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DuWayne Steurer

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  1. I'm not big on the value-return on the trade, but after the run on WR's yesterday, I'm sure they didn't want to take the chance that the guy or guys they wanted today would still be hanging around at 53.
  2. I think he knows he kinda does, but he's just playing with people's hearts (as you said) Randall Cobb is like 53 years old in WR years. Allan Lazard runs like a 7.4 40 (but he sure can block!) Sammy Watkins will probably be healthy for like 6.7 games this year and A. Rodgers is not ready to be a WR2.
  3. I'm not stylish (or young) enough for such brazen fashion.
  4. haha, sometimes sarcasm/jokes are hard to pick up without the subtle inflections of body language and facial expressions.
  5. Johnson's character concerns aside, a guy's jacket being cause for concern is an unfair characterization. There have been a lot of guys that have worn some pretty outlandish things to the draft. It's a loud, brash event, and it's a glitzy, outlandish event at that.
  6. So what you're saying is, 80+% of the guys picked so far are 22 or younger, meaning there's not actually really any data to be gleaned from the data, and it's pretty much just random? huh....
  7. This was always the danger when the only pre-draft addressing of the WR room was adding Watkins. I'm sure there's a plan B, but I'm also sure plan A was probably taking one of the premium WR's in the first round.
  8. Lions knew what they wanted.
  9. I'd like to think that most sports fans have players who make it into the inner circle of "favorites" who are obscure to some degree, odd, or just regular, average guys who might be bench warmers, or even guys who never made an impact of any great degree on the game they play. As Brewer fans, I feel like we've probably had more than our fair share of guys that we've had weird attachments to, fan-crushes, and quirky dudes like Tim Dillards, Keith Ginters, and so on. Guys that maybe aren't making commercials and millions of dollars and getting all star and MVP votes, but endear themselves to the fans or one of us individually none the less. I know my FAVORITE player when I was a young kid was Gorman Thomas. Now *there* was a star. The guy socked homer after homer. He played center field. He had an awesome mustache, and he smoked in the outfield! He even had a great name and a cool as heck nickname. I remember in early 1983 when the Brewers traded him for Rick Manning. I can't even begin to imagine what baseball executive would trade a bonafide superstar like Gorman Thomas for Rick. Manning. I think I must have just rode my red, black and white BMX bike around in a haze for a few days just trying to comprehend the stupidity of such a move. I'm still not over it. I look back at Gorman Thomas' 1983 stat line though, and older me understands the data driven side of why the Brewers did what they did. I still will never forget, even if I am able to forgive. But let's fast forward to 1986. The Brewers had struggled through a brutal 1985. Not a lot went right. 1986 was going better! The Brewers had a new slugger, with a decent mustache (Rob Deer). I don't know if he ever smoked while patrolling the outfield, but he was pretty cool. They were hovering around .500 in June. Things were looking a little better. So it was that my younger brother and myself came to be going to the Janesville Mall for the "Grand Re-opening" to see one Ernest Riles, shortstop for the Milwaukee Brewers. Now, the Janesville Mall is a little mall, in a medium sized town, and Ernie Riles is not exactly a star draw, so there weren't a ton of kids there. My brother and I both had Topps Sticker albums (remember those? Those things were GREAT!) and Ernie signed them for us. My dad let Ernie know we'd be coming to Detroit to see the Brewers play the Tigers near the end of June, and I think he didn't believe my dad, as he laughed and said "see ya there!" Fast forward to June 27th, 1986. Our family of four gets walk-ups to the vast, gray, cavernous Tiger Stadium, underneath the right field overhang. Tiger Stadium was so different than County Stadium to a young kid like myself. Just a huge diamond shape, and it had a much more enclosed feel, not quite claustrophobic, but very dark (to me) and I remember it feeling "old". Even as a precocious 11 year old, I remember having a strongly defined understanding of the history and age and just the weight that this park held. We ambled over into the right field corner where none other than Teddy Higuera was signing autographs. What a great start to the day for us this could be, if we could get Teddy Higuera! My brother leans out, trying in vain to get Teddy's attention, and finally Teddy takes...... my brother's pen, to sign someone else's program! My mom, never a shy one, scolds Higuera and says "If you're going to use his pen, the least you can do is sign an autograph for him!", and my brother got Teddy Higuera's autograph on a square of plain folded brown cardboard. We wandered over to the Brewers dugout, where several Brewers were milling about, and a few more guys were playing long toss. Ernie Riles is throwing, sees us, and yells "Hey! It's the Janesville kids!", and stops throwing and comes jogging over. It's hard to describe that feeling of being a young kid, and being recognized by a major league baseball player, who stops what he's doing to come say hi to some kids he saw in a mall from two or three weeks ago at a signing event. That's like a top two or three moment in a little kid's life at that point. We had bought Brewers mini-bats, and he signed those, and something else, and