FVBrewerFan

I know what you're thinking, pitching is bad because most of the pitching staff is...well...pretty horrible. But I was digging through stats, and saw lots of things you would expect to see. Near the bottom of MLB in a whole host of categories. So I dug a little deeper to try to get an idea of what is happening. First, and again no surprise, starts don't go very deep into games. Dead last in MLB in Quality Starts. Far from a perfect stat to use, but I think useful in this case. If the starters regularly gave you 6+ innings with 3 runs, Brewers would be way out in 1st place. This puts a lot of pressure on a bullpen that is probably not THAT bad, but gets exposed when they have to cover this many innings. They are 5th in BB/9, another huge cause of their problems. Then I came across something I thought what very interesting. Brewers are 4th in all of MLB in % of fastballs, and 2nd to last in % of change-ups. That really got my attention. And I think it helps explain at least part of the problem. When teams can just dig in and look for fastballs, that's not going to end well.

Hold it right there. You gave up the remote?? Nobody told you, NEVER concede control of the remote!!?!

Every minor league player has question marks. Every major league player with limited experience has questions marks. So that's basically avoiding the question. Of course they have question marks, but that would mean no minor league player is ever promoted. You say Brinson might be good. How will you ever know? He has Braun, Broxton, Santana blocking him. Does Phillips have some things to work on too? Sure. But if he continues the path he's on, he will be ready for the 2018 season. Cordell is already ready. We all understand "it will work itself out." I think the question is HOW will it work itself out. We're not talking about 2-3 years down the road anymore, this will need to be decided in the near future. That's why I think it's interesting to discuss.

Agreed but just not sure if it can happen. Getting TOR type guys will be tough for those three. Just not sure any are elite enough. Maybe paired with each other? I don't know. Yea, I think it will take a package. Fortunately, the Brewers have enough talent from MLB down to rookie ball to put together an attractive package. But Broxton alone, if he keeps this up, will have tremendous value.

He hasn't played for an extended period of time yet to know if he's "streaky" or not. If he continues to hit over .800 OPS, that is not "barely adequate." Only 16 corner OF hit over .800 OPS last year in all of MLB. We don't know what we have yet in Santana, but we will have a better idea by July/ August.

I agree Santana looks to be the odd man out, of course that can change. Braun is staying long term, more than likely. All 4 of the other OFs are better defensively. Broxton looks to be a keeper, Brinson has the huge upside, and Phillips is the only LH. So it seems like Braun, Broxton, Brinson, Phillips would be the 4 OF for 2018. Is SF the best trade partner, and would your deal work? Others could answer than way better than I could. What I would like to see is package him with Garza and a minor league player, or some kind of combination that would bring back a "really good" pitcher. I don't think Santana gets you that on his own.

Good points, Franklin can play LF too. And you raise the question really, will they make this retro to an earlier date and Braun will only miss another 5-10 games, or will it be longer than that? And again, good point that this may not be the last time. So, if it's only 10 more games (or less) they could easily just put Perez in LF basically full time and call up anyone- even another bullpen arm. This really shows how important the versatility is, because they really don't "need" any position player. More than anything, they need another bat for PH. After sleeping on it, if they think it will be a little longer term, I say bring up Cordell and let him play LF full time. He's a little older, "behind" other OF prospects, etc., so this may be the only time to get a look at him. (And for the rest of MLB to get a look at him.) .500 or not, this is still a rebuilding year and Cordell is never going to be more "ready" than he is right now.

Won't happen but my long, long,long shot......Cooper. Leading CS in virtually every category, but blocked here so a chance to showcase him?

Well, at that high level view I would want 4 starting OF. If one of them can play some 1B, PH chances, then there's the games with DH. Add it all up and plenty of ABs for 4 really good OFs, This also allows for them to step in for each other when short DL stints happen, slumps, etc. Not to mention 4 really good OFs makes it much easier to trade one.

How will they get their shots? You have 6 OFs, so it would take 3 injuries for all of them to get a shot. Cordell, for example, has done plenty to earn a shot. Phillips, again, is the only LH of the group so you know they'll want to give him a shot. Not saying they need a shot NOW, I'm talking about the 2018 season. And now that Braun is likely to be here, and Thames, that takes away two potential spots that would have avoided the backlog. I get it's not a problem until it's a problem, but we're getting closer to that.

