Fear The Chorizo

The biggest question mark for a guy who varies his delivery as a way to deceive hitters is if he can command his pitches at a MLB caliber to get away with it - he might have a baffling delivery, but if he's trying to paint the corner and the quick pitch or delayed leg kick shenanigans wind up serving it in a MLB hitter's happy zone it doesn't really matter how it got there...it'll most likely get crushed. It will be interesting to see if the Brewers view his delivery as a strength and let him continue varying it, or if they see something projectable in his pitching stuff as he nears full recovery from a TJ surgery and he starts sitting consistently in the low 90's with movement and decent secondary stuff. In a draft that is largely viewed as being pretty blah, it's tough to have a problem with picking a quality college pitcher who's been great in the SEC at the bottom of round 1. When the argument against that type of pick is they should have just drafted someone out of high school that throws harder and probably had to pay him overslot to sign at pick 28, I'd rather they go for a guy like Small with their current draft pool dilemma. They can get him signed easily, then take a look at what's left in the draft when their next pick comes up and perhaps make a reach pick in hopes of signing a guy overslot a bit later.

I think this move sucks, but in the long run it may prove to be ok... Brewers have the soft underbelly of their schedule from here to the AS break, so they should be able to get on a roll. Hiura in AAA these next few weeks should guarantee he crosses the super 2 threshold. This also gives plenty of at bats to shaw, Aguilar, and Thames to sort out who should be the odd man out when hiura is recalled after the AS break. If Hiura opens s the 2nd half of the season still in AAA and one of the aforementioned 3 is still not performing well, pitchforks should come out...

the offdays sprinkled throughout June for the Brewers really give them some flexibility on easing Nelson into a normal rest schedule if they want or feel he needs it. I'm just pumped to see him back on the MLB hill this wednesday!

Turang making a LOT of teams look silly passing on him. His start in low A justified the helium he had as a potential top overall pick after the 2017 draft much more than what led to him falling in the brewers' lap last june.

Such a pessimist you are...division lead is 1.5 games!! LOVE SEEING A SERIES WIN IN PITT!

That was just lazy footwork by hiura, and its cost them 4 runs now

Himself for not trying to improve sooner? The coaching staff for not helping him? I sent Arcia a letter a few seeks into the season telling him he should start trying to improve. He sent me a response "Thanks I never thought of that!" plus an autographed bat. Guess it's working. Did he send his letter in english or did he not try and send it in spanish instead?

That was just destroyed

It was more like the first 7 weeks I'd much rather see CC and Stearns call Shaw and Aguilar in their office and say "If your MLB production doesn't improve between now and the trade deadline, you'll find yourself with limited opportunities for consistent playing time down the stretch on this club, because we can't afford to have offensive black holes at corner IF positions if we really want to win a World Series. If that means we have to make a trade or risk losing one of you to waivers by DFA-ing you, so be it. Stop hitting like pitchers so we don't have a tough decision to make around the AS Break - we don't want it to get to the point where your 2019 struggles become a similar sample size to the periods when you were quality offensive players earlier in your careers we believe you still are, so prove us right." Once Shaw is recalled, I'd really like to see them find a way to keep Hiura up through the AS Break - they have 4 offdays in June sprinkled across what appears to be a very favorable schedule. Seems like they haven't been using the AAA bullpen shuttle too much, and IMO I'd rather they send a pitcher down who still as an option (Burnes, Claudio, etc) to make room for Shaw - I don't think you can take Moose out of the lineup right now, so I wouldn't mind seeing a Shaw at 3rd against righties with Moose at 2nd, then shift Moose to 3rd and give Hiura starts at 2nd against lefties. If they are concerned about super 2 with Hiura, I'd rather they send him down to AAA over the AS Break for a few more weeks, then recall him shortly after the trade deadline. Something tells me this year's trade deadline is going to see the Brewers unloading some of their corner IF excess with hopes of shoring up their MLB bullpen - even if it means having to sell low on guys simply to improve their MLB roster flexibility. And this will do what exactly? Make them try harder? Do you really believe they're struggling because they just don't care? Putting more pressure on two guys who've proven the last two years they can hit just makes zero sense and I'm sure as a former player, CC clearly sees this. So putting kid gloves on and telling shaw that early season stats don't matter is a better idea? C'mon, these guys should know that if they dont produce, they don't play. It's not about making them try harder, it's about letting them know the reason they'll still be on the roster after this weekend after a more talented hitter gets sent down to AAA to make room for them is that brewer brass have confidence in them, too. My post was meant to state that I'd rather they all be up front about the reality of the situation - the leashes shaw and Aguilar earned in 2017-2018 should be more or less spent, so if the results aren't there they won't be a big part of the rest of this season for milwaukee.

