TooLiveBrew

Hey TBONE, one thing to try is to drop down your "Navigation" toolbar at the top of the page. There you'll see a display of "Recent Posts" -- at least then you can tell if the post was hidden (for some odd reason... PITCHLEAGUE!! http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif ), or if it just mysteriously disappeared into the depths of Yuku.

If you are refering to the game we won with a Fielder walkoff, Ned said he was bunting to stay out of the double play with JJ. I don't agree with his choice, but it is one of the few times playing for one run may be a good idea. That was one instance, yes... but not the only one. Clearly it worked there (& your 'play for one run' point has definite merit), but I try not to use outcomes to say 'See? It was the right move' (not saying you do, logan).

Dirty play, Mass Haas. Well done. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

Nashville was in the playoffs so that is the only reason why Nix wasn't called up until 9/11. Such will not be the case this year, so expect any and all Nashville callups to be on a flight to Milwaukee on 9/1. I wonder, though, if Nelson would be a target to get called up, & the thinking was he'd be useful in the playoffs (if we get there), wouldn't it make more sense to get him up before then so he could be added to the postseason roster?

Bootspur! What an idiot. If anyone needs evidence that the ASG is a throwaway achievement, look no further than the omission of Pat Burrell this season. He's the best NL OF in terms of offense, and must be sitting at home right now thinking, 'Huh?'

Star Wars (all of them) I'd like to just reiterate how exceedingly crucial these are, if you have any hope of him growing up to become a productive adult. This is the part where you'd expect me to say 'Only kidding!' You would be wrong. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif Mel Brooks's movies, especially Spaceballs, were ones I loved as a kid & still do to this day. There's some racier stuff in all of them (it is Mel Brooks, after all).

Yeah, I think you're right on Hart -- I'd prefer Ned telling him to stop. Just my preference, as is the case when it comes to bunting a guy that's been seeing the ball as well as Hardy.

He doesn't do things like bunt a runner over (with a non-pitcher) in the 1st 3 innings (Cecil Cooper) But he does ask his hottest batter (Hardy) to bunt multiple times when it's very clear J.J. is raking, not to mention asking Hart to try to bunt for hits from time to time. In general, and especially when compared to his peers, Yost is quite good at avoiding small-ball -- probably my favorite element he brings to the table. However, he will revert back to it in situations where you have to 'bunt the runner over' (think '8th Inning Guy').

Why bump him up to Triple-A if the pitching is better at the Double-A level? Well that's part of what I'm asking.

There are serious questions about Salome's D behind the plate from what I've seen. I don't think we yet know for certain what the C situation will be like past Kendall. EDIT: Small sample alert (20 G, 73 AB), but Jonathan Lucroy's line so far in the very pitcher-friendly FSL: .329/.395/.562/.967. Wow! I was excited by his selection on draft day last year, but I'm even more excited to see him progressing well -- to this point. I see Escobar as a .300/.325/.375 kind of hitter, which just screams TGJ. I'm not very familiar with Escobar, but it might be a bit early to say that we know what we've got with him. You may turn out to be 100% correct, though -- 20 BB over 393 AB certainly isn't much progress (for reference, Gamel's had 38 over 376 AB), but Alcides actually has made some progress in that regard, and he's only 21 at Double-A. Even then, with defense as good as his, that .700 MLB OPS might still play. Time will tell, and I'm really looking forward to how Escobar performs in the second half of 2008, and the early stages of 2009. He'd get bumped to Triple-A if he sustains the success he's had at Huntsville, correct? (.333/.362/.443/.805) Could that conceivably happen this season?

