liveforoctober

Is Braun wincing after each swing?

After tomorrow, this team won't see 18 playoff games in the next 20 years. You don't think Attanasio, Stearns, and Counsell are going to get 4 total playoff series in the next 2 decades? I would like to place a wager with you on this one..

With a nod to Vogelbach and maybe Gyorko?... he has been our best hitter this year I think?

I love that we are in the post season and we still have NO CLUE what our ideal lineup is. What a year this has been. Imagine talking to a future you back in January and that person tells you that Orlando Arcia had the Brewers first 3 hits on the year, the Brewers would make the playoffs as an 8 seed with a losing record, Brent Suter would be getting the ball in Game 1 of that first series, the Brewers team batting average was going to hover around .225, and our total attendance for the year was 0. That would have been a real head scratcher... but here we are!

I guess I missed that Buehler had missed so much time. I hope if he comes out fired up/wild we are patient and can capitalize early.

I'm of the opposite thinking. The most likely scenario of the Brewers being in a competitive game is Gm2 with Woodruff on the mound. Both Hader and Williams need to be available on Thursday. Neither one should be throwing 2 innings tomorrow IMO. I don't think that matters because if Hader needs to throw 3 days in a row here he will but nevertheless, 2 innings early from either guy in Gm1 is a no-no to me. If they have lead late I can see Williams throwing 2... but not otherwise.

I also didn't realize how poorly Phelps pitched for Philly. In the 6 games he gave up runs the Phillies were 2-4. You could hypothetically argue Phelps cost them a playoff position. Stearns traded David Phelps to Philly for a playoff spot and 3 lottery tickets. That has to be a top 3 trade in his tenure..

I love the outside the box thinking and we are going to have to be creative for 27 innings to be able to beat the Dodgers AND this would be quite the cinderella/rabbit pull, etc if it were to work... however Lauer managed to be a -.6 WAR in only 4 appearances this year. Something isn't right or the Covid style of baseball just didn't work for him or something... he really, really struggled. The likelihood of it working isn't very good and so starting Lauer in Game 1 of the playoffs against the best team in baseball with 95% of your pitchers available to you is a borderline fireable offense in my very humble opinion. I will eat a months worth of crow if Lauer starts Gm1 and pitches well and I would be happy to do it. This would be a bit like giving Woodruff a PH opportunity against Kershaw over Gamel in Gm2 because of past success... I mean, I guess it would be kinda like that. Except Lauer has owned the Dodgers over 7 starts and Woodruff has 1 AB vs Kershaw. I know you're being facetious, but Woodruff and Gamel aren't that different as hitters anyway. I get your point of view on Lauer, but there's little to lose here as it might be a bullpen game anyway. I'm not married to the idea at all, but I would definitely understand it if CC actually did it (which I don't think he will). But we have the series to lose. Yes the Dodgers are better. Yes the Brewers are more likely to do something silly and give the Dodgers the series. But just as the Brewers are a clunker away from facing Kershaw in an elimination game ... the Dodgers are also a clunker away from facing Brandon Woodruff in an elimination game. I'm not ok with 'YOLO!' being our team motto for the series until it has to be. Just my opinion.

This is what I'd do. Start Lauer and have the bullpen on high alert, particularly Suter. I love the outside the box thinking and we are going to have to be creative for 27 innings to be able to beat the Dodgers AND this would be quite the cinderella/rabbit pull, etc if it were to work... however Lauer managed to be a -.6 WAR in only 4 appearances this year. Something isn't right or the Covid style of baseball just didn't work for him or something... he really, really struggled. The likelihood of it working isn't very good and so starting Lauer in Game 1 of the playoffs against the best team in baseball with 95% of your pitchers available to you is a borderline fireable offense in my very humble opinion. I will eat a months worth of crow if Lauer starts Gm1 and pitches well and I would be happy to do it. This would be a bit like giving Woodruff a PH opportunity against Kershaw over Gamel in Gm2 because of past success...

If the Phillies decline his option I am 100% on board giving him the exact same contract and doing it all over again.

I don't hate this but I think you just start Suter at that point. He has been spot starting successfully up to this point and is a vet. Asking Topa, in his first playoff experience (and first season, etc) to start Game 1 against the Dodgers might be a little much to ask. Adrenaline/nerves would have him throwing 106mph over the backstop lol. Suter -> Topa is a drastic change in styles as it is. Just start Brent I think?

Me too I'm also starting Suter if I get the decision. I can't imagine Counsell let's Houser get 2 turns through their lineup.. so then it is either Suter or Houser to get the first 3 innings and Suter has just outpitched Adrian.

I don't think adding a guy who can't hit or defend would help our already slim chances. If Gamel isn't playing, Vogelbach isn't playing, who are you putting on the roster instead of McKinney? Healy? I'm not saying he should be on the roster, the options aren't exactly endless though lol. Mathias maybe?

If Gamel is good to go I would take him over Peterson.

They flashed the bracket briefly ... am I wrong in thinking we could have an all NL Central NLDS?

Maybe, but Counsell had already checked out of the game. Looked defeated while the game was still going. Kind of a crap look for him as the manager. I mean, if Ben Gamel wasn't on the injured list I guess they could have considered it?

I definitely want the streak to continue and make it 3 straight seasons - however it feels a little wrong to become the only team in MLB history to make the playoffs with a losing record.

Grisham fallout. Braun platooning at 1st (making Aguilar redundant on the roster) then DH being added. A lot of things have happened since the Aguilar trade that need to be acknowledged in defense of the move. You can critique the return .. but there was no room for Aguilar on our future roster as it was constructed (and without knowledge of the DH coming) at the time, imho.

Lorenzo Cain is tied for 6th amongst position players in WAR this season for our team. Nottingham is our #2. That is how bad we have been. https://www.espn.com/mlb/team/stats/_/name/mil/table/batting/sort/WARBR/dir/desc

As a passive aggressive human myself, I appreciate this response. No sarcasm.

He just passed 500 at bats for his career... let's give him a little slack, no? I'm happy we didn't get rid of Burnes after his sophomore struggles...

Let's go win Burnes the Cy Young tonight fellas..

I was talking to a friend yesterday and we were trying to come up with an example in recent memory of someone who went from being one of the 'worst' pitchers to one of the best over the course of 1 year like this. Can anyone think of any?

Arcia really seems like more than anything he has an awkward stride. He seems like he's got a pretty decently athletic slender build, so he shouldn't be as slow as he is. He just never looks comfortable running. Mike Cameron had a long graceful stride that never looked like it took a lot of effort And he covered a ton of ground. Carlos Gomez covered a lot of ground but he always looked like he was running like a cheetah. Different running styles for different guys... Corey Hart was always an interesting one to me. I think it was just his length, but he always looked like he was running at 70% speed to me... but he could still move!

Ramey: https://www.baseballamerica.com/players/101608/brandon-ramey/ Puello: https://www.baseballamerica.com/players/101030/israel-puello/ Geraldo: https://www.baseballamerica.com/players/101021/juan-geraldo/ Not much out there on any of them from a quick search. In the little experience they have (GCL, DSL, etc) they all posted K/9 rates above 9. Would be interested if anyone can find video/interviews/scouting reports. This is definitely a Stearns special ... hope he had some fun with this one!