I hold out hope they option a pitcher instead of Hiura...I think he deserves until the AS break to show where he is at. Plenty of days off between now and 4th of July weekend to make it work using a bullpen shuttle if needed with one less arm in the pen, plus Nelson appearing to not be far off. CC said himself that hiura hit himself onto the mlb roster...he sure hasn't hit himself off it. Dude doesn't deserve a demotion right now.

On a roster loaded up with LH bat options, it's a borderline travesty to field this lineup against a RH starter with a slider in his repertoire...especially a RH-heavy lineup that is forcibly inserting a 1B who is struggling when a LH power bat 1B sits on the pine. With all that said, hope they spring for 10 runs again - but this just feels like CC being silly on the last day of May.

Nope Current month of May stats: Sogard: 19 games, 0.181 BA, 0.298 OBP, 0.567 OPS Overall OPS still at 0.786 due to his insane first couple weeks (pretty much the same as when he first was up with the Brewers). Since then he's been the Sogard we've mostly all come to "love"...which is a guy you don't want anywhere near a contending team's roster. Villar: 26 games, 0.255 BA, 0.300 OBP, 0.751 OPS Overall OPS at 0.740, having a relatively consistent season to date splitting time at 2B and SS for the Orioles. Villar has proven to be a viable everyday MIF player, although still not a preferred option for a contending team due to the well-known deficiencies with his game that are at times immeasurable and don't stand out unless you're watching him every game. I'm happy for both of these guys still being in the majors - I'm even more happy they aren't in the majors with the Brewers and we now have the decision of putting our top offensive prospect, Moose, or Shaw at 2nd instead of them.

It was more like the first 7 weeks I'd much rather see CC and Stearns call Shaw and Aguilar in their office and say "If your MLB production doesn't improve between now and the trade deadline, you'll find yourself with limited opportunities for consistent playing time down the stretch on this club, because we can't afford to have offensive black holes at corner IF positions if we really want to win a World Series. If that means we have to make a trade or risk losing one of you to waivers by DFA-ing you, so be it. Stop hitting like pitchers so we don't have a tough decision to make around the AS Break - we don't want it to get to the point where your 2019 struggles become a similar sample size to the periods when you were quality offensive players earlier in your careers we believe you still are, so prove us right." Once Shaw is recalled, I'd really like to see them find a way to keep Hiura up through the AS Break - they have 4 offdays in June sprinkled across what appears to be a very favorable schedule. Seems like they haven't been using the AAA bullpen shuttle too much, and IMO I'd rather they send a pitcher down who still as an option (Burnes, Claudio, etc) to make room for Shaw - I don't think you can take Moose out of the lineup right now, so I wouldn't mind seeing a Shaw at 3rd against righties with Moose at 2nd, then shift Moose to 3rd and give Hiura starts at 2nd against lefties. If they are concerned about super 2 with Hiura, I'd rather they send him down to AAA over the AS Break for a few more weeks, then recall him shortly after the trade deadline. Something tells me this year's trade deadline is going to see the Brewers unloading some of their corner IF excess with hopes of shoring up their MLB bullpen - even if it means having to sell low on guys simply to improve their MLB roster flexibility.

