Fear The Chorizo

Keston Hiura has a career MLB average of 0.239 and OBP of 0.319...so apparently you're referring to a different Hiura with your post above. His 2019 remains the longest extended run of MLB at bats and consistent playing time of Keston's MLB career - so it shouldn't be discounted out of hand no matter how much you want to. His 2019 still carried a high K rate, too. That production was over about 40% of Hiura's MLB plate appearances, and the fact we're 5 seasons after that with only about 1 full MLB season's worth more of plate appearances for Hiura should also be taken into consideration. 946 MLB at bats sounds like alot, and it would be a decent sample size if it occurred over about 2 calendar years - not 6 - especially if you're refusing to include any of the AAA production Hiura also had during that same stretch while getting yo-yo-ed between Milwaukee and the minors from 2021-2022, all the while being thrown into several different defensive positions instead of just telling him that he's a DH. Hiura's knee injury in 2023 prevented him from getting one last shot in Milwaukee, and I'll maintain the 2020 COVID season with no minor league year really couldn't have come at a worse time for Hiura - having to slog through MLB and try to adjust to the "book" on him with no video options in the clubhouse, limited onfield work due to COVID between games, no opportunity to get sent back down to any minor league level to work on things, etc. is pretty rough shakes.

I don't think Hiura even got an AB on sunday's game, but he's settled in nicely and I'm pulling for him to stick in MLB. As for the hole in his swing, agreed on your take above - coming out of college Hiura's biggest plus was how effective his hitting approach/swing was with offspeed. Hiura has elite handspeed through the zone, which is why when he's going well he's driving everything to rightcenter. That approach is great at letting offspeed get to the hitter, particularly from righthanded pitching. However, velo upstairs is a different animal, and it's something he didn't really have to worry about through college and even while rocketing through minor league levels early in his pro career. It's been something where I've long thought if he could never make that adjustment to velo effectively at the MLB level, he'd wind up playing forever in Japan/Korea and perhaps finding his way back stateside ala Thames. Hiura has quieted his batting stride/swing load down a ton in effort to turn his elite slider speed bat into one that can also time up velocity and do damage to it. His K rate will always be a concern and a cause for him looking bad at the plate at times when he's slumping - but the damage Hiura can do when making contact should be enough to warrant everyday at bats as a MLB DH. Right now the Angels are seemingly a perfect fit to give him that extended run to see what happens.

I've said it in other threads, meh - good for him, but he's just not a fit for how this Brewers team plays and he showed absolutely no reason to entertain bringing him back after 2023....frankly he showed absolutely no reason to keep him after April 2023.

I think people don't realize how razor thin the gap is between a mlb hitter who can play for a decade at the highest level and a guy who washes out before he hits free agency. Any minor adjustment to his approach that yields positive results will be enough for Hiura to stick in mlb into his 30s - he has that kind of talent when he gets the bat on the ball.

This team needs another veteran starter in the worst way to take pressure off a pen that's on fumes....it's the downside of the way this team has been built - pens are begging for the AS break right now

With the exception of the Covid season of 2020, the Brewers haven't had a losing season since 2016 and are on pace for their 4th 90 win season in that stretch, and they are baseball's smallest market. Both of them have 0 world series titles in their history, too. I root for the Rays in the division they are in, but I personally I think they are also a bit overrated as an organization, too. Now that the Orioles have finally gotten around to trying to win the Rays would probably be best served to burn it all down at the MLB level and restock their farm system for a few seasons.

necessary move to add depth to the rotation...hoping it's not the only starter added before end of July. Also, why are the Rays still regarded as a team you "don't want to trade with", assuming they fleece people on every deal? They're muddling through AL mediocrity and don't show any signs of that changing anytime soon at the moment. I don't want to give Adames 9 figures to remain a Brewers the next 4-5 seasons, but that trade worked out pretty darn well for the Brewers.

Ops-ing just shy of 1.400 since joining the Angels AAA affiliate....give him another mlb shot!

Who regrets letting Scooter go?

