Fear The Chorizo

I know ... competitive advantage blah, blah, blah. The fact that they never give a definitive answer on the team's franchise left tackle sucks. At this point I think MLF's as frustrated as anyone specific to Bakh's uneven recovery and he's grown fed up with having to answer the same questions repeatedly. As a coach, he's got to worry about winning games with the roster that is actually in uniform on gameday. In MLF's defense, it's tough to come up with coachspeak when he doesn't know what a truthful and straightforward answer actually is regarding when Bakh's back playing and what level of performance they can expect from him. He can't just come right out and say "we think he could suit up and play at a high level this week, but if he does there's a good chance Bakh may have to sit out the next 2 weeks to get his knee feeling right again based on what we've seen over the past year". Based on the couple dozen snaps Bakh had in week 17 last year at Detroit, I don't think he's going to be a turnstyle when he does play - my concern is can he get through a full game and be available to suit up again the next week, or does the knee continue reacting poorly to game-intensity stress that forces him to sit out another month or two before trying to play again. They won't know a definitive answer to that question until he actually plays, and I really don't think delaying additional weeks before getting him on the field will make a difference.

He'll get plenty of carries, and probably quite a few balls thrown his way. Would be nice for the Packer MLBs to have a solid game so Fournette doesn't become the focal point of an offense with a decimated receiving corps. If I'm GB I'd sell out on the run early and play man behind it to force Brady into finding a matchup in the passing game that's actually favorable for them to move the ball consistently. A gimpy Kevin King isn't going to be on the field in the Packer secondary Sunday.

Tampa is also down a ton of offensive lineman...I dont see them going up and down the field at will Sunday even if the packer defense isn't dominant Thinking this is going to be a grind it out / defensive taffy pull-type game where the team that turns it over more loses.

Well, Bakh didn't practice today - and not exactly a "cautiously optimistic" pull quote from the head coach afterwards... The Packers expected Bakhtiari to miss the first two weeks this season. LaFleur said Wednesday he has "no idea" if Bakhtiari will play this week. "I don't even let my mind go there at this point," LaFleur said. If the plan is 2 practices a week, I find it odd they would use Wednesday as his day off given the fact he's just had 5 prior days off from Friday-Tuesday.

The Vikings turf is so bad they're replacing it and the Packers said they had zero concerns about his long term future, but used terms like "cautiously optimistic," and "hopeful," about Week 1 and then TC. I just think this is looking for excuses to hold a guy out if he's "close", when in reality if the organization actually looks at those type of things when considering activating him or not it's a cop-out to provide cover for a guy who may not be. Lambeau has arguably the best playing surface in the NFL and Bakh was in street clothes Sunday night, so him missing the Vikings game had zero to do with their actual playing surface and everything to do with his ability to get through an NFL football game while playing well. The "abundance of caution" stuff has been ongoing with #69 since late October of last season. I get that he indeed did have a few setbacks that led to additional surgeries and completely upended his initial timeline to get back on the field (which took a ton of prying into before Packers' brass actually admitted to that) - but I'd be much more willing to trust the Packers if they scrapped the "cautiously optimistic" tone that's turned them into boys crying wolf specific to Bakh and just indicated they need to see more from him on the practice field to consider him ready to be reinserted as this roster's starting LT. we're all really pulling to see #69 back in game action, which will be the best indicator of what he is as a player after shredding his knee. At this point the rest is just background noise trying to justify having Bakh on the 53 but not on the 48-man gameday rosters to start the season. If he doesn't suit up against the Buccaneers sunday I think even the most optimistic folks are going to be questioning what in the world is going on with him.

I'm thinking #2 happened once again, but would add there hasn't been a roster need due to a rash of injuries elsewhere yet that would lead to putting him back on IR-to-return at this point and they're in perpetual wait-and-see mode. Honestly, if the expectation all along was that Bakh wasn't going to suit up in the regular season until week 3, he wouldn't have been taken off the PUP list to begin with so he wouldn't have had to be on the initial 53-man roster breaking camp. hopefully whatever setback he had once again (rumors went from Bakh suiting up in Week 1 to being out a few more weeks after a practice a few weeks ago) is over with and he's able to play this weekend in Tampa.