It would for us because we don't have a second tier to choose from that would be at all enticing for the Nationals. I know, stinks we don't still have all those great prospects we traded away the past few years...if only we held onto brinson, Diaz, Yamamoto, Phillip's, ortiz, Lopez, Harrison, and others we could have a AAA team full of AAAA guys to trade again... We have a second tier...its actually better than what our second tier has been previously - it's just much younger, which carries increased boom or bust risk by trading those type of guys away.

For all the talk about Stearns' love of positional flexibility with players, Aguilar has to be on borrowed time - dude can't get out of his own way at the plate and is killing the lineup when he's in there aside from 1 week about a month ago. Are we sure Braun can't play 1B anymore? At least when facing a lefty starter? I think I'd rather roll with that and cut Aguilar loose when Shaw is ready to come back rather than sending Hiura down. Keston's 0.763 OPS after tonight is despite an atrocious K rate and 1:19 K:BB ratio in the majors - very similar to his AAA start. I'd like to see what he does from now until the AS break playing basically everyday, then if they think he'll need a couple more weeks in AAA to get past the super 2 cutoff and he still hasn't hit to the point of making it a travesty to send him down, do it to start the 2nd half and recall him after the trade deadline.

With regard to Claudio, has he ever been on a team expected to contend? Just an honest question for a pitcher who I can't get past feeling is always on the brink of either giving up a gopher ball or walking two straight batters - it's tough not to see that when the radar gun never gets close to 90 and there is nothing close to pinpoint command coming g from him. His career numbers back up the acquisition...however the circumstances Claudio achieved thise numbers may not be similar at all to his current situation.

I mentioned it in a separate thread specific to playoff standings/discussion, but to me it's no surprise the Cubs are scuffling a bit in the pitching department during this stretch that has them playing everyday with no offdays. Their early season schedule helped them mask a few blowup starts with all the offdays sprinkled in without having to completely burn up their pen - but now those offdays are scarce and the strain of a thin bullpen with limited rotation solutions down on the farm is starting to show. The Cubs' 0.5 game lead on the Brewers has everything to do with winning 6 of 7 against the Marlins and having an otherwise meh difficulty of opponents on their schedule to date. Heyward's bounce back year is actually already over with - he's really struggled of late. Contreras is off to a fantastic start offensively, and Rizzo/Bryant/Baez are also raking. They form a solid 4 hitters to build any lineup around - but the rest of their offense isn't anything particularly special. The Cardinals will be there down the stretch - we haven't even gotten into summer yet when some of their bats tend to get rolling. I don't see them being a 90 win-plus team in a competitive NL, but they'll have meaningful games in late September. The Pirates always annoy me because you never know if it'll be a year when the Brewers own them or get owned by them - seems like it's always feast or famine and it really doesn't have alot to do with perceived strength/weakness of each team in any given year. IMO the Brewers either win the division or potentially miss the playoffs depending on how they play the Pirates this season - because they have them a TON during the next couple months when the Brewers have the best chance to make alot of hay in the standings.

Interesting that the Cubs' recent scuffling of late has occurred during the tail end of an extended stretch of games without an off day. They'll get one later this week, only to have just one more day off between May 31 and July 4...their pitching has started showing signs of strain and their lack of depth will be interesting to watch with a couple more games against Houston, and bunch with STL, LAD, and Atlanta on their schedule over the next month. conversely, if the Brewers remember how to actually beat the Pirates, their remaining schedule for the 1st half is extremely tasty compared to the schedule they've played to date.