talked ball with us and our dad for a few minutes (it feels longer in my memory, but it was probably in reality 30 seconds), and exclaimed that he couldn't believe we came all the way from Janesville to watch a ballgame. We didn't tell him that this was just one stop on our family vacation to Niagara Falls, and other points. It was a planned stop, but we didn't drive JUST to Detroit to see the Brewers. But Ernie didn't need to know that. If he wanted to believe we drove 10 hours to watch him play shortstop in Detroit, that's great. I remember the Brewers losing to the Tigers on a Kirk Gibson walk off bomb, 4 - 2. I looked it up, and Baseball-Reference confirms that my memory serves me well. Kirk Gibson hit a one out homer in the bottom of the 11th off of Dan Plesac, for a 4-2 Tigers win on June 27th 1986. I was always a huge Ernie Riles fan after this. I played the crap out of Strat-o-Matic baseball (and a bunch of you guys did too, even if you won't admit it) when I was a kid, and I put a full HOMERUN on 3-8 on Ernie's card. It made him more of a power hitter than he was supposed to be, but I didn't care. Ernie was my guy. He was never more than an average at best shortstop/utility guy, but I didn't care. He was a *good* guy, and genuinely nice and good guys are hard to come by. https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/rileser01.shtml https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/DET/DET198606270.shtml
  10. I'd like to add a few things. I'm just a mod, not an admin, so I feel like my 2 cents are (fairly) impartial. 1) I appreciate Brock taking the time to give us this information in a transparent way where it's easy to digest for everyone. 2) As a mod, I appreciate folks keeping their "I hate ads" comments and suggestions in this post and the suggestions/issues forum, rather than the game threads, thanks! I was a member and admin of a super excellent sports-fan site for years (sports-boards.net) and like Brock said, we had a super cool, excellent thriving community, that was probably a few 3000 - 5000 strong at its peak. We had fan boards for almost every major sports team in North America, and a dedicated college sports forum, and probably had 3000 to 5000 posts per day. Some days was well over 10K posts Like Brock said, a few people left, a few more people left, and then one week we literally had less than 100 posts per day, and I was looking at the list of unique visitors and it was 8 - 12 registered users, and handfuls of bots and guests. Forums without additional content can die, just like that. Brewerfan is lucky in that we serve a super-dedicated, tight-nit and niche group, but if ya'll haven't noticed a lot (a lot!) of long time posters are leaving, and not a lot of people have been replacing them. I stayed at Brewerfan for 20 years because of the unique, Brewers baseball community we had, and still have. This new ownership gives us an opportunity to grow and have something more than just a forum with a 2008 interface. I don't know about any of ya'll, but I didn't go to Brewerfan for the interface, I posted daily for the people I got to talk baseball with. I said all this back at the "old" brewerfan, but I'll say it again, even if it sounds bit cheesy. This is going to have growing pains, change sucks but it can be fun and exciting and frustrating and any other expletive you might throw at it. Ads suck, nobody is gonna tell you different. Like I told the guys in the moderator chat, I HAVE to use my phone at work because I'm not allowed to use my computer for personal browsing. This site is pretty rough on mobile, as any of you who have tried it knows. But when I have down time, I check in and see who either liked a comment or told me I'm wrong about something, because it breaks up my day. Alright, jumping off my soapbox. ✌️
  11. When I was a kid, I had a fairly strong belief that "prospects" like Billy Jo had statistics in AA and AAA that would translate rather simply to major league success. That being said, I had no idea that "park factor" was a thing, and that certain leagues in the minors were more hitter friendly or anything like that. I saw Billy Jo's stats for El Paso, and was CONVINCED he was going to be the next Don Mattingly, at the *very least*. Needless to say, I, like all Brewers fans, ended up with nothing but disappointment, but that never stopped me from using Billy Jo's mug for my avatar at the old site for like 5-6 years.
  12. When I was a kid, I had a fairly strong belief that "prospects" like Billy Jo had statistics in AA and AAA that would translate rather simply to major league success. That being said, I had no idea that "park factor" was a thing, and that certain leagues in the minors were more hitter friendly or anything like that. I saw Billy Jo's stats for El Paso, and was CONVINCED he was going to be the next Don Mattingly, at the *very least*. Needless to say, I, like all Brewers fans, ended up with nothing but disappointment, but that never stopped me from using Billy Jo's mug for my avatar at the old site for like 5-6 years.
  13. When I was a kid, I had a fairly strong belief that "prospects" like Billy Jo had statistics in AA and AAA that would translate rather simply to major league success. That being said, I had no idea that "park factor" was a thing, and that certain leagues in the minors were more hitter friendly or anything like that. I saw Billy Jo's stats for El Paso, and was CONVINCED he was going to be the next Don Mattingly, at the *very least*. Needless to say, I, like all Brewers fans, ended up with nothing but disappointment, but that never stopped me from using Billy Jo's mug for my avatar at the old site for like 5-6 years.
