Cubs (Boyd) vs Brewers (Gasser): 09/07/26, 1:10 PM

[TURBO]

1 hour ago, Opening Day said:

I think hes had a pretty good year in left, and seems to be getting better as the season goes on.  Though Im prepared for someone (probably Dale) to post stats showing that I failed the eye test.

He only posts stats that show the positive from Brewers players, etc.  Pay attention.

[TURBO]

1 hour ago, HarryDoyle said:

Holy cow, how many kids does Murphy have?

I think he read here that people were irritated when he has his kids at the presser, so he brought in a whole skew just to get at us...

[adambr2]

9 minutes ago, baseball101 said:

This last month is a great reminder of the ups and downs of a baseball season. Fans were saying the Cubs would catch the Brewers by the end of August. Or the Brewets have not played consistently good baseball in awhile. If the best record in baseball is not consistent enough then what team is.

I think people just say “consistent” when they really mean “great”. The Brewers have actually been amazingly consistent this year, arguably more so than last year. That’s why they’re in the position that they’re in. They haven’t had the 14 game winning streaks like last year, but they also have been able to avoid the extended losing streaks, 

Incredibly, the Brewers longest winning streak this year is only 5 games, which is amazing for being 89-56, and only possible because they have indeed been consistent and not fallen into the prolonged funks that often plague a team sometime throughout the course of a long season.  

[Dragonbait]

From MLB.com:

 

""The Brewers have been in Prepare For Postseason mode for a while now, and manager Pat Murphy sees all sorts of blue skies ahead. "It makes no sense to me that someone would say, ‘Well, they're built for the regular season,'" Murphy said. “Think about what you're really saying. They're built to win games. What's the difference?” Sorta difficult to argue with that!""

[TURBO]

1 hour ago, adambr2 said:

On Lara, his bat hasn’t been great. But it’s also not “so bad we have to question if his defense is enough to offset it.” 

He does some good things offensively where he works quite a few deep counts. Keep in mind he did have a nice hit today where he ended up scoring the first run of the game. 

The AB in the 8th, even though it was another deep AB, you’d definitely like to see better. Clearly was committed to swinging on 3-2 from the get-go as that pitch wasn’t close, though I kind of understand why given the situation, Hopefully his instincts will improve as he develops and he can start finishing some of those ABs. But yeah, it’s definitely the weak point of his game right now. 

I'd still take him over Frelick though.  Lara needs to start 5-6 games a week.  Where that leaves Sal, I no longer care,  Time to start playing your best players the overwhelming majority of the time until we have the #1 or 2 seed clinched.

[TURBO]

56 minutes ago, Bulldogboy said:

PCA for Mitchell and Frelick. Who says no? 😀

For PCA, I'd even throw in Lara to that deal.

Having Chourio and PCA in the OF for the next 6-8 years would be cool.

[adambr2]

4 minutes ago, TURBO said:

I'd still take him over Frelick though.  Lara needs to start 5-6 games a week.  Where that leaves Sal, I no longer care,  Time to start playing your best players the overwhelming majority of the time until we have the #1 or 2 seed clinched.

Right. Chourio, Lara and Mitchell are clearly our 3 best options. Frelick just doesn’t really fit the team right now.

I understand the occasional start in RF for Bauer just to get his bat in the lineup , but you give up a LOT defensively in that alignment. 

The absolute best combined unit of offense and defense that we can put out there for a playoff game is Contreras and obviously Turang, but with Pratt and Ortiz on the other side, Chourio, Mitchell and Lara across the outfield, and Bauers and Vaughn at 1B and DH. (Sorry, Yelich)

[adambr2]

9 minutes ago, TURBO said:

For PCA, I'd even throw in Lara to that deal.

Having Chourio and PCA in the OF for the next 6-8 years would be cool.

PCA is just one of those guys that we could add Jesus Made to that list and the Cubs still wouldn’t even have a conversation with us about it. 

It’d be like us trading Miz. Whatever someone offers it’s just not going to be enough.  

[baseball101]

29 minutes ago, TURBO said:

He only posts stats that show the positive from Brewers players, etc.  Pay attention.

Chourio has been really good. It’s ok that the stats back that up. Do much better than last year.

[LouisEly]

2 hours ago, HarryDoyle said:

Just getting him through five innings would be a victory.

Which rarely happens in the playoffs.  Unless a pitcher is dominating, it's almost always a max of 2x through the order and then to the bullpen.

