Fear The Chorizo

Players who need tj surgery don't play in the field every day...I am astonished at how dumb a post that is.

CC should go put the punk slip in logan's locker right now...he does not deserve a spot on this roster

Lol hernan...

This is going to get really bonkers...

Hamels' 2018 has already included 4 starts against Houston (MLB's #3 offense in terms of OPS), 1 against the Yankees (#1), 1 against Boston (#2), 1 against Cleveland (#5), 1 Dodgers (#7), 1 Angels (#9), 2 against Oakland (#14), 1 TOR (#15), 1 TB (#16), and 1 KC (#26). Plus his home park is one of the most hitter friendly venues in all of baseball. Comparing his 2018 numbers thus far to his career stats, where he spent most of his time in the NL, is probably too small a sample size to really make any decisions on Hamels - particularly when the vast majority of his starts this season have come against really good offensive clubs. And, when actually looking at his traditional stats, the only significant outlier to his career #'s this season appears to be his HR/9 rate - call me crazy, but I'd kind of expect that to be the case based on the lineups he's faced over the season's first 2.5 months.

That AA squad is loaded, and even though many prospects there have been in the brewer organizaton awhile, many were drafted out of high school so they are still young for that level.

Has to work on that .295 OBP and 7% BB rate though. If Braden Webb can get the BB down he might have as much upside as any pitcher in the system. There's a reason the Brewers drafted him before Burnes. That 295 obp is still largely due to gatewood's terrible april. WhIle you can't take a month of at bats out of a season and act like it didn't happen, it's at least encouraging it happened early and he's been a much better hitter over the past 7 or so weeks. That's more than a hot streak. I'd agree the 7% bb rate needs to improve, it's been better of late but still not where it needs to be.

It took me less than 2 minutes to find John Sickles report from March 2018: 1) Keston Hiura, 2B, Grade B+/A-: Age 21, first round pick in 2017 from University of California-Irvine, ninth overall, hit .371/.422/.611 in 167 at-bats in pro debut between rookie ball and Midwest League, 13 walks, 37 strikeouts; excellent hitter who is close to major league-ready, plenty of bat speed, projected to hit for both power and average; main question is defense, as he was limited to DH by an elbow injury for most of the season, got into just three games at second base in pro ball; may be destined for left field but even so his bat will play anywhere; ETA late 2019 https://www.minorleagueball.com/2018/2/21/17038344/milwaukee-brewers-top-20-prospects-for-2018 Second base is not as difficult to play as 3B or SS. So the only way LF is an option is if you are butcher. This post just totally proved my point...thank you

Hamels with another good start yesterday - right now I think he's the best veteran starter pitching for a doormat club that can be acquired anytime between now and the deadline. Brewers and Rangers have ample history getting deals done. Depending on how willing the Brewers are to take on large portions of his remaining contract that runs through 2019, Hamels shouldn't require a huge prospect haul to acquire. Wouldn't surprise me to see the Yankees involved on Hamels, too - which would likely drive up the asking price.

Moreover, Hiura is still considered a butcher in the field. So although his bat might be ready, they may need to figure something out with the glove. Find the baseball scout with a quote that says he's a butcher in the field and post it. You might be looking awhile, because he's not a butcher in the field. He's not going to win any gold gloves defensively, but he's not a bad fielder and he's a good athlete - we're not talking about a statue in the field with no range and stone hands. Scouting reports pre-draft questioned his defense simply because he hadn't played a position his last 1+ collegiate seasons due to his arm troubles. It was more uncertainty of his position with the assumption that his arm was going to get cut on. What about Hiura's arm? Tommy John seemed somewhat inevitable so does he just try to time out getting it later this season so that he can return by early/mid-2019? Since his promotion to AA, where there aren't any other legit 2B prospects that would demand regular playing time at that position as part of their development, Hiura has played 2B every game he's started. I think he was a pinch hitter for one game that was likely a scheduled day off in the field for him. His elbow issues prevented him from playing his last collegiate season in the field leading up to the draft and he primarily DH'd in limited minor league action last season, but Hiura spent this past offseason and a full MLB spring training throwing, taking defensive drills, etc. He started in A+ primarily DH-ing due to what was deemed precautionary rest for his arm that was fatigued, which was concerning but also should have been expected due to an uneven workload the past few years. He then worked his way back onto the field and split 2B duties with Tucker Newhaus (Brewers' 2nd round pick out of high school in 2013) at A+ during May - on days he didn't play 2nd he DH'd and still got work in on the side. All indications currently are that Hiura's arm isn't a concern to the point of him needing a ligament replacement surgery - you don't promote a prospect to a level where many games Biloxi doesn't use a DH if you think he's one throw away from blowing out his arm.

