Samurai Bucky

I get frustrated when an email is sent to a group of people asking if they will attend a function... then somebody responds to "ALL". Then I get 30 email messages saying somebody will attend. I really don't care.

This clip from MLB includes Tim Dillard's appearance. Hilarious! https://www.mlb.com/video/fans-lose-their-popcorn-after-home-run?partnerId=web_video-playback-page_video-share

We have a Samsung Smart TV and there is an "app" as part of their Operating System. The same thing with our Roku devices. If you don't have a smart TV, you would probably have to purchase a Roku, Amazon Fire, or Apple TV player.

Oy vey

Article on Manfred addressing the "robot" or a challenge system: https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/mlbs-rob-manfred-addresses-future-of-robot-umpires-says-abs-could-be-introduced-as-challenge-system/

Mrs. Samurai and I were surprised when it was on Apple TV. Fortunately, our daughter has a subscription, so we piggybacked on that. Oh... how we yearn for the days past where channel 18 would only show away games if we were lucky. At least it was free, right? God forbid we listen to the radio.

For those of us that don't know what BsR is: Wikipedia Link

Late to the party... sorry... There is a clubhouse coefficient that might need to be part of the equation. For example, he and Contreras have seemed to take a bit of a mentoring role with Chourio. It also seems like he keeps the clubhouse loose. Would trading him be Hader version 2?

When Wiemer takes his plus-plus swing on strike zero or strike one, he swings so hard that his mechanics get all screwed up. He looks like he could hit the ball a ton, but he needs to make contact first.

I hope everything is ok... Gotta cut down on those Ghost Peppers... 😉

One of the reasons why I like Contreras at the #2 (apart from the reason that @Outlander stated) was because he hits left-center to right center. He also does a great job of hitting behind the runner with power and consistency. Although Yelich is hitting well, he might be at #3 to protect Contreras. I'm excited that Turang has turned into a leadoff hitter that gets on base, once on base -- creates pressure on the defense, and also doesn't strike out. He is different than Schwarber in Philly... 😉

There certainly is a fine line -- the organization made a commitment to the player, brings him up, the fans are excited because they were eagerly awaiting his arrival, and then he struggles. Then decisions are made to help him and the team. No, I'm not talking about Chourio, I'm talking about Sal Frelick. Stay with me. Last year at opening day, the board was buzzing when Frelick was called up. Heck, people even thought he should have been called up the previous year. So, he struggles, then there are people, on the same board that was buzzing about him, calling for him to sit. We are certainly a fickle bunch, aren't we? What is the difference between Chourio and Frelick? A lot of years and a boat load of dollars under contract. Sure, Chourio has more talent than Frelick. However, does that give him a free pass: "Pinch-hitting in high-leverage situations does nothing to help Chourio develop..." when seeing pitches in the batter's box. If the only goal to getting a young player to see pitches at the plate, then you are spot on. I would argue there is more to a player being good than seeing pitches. Remember, Murphy has decades more experience with young men of college age (Chourio fits that category) than some people on this board have been alive. I trust he knows what is doing not only in physical player development, but in mental player development. What does it mean to hit behind the runner? How do you learn before and during the game on how to attack the opposing team while in the batter's box? He's 20, so perhaps he needs to know how to grow up. All things that he has done with young men for a very long time. Player development is more complicated than we think. Let's trust Murphy.

Our family went to a Game Show Battle Room for Mother's Day. It was a lot of fun! https://gameshowbattlerooms.com/milwaukee/

I'm thinking Frelick needs to take the same approach as Turang at the plate. Keep it compact and stop swinging off of your back foot. That is a biproduct of somebody saying, "you need a better launch angle." Making contact and squaring up the ball is more important than launch angle. By having your hands take a longer path to the ball and leaning back (effectively changing your bat path), you are reducing the percentage of success. I really enjoy Frelick and would like to see him succeed in Milwaukee. If for nothing else -- he knew what a Bubbler is... 😉

It is only embarrassing if the expectations were unrealistic to begin with. There were many who thought he would be able to step in and be a solid contributor day in and day out. He is 20 years old... just like Jackson Holliday. Like @Trax, I felt Chourio should have started at AAA. Although the time in the big leagues did allow him (and the organization) to learn how other teams are going to attack him. He definitely needs to get some at bats. He needs to learn to spray the ball better, how to have different approaches at different counts, and not try to hit every ball 120MPH. This takes me back to Yelich's interview in spring training: Letting him work may look differently for different people. I think he learned that there is still a lot of work to do. I'm confident that if (and when) they send him back down, he will be better when he returns.