[BruisedCrew]

1 hour ago, baseball101 said:

This last month is a great reminder of the ups and downs of a baseball season. Fans were saying the Cubs would catch the Brewers by the end of August. Or the Brewets have not played consistently good baseball in awhile. If the best record in baseball is not consistent enough then what team is.

How many years have you been following baseball? I’d like to know what makes you the authority to tell people how baseball seasons go..

A lot of posters here are willing to share enough about their age and backgrounds to provide an idea of what has shaped their perspective.

 

[BruisedCrew]

One small good thing about today is that we won’t be hearing anymore that Megill hasn’t given up a HR this year. Fortunately the inevitable first one didn’t blow a game. 
 

Now I wish Schroeder would stop talking about how well the Brewers have handled The Crow this season. Now that he’s hit HR in consecutive games we can put that to rest until after the playoffs. 

[baseball101]

20 minutes ago, BruisedCrew said:

How many years have you been following baseball? I’d like to know what makes you the authority to tell people how baseball seasons go..

A lot of posters here are willing to share enough about their age and backgrounds to provide an idea of what has shaped their perspective.

 

It’s not that deep. The Brewers have been consistently good for awhile now. I saw some of the 80s and 90s and early 2000s. This is the golden era of Brewers baseball. It’s ok to have a positive opinion. You can certainly block me if you don’t like how I post. That is why that function is available.

[RobertCrawley]

3 hours ago, adambr2 said:

It was 100 miles an hour on the outside corner. Pretty good pitch. 

PCA is just really amazing, can’t take that away from them. He’s the MVP for sure.  

He's awful. I'm glad he's not a Brewer.

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

Whew! I think that about sticks a fork in the Cubs, as far as the division goes, but it'd sure be nice to grab the next two too, especially given who we'll have on the bump.

On ABS, I've said it before, so I won't belabor the point. My belief is that strikes have an aesthetic element, and that's a good thing. Not every pitch in the same spot should be a strike. I don't mind umpires valuing (consistently) vertical or horizontal edges, within reason. ABS exists to correct obvious errors in key situations, which is why the challenge system is a nice compromise. It theoretically gives control to the teams, especially when faced with either bad calls or excessively individual ones in crucial spots, while still allowing a strike to be subject to certain, fair bounds of interpretation. Moving into a binary world isn't a great thing. I'd prefer my strike zones slightly ambiguous, just as real life often is.

More than that, fans expecting players to challenge when they get the benefit of immediate feedback on a sphere bending and swerving at 95 mph belies the inherent uncertainty of balls and strikes. The whole point is for the pitcher to throw an edge pitch that the batter thinks is a strike but is actually not hittable. Giving everyone a flat, falsely certain strike zone wrecks that entire back and forth. Every AB is a three-way negotiation. I can live with introducing a robot as a limited arbitrator. The idea of making it the ultimate arbitrator all the time flattens the game and makes it less interesting. It takes a messy, nuanced, human process, and makes it flat and binary, giving us illusory defined edges instead of blurry borders. Let me look uncertainty full in the face rather than surround myself with a false blanket of truth.

As for other notes on the game, I'm pumped we got to see Chourio and Lara shine in the last couple innings. Joey Ortiz was excellent. Gasser probably won't get enough credit for what a strong performance that was. If Murph isn't treating this like a playoff game (good for him!), I doubt he brings in Patrick in the 5th. That move was a "this is for real" kind of move.  

That 8th inning was just Brewers offense in a time capsule. They've done nothing all game, but they pressure the starter out, draw tough walks, hit a sac fly, and win by putting the ball in play, even with two strikes. Feels so good to take the lead in the 8th, knowing you only need three outs.

And what great defense in the ninth. Megill got hit pretty good, but credit to the Cubs for doing it. And, yeah, it's hard not to be impressed by their CF. Nearly won it for them single-handedly today. The easy SBs were impressive. When I watch that guy play defense, combined with everything else, it's hard not to see an MVP. I don't like him, but he's good.

With the Braves dropping one, we're back to a 3.5 game lead there. I wouldn't necessarily mind the Dodgers catching us for the one seed, but I'm getting more and more at peace with playing the Cubs in the playoffs. I'd rather not, but I doubt the Brewers are afraid of the emotional baggage fans like me have a hard time shaking.