Somebody brought up Brad Nelson, and while a possibility, is less likely because you have a guy who compares in 3TO But Branyan is going to be starting most games, leaving a void in terms of a bench LH power bat. Gamel would fit here, too, but Nelson hasn't exactly blundered his chance in Triple-A (.305/.411/.492/.903). I'd guess Nelson over Gamel, but that's all it is -- a guess. It'd certainly be exciting to see Mat!

look at BaseRuns and BaseRuns allowed, or EQR and EQRA, vs. actual runs and runs allowed. I think that most of the managerial decisions we evaluate -- when to sacrifice, when to steal, when to hit and run, when to pinch hit or not, lineup order, etc. -- would have a much greater chance of causing noticeable effects here than in Pythagorean record. That's a good observation, and probably is much, much more accurate than looking at the Pythag. Hopefully this offseason will yield some more interesting studies on managers' impacts on outcomes, runs, wins/losses, etc. The studies I've seen on managers to this point leave a lot to be desired, but 'did their job' in the sense that they've helped advance the discussion.

One thing I think we should note is how good the bench has been this season. Kapler has turned out to be a great signing, Counsell has had a solid season, Rivera hasn't hurt us in the few games he's played, and Dillon has been good. Not too far in the past, those are all guys that would have started or had the chance to start for us.

Wouldn't bringing Gamel & Escobar up start their service time clock? The clock only tracks MLB days, so once they were sent back down, the clock would stop. I doubt Gamel & Escobar will be called up, personally. I don't want to see them called up, even though they could probably help. For Escobar, right now Counsell works fine as the MIF whiz, and Craig is much more likely to carry a higher OBP. For Gamel, there's Nelson & Branyan as LH power sticks, and Iribarren as another LH stick. Nelson, TGJ/Stocker, DiFelice, Iribarren, Rottino & Pena can all help this team in specific roles (as opposed to Gamel/Esco just being ungodly talented). Beyond that, I'd have a hard time expecting any more. Don't forget that it costs $ to call each guy up, and for a team that's already teetering on the brink of being 'in the red', that cost may factor in. Teams rarely call up more than 5 or 6 guys, iirc. BTW, great topic, LouisEly. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif EDIT: Here's some tidbits from Keith Law, from the free part of an Insider article: "Roster expansion used to bring a slew of call-ups as teams filled their dugouts to the bursting point. But the altered economics of the game have limited call-ups for most clubs to bench players and extra relievers. A one-month call-up can cost about $66,000 in extra salary, plus another $3,000 in per diems, as well as extra insurance costs, travel costs and so on. Adding a player to the 40-man roster also makes him eligible for the new minor league minimum salary, which runs about $65,000 (compared to $12,000 or less for minor leaguers who have yet to be added to a 40-man roster or reach minor league free agency). Recall a half-dozen extra players, and it's easy to exceed a half-million dollars in added expenditures -- roughly a third-round pick's bonus or a relatively expensive signing in Latin America." A couple of older MLB.com articles on September callups by Jonathan Mayo: 8/30/2004 8/29/2006

Where do people rank the Marquis Grissom signing?

The good managers will - at least every now and then - make changes pro-actively to force the hand of the opponent. Maybe it's not this way for real, but it does seem like we're waiting around for the opponent to make the first move, and then reacting to it. No, I think this is real. Yost does not tend to do well when it comes to creating matchups imo (as I mentioned). He also tends to manage for what he hopes will happen, as opposed to what is happening... or what is most likely to happen ('saving players for the later innings' makes me want to scream sometimes). Would it be giving Ned too much credit to say that he acts pompously on purpose so that a lot of the attention is on Ned's behavior instead of the psyche of slumping players? Probably. He does do a good job -- in general -- of protecting his players, but certainly has thrown a few under the bus in recent seasons. I think that Yost has a very hard time admitting mistakes, and that leads to the surliness.

I understand both sides of the Yost argument, although I guess I tend to be easier on him than others just because I look at the relationship between the talent on a team and the team's performance. I think the rapport on this team does speak to something (at least a little something) that Ned contributes. The players genuinely enjoy being together (check out the Mets' drama this season, ugh), and that can't be ignored when evaluating the job a manager does. In the MLB world, imo a lot of the manager's job is to balance the egos... luckily the Brewers don't seem to have many (if any) bad apples, but still -- Ned's team's clubhouse gets along extremely well, and he certainly should get some credit there. Of course, everyone's happier when the team's winning, but even after losses the players have notoriously short memories, so to speak. I think Yost has done a great job sticking with the young players as they've developed over the past 3 or 4 seasons, and their resiliency at this point in their careers reflects that, I think. To break down my "C-" a bit (I will use 'at worst' descriptions to avoid overstating, not to paint a poor picture): I think Yost is above average in terms of clubhouse/player management, average to above-avg. in terms of gameplanning (the 'Sunday' lineups suck, & sometimes -- as mentioned -- he rests guys on the 'wrong' days), and well below-average in terms of in-game adjustments/creating matchups. Ironically, what I find his biggest strength (confidence in players) can also be his biggest weakness.

