Fear The Chorizo

would be ecstatic to get out of this inning still with the lead in this spot

Tough to blame him when it wasn't 100% that Grandal was breaking home on contact, and the ball pushed Rizzo right towards him. He was basically at the bag when Rizzo threw home, so he would've been dead to rights had he left for third at any point on that play. I haven't gone back and looked at it, but from where he was, wouldn't he have seen Grandal breaking for home right on contact? Rizzo had even less of a play at 3rd than he did at home especially at that angle. He didn't run right away on contact, Grandal hesitated during the time Aguilar was reading what he was going to do.

Tough to blame him when it wasn't 100% that Grandal was breaking home on contact, and the ball pushed Rizzo right towards him. He was basically at the bag when Rizzo threw home, so he would've been dead to rights had he left for third at any point on that play.

Wow Rizzo - can really open up the floodgates now!

Yup

slider nowhere near the zone K's him here

Wow CC - aggressive hook for Gio here, IMO. Cubs have made some loud outs for sure, but their two hits are an IF grounder Gio never should have tried fielding and a fluky 160' pop up.

ouch

not sure if anyone remembers that early season 4 game sweep at the hands of the Cubs at Wrigley last year early, when the same type of winds made that park virtually homer proof. The Brewers lost all four games after just crushing balls into the wind that died as harmless outs. here's hoping for a complete 180 this weekend

Quintana, Hamels & Lester have been pitching consecutively in the Cubs rotation the last three trips through, dating back to April 23rd, which followed Chatwood's lone start of the season on the 21st & an off day on the 22nd, so it does kind of look like they used that opportunity to "reset" their rotation. That's my point - that reshuffling didn't occur 3 weeks ago to line up for facing the Brewers this weekend...it was largely out of necessity.

So are the Cubs really lining up lefty starters weeks in advance just to face the Brewers, or is it just dumb luck on the schedule and basically an expected occurrence with them having 3 in the rotation consecutively after sorting things out with all their early season offdays that have given them the ability to rest/shuffle guys like Darvish and Lester after either poor performances or minor injury tweaks? I keep reading that, and I'm sure given the luxury they've had of basically playing only 5-6 games per week all season so far has helped get their rotation set up in this way - but I think it's a bit much to base when you start Hiura's service time clock off a countermove to add a RH bat prior to a mid May 3 game set that appears will be played in less than favorable hitting conditions (temps maybe reaching 50, winds either blowing straight in from center or in from right field).

Someone taught him how to rebound at a young age. It is not all about jumping, but he does that really well. Positioning on the other side of the basket from where the ball is shot and boxing out are a couple of things that make good rebounder. Ersan also does a great job rebounding. Plus it is one of those things you just should have pride in doing. Malcom is also a pretty good rebounder and he can hardly elevate. Sidney Moncrief was the best rebounder the Bucks ever had,,,, my favorite Buck ever. Pat Connaughton posted a 44" max vertical at his NBA predraft combine...so while what you say is true about rebounding positioning and desire to just get the ball, Pat also has plenty of athleticism to play much taller than 6'4" in the paint.

That's not what he's saying though. He's saying he's basing it off of the "now". I mean, if Houston offered that then but isn't now I don't see how he can hold other teams to what Houston offered him a few years ago. That makes no sense (Edit: meaning I agree with most posters that's not going to work out for him if that is indeed what he's doing). I think we've heard from enough players that have been going through this process that, in some cases, the teams aren't negotiating price. They're making take it or leave it offers and hoping guys panic and sign. They're playing bully-ball and it's worked for the most part. I think this most recent statement or report coming from Keuchel is him saying, I'm not panicking, you're going to have to negotiate with me if you want me to sign with you. I do not think it means that Keuchel has his price and won't budge from it, he's just not engaging with bully-ball tactics. That's my feeling, I could be wrong. I think it has alot more to do with trying to use other FA pitching contracts signed around the time he busted out and was one of the best lefty starters in the game back in 2014/2015, without factoring in recent changes to how front offices weigh player regression as they move past their prime into their early-mid 30's. The offseason before he won the Cy Young in 2015, Jon Lester signed a 6 yr, $155M deal that also had a few option years tacked on the back end of it with the Cubs as a 31 year old. Scherzer signed a 7 yr, $210 M deal with the Nats that same offseason as a 30 yr old. James Shields went 4 yrs, $75M as a 33 yr old. The offseason after Keuchel won the Cy Young, there were plenty of crazy FA pitching contracts handed out: David Price went for 7 yr $217M as a 30 yr old Greinke went 6 yr $206M as a 32 yr old Cueto went 6 yr $130M as a 30 yr old Zimmerman went 5yr $110M as a 30 yr old Samardzija went 5 yr $90M at 31 Kazmir 3 yr $48M at 32 Leake went 5 yr $80M at 28 So these contracts in a vacuum, particularly at the time Keuchel put up better stats than most of them, would seem to make his decision to turn down a 5 yr, $90M extension make alot of sense considering it would have bought out his Age 31 and 32 seasons in 2019-2020. However, the 2016-2017 offseason was a total bust for FA starting pitching contracts - 39 yr old Rich Hill and 32 yr old Jeremy Hellickson were basically the headliners. The following offseason, 32 yr old Darvish wend 6 yrs $126M to headline starter contracts - basically an $80M haircut compared to what Greinke got at that same age 2 years earlier. The trend started with an awful crop of FA pitchers after 2016, followed by a bunch of the 2017 FA pitchers falling on their faces after begrudgingly signing deals they all thought weren't rich enough. This last offseason Corbin went 6 yrs, $140M at 29, which based on AAV and assuming the two pitchers' projections are equal over the next 4 seasons would project Keuchel to get 4 yrs, ~$94M considering he's 2 years older. Problem for Keuchel is the projections indicate Corbin is a much better pitcher than Keuchel is at this stage. Long story short, I think Keuchel is basing too much of his valuation off what he was told he was worth 3-4 offseasons ago during his prime without factoring in both his own regression and how the baseball free agent market has devalued contracts to older pitchers.