  14. When I was a kid, I had a fairly strong belief that "prospects" like Billy Jo had statistics in AA and AAA that would translate rather simply to major league success. That being said, I had no idea that "park factor" was a thing, and that certain leagues in the minors were more hitter friendly or anything like that. I saw Billy Jo's stats for El Paso, and was CONVINCED he was going to be the next Don Mattingly, at the *very least*. Needless to say, I, like all Brewers fans, ended up with nothing but disappointment, but that never stopped me from using Billy Jo's mug for my avatar at the old site for like 5-6 years.
  15. The Brewers traveled to Philly after sweeping the Pirates and played a three-game set against the Phillies. Series Recap Brewers/Phillies The Brewers came into the weekend series at Philadelphia to keep the momentum going, having won four games in a row after sweeping the Pirates and still trying to get the offense jump-started. Coming into the series, the Crew is still averaging just 3.53 runs per game and slashing just .205/.289/.338 as a team. Despite the anemic offense, the Brewers arrive at 8-5 and look to win in Philly, where they have struggled recently. Game 1: Phillies 4 - Brewers 2 Freddy Peralta put together an excellent start in his third go-round. He pitched five innings and gave up just one run on only three hits with six punchouts. Pitch count got the best of him, as he reached eighty-nine pitches by the end of the fifth and had to give way to the bullpen. Still, it’s encouraging to see Freddy put together an excellent start with six punchouts and limiting baserunners. Peralta struggled in the first yet again, giving up a run-scoring double to Bryce Harper and walking JT Realmuto, but he popped up Kyle Schwarber to get out of the jam. Peralta cruised through the next four innings, striking out the side in order in the second and only allowing two more baserunners overall. Aaron Ashby came in in the sixth and was called on to pitch multiple innings in relief. He allowed multiple baserunners in the sixth and walked a runner in the seventh. It can be questioned if he should have been brought out for the eighth with just a one-run lead, and after the first three Phillies reached base, Aaron Ashby struck out Schwarber, giving the Brewers the chance to turn a double play and get out of the jam. Craig Counsell turned to Brad Boxberger, who gave up back-to-back singles, and three runs later, the Crew were down two. Boxberger got out of the jam with no further damage, but this is an obvious situation where Devin Williams would be used if not struggling in the early season. Former Brewer Corey Knebel put the Crew down in the top of the ninth to finish the comeback for the Phils and end the Brewers' four-game winning streak. Game 2: Brewers 5 - Phillies 3 Adrian Houser got off to a rocky start, giving up three runs in the first three innings tonight, but the offense picked him up, putting up a four-spot in the fifth, and tacking one on later on a Hunter Renfroe solo home run. The bullpen pitched three scoreless innings, and the Brewers put the blown save from the day before behind them. Houser gave up a run in the first on the double to Nick Castellanos and two more runs in the third inning on an RBI single to former Brewers shortstop Jean Segura and a sacrifice fly to Castellanos. Phillies starter Zack Wheeler held the Brewers offense in check until the fifth inning when they busted through with three runs to tie the game on RBI singles by Jace Peterson, Willy nineAdames, and Christian Yelich. The Brewers weren’t done just yet, as they took the lead on a beautifully executed double steal with Yelich taking second and Adames swiping home on the delayed steal. Hunter Renfroe extended the lead in the sixth with his second homer of the still-young season. Renfroe’s hot streak has brought his slash line to a respectable .260/.309/.460, which is probably right in line with what most people expected of Renfroe when he was acquired in the Jackie Bradley Jr. trade. After his early-season struggles mainly looked like a small sample size, and batted ball data shows his exit velo shows he’s been hitting into his fair share of bad luck, hopefully, the extra-base hits start piling up, and we get the Renfroe we expected. After getting touched up a bit in the first three innings, Houser settled in and pitched well enough to work through six innings, giving up the three runs on five hits and just one walk. The bullpen combo of Trevor Gott, Devin Williams, and Josh Hader locked down the last three innings. Hader earned his seventh save in seven tries. Game 3: Brewers 1 - Phillies 0 Brewers get a prime-time game in the Sunday night ESPN slot in the series finale against the Phillies. Eric Lauer and Aaron Nola put on a stellar pitching duel, with Lauer notching a career-high thirteen strikeouts in just six innings. Lauer pitched six innings and didn’t allow a run, scattering five hits and a walk. Phils starter Nola was just as effective, striking out nine Brewers in seven innings himself, allowing just a lone double to Tyrone Taylor and walking one. After Brad Boxberger and Devin Williams pitched the seventh and eighth scoreless, the game went to the ninth without a tally. The Brewers put men on the corners with one out and finally broke through with a sacrifice fly from Christian Yelich. Both pitching staff seemed to benefit from the *generous* strike zone from home plate umpire Angel Hernandez over the game. Kyle Schwarber took issue with the zone's expansion in the ninth inning and was tossed for his protestations. Josh Hader nailed down the final out and secured the 1-0 victory for the Crew, getting the series win. The Brewers head home to play just one game against the Giants, now standing at 10-6 overall on the season. View full article