Some guy claiming to be a friend of CC's called into KNBR here the other day and said that CC wanted to sign for an NL team because he "wanted to bat." I'm amazed the radio host didn't hang up on him. From the Indians fan chatter I've seen, there's a lot of truth to this. Sabathia loves to hit, and not just in a novelty sense. As long as dollars are comparable, I think he will sign with an NL squad (LA would be my early guess).

I'm not saying he need to pitch 120-130 pitches a game every time out like Baker did with those guys back in 04(? - or was it 03?). I know that's not what you're saying... I think all pitchers are different. I'm sure some players rebound from injuries at different rates than other. Exactly. Manny is not Kerry Wood, nor is he Mark Prior... nor is he being overworked in that way. You just have to be willing to truly concede the point quoted here. Manny Parra is Manny Parra -- the Brewers are very aware of his specific injury, & how his body has responded to it to this point. That's why they set the target of 170 IP for this season... iirc they go by the '30% increase' rule of thumb. To go much more over that would be very risky, I think. I'm just not getting the whole 170 innings carved in stone thing. I think you aren't if you think it's set in stone. It isn't, but it's set as a guideline and reminder that too much work on this particular individual's shoulder is dangerous to his & the Brewers' short-term & long-term plans. I don't disagree with you, Patrick, that the Brewers are definitely 'going for it', & Manny is part of that. But an injured Parra is a huge loss, and he can continue to contribute by working from the 'pen for a while, and if you keep him working every once in a while to stay fresh, stretching him back out for September (& hopefully beyond) shouldn't be too hard.

Saturday, July 12th v. SF (Kevin Correia) at Wrigley Field (12:05p Central time) Cubs' probable pitchers link Cubs: The hard-throwing Harden makes his Cubs debut against a National League team he is pretty familiar with in San Francisco. Harden stymied the Giants in the Bay Bridge Series last month, tossing six shutout innings of one-hit ball and striking out nine, and he holds an 0.84 career ERA against them. He last pitched on July 6 for Oakland, meaning he gets an extra day of rest following a pair of mediocre five-inning outings by his lofty standards.

Greinke would be under Brewers control after 2008, iirc -- from a quick peek at Cot's, it looks like he's got two more arbitration seasons after 2008. In a way, I'd have rather them targeted him, since the price might not have included LaPorta (or Gamel or Escobar).

...."You know, I'm not use to working full time. I'm use to having a lot of free time in the summer and I usually didn't have classes on Friday's so I slept in. So, do you mind if I ease into this full time work schedule thing?" Parra's job & workload is a bit different from just wanting to sleep in. The game has changed, and talented pitchers are hard to find. Your logic leads to the Priors & Woods of the MLB world. When was Parra last injured? Isn't he recovered by now? It's about gradually increasing the workload on Manny's arm & shoulder. I really don't know why you are so confused by this.

http://www.massbayguides.com/Images/Patrick%20Striped%20Bass.jpg http://www.dnr.state.md.us/Bay/cblife/fish/striped_bass_book.gif

"It's easy to do that when you've got great guys in the clubhouse." -- Sabathia But Richard Justice sez... I love how "close" this team is, its really special Hear hear, ELCABALLO. It's a joy to watch a close-knit group like this. The excitement & exuberance is all genuine, and the fans feed off that. Hopefully the reverse is true.

Bad Chad. I always felt bad for Moeller. He seemed like a nice guy. It's ok though... now he gets to be the 3rd C for the Yankees. Paid to do next to nothing! http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif