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JohnBriggs12

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Everything posted by JohnBriggs12

  1. JohnBriggs12
    I can't imagine Counsell would hesitate sticking Rivera in there if Villar doesn't hit. When Arcia arrives, I'm guessing plan is for Rivera to head back to AAA and play everyday. But if he does better than Villar, plans could change. Villar's defense at SS isn't stellar either.
  2. JohnBriggs12
    Broxton with 3 more K's in 3 ABs. That's 4 K's in 4 ABs in Houston. He now has 20 in 49 AB's with just 2 extra base hits. He looked good early on but lately seems overmatched. Will be interesting to see if they start him back in AAA.
  3. JohnBriggs12
    I think we saw something close to the opening day or at least regular lineup vs RHP last night: Santana, Gennett, Braun, Lucroy, Carter, Flores, Hill, Villar. Broxton has been struggling recently. If he's not optioned, I'm guessing they'll go primarily with Flores early on. If Gennett is platooned, they'll just slide Walsh in his spot though I'm thinking Hill moves to 2B, and Walsh plays 3B. I suspect Rivera will see a few starts per week at SS unless Villar gets hot and Lucroy will play 1B on many days when Maldonado is catching. They just cannot afford not to have Lucroy's bat in the lineup and be the least bit competitive.
  4. JohnBriggs12
    Agree with you YoungGeezy1. Top young players should be pushed. Unfortunately, as a small market team, the days where an 18 year old Robin Yount gets brought to Arizona big league camp just for the experience after a half season of essentially rookie ball, and his manager soon comes to the realization he's the best SS in the system and he's in the opening day lineup are long, long gone. Now every decision is based on controlling service time to make sure the 6 years you are assured of getting out of a player are peak years.
  5. JohnBriggs12
    Loney's not that old (turns 32 in May) and his production in 2015 while down somewhat, wasn't far off his career norms or his worst year. If he had been available this winter for what the Brewers are paying Carter, it's a no brainer, Loney's the better player. But the Brewers committed to Carter for 2016 and with Davis gone, they'll probably need his power and Carter is controllable for 2 more years. If he produces you go to arbitration for a couple years. If not, he gets non-tendered and you look at a guy like Loney for 2017.
  6. JohnBriggs12
    Scooter, by the way, just homered off Jorge de la Rosa in Arizona and now leads the team with 4 HR this spring. Who would have guessed that? Jorge's a lefty if memory serves. So was Patrick Corbin who he took deep about a week ago. edit: just added a line drive single off of de la Rosa. Now batting .500 this spring. Scooter can hit lefties, but like all hitters, he's streaky and he's been pigeonholed as a guy that can't him them. That's simply not true. He's had stretches (2010 in A ball, the AFL in 2012, and his stint in Colorado Springs last year, and this spring when he's done extremely well against them) When Weeks was still here, they still were paying him and it made sense to get him in the lineup and a platoon made sense. Last year Gennett started ice cold ending his bid to play everyday. If they need to get the extra guys some playing time, sure sit him against tough lefties, but this fear of playing him against all lefties is extreme and unwarranted.
  7. JohnBriggs12
    Haudricourt just tweeted that the Brewers have released Luis Ortega, Francisco Castillo, Jose Pena, Daniel Leonardo, and Joshua Torres.
  8. JohnBriggs12
    Not exactly a great way to celebrate making a major league roster for the first time. His defense in the minors (.965 FP at 2B; .908 at 3B) suggest defense isn't a strength though he was better last year (.982) though you'd expect improvement from a guy in his mid 20's. It'll be very interesting to see how he does. He obviously has exceptional eye and discipline at the plate, but now he'll be facing major league pitching exclusively. Nobody had more patience and a better eye than George Kotarras but that only has taken him so far.
  9. JohnBriggs12
    22 K's in 50 ABs in Arizona for Kirk Nieuwenhuis. Those are numbers you might expect for big time all or nothing power bats like Russell Branyan or Mark Reynolds. Nieuwenhuis has a career slugging percentage under .400. A big part of the job for either Nieuwenhuis or Presley will be as late inning PH usually facing big time strikeout ratio relievers. Presley seems better suited to give you a quality AB in those situations. The who is on the roster, who isn't, is superfluous. Designate Nieuwenhuis to make room for Presley. There's equally as talented players on the waiver wire right now if you need to add one. Besides, they'll have Young playing in AAA who could replace Presley if he's so bad that he loses his spot. Or they could recall Reed. The big question in the OF is whether Broxton will be overmatched or can hold his own. Will we see Phillips later this year?
  10. JohnBriggs12
    Will be interesting. He's had plenty of development time with over 2,500 professional AB's. Maybe he can be one of those types the Cardinals seem to come up with every year. Would be ironic since he was originally in their system. I'd hate to see him used only as platoon partner at 2B. That kind of negates the value of a switch hitter. I'd like to see him get time at 3B against RHP. Fine with Hill starting some at 3B but he'd be the guy who might do most of his playing in platoon at 2B. Brewers can use another lefty bat in the lineup. Despite his strong offensive spring, Yadiel could be in a bit over his head, but with Villar struggling in Arizona, might as well let them split the work at SS.
  11. JohnBriggs12
    I suspect Perez will be used all over the Colorado infield and be insurance. If Rivera struggles with the bat, he's got options. If they went with Perez and he struggled, they'd lose control of him.
  12. JohnBriggs12
    "The backup IF's are all young-ish with some potential" Last year they weren't. Gennett was getting platooned with career minor leaguers, Hector Gomez and Elian Herrera. The problem was Scooter wasn't hitting anybody the first 6 weeks, so Roenicke had zero patience sticking to the plan for him to play everyday, having given him exactly one start vs. a lefty. Then Counsell never started him against a lefty preferring to divvy up those AB's among Herrera, Perez, and Gomez, until Gomez played himself off the roster. Scooter looks primed for a fine season. He's never looked better this spring. I'm not so sure both Walsh and Rivera make the roster, but if they do, I'm sure Counsell will want to get them time, but Walsh can play 3B and Rivera can play SS and Hill and Villar, the nominal starters there, certainly aren't guys that you can't sit a few days a week too. Neither has been tearing the cover off the ball in Arizona. How about Walsh at 3B, Rivera (or Perez) at SS and Gennett at 2B if you want an infield with some future?
  13. JohnBriggs12
    Scooter had 32 AB's vs. LHP while down at Colorado Springs last year. He had 12 hits, 5 doubles, 1 3B, and 1 HR. That's a .375/.412/.688 line. Among the LH pitchers he got multiple hits off were John Lamb, a key prospect that went to Reds in Cueto deal and Ty Blach, one of the top pitching prospects in the Giants system. Even after that display, he did not get a single start vs. a lefty the remainder of the year for the Brewers. It's a lot easier on LH hitters when they see a guy 2-3 times a game. Gennett only sees the occasional lefty specialist, once ever 10 days or so. That would be tough on Joey Votto. In short, it's a self-fulfilling prophesy. No way Gennett can improve vs. LHP without seeing them regularly, but when his manager doesn't have the patience to let him see LHP, of course he's going to struggle on those occasions when he does.
  14. JohnBriggs12
    I suspect that whoever made it would only be on the team until Will Smith comes back. With that consideration they probably took Cappy over Morales because of the contract. They may also have felt that Morales wasn't quite ready, or that Cappy would be more useful for stints over one inning. It'll be a while I'm guessing on Smith. Besides, there's a lot of marginal guys on this staff that won't be here all season so finding room for Smith won't be an issue. The contract is likely the determining factor. They didn't want to be on the hook for $2 million, for a guy they might eventually release, especially when they are on the hook for so much for Garza who also may end up discarded before the season is over.
  15. JohnBriggs12
    Really? Capuano is coming off a year where he posted a 7.97 ERA and has a very mediocre career 4.39 ERA and has almost no experience out of the pen. While we're at it, why not bring Lohse back? Morales isn't great by any means, but he's been a useful member of the bullpen on 4 different teams that went to the postseason. Hey it's not going to be a decision that'll come back to haunt them either way. But there are better lefty bullpen arms on the street right now than Capuano.