  16. Series Recap Brewers/Phillies The Brewers came into the weekend series at Philadelphia to keep the momentum going, having won four games in a row after sweeping the Pirates and still trying to get the offense jump-started. Coming into the series, the Crew is still averaging just 3.53 runs per game and slashing just .205/.289/.338 as a team. Despite the anemic offense, the Brewers arrive at 8-5 and look to win in Philly, where they have struggled recently. Game 1: Phillies 4 - Brewers 2 Freddy Peralta put together an excellent start in his third go-round. He pitched five innings and gave up just one run on only three hits with six punchouts. Pitch count got the best of him, as he reached eighty-nine pitches by the end of the fifth and had to give way to the bullpen. Still, it’s encouraging to see Freddy put together an excellent start with six punchouts and limiting baserunners. Peralta struggled in the first yet again, giving up a run-scoring double to Bryce Harper and walking JT Realmuto, but he popped up Kyle Schwarber to get out of the jam. Peralta cruised through the next four innings, striking out the side in order in the second and only allowing two more baserunners overall. Aaron Ashby came in in the sixth and was called on to pitch multiple innings in relief. He allowed multiple baserunners in the sixth and walked a runner in the seventh. It can be questioned if he should have been brought out for the eighth with just a one-run lead, and after the first three Phillies reached base, Aaron Ashby struck out Schwarber, giving the Brewers the chance to turn a double play and get out of the jam. Craig Counsell turned to Brad Boxberger, who gave up back-to-back singles, and three runs later, the Crew were down two. Boxberger got out of the jam with no further damage, but this is an obvious situation where Devin Williams would be used if not struggling in the early season. Former Brewer Corey Knebel put the Crew down in the top of the ninth to finish the comeback for the Phils and end the Brewers' four-game winning streak. Game 2: Brewers 5 - Phillies 3 Adrian Houser got off to a rocky start, giving up three runs in the first three innings tonight, but the offense picked him up, putting up a four-spot in the fifth, and tacking one on later on a Hunter Renfroe solo home run. The bullpen pitched three scoreless innings, and the Brewers put the blown save from the day before behind them. Houser gave up a run in the first on the double to Nick Castellanos and two more runs in the third inning on an RBI single to former Brewers shortstop Jean Segura and a sacrifice fly to Castellanos. Phillies starter Zack Wheeler held the Brewers offense in check until the fifth inning when they busted through with three runs to tie the game on RBI singles by Jace Peterson, Willy nineAdames, and Christian Yelich. The Brewers weren’t done just yet, as they took the lead on a beautifully executed double steal with Yelich taking second and Adames swiping home on the delayed steal. Hunter Renfroe extended the lead in the sixth with his second homer of the still-young season. Renfroe’s hot streak has brought his slash line to a respectable .260/.309/.460, which is probably right in line with what most people expected of Renfroe when he was acquired in the Jackie Bradley Jr. trade. After his early-season struggles mainly looked like a small sample size, and batted ball data shows his exit velo shows he’s been hitting into his fair share of bad luck, hopefully, the extra-base hits start piling up, and we get the Renfroe we expected. After getting touched up a bit in the first three innings, Houser settled in and pitched well enough to work through six innings, giving up the three runs on five hits and just one walk. The bullpen combo of Trevor Gott, Devin Williams, and Josh Hader locked down the last three innings. Hader earned his seventh save in seven tries. Game 3: Brewers 1 - Phillies 0 Brewers get a prime-time game in the Sunday night ESPN slot in the series finale against the Phillies. Eric Lauer and Aaron Nola put on a stellar pitching duel, with Lauer notching a career-high thirteen strikeouts in just six innings. Lauer pitched six innings and didn’t allow a run, scattering five hits and a walk. Phils starter Nola was just as effective, striking out nine Brewers in seven innings himself, allowing just a lone double to Tyrone Taylor and walking one. After Brad Boxberger and Devin Williams pitched the seventh and eighth scoreless, the game went to the ninth without a tally. The Brewers put men on the corners with one out and finally broke through with a sacrifice fly from Christian Yelich. Both pitching staff seemed to benefit from the *generous* strike zone from home plate umpire Angel Hernandez over the game. Kyle Schwarber took issue with the zone's expansion in the ninth inning and was tossed for his protestations. Josh Hader nailed down the final out and secured the 1-0 victory for the Crew, getting the series win. The Brewers head home to play just one game against the Giants, now standing at 10-6 overall on the season.
  17. Easter weekend Cardinals @ Brewers recap Game 1 Brewers 5 - Cardinals 1 https://www.mlb.com/gameday/cardinals-vs-brewers/2022/04/14/661292#game_state=final,lock_state=final,game_tab=box,game=661292 Woodruff pitches five strong Brewers starter Brandon Woodruff bounced back from a rough first start of the season to pitch five strong innings, allowing three hits and walking one. The Brewers struggling offense struck for four runs in the first three innings and tacked one in the sixth. The bullpen pitched four innings, surrendering just one run on a solo shot by Tommy Erdman in the eighth inning to hold on for a solid 5-1 win in the series opener. After Woodruff worked a quick 1-2-3 top of the first, The Brewers looked to squander a great scoring opportunity after Kolten Wong led off with a triple. Willy Adames popped out, and Christian Yelich’s struggles continued until new addition Andrew McCutchen delivered an RBI single with two outs to open up the scoring The Crewadded another run in the second on Omar Narvaez’s first home run of the 2022 campaign. After struggling down the stretch in 2021, Narvaez getting off to a good start could be a big boost for the struggling offense. Narvaez delivered in the third inning with an RBI double to put the Brewers up 4-0. Wainwright was done after 4 ⅓ innings, having already surrendered eight hits and his pitch count already up to 86 pitches. Kolten Wong added an RBI base hit in the sixth to extend the lead to 5-0. Putting aside his first week of the season struggles, Wong went 2 for 4, with a triple, run scored, RBI, and a stolen base. After Woodruff left the game after five strong, new bullpen arm, Trevor Gott was impressed with two innings of work, striking out two and allowing a lone single to Nolan Arenado in the seventh. The lone Cardinals run led off the eighth, a solo home run by Tommy Erdman off of cleanup man Jandel Gustave. Gustave didn’t seem rattled and retired the next six batters to close out the series-opening win for the Crew. Woodruff picks up his first win of the season, improving to 1-1. Game 2 Cardinals 10 - Brewers 1 https://www.mlb.com/gameday/cardinals-vs-brewers/2022/04/15/661267#game_state=final,game_tab=box,game=661267 Rough first inning sinks Peralta Young starter Freddy Peralta looked to rebound from his rough first start in his home opener, and well, let’s say things didn’t go according to plan. Another rough first inning where Peralta struggled with location put the Brewers in a 4-0 hole early, and they never got back into the game. Offensively, the Crew didn’t fare much better. Cards starter Miles Mikolas spread three singles out over six ⅔ innings, and the Brewers never really threatened after getting down eight runs. Trouble started early for Peralta. After retiring the first two Cards batters, he surrendered a double to Tyler O’Neill and walked the next two batters. Three consecutive singles later, Peralta and the Brewers found themselves in a quick 4-0 hole. After the Crew went down quickly in the bottom of the first, Peralta struggled in the second, hitting Dylan Carlson, giving up two more hits and two more runs. It’s hard to gauge how much the shortened spring and reduced number of early off-days impact Counsell and other managers' decisions and bullpen management. Peralta didn’t have it in this game. He worked to get through three innings, throwing 77 pitches. It’s questionable whether or not the game was still within reach after the first inning at 4-0, and Counsell has to consider the availability of the arms in the bullpen going into the tail end of a four-game series. We'll have to hope whatever is going on with Peralta in his first few starts of the season is just an anomaly, and the Crew gets closer to 2021 Peralta going forward. The bullpen picked up six innings in this one, with new Brewer Jose Urena tossing three innings and giving up two runs and a home run. Hoby Milner cruised through two innings on just 18 pitches, striking out a batter and giving up just one single. The Crew avoided the shutout, with Omar Narvaez pushing McCutchen across with an RBI single in the seventh. Infielder Mike Brousseau provided a fun highlight at the end of the game, pitching the ninth inning for the Crew, allowing a hit and a walk, but putting up a scoreless frame. Game 3 Cardinals 2 – Brewers 1 Offensive struggles continue The Brewers looked to rebound with noted Cardinals killer Adrian Houser on the mound from their game two loss. Houser threw 5 ⅔ strong, allowing just one run on four hits and three walks, striking out four, but again, the offense scuffled to put men on base, and the Crew fell, 2-1 to the rival Cards. Houser and Cardinals starter Steven Matz dueled scoreless until the fourth when the Cards broke through with an RBI double by Paul DeJong. With men on second and third and two outs, Houser struck out Ryan Bader to end the threat and keep the game within one run. Houser struck out the side in the top of the fifth, mowing through Knizner, Erdman, and Carlson.However, through the fifth inning, the Brewers had mustered only two baserunners themselves and had advanced nobody past second base.The game stayed 1-0 Cardinals until the eighth inning. Jake Cousins struggled with his control, walking one and giving up an RBI single to Corey Dickerson. In the bottom of the frame, new Brewers backstop Victor Caratini got the Brewers on the board and back within one with his first homer in a Brewers uniform. Unfortunately, it would be the last run of the night for the Crew. Willy Adames led off the bottom of the ninth with a single, and Hunter Renfroe popped out on the infield. With one out and a man on first and the potential go-ahead run at the plate, Craig Counsell chose to pinch-hit for Keston Huira with Rowdy Tellez. In and of itself, that’s an easy, almost no-brainer decision. However, in the wider lens, it says a lot about where Christian Yelich is in the pecking order right now. The