One game, sure....but in all honesty Burnes' second half hasn't been anything close to as good as he pitched in 2020-2021 - still pretty good, but not dominant. It would be a massive mistake to offer Burnes a market rate extension based on what he did in 2020-2021 without factoring in his 2019 and more importantly 2nd half of 2022. At this stage I have every expectation they take things year to year with Burnes and either trade him at the deadline next year if they aren't competing or next offseason. Similar path with Woodruff.

Tampa might be without Evans this week against the Packers due to a 1 game suspension for his role in the fight during yesterday's Bucs-Saints game. I think he's got the option to appeal, but that will happen this week in time for either his suspension to be upheld (costing him the Packers game) or dropped.

A few years Germany and much of the EU actually incentivized burning wood pellets by claiming it as "renewable" since trees grow back...with that line of thinking, fossil fuels are also renewable because biomass in the earth eventually turns into coal/oil/natural gas - problem is that burning wood for energy is worse than fossil fuels in terms of GHG emissions and it has led to a deforestation problem that should have been all to easy to predict: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/15/world/europe/europe-wood-energy-deforestatation.html Energy policy needs to be focused on it being incredibly reliable, resilient, secure and cost-effective above all else. Once those factors are addressed satisfactorily, then industry can work around the fringes to improve overall environmental impact (not just from energy emissions at a power plant level, but from all aspects of energy production) and continue to improve via technological advancement. If energy policy is driven too much by secondary factors or becomes too reliant on inconsistent energy sources for new generating capacity to provide a growing population, you wind up with scenarios like the above where developed continents are reverting to medieval energy production by burning wood on an industrial scale because it gets countries a few percentage points away from reliance on fossil fuel/nuclear sources.

Really glad seeing Jenkins back in the lineup at RT last night - he was rusty on some pass blocking sets and gave up a few pressures, particularly early on...but seemed to settle in as the night wore on and also was his usual dominant self run blocking. Him and Lewis paired together on the right side with Lazard run blocking is pretty fun to watch. Different players and different (sort of) injuries, but for those keeping score at home Jenkins returned to NFL game action without being on a snap or rep count roughly 10 months after his ACL injury, while Bakhtiari is now at 21 months and counting that included 16 solid months of NFL offseasons that could be dedicated to rehab and/or rest focused on getting back onto the field. I'm pulling for Bakhtiari making it all the way back and this being an afterthought in a couple months, but I'm going to be concerned he's a pumpkin until he actually suits up for a couple consecutive games and plays at a solid level all the way through them, while getting through whatever his practice schedule is supposed to be between those games without showing up as questionable/doubtful on the injury reports. Part of being a great OL is availability, and it sucks he got injured - but frankly he's not worth a longterm roster spot if all he can provide is part time all-pro protection mixed in with rep management and missed starts/early game exits.

Article was written about it as well, but the play Walker made to run down Fields and keep him out of the end zone during that goal line stand was a ridiculous display of athleticism. MLBs, much less safeties, aren't supposed to move that fast. Walker even hesitated a bit on the fake cutback and still had enough speed to beat the angle to the pylon Fields had. He also had a pass breakup where he covered a ton of ground in a zone. Walker got exposed a bit in the running game, some hesitancy filling gaps and picking the wrong hole to fill led to a good # of those gash runs...Once he actually knows where he's supposed to be on the field, watch out.

I am simply responding to you saying he was producing before being benched and you inferring McCutchen was worse. Before being benched Hiura was batting like a pitcher and definitely worse than McCutchen. If you just add the last week or so of ABs Hiura got at the end of August to his early September #'s (which wasn't really the stretch that forced CC to start playing him everyday in mid August), Hiura's #'s look good enough to justify sticking with his bat in the lineup despite his very poor start to September, and definitely not poor enough to bench him for an entire week. The high K rate even with impactful offensive production is going to keep him lower in a good team's lineup...but he still needs to be in that lineup consistently. That's just the hand Hiura has apparently been dealt with this roster and CC as the manager - have a weeklong slump that includes alot of K's, get sent back down to AAA or just rot on the bench so it's that much harder to get back into a groove at the plate with inconsistent playing time.