Not a straw man argument at all. Of their top 10 prospects before the Yelic trade they swapped off #’s 1,3 5, 6 and 8. That’s 50% of their top ten. So even if they “strategically traded the right guys” it’s still says their farm system isn’t as good as it was hyped to be since Monte Harrison is the only minor leaguer out of the those in the top ten they’ve traded who has flourished. Flourished might be laying it on a little thick - Harrison is having a nice AAA in New Orleans to the tune of around an 0.850 OPS...that's good but not elite. Plus he had a disappointing 2018 season at AA - to me, Harrison is more of the flavor of the month former Brewer prospects from the list they traded recently who's at least doing decent enough to project as an everyday MLB-er someday. Overall, that list still looks like a bag of AAAAers even with Harrison looking at least somewhat like the player people were projecting him to become after that 2017 AFL stint.

I hope we’re competitive and that isn’t even a thought. I don't know why that would even be relevant. Giving Woodruff an extension to his mid-30's would not be smart unless we are talking super team friendly. Simply letting him walk for nothing or perhaps some sort of comp pick as a free agent would be just as dumb. It's probably going to tick a bunch of fans off but I'm thinking Stearns is going to be a GM who looks to trade guys as their team control is winding up instead of hanging on and getting nothing. I think the one way an extension makes sense is at the end of this season or frankly end of 2020 by giving Woodruff financial security and the Brewers some benefit of cost certainty - tailor an extension that gives him a bit more $ upfront than he will make prior to arbitration, lock in agreeable salaries during what will be his arbitration years, and tack on a couple more seasons beyond when he would have been a free agent. Woodruff and his agent have to be smart enough to know waiting it out to free agency as a 32 year old pitcher isn't going to lead to some massive longterm deal - If he proves to be a solid rotation piece, I think it makes alot of sense for an extension to get done given Woodruff's age/team control situation.

That mutual offday looks mighty promising

No - I'm talking about what he is right now. His stuff hasn't changed at all since being promoted from Carolina to Biloxi. With his current stuff and a modest uptick in command, he could help the Brewers later this year, if that's how they choose to use him. 6 innings (or now 10 innings) of data doesn't change that unless there's an underlying reason for a change in the data. As far as I can tell, any change in the data is just due to noise. That he struck out a few fewer guys his first two times out in the Southern League is a shrug. Rasmussen would probably be a usable low leverage reliever at the MLB level right now. Refinements over the next few months will dictate whether or not the Brewers decide to commit to him as a higher leverage reliever in MLB later this year. And I'm pausing on seeing him in MKE because every step has been less Ks and more lifted hits. GO/AO is now sub 1 and Ks are falling. Stuff is great, but Williams and Barnes have stuff. Every step up seems to make his stuff look less dominant. If he was pushed up through the prior levels any faster he would have needed to be called up in the middle of a start that finished the same day at the next level up...trying to glean any info worth a darn off these statlines over a miniscule sample size is a fool's errand. Rasmussen basically advanced from spring training to AA in the minor league career equivalent of a sneeze in his 1st couple months of pro ball. They didn't base those advancements off his statlines, they were off scouts and staff saying "my God that arm doesn't belong at this level!" If he's healthy and in command of his pitches, he's a major league late inning reliever at worst right now assuming health...

Sometimes the body just doesn't allow you to play baseball for a living, particularly if you are a pitcher. Stinks for Kirby and for the brewers, but that's part of the risk/reward of drafting a talented but injury-hampered arm.

Not sure where else to put this, but man I really dislike Schoop even more now that he's hitting well in MN and is the player I had assumed he would be in Milwaukee after last years trade deadline. Then again, if there's anything that proves to be a death knell for a team's postseason chances, it's that Schoop is hitting well on it. So unless schoop suddenly slumps mightily, I expect the twins to crash as the season wears on - as backwards as that is. Right now I just hope brewer pitching keeps them from clubbing 10 hrs a game when they play - their bats are rolling...

with the exception of Hill, the Bucks' bench has been atrocious this series aside from that blowout game 2. Having to play the Bucks starters heavier minutes because the bench stinks is impacting the starters without a doubt