offense is scuffling for runs, and your MVP from just a few years ago is on the bench in a one-run game while a mid-season injury replacement for Dan Vogelbach takes your at-bats. Game 4 Brewers 6 – Cardinals 5 Offense breaks through in support of Ashby In the series finale, the Brewers offense didn’t erupt, but the bats broke through for six runs, and it was just enough as the Crew held on for a 6-5 win. Aaron Ashby struggled with his command, throwing 34 pitches in the first inning, and lasting only four innings. He settled down after the first but gave up a three-run home run to Albert Pujols in the third after an error by Kolten Wong extended the inning. Still, some positive signs for Ashby. He struck out four, gave up only two hits, and probably got out of the third inning with no damage without the error by Wong. On the positive side, the Brewers broke through early today, punching three runs across the plate in the first. Cards starter Dakota Hudson was even wilder than Ashby, putting on Brewers leadoff man Kolten Wong with a hit by a pitch, followed by Willy Adames and Christian Yelich taking walks to load the bases with nobody out. Andrew McCutchen delivered the game's first run with a sacrifice fly to centerfield. Instead of squandering the scoring opportunity, Rowdy Tellez lined a double into the left-center gap, scoring another run. Keston Huira flew out to shallow right field, and a throwing error on Cards catcher Andrew Knizner allowed Yelich to score. Albert Pujols struck in the third with a three-run homer to tie the game, but the Brewers took the lead back in the bottom of the fourth with Willy Adames drawing a bases-loaded walk. Ashby left after four, having already thrown 77 pitches. The Brewers bullpen held things down until the seventh inning, with Cousins, Gustave, and Brad Boxberger throwing a scoreless inning. In the bottom half of the frame, it looked like the Brewers would frustratingly toss out another scoring chance. With runners on second and third and no one out, Rowdy Tellez and Keston Huira both struck out. Tyrone Taylor picked up the offense, however, and delivered a clutch two-run double into the left-field corner Devin Williams’ early-season struggles continued in the eighth inning as he walked three and surrendered two runs before Trevor Gott notched the final out of the inning to hold the lead at 6-5. Only ten games into the season, but skipper Craig Counsell may have to make an early decision on using Williams in high leverage situations moving forward as he continues to have trouble getting outs, and his ERA has now ballooned to over 12. It's hard to say yet what's going on with Williams. There's not a lot of data to sift through yet. Three innings pitched isn't just a small sample size; it's barely a sample. Watching the games, it looks like batters are looking for that change. Looking at the pitch data numbers, he's throwing the fastball and change roughly the same percentage, and his fastball velo isn't down an appreciable amount. As noted, it's not enough of a sample size to draw conclusions from yet, and everyone will have a different theory at this point, but it's important to note that it's ten games into the season and three innings from Williams. He started slowly last season as well, and by mid-season, he was as unhittable as he was in 2020 when he was the NL reliever of the year. Is it the lack of a full Spring Training? Is he fully back from the broken hand? Only the Brewers and Williams know the answers to these questions, but hopefully, he returns to form sooner rather than later. Josh Hader came on in the ninth and went through the heart of the Cardinals order, striking out Tyler O’Neill and Nolan Arenado to end the game and secure the win and the series split. Splitting the series with the Cards has the Brewers standing at 5-5 at the end of Easter Weekend, and given how the offense has struggled, setup man, Devin Williams can’t get outs, and key starter Freddy Peralta has gotten rocked both times out, standing at 5-5, ten games in could almost be looked at as a small miracle. Moving on to face the Pirates starting Monday, the Brewers look again to get over .500.
  18. The Brewers came back to American Family Field for the home opening series of 2022, taking on the rival St. Louis Cardinals. The entire rotation looks to get on track after a rough go-around the first time through, and the offense is looking to find a rhythm as the squad comes into the series with a record of 3-3. Easter weekend Cardinals @ Brewers recap Game 1 Brewers 5 - Cardinals 1 https://www.mlb.com/gameday/cardinals-vs-brewers/2022/04/14/661292#game_state=final,lock_state=final,game_tab=box,game=661292 Woodruff pitches five strong Brewers starter Brandon Woodruff bounced back from a rough first start of the season to pitch five strong innings, allowing three hits and walking one. The Brewers struggling offense struck for four runs in the first three innings and tacked one in the sixth. The bullpen pitched four innings, surrendering just one run on a solo shot by Tommy Erdman in the eighth inning to hold on for a solid 5-1 win in the series opener. After Woodruff worked a quick 1-2-3 top of the first, The Brewers looked to squander a great scoring opportunity after Kolten Wong led off with a triple. Willy Adames popped out, and Christian Yelich’s struggles continued until new addition Andrew McCutchen delivered an RBI single with two outs to open up the scoring The Crewadded another run in the second on Omar Narvaez’s first home run of the 2022 campaign. After struggling down the stretch in 2021, Narvaez getting off to a good start could be a big boost for the struggling offense. Narvaez delivered in the third inning with an RBI double to put the Brewers up 4-0. Wainwright was done after 4 ⅓ innings, having already surrendered eight hits and his pitch count already up to 86 pitches. Kolten Wong added an RBI base hit in the sixth to extend the