Great article. I appreciate the detail to the changes in his swing. I'm thinking "damage" is relative. If "damage" means trying to hit the ball with a high Exit Velocity (EV) each time, then I agree. However, his toolset, as you mention, is not to hit bombs. In many baseball academies and even in college, contact is not considered a good thing unless there is a high EV. When I look at Turang this year, I think his approach is very similar to Luis Arráez. High contact guys and aren't necessarily power guys. However, Turang excels in Stolen Bases and hitting a little more for power. Mind you, this is only 36 games into the 2024 season, but I really like the improvement. https://stathead.com/baseball/versus-finder.cgi?request=1&seasons_type=forall&year_min=2024&year_max=2024&player_id1=turang002bri&player_id2=arraez000lui Here is a cool chart that shows Turang vs. Arráez -- switching between the two, you can see that Arráez is more consistent and, as you mentioned, Turang is getting on with some seeing-eye singles. https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/player-comparison?playerIds=668930,650333&seasons=2024,2024&pitchSpeedGT=49&pitchSpeedLT=106&launchSpeedGT=29&launchSpeedLT=126&ddlChartType=radial&ddlPitcherThrows=&ddlBatterStands=&ddlPitchTypes=&ddlCount=&ddlEvent=&ddlYear=2024 I would like to see Sal Frelick make similar changes, too. Maybe he shouldn't put so much weight on his back leg trying to do damage. Again... great article!

We could have a facepalm one, too... 🤦‍♂️

This is a byproduct of having a majority of your team having 0 or 1 year of MLB experience. This was celebrated because of the great farm system, but the inconsistencies and frustrations are a result of having a very, very young team. Were all of these guys ready to make the jump to the majors? Probably not. There still is (was) a misnomer that because the players in the farm system were so good, they would come up and consistently produce. That doesn't happen as often as we would like. The roster is going to be thin and, it is possible, that it has been thin for a while. The Brewers starting pitchers were able to keep them competitive. There is one "ace" left, one is injured, and one was traded for... young inconsistent players. They will (hopefully) grow and develop and in a few years, the team will be very good. At least that is my hope.

I tried to find some data to support this claim, but I was not able to navigate Baseball Savant well enough... Oh well... As I watch the games, it seems like the Brewers are not going with the pitch as much as they used to. Adames might be a good example. Typically on strike zero or strike one, you would take a plus-plus swing. That means you are trying to hit the ball hard. It seems like Adames takes plus-plus swings all of the time. Earlier in the year, he was focused more on getting good contact as opposed to destroying the ball. Recently this yielded a lot of rollovers to the left side or the patented whiff at the slider low and away. Of course, after finding a nice chart, it shows that his whiff rate is actually better than last year: https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/savant-player/willy-adames-642715?stats=statcast-r-hitting-mlb#yty Chourio is another example. His hips open a little more than they did when he was hitting better. He pulls off the ball and isn't as effective. I have a feeling this is a phase, and like @Brewcrew82 said, they are probably somewhere in the middle.

Eddie Gaedel might have disagreed... 😉 I'm not sure about MLB umpires, but a prominent high school umpire had told me the umpires are supposed to set up their eyes with the top of the zone. I'm not sure that happens.

Dunn's performance should not come as that much of a surprise. He is one of five infielders that have 0 or 1 year of experience. Of the six outfielders on the roster, four have 0 or 1 year (the other two are Yelich and then Mitchell with 2). During the offseason, there were many discussions about how we can not only get the young players up, but how we can trade our veterans to get more young players. Dunn's performance is part of the growing pains of being a young player. I'm not sure bouncing players up and down multiple times a year is always the best course of action. If there are other options that will beat him out for the spot, go ahead and send him down to get some work. Otherwise, accept that fact that setting a goal of having a boat load of young players on the roster will yield very inconsistent results. Source: https://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/teams/milwaukee/roster/

Hypothetically, if the same thing happens on first, second, or third, he is safe because his hand would come up, but the bases are not flush with the ground. Also, if he was wearing an oven mitt, that helps his cause. 🤔

Didn't know where to put this one... didn't want to start a new thread: No blocking -- wrong IMHO. He seemed to get his left hand in. How they missed this in replay is beyond me.

If Uribe lands a punch, he probably stays up. He has been having problems hitting his spots anyway. 😉

Something funny... Tyler Black was even late to the fight. Silly rookie 😎