After your comment I expected to see a big crooked number, but wasn't expecting THAT! Good news is, another clean inning by Wang. I think we'll be seeing him by the AS break.

Yet he's gone 6 complete with 1 unearned run. Funny how we pick apart some players. As for Villar, his base running bothered CC enough that he sat him out the next day.

Right, and he was healthy and raked 8 years ago too. So what? We're talking about NOW and the future. And right now, doesn't look like he'll play even 120 games. And if he does, that's pretty much a 4th OF, missing 1/4 of the season. Absolutely, like I said in my original post, if he can play 135/140 games a year, no problem, nothing changes. So what you're saying is if continues to miss as many games as he has this season, LF should always be reserved for him? Do you think it's not possible for him to continue to miss as many games as he has to start this season? Not arguing, just really want to know. If you're the Dodgers or any other team you feel just fine trading top prospects for Braun right now?

Braun a 4th OF? Come on man. He'll be penciled into that 3-hole for the next four years as long as he wants to continue to play. He is one of the best hitters in the game. Too many people get excited from shiny new things these days. A shiny new thing looks pretty good when the alternative is an old, rusty, broken down thing. In case you haven't noticed, he's basically the 4th OF now. If he continues this trend of not being able to go on a regular basis, how can you possibly reserve a full time position for him in LF? (You also conveniently left out my first paragraph. Everything changes if he can stay healthy for an extended period of time.)

To be fair, it is possible he gets past these minor injuries, stays healthy and really rakes for an extended period of time. We must admit that's possible. More likely, what we're seeing is Braun relegated to the role of a 4th OF who can really help when healthy. With all the OF talent they have, I just don't see how you can reserve a full time spot for Braun. We could even be looking at early retirement. As far as a trade goes, I think this actually helps. I think it forces Mark A to realize they need to pay a big chunk of his salary, something they weren't willing to do in the past. It also forces Stearns to lower his expectations regarding the return.

Agree with all this. It's not as simple as "the best 3 OF will emerge." Take Cordell for example. He is probably seen as the 6th best of this group of 6. But it's entirely possible he could be the 3rd or 4th best, yet never get a chance to prove that until after he's traded away. I also think it will be difficult to get back what they're "worth" in a trade. Santana, for example, could be sitting at .800+ at the trade deadline, but contenders are usually looking for a more "proven" bat. If a controllable TOR pitcher is the goal in a trade, will probably need to package together say Broxton and Ortiz or something like that. Funny, because I was saying all the time, it's not a problem too have too much OF talent, it will work itself out, etc. But two things happened. 1) Braun is still here, and probably will be. 2) Thames emerged, so can't move Santana or anyone else to 1B. So here we are. 3 OFs producing at a high level, and 3 more that look like they're ready, or ready very soon. Phillips as the lone LH will definitely get a shot. Brinson, with his very high ceiling will as well. And Braun would be the 3rd. That leaves Broxton as the 4th OF, and he'll still get a ton of ABs, especially with all of Braun's nagging injuries. You could almost call Braun the 4th OF. That leaves Santana and Cordell on the outside looking in. So you trade Santana and get what you can, maybe package him with others to get a better return. Cordell you keep in AAA again next year. That's the most likely scenario I see for the 2018 OF. To summarize: LF: Broxton CF: Brinson RF: Phillips 4th:Braun Santana-Traded Cordell- AAA Ray, Clark: Too soon to know if they are MLB players, no reason to plan for them yet

Must say, it's nice having an actual third baseman play 3B this year.

Hate the Drake!

I would say Pina and Bandy over .800 is a surpise.

Nice outing Scahill, love relievers who can go more than one.

Correct. Can't believe I missed that one.

I would have thought so too, but this is the rule: http://m.mlb.com/glossary/rules/balk I guess Rock was correct. Maybe high school rules are different but I know I've seen batters hit the ball after a balk is called and the umpire bring him back to the plate. Pretty obscure, wouldn't surprise me if a HS umpire got it wrong.

Looking at the 40, it is a good point. The big 3 are the o my ones on the roster. Not sure it's worth clearing a spot for 10 days of Wren or Kirk N

Kirk N, there's an answer for you. Thames and Perez can handle LF for 10 days IF it happens. Yes, Fraklin could too. But they would need another bat on the bench anyhow.

Kirk N, there's an answer for you.