jjfanec

Dodgers to lose tonight is the key. Then I say the Dodgers winning 3 of 4. That would give us a chance to catch St. Louis and leave us with only one team between us and the wild card.

This team is really fun to follow right now! Only bad news of the night - Dodgers score 2 in the first and i guess Philly winning again too

If the Brewers make the playoffs it is between Braun and Posey. If the Pirates make the playoffs it is between Posey and McCutchen. If only the Giants make the playoffs (the most likely scenario) Posey wins it. So I am going to go with Posey

Peralta has had two starts. He walked 4 guys in one and 1 guy in the other. So he has not walked a ton of guys in his two starts. Unless you were talking about in the minors. Rogers is a risk but a risk worth taking in my mind. Between Estrada, Rogers, Peralta, Thornburg, and Narverson you would think we have 3 starters. I know some people think Narverson is done but there were just some encouraging reports on him.

Outside of fantasy baseball reasons I didnt think I would care about a non-Brewers game in September this year! Yet here I am following the Cards game tonight. Come on Padres!

Aoki probably wont get ROY but he has been a terrific signing. Fiers, Aoki, and Rogers have all performed very well for rookies

"They are out of contention. I admit, I got back on the wagon. Had they won yesterday, I maybe still on it. It's unicorns and leprechauns at this point. The run was fun though." In two different threads you said they are out of contention. How is that not the same as saying they are done? I am confused. No one came close to saying a playoff run would be easy. Now you are making things up. People are just saying there is still a small amount of hope

You dont seem fine with saying there is a bit of a chance since you continue to emphatically say they are done. I hope this turns out the same as the last time you were really certain of something on this board. Last year Atlanta dropped their last 5 games. Boston was terrible down the stretch too. The Brewers can do their own work to pass the Pirates and with St. Louis and LA playing a 4 game set there is a decent chance for the Cru take make up some ground there. They would have to play about as well as they did these past 20 games to have a chance, but if they went 16-5 over the next 21 - which I think is what they just did - they would overtake (or tie) the teams above them if those teams went 11-10. Even if the Crew goes 14-7 they could tie a 9-12 Cards finish, a 10-11 Dodgers finish, etc.

The Brewers chances of making the playoffs are slim for sure, but to act like they dont have a chance is not looking at history. We could pass the Pirates just by sweeping them in our next series against them. That is a tough task but the Pirates have been really bad lately. Our last 6 games are at home against the Astros and Padres. We could easily go 5-1 in those games. We do go to the Nationals and Reds which will be very tough. However, if we can do the work needed to pass the Pirates that just means there are two other team - the Cards and the Dodgers and they play each other 4 times this weekend. Now is it likely - nope - but it is possible. Our playoff chances went from like .2 to 2% in the past week or so, so things are looking up

I want to catch the Pirates so then sportswriters cannot vote for McCutchen over Braun for MVP on the reasoning that the Pirates won more. We would probably have to somehow catch the Giants too so Posey couldnt get it.

is that really what you hope for? a 4ish ERA? He's capable of maintaining a mid 3's ERA with a K per inning k9. A 4ish ERA would put him as the 36 best pitcher in the NL. I would take that in a heart beat. There are 7 NL pitchers with k/9 above 8.96. That is ton to ask of a guy who would be in his first full MLB season. If Rogers becomes a mid-3, 9 k/9 guy he is going to be our best pitcher or at least right there with Yo

Peralta was solid again tonight. Khris Davis with another homer. Like mentioned early Scooter continues to rake and Morris hit a home run as well.

We make Henderson the closer and then he blows a save. Ugh

Pre 2008 he was the number 60 prospect in the game. So saying he has never been anything worthwhile is completely false. In 2010 he struck out 73 batters in 43 innings. In 2011 he had an ERA around 2 while striking out more than a batter an inning. He is a reliever so his ERA fluctuates but his peripherals suggest he could be a very nice bullpen arm

It has been a fun month to look at the pitching in the minors or guys who were recently in the minors. Fiers - Even with a terrible last start he looks like a solid arm in the MLB rotation for the future Rogers - His last start was terrific. Excited to see if he can stick AAA Peralta - Looks like he is turning a corner. Had a really nice July. His k-rate is looking really good lately. 54 K's in his last 46 IP. Thornburg - Looks like he is on a 5 IP limit. 4:1 K to BB ratio in AAA. Granted it is only four starts but that is solid and zero home runs in those starts is also nice Burgos - One terrible start but as igor said in a recent thread his ascent is reminiscent of Fiers Bullpen - De los Santos, Sanchez, Henderson, and Wooten all could be part of our bullpen going forward AA Nelson - I still like him a lot as a prospect but he is walking way too many guys. His walk rate almost tripled from A+ to AA so that could be a fluke. He is still missing bats though Hellweg - Looks like he will be out of the bullpen for the rest of the year, but like Nelson if he can get the walks down he could be an elite prospect Pena- Also needs to cut down on the walks. The arms in AA are really exciting but they all have control issues right now. Hopefully that can be fixed A+ Jungmann - His last 3 starts have been much more impressive and he has been missing bats. In his last ten games he had a three start stretch that was brutal but he only gave up 8 runs in the other 7 starts. I think he makes a big jump next year Bucci - Cant wait to see him jump a few levels next year. The injury was a big disappointment but it is huge that he is back right now and pitching well Bradley - Ugh Hall and Gagnon - wish they could miss more bats and I dont know much about them Miller - Now A+ and am interested to see if he can start to profile as a 4/5 guy A Not really sure if there is much here to get excited about Rookie leagues - someone can fill this in as well

Considering he has an OPS of .861 the second half of the year I am fairly happy he is with us going forward.

