TooLiveBrew

For every time that he comes up and belts a homer in the late innings, there's going to be plenty of other times where he strikes out with runners on, while Counsell (usually) gets it done with the bases loaded. Which is it, though -- runners on or bases loaded? 1686 PA for Counsell with runners on: .268/.361/.343.704 988 PA for Branyan with runners on: .237/.351/.475/.826 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 98 PA for Counsell with bases loaded: .407/.423/.580/1.003 64 PA for Branyan with bases loaded: .196/.297/.413/.710 I won't even bother posting their career lines -- clearly the 'men on' example is more indicative of their talent (in fact, both guys have lines that match up quite well with their overall lines). And that makes sense, since it's by far a larger sample of ABs. Counsell's bases loaded 'magic' has had a lot more to do with luck imo than anything else... 98 PA? If someone brought that up in another discussion, it'd get the small sample stamp instantly. Yet with Counsell people say again & again how great he is with the bases loaded. I know his line there is sexy, but it just looks fluky to me. I'll put it this way -- if Counsell had a crazy good start to the season with 98 PA & a line of .407/.423/.580, would you be saying that, because of that start, he's the best option at 3B going forward? Or would you expect him to return towards career norms with more PA?

I don't like errors as a defensive-eval. stat, and expecially in the minors. There's often no way for the scorer to have any better look at the play than what he just saw, real-time. I thought the general consensus on Escobar was that he was even better than J.J. defensively (& I like Hardy's D, too, twobrewers).

I don't think he could survive a 3-6 or worse homestand. At this point I think it's pretty clear that it'd take a much, much longer stretch of terrible baseball for Yost to get fired. If he was safe last season, I think he's safe for '08.

I haven't really given 2KSports's MLB vehicle a fair play, just because The Show is so good for PS2 (& 3 from what I've heard).

I love using the break point option they have since it makes me think when I'm pitching compared to just put the cursor there and that is where the ball will end up. I hear ya -- the pitching control in the The Show '08 is really neat, though, since imo it's the least dependable to date. I mean that as a good thing, bc it gets old being able to perfectly locate your pitches with a scrub P. I think the pitching in '08 is noticeably tougher, and the gameplay is vastly improved due to this. I can go out & get my butt kicked 11-4, or win 7-0. I like that uncertainty & competitiveness.

Good clarification, thanks -- I should have stated that was speaking in terms of future success when I said 'what did it tell you?'

Wow. So sad... *shakes head* Don't drink and do stupid stuff, people. Good advice.

It isn't enough. Example: If Batter A is 0-10 v. Pitcher B, & faces said Pitcher, going 4-5 off him for that game, he is then 4-15 against the pitcher. What did 0-10 tell you, and what would 4-15 tell you? Nothing.

The negative argument has shifted in a sense from last years concrete examples of mis-management to a "softer" argument of 1) they aren't performing and someone has to take the blame 2) Ned's personality rubs people the wrong way or 3) I didn't like Yost last year and with the Brewers not hitting expectations, I still don't like him. Great points here, SoCal BCF. I side most closely with #3, but I don't think the Brewers not hitting to expectations is all that valid. I dislike Yost's style as a manager, aside from his decent avoidance of small ball... though at this point, I'd imagine there are a lot more managerial candidates of like-mind (or better) in that regard than there were when Ned was hired. The manager job in MLB is equal to being the lightning rod for the club, whether that means undue or due praise/criticism. It comes with the territory. Ned has certainly experienced both ends of that spectrum, I think. I love that he was open to & has been committed to batting Kendall 9th. He appears to be a bit more proactive with RPs, but many of his familiar warts remain. To me it doesn't come down to whether or not he's bad/good, but moreso whether or not he's the best option for the club at Mgr. I still believe he isn't, even though I think he's made some nice moves/decisions this season.

Because using 10 AB or PA to try & 'tell' you anything is 100% unreliable.

Kendall's hot April has given him a free pass, apparently for the season. Most Brewer fans think his signing has been a great move. I'm not down on Kendall at all; I like him too. But in May he's hitting .228/.323/.298. No one complains though because he was hitting .424 two weeks into the season. Great point, joepepsi -- exactly what I meant with the 'scoreboard display' mention. IMO, Kendall's real value is in his handling of the pitchers, and his defense in general. Agreed. I had no idea that Kendall was this good defensively. Honestly, his RTO% has just been a bonus imo. I take some solace that his OBP has been around a .325 level while struggling. To me that points that he's actually a viable .340-.350 OBP guy this season.

I fear that Villy is going to be used as a one-inning guy 3-4 times a week, and he'll have a hard time coming back as a starter when he gets it back together. He did ok last season getting back to starting when they stretched him out in Nashville after he was overworked as a RP with Milwaukee. But I agree with you that bumping him from the rotation probably isn't the best idea.