lead to 5-0. Putting aside his first week of the season struggles, Wong went 2 for 4, with a triple, run scored, RBI, and a stolen base. After Woodruff left the game after five strong, new bullpen arm, Trevor Gott was impressed with two innings of work, striking out two and allowing a lone single to Nolan Arenado in the seventh. The lone Cardinals run led off the eighth, a solo home run by Tommy Erdman off of cleanup man Jandel Gustave. Gustave didn’t seem rattled and retired the next six batters to close out the series-opening win for the Crew. Woodruff picks up his first win of the season, improving to 1-1. Game 2 Cardinals 10 - Brewers 1 https://www.mlb.com/gameday/cardinals-vs-brewers/2022/04/15/661267#game_state=final,game_tab=box,game=661267 Rough first inning sinks Peralta Young starter Freddy Peralta looked to rebound from his rough first start in his home opener, and well, let’s say things didn’t go according to plan. Another rough first inning where Peralta struggled with location put the Brewers in a 4-0 hole early, and they never got back into the game. Offensively, the Crew didn’t fare much better. Cards starter Miles Mikolas spread three singles out over six ⅔ innings, and the Brewers never really threatened after getting down eight runs. Trouble started early for Peralta. After retiring the first two Cards batters, he surrendered a double to Tyler O’Neill and walked the next two batters. Three consecutive singles later, Peralta and the Brewers found themselves in a quick 4-0 hole. After the Crew went down quickly in the bottom of the first, Peralta struggled in the second, hitting Dylan Carlson, giving up two more hits and two more runs. It’s hard to gauge how much the shortened spring and reduced number of early off-days impact Counsell and other managers' decisions and bullpen management. Peralta didn’t have it in this game. He worked to get through three innings, throwing 77 pitches. It’s questionable whether or not the game was still within reach after the first inning at 4-0, and Counsell has to consider the availability of the arms in the bullpen going into the tail end of a four-game series. We'll have to hope whatever is going on with Peralta in his first few starts of the season is just an anomaly, and the Crew gets closer to 2021 Peralta going forward. The bullpen picked up six innings in this one, with new Brewer Jose Urena tossing three innings and giving up two runs and a home run. Hoby Milner cruised through two innings on just 18 pitches, striking out a batter and giving up just one single. The Crew avoided the shutout, with Omar Narvaez pushing McCutchen across with an RBI single in the seventh. Infielder Mike Brousseau provided a fun highlight at the end of the game, pitching the ninth inning for the Crew, allowing a hit and a walk, but putting up a scoreless frame. Game 3 Cardinals 2 – Brewers 1 Offensive struggles continue The Brewers looked to rebound with noted Cardinals killer Adrian Houser on the mound from their game two loss. Houser threw 5 ⅔ strong, allowing just one run on four hits and three walks, striking out four, but again, the offense scuffled to put men on base, and the Crew fell, 2-1 to the rival Cards. Houser and Cardinals starter Steven Matz dueled scoreless until the fourth when the Cards broke through with an RBI double by Paul DeJong. With men on second and third and two outs, Houser struck out Ryan Bader to end the threat and keep the game within one run. Houser struck out the side in the top of the fifth, mowing through Knizner, Erdman, and Carlson.However, through the fifth inning, the Brewers had mustered only two baserunners themselves and had advanced nobody past second base.The game stayed 1-0 Cardinals until the eighth inning. Jake Cousins struggled with his control, walking one and giving up an RBI single to Corey Dickerson. In the bottom of the frame, new Brewers backstop Victor Caratini got the Brewers on the board and back within one with his first homer in a Brewers uniform. Unfortunately, it would be the last run of the night for the Crew. Willy Adames led off the bottom of the ninth with a single, and Hunter Renfroe popped out on the infield. With one out and a man on first and the potential go-ahead run at the plate, Craig Counsell chose to pinch-hit for Keston Huira with Rowdy Tellez. In and of itself, that’s an easy, almost no-brainer decision. However, in the wider lens, it says a lot about where Christian Yelich is in the pecking order right now. The offense is scuffling for runs, and your MVP from just a few years ago is on the bench in a one-run game while a mid-season injury replacement for Dan Vogelbach takes your at-bats. Game 4 Brewers 6 – Cardinals 5 Offense breaks through in support of Ashby In the series finale, the Brewers offense didn’t erupt, but the bats broke through for six runs, and it was just enough as the Crew held on for a 6-5 win. Aaron Ashby struggled with his command, throwing 34 pitches in the first inning, and lasting only four innings. He settled down after the first but gave up a three-run home run to Albert Pujols in the third after an error by Kolten Wong extended the inning. Still, some positive signs for Ashby. He struck out four, gave up only two hits, and probably got out of the third inning with no damage without the error by Wong. On the positive side, the Brewers broke through early today, punching three runs across the plate in the first. Cards starter Dakota Hudson was even wilder than Ashby, putting on Brewers leadoff man Kolten Wong with a hit by a pitch, followed by Willy Adames and Christian Yelich taking walks to load the bases with nobody out. Andrew McCutchen delivered the game's first run with a sacrifice fly to centerfield. Instead of squandering the scoring opportunity, Rowdy Tellez lined a double into the left-center gap, scoring another run. Keston Huira flew out to shallow right field, and a throwing error on Cards catcher Andrew Knizner allowed