Frelick should be trade bait....if Mitchell could stay healthy I think he'd already have been traded. He just doesn't have an everyday position on this roster. I don't dislike Frelick as a player, but his ceiling is just not in the same area code as what Yelich/Mitchell/Chourio can provide as a starting trio of outfielders.

I would think high K rate arms that rely on a combo of velo and deception instead of pitch movement would be the premium...guys with fastball/cutter/changeup arsenals instead of relying on sinker/slider/curve secondary offerings to get swings and misses. I don't trust sinker arms in thin air. And yes, rangy outfielders coupled with infielders who simply don't make errors. Probably the equally important aspect is that group of position players having offensive traits that they can exploit at Coors, knowing it's going to be a pitcher's nightmare more often than not regardless of defense.

What would that "critical mass" amount be? As of November 2023, approximately 0.9% of registered vehicles in the US are electric. https://explodingtopics.com/blog/electric-vehicles-stats Also, convenience stores are a LONG ways away from moving ahead with a widespread push to replace filling stations with EV charging stations (or even adding a charging station or two to their existing gas station building). The utility fees charged to the entity operating the charging station are just too high to make that a feasible strategy at this point. It's not nearly as simple as "just throw a bunch of new chargers everywhere and suddenly the percentage of registered vehicles in the US that are EVs will jump from <2% to 50%. https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/18/business/ev-chargers-convenience-store/index.html As for EV battery replacement - used under optimum conditions in ideal, temperate climates, yes an EV battery can outlive the functionality of the light passenger vehicle it powers - the exact same thing can be said of an ICE. However, under harsh conditions (extreme heat/cold/season fluctuations) or heavy use, that lifespan is much dicier for an EV compared to an ICE vehicle. https://www.caranddriver.com/features/a31875141/electric-car-battery-life/ Regionally, particularly in urban areas (where frankly the push should be to reduce cars altogether), I can see EVs taking up a solid percentage of passenger vehicles decades from now. That's also simply an easier area to add the charging stations necessary to support the scaling you're hoping to see compared to moderately rural or even suburban areas that would require significant grid infrastructure upgrades. But if it's just EVs versus ICE vehicles, there will always be a large percentage of ICE vehicles on the road and manufactured across the globe and domestically. The hybrid vehicle makes a ton of sense, combining the best of both technologies and using them in the same vehicle - particularly in vehicles whose primary use is for more than hauling two people home 5 miles from the grocery store.

I feel like this Brewers roster is actually set up really well for Coors field - anyone can hit HRs there, but having speed all over the lineup with high contact rates leads to a lot of hits and a lot of runs. Plus the defense should help limit the opponent from scoring as often - assuming the pitchers can keep the ball in the park.

This feels like one of those 15-12 Colorado specials with these two guys starting.....hoping it's the Brewers with 15 tonight

EVs are cheaper and they're going to be getting a LOT cheaper over the next 10-15 years. It's not that they're going to be alot cheaper, it's that the cost of ICE vehicles is going to be forced upwards to make those costs of new vehicles similar based on manufacturing limitations and continued strong demand for them. That's already been happening for years. If those manufacturing limitations are taken away and the incentives are removed, EVs are more expensive. And I stated EVs "are not the answer" on a global scale multiple times much earlier in this thread based on the limitations they themselves have with battery technology, the waste streams that scale of production would generate, etc. The notion that EVs are cheaper to maintain is based on the fact the timeframe most non-engine related components of a vehicle need to be replaced (besides the routine tire/brake replacements that are increasingly more $$$ for any type of vehicle) falls in line with the typical lifespan of an EV battery. Drive an EV until the battery needs replacement outside of its warranty and it's time to trade it in (unless you want to drop $8-$20K for a new one to throw in your ~8 yr old vehicle). So instead, people with the kind of means to buy an EV in the first place just buy a new one for close to six figures and say "well, it's cheaper to maintain". If well-taken care of and maintained, ICE vehicles can remain on the road just as long if not longer than EVs without being stuck with the decision to replace their engine or buy a brand new vehicle instead.