Pure gold No No (3 cub lefty starters this weekend, but likely facing a ton of RHP for the next few weeks afterwards - Shaw will get the rest of this month to get on a roll). Once they call Hiura up, he should be up for good. If this series were about 1 month from now, I'd say Yes, Yes emphatically.

This game is getting way, way too interesting considering how many more runs the Brewers should have scored

Shaw says "hold my beer" when it comes to joining the San Antonia shuttle after that grounder...sheesh

Albers appears to be working on making that a certainty so far in the 7th...

While I don't think the Brewers have to call up Hiura for this weekend's series against the Cubs, Shaw is also providing zero justification for staying in the everyday lineup - even against RHP.

Pineapple bomb... it's fun when the bottom of the order isn't an offensive death zone!

Yeah, but on an 0-2 count I'm not sure if Pina could've asked for a better pitch to hit - low inside changeup from a righty?

This does not appear to be a game where mediocre Nats pitching is going to shut the Brewers down...Shaw draws a nice walk there. Boy, Hellickson doesn't appear to have anything - I know his changeup is still a pretty good pitch, but it looks like batting practice for the most part. If he's not painting corners he's going to get hit hard.

Since Thames is in today's lineup, an IL stint is probably not in the cards to mend that strained groin...

I really don't care that he's doing what he's doing. It's his life. I just don't buy the "the analytics say I should be getting paid this" argument. Sorry, that's not how a free market works. A free market also entails one party setting a price for selling an asset. If you go into a jewelry store and tell the sales person you're going to buy a $25,000 diamond ring for $19,000 because that's all you're willing to pay I have a feeling you'll be walking out of that store with $19,000 and no diamond ring. If teams don't want to buy his diamond ring for his price then they don't ever get to wear his diamond ring. If teams are fine with that, great. If the player is fine with that, great. Reading between the lines it sounds to me like teams are not negotiating with him on price. They're going to him with their price and not responding to his counter offers. Keuchel is undoubtedly factoring in what the parameters of that 5 year, $90M extension offer he received a few years ago and turned down from Houston as the AAV baseline for a contract, then adding more years beyond the limits of that initial extension at the same AAV. His reasoning for balking at that extension came down to "not wanting to leave money on the table" by passing up his chance at UFA. By turning down that extension, he needs a longterm contract in order to come anywhere close to bettering what his career earnings would have been had he signed that $90M extension. I believe that extension would have covered the 2019 and 2020 seasons - so he's looking for a contract that will come close to paying out the $60M he left on the table by refusing the extension that he hasn't earned yet, plus be long enough of a deal that offsets any theoretical FA contract he could've scored a couple offseasons from now had he accepted Houston's offer. I just don't see that working out for him where he'll be happy. Gio Gonzalez is pitching in 2019 for $2M + incentives - Keuchel is better than him and a couple years younger, but no way is he a 9-figure contract level starter over 5+ years at this stage in his career.

I know it's less than 40 at bats, but Vlad Jr. sure hasn't set the world on fire at the MLB level just yet. Hoping this post serves as a reverse jinx and he gets rolling.

It's getting pretty plainly obvious that they see him as a potential MLB pen addition this year. The question is going to be if they see him as exclusively a multi-inning reliever going forward, or if a return to starting is in the cards next year. In either case, it appears that the Brewers may have gotten the steal of the 2018 draft with Rasmussen. I think there's a 19-yr old SS in Appleton right now that will provide competition for being the steal of the 2019 draft, too. Great to see Rasmussen climbing the ladder quickly. I particularly enjoy going back through some of the preseason prospect lists for the Brewers that resulted in them being listed near the bottom of farm system rankings - Rasmussen isn't even included on many of the Brewers' preseason top 30-35 prospect lists. As long as he's healthy, keep him climbing!