Why are you arbitrarily using September only games for this comparison? Oh yeah, because it fits your argument better. That also doesn't excuse the fact that since around 9/9, McCutcheon has gotten about 25 plate appearances at a similarly poor rate of production while Hiura got just the 5 in yesterday's game. McCutcheon's rate of production at this incredibly low level goes much further back in to August - he's hitting under 0.200 for all of August and September over ~150 plate appearances with a sub 0.650 OPS. Hiura's September has been bad, but then again he's not in the lineup consistently enough to hit his way out of it. There's plenty of both good and bad to point to over handful of game stretches in Hiura's statline depending what people want to see - my argument has long been that he's not given enough ABs for his peaks and valleys to accumulate a season's worth of production that winds up being a 30+HR season and OPS in the 0.775-0.825 range at the #6 or 7 spot in the order...pretty much what Wily Adames is doing this year from the 2 hole. I'm not saying Hiura is Aaron Judge - but he's a better everyday option than McCutcheon as this team's DH with the occasional exception being against a lefthanded starter, and frankly that's been the case throughout this season. Hiura got screwed by the roster numbers game early in the season getting sent down to AAA because he was the guy who still had an option remaining, and that decision was made while McCutcheon was one of the few hitters doing anything at the plate. Despite the high K rate, he's too impactful a bat to leave on the bench a week at a time when they're facing a steady diet of RHP.

It's easy to be ice cold "right now", when the statline you referenced is the only playing time Hiura has gotten in the last 10 days. Prior to that he was still producing at a decent enough clip not to warrant being benched for a full calendar week to allow a guy producing offensively to the equivalent of a pitcher (McCutcheon) everyday at bats.

people can tear apart any 2-3 game grouping of Hiura's MLB 2022 statline to fit their predetermined narrative - because his playing time is so damn uneven. He strikes out a ton and goes through multiple game stretches where he struggles to make contact - so does just about everyone across MLB. He simply has not been given a fair shake and consistent opportunity to settle into a role with the Brewers, and it's not because other players are hitting much better. Hiura got today's start because McCutcheon probably needed a day off (his last 28 days he's hitting 0.180 with a sub- .575 OPS....pitcher level hitting from our now everyday DH!!) - Hiura got thrown in the fire to face a guy throwing 100mph consistently after not getting an at bat for over a week. He's simply not put in a position where it'd be a shock if he didn't K 3 times with that type of playing time. Now I'm sure he's headed back to the bench despite his season-long #'s continuing to indicate he's one of the 9 best bats on this roster to be in the lineup most of the time.

McCutcheon sucks against RHP, so it's only natural to continue getting him in the lineup to face righties and leave the bat with by far the highest ops against RHP on the roster rotting on the bench. Mindboggling

Hiura hasn't had an AB for a week - tough to do much when you don't play at all

Burnes is going to command close to 10/400M in free agency. That's not bad considering he's about 4 seasons removed from being arguably the worst starting pitcher in the majors back in 2019. Kudos for getting himself turned around into a dominant starter. If Burnes waits until free agency to cash in, he might get a contract approaching $40M AAV, but there's no way it will be the length of 10 years. He'll be about 30 as a free agent. Gerrit Cole holds the alltime record for a pitching free agency contract, which is 9 yrs at $36M AAV, signed as a 29 year old. Scherzer got $43M and change in AAV, but only a 3 year deal as a 37yr old. Looking through this list - good god there's been a lot of $$ thrown at pitchers who just aren't very good even 1-2 years into the longterm contracts, many of those big FA contracts signed by pitchers in that 29-31 yr old range....hard, hard pass on wanting to pay any pitcher a mint for a super longterm deal. I'd rather do what the Mets did and pony up a huge AAV for a couple years of an ace than what the Yankees did with Cole.

He cratered in the 2nd half last year, too....

attempting to justify a now freezing cold take from a few innings ago would be my guess

cmon blue....that was not a strike

this just screams for a duck snort single scoring that 2 base throwing error with how this game has gone...hoping Burnes can get out of it

that's a swing, ump

This has pretty much been the norm for a 2nd half Burnes start, but I get that it'd be great if he hadn't given up any runs yet since the Brewers have only scored 1

Hiura's OPS against RHP this year is 0.983 with a slugging percentage over 0.600 the next highest Brewer is Wong at 0.827, with Rowdy and Renfroe hovering around 0.820 It's actually not really close - Hiura is their best hitter against RHP