He honestly should be in the MVP conversation

Honest question here - With the current administration already pushing back some of the timelines for when automakers have to have certain significant percentages of their new vehicles be EVs due to "unforeseen" lack of demand earlier this year, growing sentiment/skepticism internationally and even more so domestically about emissions/production mandates that essentially will force consumers to buy vehicles they don't want, and the initial takeaways from Thursday night, aren't the current mandates in plenty of jeopardy of ever reaching their goals and quite possibly being reversed/eliminated about a year from now? Govmint Mandates are not the way to dramatically increase the number of consumers driving EVs - innovation and technological advancements in batteries and manufacturing should be able to drive consumer demand and increase supply if EVs are the answer to widespread ICE vehicle replacements (hint: They are not). As long as EV carmakers are trying to make a "smartphone with wheels", they are going to price themselves out of far too many markets globally and even in the US for them to have more than a niche consumer base. Currently, there are a large percentage of EV owners who actually prefer their next vehicle to be powered by an ICE.

He has been really good over the past month...and he is TWENTY.... Granted , it was AA, but this was about the time Chourio went scorched earth for about 6 weeks last season.

Mitchell is the right way to go soon, and Frelick should go back down to AAA....and in all honesty, if the Brewers are entertaining a trade to add a significant starting pitcher they should make a deal with Frelick as a trade chip. He is actually blocked longterm as an everyday player with Chourio and Mitchell in the fold as an outfielder.

They had a sketchy bullpen and had an offense that overperformed for a good chunk of the season - two items that can help explain the inflated run differential. This year their bullpen remains sketchy and their offense is more in line with expectations and perhaps even underperforming....at least they have an $8+M a year manager to help navigate the rudderless superyacht that is the Chicago Cubs organization.

The Dbacks got to the world series and if not for some Game 1 heroics by the Rangers could have won last year's title as a 7th-seeded wild card that won 84 regular season games. The Cardinals won a WS as an 83-win wild card team, too. The key is to build a roster that can reliably contend for the postseason every offseason, without dramatically sacrificing that opportunity in future years by blowing up your budget on payroll or emptying the farm via trades over the winter. Then, see how the league shakes out over the first half of the season and make a splash move or two at the deadline to solidify your roster and hope for good luck on the injury front for the playoffs. That's what the Brewers have been doing for quite awhile now, and I have a hard time seeing how they could be in much better shape as an organization right now given their market size/financial limitations.

I'm going to go out on what I think is a pretty sturdy limb and say "no" to the question posed in the title of this post. I think he can serve ok as a rotation filler for a bit, but his stuff isn't good enough to generate the consistent poor contact it did back when he was a really good MLB pitcher anymore. I think we'll see pretty much the same as what we did yesterday - he'll get his share of Ks by hitters by fooling them a bit, but when the ball gets put into play it's crossing fingers for a bunch of loud outs and hoping he keeps the ball in the yard. Regarding Keuchel's past MLB success, it not only occurred much earlier in his career, but also before the seemingly league-wide shift in increasing swing launch angles. When Keuchel's pitches aren't at the perfect locations on corners/at the knees, his stuff plays right into most hitters' grooved swing paths and there isn't enough velo to miss bats up in the zone.

Craig Counsell isn't a deft at shepherding a bullpen that isn't loaded up with "best reliever in all of baseball" arms at the back end, after all. I still find it comical that if CC would find his old mitt and sneak onto the field as a Brewer, he'd be the 4th highest salaried player on their roster this year.

On the baseball field, in your opinion exactly what has Trevor Bauer been doing that tells you he couldn't still be a really good starting pitcher at the MLB level at 33 yrs old and in seemingly good health? It's not the Phillies, but he did just strike out 19 guys over 8.2 IP in his last start south of the border. Had he not been suspended by MLB in 2021, Bauer's last MLB partial season with the Dodgers when he was sporting a 2.59 ERA, Corbin Burnes may not have a Cy Young and Bauer could have at least two in the last 4 mlb seasons.

He looks like a batting tee