 

[dlk9s]

54 minutes ago, BruisedCrew said:

How many years have you been following baseball? I’d like to know what makes you the authority to tell people how baseball seasons go..

A lot of posters here are willing to share enough about their age and backgrounds to provide an idea of what has shaped their perspective.

 

[Underachiever]

4 hours ago, TwinsBrewersWorldSeries said:

They talked about it in the 8th inning.  Said today was really decreasing the magic number by 3 since we could win, cubs would lose, and we’d win the tiebreaker

And the radio guys were all over it

[Underachiever]

4 hours ago, BruisedCrew said:

I don’t follow and don’t really put complete trust in defensive numbers.

But, it was never me that said he should be a DH only. I remember getting into an exchange where I strongly disagreed with whoever said it.
 

I remember who said it

[BruisedCrew]

2 minutes ago, Underachiever said:

I remember who said it

It’s not important who said it. 

[Underachiever]

3 hours ago, TURBO said:

He only posts stats that show the positive from Brewers players, etc.  Pay attention.

Usually in response to negative perceptions that are not be based in reality, but brought through emotion.

[baseball101]

I was looking at the Brewers season numbers. They are 3rd in baseball in runs scored. The bats have come around.

[Marc Newfield of Dreams]

5 hours ago, trwi7 said:

Imagine how fast a cork would shoot out of a butthole after that catch (assuming you had a cork in your butthole in the 9th inning.)

I think we just found the cause of our RISP struggles. Can't be comfortable up there all corked up. 

[sveumrules]

13 hours ago, TURBO said:

He only posts stats that show the positive from Brewers players, etc.  Pay attention.

Dang, catching strays for being too positive about the team with the best record in MLB this year, and last year, and overall since 2024 (after a game where we clinched the Season Series against the Cubs with another comeback win no less). Never change, IGTs.

Baseball is a game of primarily negative outcomes. The Brewers have made outs in 66.8% of their plate appearances, and their .332 OBP is second best in MLB. Silver linings, I guess. The internet is a cesspool of negativity, who wants to contribute to that?

Has Murphy got a single lineup right all season? The Brewers have posted a 107 wRC+ and scored 5.03 runs per game (both 3rd in MLB) despite his malfeasance. That is above my personal expectations entering the season, so I see it as more of a reason for celebration than derision.

BaseRuns thinks they should only have scored about 4.87 runs per game, so the numbers back up that the offense has overachieved their inputs (again, they were +0.21 R/G last year). That extra +0.16 runs per game this year is the third largest positive differential between BaseRuns and actual R/G behind the White Sox (+0.17) and Cardinals (+0.20).

This year, the Brewers are 1st in PA | 2nd in wRC+ | 1st in RBI with RISP, since Murphy took over in 2024 the Brewers are 1st in PA | 2nd in wRC+ | 1st in RBI with RISP. You don't think he has anything to do with that?

[adambr2]

15 hours ago, HarryDoyle said:

Holy cow, how many kids does Murphy have?

They all look like they’re relatively the same age, too. Like, I have questions about his life 10 years ago. 

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

41 minutes ago, sveumrules said:

Dang, catching strays for being too positive about the team with the best record in MLB this year, and last year, and overall since 2024 (after a game where we clinched the Season Series against the Cubs with another comeback win no less). Never change, IGTs.

Baseball is a game of primarily negative outcomes. The Brewers have made outs in 66.8% of their plate appearances, and their .332 OBP is second best in MLB. Silver linings, I guess. The internet is a cesspool of negativity, who wants to contribute to that?

Has Murphy got a single lineup right all season? The Brewers have posted a 107 wRC+ and scored 5.03 runs per game (both 3rd in MLB) despite his malfeasance. That is above my personal expectations entering the season, so I see it as more of a reason for celebration than derision.

BaseRuns thinks they should only have scored about 4.87 runs per game, so the numbers back up that the offense has overachieved their inputs (again, they were +0.21 R/G last year). That extra +0.16 runs per game this year is the third largest positive differential between BaseRuns and actual R/G behind the White Sox (+0.17) and Cardinals (+0.20).

This year, the Brewers are 1st in PA | 2nd in wRC+ | 1st in RBI with RISP, since Murphy took over in 2024 the Brewers are 1st in PA | 2nd in wRC+ | 1st in RBI with RISP. You don't think he has anything to do with that?

You are one of the top posters on this site, and have been for many years. Screw the haters!