The way the Manatees stepped up in this series against Tampa, the team they're chasing, is really impressive. I hope they can carry this success forward. Jungmann has been impressive lately. He is starting to miss bats along with still keeping the ball on the ground.

1. Segura 2. Thornburg 3. Peralta 4. Nelson 5. Hellweg 6. Jungmann 7. Morris 8. Gennett 9. Coulter 10. Pena 11. Roache 12. Taylor 13. Khris Davis 14. Burgos 15. Bucci 16. C. Garfield 17. Gagnon 18. Haniger 19. McFarland 20. Schafer 21. Magnifico 22. De Los Santos 23. J. Bradley 24. Arcia 25. E. Rivera 26. Reed 27. Gindl 28. Ozuna 29. Prince 30. Scarpetta 31. Rogers 32. Manzanillo 33. Heckathorn 34. Walla 35. Lopez 36. Kentrail Davis 37. Ortega 38. Hall 39. Wagner 40. Williams 41. Walker 42. Arnett 43. Jesus Sanchez 44. Hand

Okay so we cannot contend next year but the Pirates can contend this year? Lets look at their current roster and tell me why it cannot be done. Our lineup will have Braun, Hart, Weeks, Ramirez, Lucroy, Aoki, Segura who is almost automatically an upgrade over what we had this year and one more OFer. Our rotation will have question marks but say Marcum comes back you have Yo, Marcum, Fiers, and then 2 of Estrada, Peralta, Thornburg, Rogers, and Burgos. No reason to think that is a horrible rotation. The bullpen will need to be revamped and we will have contracts leaving that will allow us to do that. I guess I just dont see why we are automatically the Astros next year. Do I think we win the division - nope, but do I think there is a decent chance we can be in WC contention in August - sure

Corey Hart was an All-Star. I don't think many people thought Lawrie was in the same class as Braun but even if he was "only" as good as Hart that would have given us 2 very good bats to build a lineup around for at least 6+ years. I have said that Hart is not a bad guy to whom to be compared. He is a really good baseball player and having a guy like Hart for 6 years would be really nice. The initial post in this thread said Lawrie was a potential MVP candidate and others have said the same thing, so I dont get why some here keep acting like people have not been saying Lawrie will be on Braun's level. The Marcum trade was a tough one to love and before this season I said it was the one of the three big pitcher trades I was worried would be the hardest one to stomach going forward. I hope people dont think I think Lawrie will be a bust. I just dont think he is an MVP type player I have taken this post away from its original topic so I will quit posting about Lawrie comparisons. Back to the post. The thought that we could have drafted Trout if the Angles didnt pick him makes me sad

Segura playing with the big boys tonight and Hellweg going again tonight in AA. The Greinke trade sure made the end of the year more interesting

It was more than one person but it doesnt really matter I could be selling them short due to their age, but I think next year will be a telling year for Lawrie. He never really hit for HR power in the minors outside of 2011 and this year his power has declined again. He will be the same age Braun was when Ryan first came into the league so it will be the year where Lawrie's age will be somewhat normal for the league. I just look at minor league numbers and keep seeing Lawrie matching up more with Hart than Braun. He was a year younger than Corey but his numbers are about the same in AA. Lawrie's crazy minor league year came in the PCL where numbers are usually insane now he carried that over into the majors so maybe that is who he is. Hart is not a bad guy to whom to be compared and I am not trying to slight Lawrie.

I think Lawrie will be a very good hitter, but I don't recall seeing anyone call him a superstar right now or say that he's going to win the MVP. EDIT: Here is another player who made it to MLB at a very young age, mashed in his first year, struggled in his second year, and has bounced back just fine. In fact, this guy was another who many on BF.net dismissed as an overhyped young player who surely would never live up to the hype (iirc someone even started a thread on that topic). Maybe he does, maybe he doesn't, but you sure aren't seeing many people posting about how he was just overhyped anymore... though I do recall some I-told-you-so caliber posts during his second season. I know there were numerous people saying he was a Braun like hitter. Putting him in that category implies All-Star and MVP in the future. Heyward is a great example of who I think Lawrie is. A .750-.850 OPS hitter, but the power looks more to be in the 15-20 HR range than the 35-40. There have been many on this board who have put Lawrie in Braun's camp as a hitter and I just dont see it. I could be wrong, because I have been about plenty of guys. I am not trying to post some I-told-you-so thing about Lawrie. I think he is better than his numbers this year, but I have read numerous posts saying we gave up a future All-Star. I guess I get sick of reading posts about how great we would be going forward with two studs like Lawrie and Braun (again I have seen this thought posted here more than a couple times) when Lawrie looks more like Corey Hart than Ryan Braun

Hunter Morris with another double but even more exciting is that he walked twice. He is on pace to double his walk total from last year

Bucci is starting off strong. 3 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 5 K! Glad to see him back this season