Jim Powell talked about Branyan for awhile during the game last night and concluded that the most you can expect out of Branyan is what Bill Hall already gives us. I think 1868 career MLB plate appearances is enough to convince me that I won't see anything different this time. He's a guy that fits perfectly into a corner IF platoon. I swear people cherry-pick on stats with Branyan seemingly more than any other player. He is what he is -- a righty-mashing platoon guy. There's nothing wrong with that, and there happens to be a perfect fit for him on the MLB team. Yes he has his warts, so you don't let him face LHP. I think a line near .250/.350/.475/.825 is what you should reasonably expect from Branyan against righties... which is far better than letting Hall keep struggling against them, or trotting out Counsell's woeful stick. If you want to talk about his MLB career, why not point out his OPS north of .800?

So, should we stop whining and pay attention to the good things that have been happening most of the last two weeks? http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif The first month or two's worth of stats in a season often gets more attention than the small sample of ~200 PA should. I think this is due to it showing up explicitly on scoreboards, & it being readily accessible online & other stat sources (without having to sort for month-by-month splits). What's hard to keep in mind is that the first 200 PA are no more predictive than any other sample of such a size. When hitters have slow-ish starts (happens every season), fans will sometimes overreact out of (understandable) frustration. You wait all winter, watch the club make its offseason moves, and have nothing to do but anticipate for months. When the team that takes the field has as much talent as this year's Brewers squad, early struggles are that much more frustrating imo. It is tough to try & keep the small sample thought in mind, and many fans just start to get irritated when reminded of it. The most encouraging sign of late to me (since I don't find our hitters' surge all that out of the ordinary) has been the pitching, namely Parra. Imho the hitting is there & will be there, but how the SPing can operate for the next 4 months will be the key to our playoff chances. Ben's looked great this season, and especially last night -- as rluz pointed out in the IGT, he touched 95 or so with his FB & threw one of his best CBs of the night (last pitch of the game) on the game's last batter. As usual, his ability to make 30 or so starts is inextricably tied to this team's playoff chances.

DiFelice was called up. I'd rather see him get another shot than McClung. Though, as mentioned, I think a McClung start would be a 4 or 5 inning go with someone like Villy coming in to pitch 2-4 innings.

Sometime last winter I suggesting signing Eric Hinske because he was essentially Gross with the ability to play 3B. He's doing so well now, Tampa isn't going to give him up. Hinske hasn't played any more than a handful of starts at 3B since 2002-'04 with Toronto. He was below lg.avg. there from the best I can tell. He's slugged the ball well above his career rate in the early season small-sample, so I'd expect him to cool off over the course of the season. Given that they're roughly equal producers, I don't think it much matters which one we signed -- just a good thing we signed one of them. Tampa Bay has been using Hinske primarily in RF/OF, where we obviously don't have room. I don't know if there's anything to that aside from Iwamura's & Longoria's presences on the Rays' roster. My guess is that Hinske wanted a MLB deal (which he got), & Branyan could be had for a minor-league deal. Given the roster flexibility that allows, I'm glad we have Russ... now I wish Melvin would get around to calling him up!

Want to point out that I heard my very first "Big Puma" just now on the FSN-Hou. broadcast of the 'Stros-Cubs game tonight. Very nice.

Wow, of the 7 pitches Sheets threw to that last batter, 5 where curves. The other pitches were two fastballs that registered in at 95 and 96 MPH! Certainly seems to indicate that 120+ pitches was no problem for him tonight. So you are saying that Boston also missed his shoulder problems? I love ya but Gagne just sucks. I hope he takes a 5 month sabbatical. It's certainly possible. I don't know why people just heap on the guy -- he could have some problems, and the Brewers are being extra-careful with their $10M guy. I'm sure we'd hear the roars of anger if they didn't check it out & he got injured... for the same reason -- $10M. Well, that, and the fact that people are negative towards him now bc he hasn't been good... at $10M. Just because the fans don't think they saw anything wrong doesn't mean that everything's ok. I'm willing to at least wait on them checking out his shoulder.

Woooof! What a curve to end it.

I think at this point we can assume that the Gagne shoulder concerns are real. It would actually help explain a bit why he's struggled so much. 6-4-3? Nope... 6-Rickie-?

Go get 'em Benny!

LaRoche was a nice move for PIT. They dumped a RP with arm trouble history, and got a guy entering his prime seasons. Perfect small-market trade imo. WEEKS!

Is it small sample syndorome, or has Braun been working better ABs in the past 2-3 weeks? EDIT: Annnnd, that swing. I'll still sheepishly raise the question.

The color guy for Pitt. just said he's really now seriously wondering about Snell tipping pitches. They sound objective, so I'm trying to be fair. I think one reason Cameron hasn't 'looked' great in the OF is that he gets marvelous jumps on the ball, & is still a graceful athlete. He hasn't had to dive much, largely because he just gets there a step ahead of most OFs. That catch tonight was incredible -- good example of how he made a tough play look easy; he turned around to look at the wall twice, right? That's knowing how to track FBs.

Wow! Hey Rickie, just go hit one out to the deepest LC in baseball. "Ok." -- btw, the Bucs announcers are speculating that/wondering if Snell might be getting caught tipping his pitches by the Crew. They cited that Weeks HR & the one to Braun.