Yelich to score. Albert Pujols struck in the third with a three-run homer to tie the game, but the Brewers took the lead back in the bottom of the fourth with Willy Adames drawing a bases-loaded walk. Ashby left after four, having already thrown 77 pitches. The Brewers bullpen held things down until the seventh inning, with Cousins, Gustave, and Brad Boxberger throwing a scoreless inning. In the bottom half of the frame, it looked like the Brewers would frustratingly toss out another scoring chance. With runners on second and third and no one out, Rowdy Tellez and Keston Huira both struck out. Tyrone Taylor picked up the offense, however, and delivered a clutch two-run double into the left-field corner Devin Williams’ early-season struggles continued in the eighth inning as he walked three and surrendered two runs before Trevor Gott notched the final out of the inning to hold the lead at 6-5. Only ten games into the season, but skipper Craig Counsell may have to make an early decision on using Williams in high leverage situations moving forward as he continues to have trouble getting outs, and his ERA has now ballooned to over 12. It's hard to say yet what's going on with Williams. There's not a lot of data to sift through yet. Three innings pitched isn't just a small sample size; it's barely a sample. Watching the games, it looks like batters are looking for that change. Looking at the pitch data numbers, he's throwing the fastball and change roughly the same percentage, and his fastball velo isn't down an appreciable amount. As noted, it's not enough of a sample size to draw conclusions from yet, and everyone will have a different theory at this point, but it's important to note that it's ten games into the season and three innings from Williams. He started slowly last season as well, and by mid-season, he was as unhittable as he was in 2020 when he was the NL reliever of the year. Is it the lack of a full Spring Training? Is he fully back from the broken hand? Only the Brewers and Williams know the answers to these questions, but hopefully, he returns to form sooner rather than later. Josh Hader came on in the ninth and went through the heart of the Cardinals order, striking out Tyler O’Neill and Nolan Arenado to end the game and secure the win and the series split. Splitting the series with the Cards has the Brewers standing at 5-5 at the end of Easter Weekend, and given how the offense has struggled, setup man, Devin Williams can’t get outs, and key starter Freddy Peralta has gotten rocked both times out, standing at 5-5, ten games in could almost be looked at as a small miracle. Moving on to face the Pirates starting Monday, the Brewers look again to get over .500. View full article
  19. Like Gorman Thomas before him, Rob Deer was my favorite Brewer during his tenure. His dingers were never wall scrapers. He hit some monster, monster shots deep into the County Stadium bleachers.
  20. Like Gorman Thomas before him, Rob Deer was my favorite Brewer during his tenure. His dingers were never wall scrapers. He hit some monster, monster shots deep into the County Stadium bleachers.
  21. I'm holding out hope that Olave falls to them at 22. If they grab Raimann at 28, I'll consider that an excellent practically A+ first round. After trading Adams and (so far) only grabbing Watkins, they've pretty much put themselves in the position of absolutely NEEDING to draft a WR in round one, and you hate having to do that. Those are the drafts when you see trades and runs on positions, and suddenly you end up holding the bag. I know the whole "draft the best player available" philosophy, but with what the Pack has at WR right now, they've put themselves in a position where the best player available REALLY needs to be a WR.
  22. I browse the site at work on my phone, and the ads don't really hinder the experience too much. They are plentiful, make no mistake (almost between every post), but I haven't noticed any issues with slowdown or any issues with sketchy ads or sites that would raise any red flags. I have WAY too many subscriptions right now, and I'm looking to trim back to be honest. If ads help pay for the site, I'd rather have to put up with the minor inconvenience of ads rather than have more and more of the sites I enjoy become subscription based.
  23. While I would have liked to have seen what Feliciano could do with some part-time at bats, I'm good with this move. Backup catcher shouldn't amount to more than 1/2 a win to a win over 80 games, one way or the other. Caratini is pretty much the definition of a mid-tier, average back up catcher. For all the hand wringing over Severino's suspension caused, backup catcher who's going to start 22 - 30 games for half a season just isn't going to impact enough AB's/plays/games to make enough of a difference in the W/L column.
  24. While I would have liked to have seen what Feliciano could do with some part-time at bats, I'm good with this move. Backup catcher shouldn't amount to more than 1/2 a win to a win over 80 games, one way or the other. Caratini is pretty much the definition of a mid-tier, average back up catcher. For all the hand wringing over Severino's suspension caused, backup catcher who's going to start 22 - 30 games for half a season just isn't going to impact enough AB's/plays/games to make enough of a difference in the W/L column.
  25. While I would have liked to have seen what Feliciano could do with some part-time at bats, I'm good with this move. Backup catcher shouldn't amount to more than 1/2 a win to a win over 80 games, one way or the other. Caratini is pretty much the definition of a mid-tier, average back up catcher. For all the hand wringing over Severino's suspension caused, backup catcher who's going to start 22 - 30 games for half a season just isn't going to impact enough AB's/plays/games to make enough of a difference in the W/L column.
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