TuesdaysWithRillo

I didn't realize we use Chinese philosophy here on bf.net. Is Counsell playing everyday? You must be watching a different team than I am. From what I've seen he's just platooning for the time being.

Branyan has 4 errors. He has 89 chances. Both are very small samples. I'll take Counsell's career 98.5% fielding percentage and take it to the bank. Even though he might not have the arm he used to, he's still an above average defender. It is debatable whether Branyan is above average. I would consider Branyan average at best.

Obviously he does because he's been making plays on the bunts and slow rollers. I don't recall even the slightest miscue by Counsell this year when he's played 3B.

I asked my question first and you answered my question with another question. You seem to do that a lot. If you think Branyan is better than Counsell defensively, then yes Branyan should be in there vs righties all the time, but that is where we differ in opinion I guess.

I wonder if an independent league team would take Gallardo on for some rehab starts. Is that against the rules at all? Doesn't Jim Gantner manage an independent league in Wisconsin somewhere? Wausau is coming to mind. That would seem like a logical fit.

How about the ability to charge bunts and slow rollers? That certainly is a range factor. I'm not sure if defensive statistics take that into account. I would give Counsell the nod at that over Branyan in that department.

You didn't answer my question. I'll type it again: Do you really think Branyan is better defensively than Counsell at 3B from what you've seen on the field this year?

I think that pretty much proves that defensive statistics are very much flawed. Do you really think Branyan is better defensively than Counsell at 3B from what you've seen on the field this year?

Really? Branyan is better defensively than Counsell? That's news to me. How do you come to that conclusion?

I don't see what's so tough to understand about the concept. Counsell is a better defender than Branyan and the team need is defense and when runs aren't at a premium why not go with defense? I feel like I'm repeating myself.

I'm glad to hear he's feeling better and if he's back for the Dodgers series, that would be ideal. It's nice to have a good replacement in Kapler with good defense and servicable offense.

That's exactly why it's the perfect time to play Counsell right now. Offense is not at a premium against bad pitching, but we can always use defense on this team because it has a track record of being horrid.

That's another great thing I didn't even bring up. Does anybody have the statistics on how many pitches Counsell takes per PA as opposed to the rest of our team? It's nice to have players who can tire out the opposing starting pitcher early so they can burn their pen. It is when there is a mistake being made of people taking for granted what Counsell intangibly brings to this team. It's tiime to sleep now.

But that's the point. If the rest of the offense is scoring runs at this point, then Counsell is fitting perfectly into our lineup right now because his lack of run production is not being exposed. But at the same time, he's playing good defense and filling a team need. The main thing people need to remember is that this is just temporary. If the offense goes back into the tank and I'm sure it will if Braun misses extended time, Branyan will be back. The reason I know this is because I was hired as Ned Yost's personal spokesmen on bf.net to fight off the unfair criticism he's gotten despite improving the team mightily in his time as a Brewer. The team is 17 games over 500. Cripes. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

I completely agree with you that he's just a utility player and that's exactly what Counsell is doing. He's not starting every day at 3B. Yost is just going with him for the time being for the reasons stated above. I guarantee you that Branyan will be back in there regularly by September. If he isn't, I'll buy you a six pack of your beer of choice.

Nobody has done that for our team this year, but he has come up big many times with today coming to mind. Also the game vs. the Reds when C.C. Sabathia was pitching and the bases were loaded in the bottom of the 9th and Counsell came up and made a PRODUCTIVE OUT by sacrifice flying in the game winning run. Case in point. Counsell also saved 2 runs in the Braves series by making a diving stab with the bases loaded. Only one run scored, when if the ball had gone to the outfield, 3 runs would have scored. It was a play that Branyan would have never made. A lot of people on this board are purely numbers based and don't see what a guy like Counsell brings to the table. If you look purely at numbers and don't take any intangible parts of the game into account, then Counsell is useless and should be sitting on a boat along Whitefish Bay right now with his fishing rod out. He would have little value, BUT he brings a lot of things to the team that aren't easily quantified by numbers like making productive outs and great defense and contact hitting. I'm sorry I don't have a database of stats to give you the evidence you want, Rluz, but I'm telling you what I've seen in Craig Counsell this year and last year as a fan of the team. Does anyone on this board question the Big Game ability of Craig Counsell? If you want evidence of that look at his fingers. They have some gold on them where he was an integral part of gaining both of those pieces of jewelry. Also if you want some more evidence, check out Counsell's over .400 batting average with the bases loaded in about 85 AB's. Yes that's a small sample, but who in the heck in baseball history has a large sample of the bases being loaded? I'll edit this post a few more times tonight with pieces of "evidence" if I think of them.

I'm not baiting, but it seems like you are by saying that. If your argument is that Counsell is hurting our offense and our offense is scoring more runs in the last 2 weeks than their average this season, then how exactly is Counsell hurting our team right now? This is a great time for Counsell to play because our team is scoring runs and we can take advantage of his defense even that much more. What more evidence do you want? If a player's weakness is not being exposed and his strength is being utilized, why not play him?

How about the justification that we are winning games in the process with Counsell helping out a lot. That's good enough justification for me. If it gets to a point where we need to score runs, then yes, put Branyan in, but this team's issue is defense and Yost is addressing a TEAM NEED. Brewers run production per game in 2008: 4.69 Brewers run production in the last 2 weeks: 5.3 Is Counsell hurting us?

If anybody can name any specific game that Counsell has costed us in the last 2 weeks, please let me know, but as far as I have seen, he's helped the team being at 3B and not hurt it. The Brewers are scoring 5.3 runs per game in August. Is Counsell costing our offense? The answer to that question is no. Is he helping our defense? The answer to that question is yes.

He still has a 95 mph fastball though, and he could gain some valuable experience in low leverage situations for the Big League Club. I am in favor of Pena getting the call on Sept 1st.

Here is my argument why it is good that Counsell is getting some starts here in August. It may be wrong, but this is why I think it's good: A lineup needs to have a mix of contact hitters and high strikeout guys. Teams with a bunch of high strikeout guys tend to go in long slumps because they can't play small ball and get runs while they don't get their home runs. Even great home run hitters only hit a home run every 4 games at best so if they are high strikeout guys, that means they aren't making productive outs during those outages. Counsell is greatest player on our team at making his outs productive and I believe he's our best contact hitter. We already have plenty of guys who can smash the ball out of the park, but when they do get on base, it is nice to have a guy like Counsell to get him over or even score them like he did today with a double to left field. Counsell is batting behind Hart and he's a great guy to come up when Hart gets on base so we can use his speed to our advantage with more hit and run and steal situations with less strikeouts. We've also mentioned the great defense. I do think Branyan should be our first option at 3B for the long term, but Counsell is playing in the short term. He will not be our every day 3B in September, but Yost is keeping him sharp here and using Counsell's strengths to the teams advantage. Is it a coincidence that the Brewers have won 6 straight games and have played good baseball since he's been put in there as the left handed version of the platoon at 3B? The answer is debatable, but I don't think it is. Counsell is a clutch hitter who has delivered big many times in his career and when you get a sure handed defensive player in there on a bad defensive team, it really helps. I could be wrong here, but that is the argument, and I think I'm right.

With all of the injuries that Arizona has had this season, this is just what the doctor ordered.

Why is Counsell starting at 3B?

Venice, Italy happens to be my favorite place I've been to. There is no other city anything like it.

Tell that to the Minnesota Twins, although, I think a lot of it is luck in their case.