Arcia was almost 6 years younger than the average PCL player the 3/4 season he played in CO Springs. Since the glove was what drove him to AAA at such a young age, him OPS-ing around 750 as a SS there is much better than 'incredibly mediocre'...Nate Orf's current OPS in CO Springs is 0.760 and many have been pleading for him to get a shot in the major leagues primarily due to his offensive numbers there as a 28 yr old. When a player is trying to make adjustments to his swing/approach, attempting to do so at the game's highest level with pitchers who have the stuff and command to constantly attack your weakness is often very ugly. Just ask Kyle Schwarber about it around this time last year. In game at bats wind up with a hitter getting stuck in between his initial approach that's still ingrained to his muscle memory (it was good enough to get a hitter to the major leagues, after all), and pieces of what he's working on over a limited basis between games. Arcia can't just spend 8 hours in a cage swinging a bat or tracking pitches every day in his current role in Milwaukee if they expect him to have enough energy to provide quality defense at SS.

So there is only one problem that I see. This currently blocks Corbin Burnes (not Rule 5 eligible until December 2019) from a 40 man spot. So if I want to add him to the 40 man roster some time this year, then I have one spot I need to clear. One spot, only one spot. You'll also need to make room in early 2019 for Hiura, who barring injury will be needing to get added to the 40 man since he'll be in Milwaukee playing 2nd base. However, there are going to be moves made at the deadline and early offseason that clarify the 40 man roster and continue to give Stearns the flexibility he likes. One of the reasons I had no issues whatsoever with the package of players he sent to Miami for Yelich was that he replaced Brinson's 5 years of control that undoubtedly will include MLB growing pains with roughly the same amount of control for Yelich through his prime years, and the two other top prospects (Diaz, Harrison) were going to be part of this year's 40 man crunch as well.

The Brewers to this point have had the luxury of letting Arcia try to figure it out offensively in Milwaukee - they've got the best record in the NL - however at some point if they are serious about contending this year, it would do both their MLB club and Arcia good to have him work through these adjustments in the minors. A playoff run in August/September is not place for a struggling young player to work on things at the plate - even if his defense is otherwordly, he becomes a liability overall as an everyday player. And Arcia's lofty prospect status largely occurred following his solid AA season offensively. He OPS'd .800 in Biloxi as a 20 yr old, with a .307 BA and .453 SLG. That year vaulted him into being a top 10 prospect in all of baseball prior to the 2016 season. Saying he's done very little in the minors as a hitter isn't true.

Another thing to keep in mind about Arcia - he's not a player Stearns drafted, signed, or acquired. I wouldn't be surprised if Stearns doesn't value him enough to continue playing him everyday. While he was once a highly rated prospect and there's still time for him to turn it around offensively enough to justify him being the Brewers' SS of the future, he's been in the majors long enough for his on-field body of work to trump any potential he may have shown offensively as a young for his league minor league prospect. Frankly, I think a demotion is long overdue for Arcia, and had it not been for Saladino's injury he's probably still down in CO Springs right now. At the end of the day it's on Arcia to prove he belongs at the MLB level as a hitter, and I think he's really on borrowed time with the Brewers to do so...

The Cubs go away for two full months on the calendar, too - should be interesting seeing what these teams look like towards the end of the dog days of summer and right before the stretch run.

Nice to get a series win after that tough loss on Monday night

loud out...2 more!

c'mon Knebel, let's throw some strikes

Duensing should not get warmup pitches here

here come the shadows...

Regardless of how deep the play is made, if an outfielder needs to dive in order to catch the ball it adds about a full second in the time it takes for him to get a throw toward the plate off. The situation being a hopelessly scuffling Arcia and Pitcher's spot coming up, I'd rather Perez be super aggressive in that spot by tagging up and going for it. The next best play would've been to get down the line further and read the play to see if the ball shorthops Heyward - then he walks home instead of trying to score from ~15 off 3rd and still have a coin flip chance of getting thrown out. back to the game, thank god that hanger got thrown to Gimenez and not a hitter capable of doing something with it...Chacin dodging a bullet there.

That was crushed

I'd argue if the ball shorthops Heyward, Perez would've been lucky to score on the throw based on where his lead had him, too. Either get 1/2way down the line, or get on the bag to at least bluff and force a throw that you can read on the way down the line to see if it's sailing over the catcher's head or not - in between is the worst spot to be.

Why Perez isn't tagging up on that play I'll never know...even if he doesn't go, getting a 1/4 lead off the bag is literally no man's land there

lol, that was awful by Rizzo