my book. Even if he falls off a bit hitting his defense can help mitigate hopefully. 

[Bulldogboy]

Murphy said Megill was unavailable which i guess is why Ashby went two. If that's the case you cannot afford to carry him through this week here.