  16. JohnBriggs12
    I'd rather take a flyer on Montero who's actually hit over his entire minor league career than a guy like Middlebrooks who because he was in Boston's system was overhyped after one. Carter's on a one year deal. If he explodes and hits 35 HR this year are the Brewers going to step up and pay him the going rate? If he hits under .200 again with 20 or so HR, can't they do better?
  17. JohnBriggs12
    Perez put up solid minor league numbers in 2013 in AA: .301/.325/.423 at age 22 and in AAA in 2014: .287/.331/.401 at age 23. Those are much better numbers than Rivera put up at those levels and everyone seems ready to hand him the utility job. Don't let your disdain for my opinions cloud your view of Perez. He's not a bad player. Guys don't get major league looks at age 21 like Perez did without ability.
  18. JohnBriggs12
    Boyer's performance in 2015 carries a lot more weight than a handful of innings in Arizona. Capuano's ERA of nearly 8 last year makes him the underdog vs. Morales too.
  19. JohnBriggs12
    Boyer dominated LH hitters last year, with a .436 OPS against. Loss of Smith makes Boyer and Morales locks in my opinion because both have late inning experience. That makes it Pena vs. Capuano. In that case you go with the youth in another no- brainer. If Capuano didn't have " sentimental" aspect, he'd be an after thought as a veteran mediocre starter trying to reinvent himself to stay in the game.
  20. JohnBriggs12
    Herman Perez? Perez fanned 48 times in 230 ABs as a Brewer. That isn't a particularly high rate these days. Nieuwenhuis fanned 49 times last year in 102 fewer ABs. They don't compare at all.
  21. JohnBriggs12
    Can I remind everyone that Khris Davis' HR/AB ratio for his career of one HR every 17.2 ABs is better than Prince Fielder's one every 17.7 and Ryan Braun's one every 18.6. I'm not saying he's an All Star just yet, and he's got flaws as a player, but Khris Davis is a big time HR hitter and those guys do not grow on trees. The Reds gave up on Edwin Encarnacion and the Pirates gave up on Jose Bautista, two other fairly late blooming premier power hitters, and Davis could well fall into that category as a power hitter.
  22. JohnBriggs12
    What works against Capuano is his 7.97 ERA in 2015 and no ERA under 4 since 2012. Ten decent innings in Arizona isn't going to erase that. He could be let go and available 6 weeks from now when another team drops him. Pena could make the team, but he's going to be 27 in May and hasn't done any significant work in the majors. He's not indispensable by any means. Others will similar backgrounds will be available. Boyer and Morales on the other hand are coming off of decent years with teams who contended last year. Those guys are nice to have when the deadline approaches and teams are looking to add veterans to their bullpen.
  23. JohnBriggs12
    Well, how old is Turner Field? It was built for the 1996 Olympics. Not saying anything will happen but the days when stadiums lasted 3 or more generations is over. Rams left St. Louis because the owner thought the Edwin Jones dome was no longer up to standards and its barely over 20 years old. Will Miller Park still be around in 2050? It may, but it'll be one of the older stadiums if it is.
  24. JohnBriggs12
    The way Stearns has been pulling the trigger, I'm sure virtually every Brewer who's wasn't acquired by him figured they'd be next to go.
  25. JohnBriggs12
    Longtime NBC sportscaster and former major league catcher Joe Garagiola passed away at 90. Amazingly, he was childhood friend with Yogi Berra, who also passed away in the past year. Both went on to major league careers as catchers, Berra and Hall of Famer, and Garagiola a Hall of Fame broadcaster. Garagiola played his last game in the majors when he was just 28 and soon after got into broadcasting. Why he retired so early? Who knows? He wasn't a bad player, maybe he was having issues with concussions? Personal story, my older brother, fresh out of college in the summer of 1962, had the good fortune of sitting next to Garagiola on a flight from Chicago to Washington. Joe at the time was doing TV for the Cardinals and was just getting started doing some stuff for NBC. My brother introduced himself and told Garagiola he was a Braves fan and he asked him if the rumors of Lew Burdette doctoring the baseball with a foreign substance were true. Absolutely! Joe told him.
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