Brewers vs Pirates Doubleheader, 7/11/26: Game 1 (Sproat vs Ashcraft, 11:05am) | Game 2 (Drohan vs Chandler, 3:05pm)

[RobertCrawley]

11 minutes ago, Jim French Stepstool said:

I don't disagree with the Yelich assessment. Yep, I was shocked he didn't beat that bunt out. 

I feel the day may come when Yelich doesn't see regular ABs unless things change dramatically. Mitchells' emergence & Lara showing every indication that he belongs should be the catalysts. Right now yeah, he's defending him & he's in 'we have to get him going' mode. I don't know when that plug gets pulled. All I know is stuff like that is almost always weeks after fans start clamoring for it, which makes sense. But I definitely think the clock is ticking.

Great points. Yelich is kind of a special case. He’s been the face of the franchise so long I expect the organization wants to give him every opportunity to get right, especially since the team is winning a lot of games right now. Also, he’s still a heckuva investment. It’s not easy moving on from the guys who are so closely associated with huge success at an organization. But he’s hitting around .100 against sliders. I’m no baseball expert, but that doesn’t sound good to me. 

[edfunderburk]

5 minutes ago, RobertCrawley said:

Yelich i’s hitting around .100 against sliders. I’m no baseball expert, but that doesn’t sound good to me. 

Is that the same as … that sounds bad to me

[Marc Newfield of Dreams]

28 minutes ago, Jim French Stepstool said:

I think bad might be laying it on a little thick

 

I agree with your other point about the lack of left handed options at the moment, but his usage is pretty independent of what side of the plate the hitters are on. 

[TURBO]

9 minutes ago, Jim French Stepstool said:

Interesting question re an off-season release, assuming he doesn't improve. They aren't in a great position to eat a contract, even one in its' last year but you never know. I'm actually a little surprised a mid-season break via the phantom IL hasn't happened. Might still be in the cards. The funny thing is, Tyler Black has really modest numbers at AAA but IMO has looked better than those numbers might suggest, and their hesitancy re Black's defense---which I totally get---would fit like a glove in the Yelich role since he hasn't seen the field in what seems like forever..

Don't we have Yelich under contract for two more seasons after this one?

[RobertCrawley]

1 minute ago, TURBO said:

Don't we have Yelich under contract for two more seasons after this one?

Yes, with a no trade and no early opt out clauses. 

[edfunderburk]

I took a short break before returning to watch Game 2. I was “shocked” to see that Murphy once again chose to bat Yelich leadoff. That level of stubbornness grates on my last nerve. 

Now, hopefully my rant is settling us up for a career day by former MVP Yelich to prevent a double header sweep by these pesky Pirates. 

[willie key]

4 minutes ago, TURBO said:

Don't we have Yelich under contract for two more seasons after this one?

I hope so.    I don’t want it to ever end.  

[adambr2]

53 minutes ago, Jim French Stepstool said:

I've never understood why people bring that up. There is zero reason to need anyone or anything to shield him from the group asking the questions during these pressers. And I'm not even clamoring for 'tougher' questions, I don't really care one way or the other. It's just strange to think he's bringing them out there as a buffer like this is NY or Philly.

I mostly agree with this. 

I also think it’s really weird to trot your children out on a school night at 10 pm in May to a routine postgame presser for the sole purpose of fidgeting in front of a few hundred thousand television viewers and wondering why they’re there, 

[edfunderburk]

1 minute ago, RobertCrawley said:

Yes, with a no trade and no early opt out clauses. 

But there is no such thing as a contract with a “no release / DFA” clause. That would be best for all parties in the offseason if Yelich is unwilling to be traded (with Milwaukee paying a huge portion of his contract). I’d rather have a young, upcoming player promoted from the minors to take his spot on the roster. I’m sure it will never happen, but one can dream. 

[Bulldogboy]

Took it to Kalshi that Yelich was starting two games today. Way to go Murphy!!

[adambr2]

2 minutes ago, edfunderburk said:

But there is no such thing as a contract with a “no release / DFA” clause. That would be best for all parties in the offseason if Yelich is unwilling to be traded (with Milwaukee paying a huge portion of his contract). I’d rather have a young, upcoming player promoted from the minors to take his spot on the roster. I’m sure it will never happen, but one can dream. 

If they want to DFA Yelich at some point they have to pay him every penny left on the contract still. 

[adambr2]

Just now, Bulldogboy said:

Took it to Kalshi that Yelich was starting two games today. Way to go Murphy!!

May as well make some money off the obvious.

[HarryDoyle]

Yelich really rewarding Murphy for batting him leadoff again in game 2.

[willie key]

Once an athlete has made over $100 million in his lifetime you should be able to terminate him without any penalty.    You’ve compensated him enough 

[adambr2]

At the end of the day, Murphy doesn’t have the guts to bench Yelich or even move him down in the order until the day comes when Yelich actually approaches him and tells him that he thinks he would be for the best interests of the team. 

[HarryDoyle]

That 3rd base umpire stinks as both a 3rd base umpire and behind the plate.

[trwi7]

1 minute ago, adambr2 said:

At the end of the day, Murphy doesn’t have the guts to bench Yelich or even move him down in the order until the day comes when Yelich actually approaches him and tells him that he thinks he would be for the best interests of the team. 

It's probably going to have to come from the front office.  Arnold was involved but didn't make the final say on signing him to that deal and it's easier for Murphy to say it's coming from Arnold since he's further removed from the team/clubhouse (though I doubt many in the clubhouse would be upset if you told them Yelich would be moved down in the order/lose playing time.)

[BruisedCrew]

A potentially productive inning wasted there.

Yelich passes up a walk by swinging at a pitch several inches inside, and Turang fouls off ball 4 before being called out on check swing for Ball 5. 
So the first four hitters could have/should have gotten on base and they have nothing to show for it.

After that first game this is starting to have one of those classic  PNC Park nightmare series. 

[edfunderburk]

12 minutes ago, adambr2 said:

If they want to DFA Yelich at some point they have to pay him every penny left on the contract still. 

Yeah … thanks … I’m 65 years old & I follow baseball closely. It would be worth it to open a roster spot … like the Bucks did with Lillard. There are several healthy young players who could match or exceed Yelich’s at bats for league minimum salaries. 

[Bulldogboy]

4 minutes ago, adambr2 said:

At the end of the day, Murphy doesn’t have the guts to bench Yelich or even move him down in the order until the day comes when Yelich actually approaches him and tells him that he thinks he would be for the best interests of the team. 

I was trying to think of another guy who did this and really can't. Once these guys get this far in life they can't picture it. Maybe Ripken when he finally asked for a day off. The manager was never going to do it so he took him off the hook.

[folly412]

Had to make sure I wasn't reading last year's draft summary.  It seems with our first round pick we have selected Trey Ebel, brother of last year's pick and current Warbird Brady Ebel.

[willie key]

1 minute ago, folly412 said:

Had to make sure I wasn't reading last year's draft summary.  It seems with our first round pick we have selected Trey Ebel, brother of last year's pick and current Warbird Brady Ebel.

Yeah.   There’s no way both of those guys are good?    Seems weird 

[edfunderburk]

Yelich is becoming Brewers version of Chris Davis with the Orioles a few years ago. If the only reason you are playing often is because of your contract, that’s a problem. 

[edfunderburk]

Mitchell should be batting leadoff to start the second half of the season 

[Bulldogboy]

Sanchez behind Bauers and in front of Mitchell and Lara against a righty is another one of those Murphy decision 🙄