Funketown

I think Chambers Bay is sort of a love-it and hate-it venue. I love that it brings a lot of strategy back into the game even for PGA players. You can't simply point and shoot at a target, and more often than not (I'd say with the exception of the 7th, which is really quite a severe green complex for a hole of that difficulty) players who end up 50 yards from the green did not hit a good shot. Just look at Phil Mickelson's face after his first approach shot of the tournament; he knew he needed to use the ground to bring the ball near the pin, and he immediately saw that his approach was landed too close to the pin. Similarly, seeing players rewarded for understanding how to work the ball to stay on the fairways and avoid hazards, rather than seeing players rewarded for a straight ball all the time, was refreshing. Also, I really liked the tracker on the golf balls because it helped you see what shot-shapes were being rewarded, punished, etc. It is far less random than it would seem. The greens were terrible though, and from my understanding it was an absolutely horrible venue for spectators. I think I've played recently punched greens that rolled truer than those at Chambers Bay this past weekend. I do think the 7th is close to being a really cool Cape-style hole, but a long-iron approach to a 50+ foot uphill, severe green that punishes a 1 foot mishit with a 60 yard (difficult) pitch is just too much, because there really isn't a safe option due to the downhill chip/putt one receives if they should go past the hold (as opposed to the first hole). Also, I generally like half-par holes, but the way 16 was playing really gave no incentive to play conservatively; a clean shot out of that bunker is easier than a 100 yard wedge. I'm excited to watch St. Andrews in a few weeks. I never 'got' St. Andrews until I recently started playing golf more often and started to take an interest in golf course architecture, but now it's probably my #1 bucket-list course.

This is legitimately the best possible thing that could happen to Brewers fans this season.

Segura's been a replacement-level player since 2014. I'm not sure what the trade-market will think of him; he's solid defensively but his bat has been a black-hole for about two calendar years now.

Braun's been so injury-prone these last couple of years that I don't mind an off-day if the manager feels it's best. I generally give the manager the benefit of the doubt on these matters; Counsell presumably has much better information than we do with regards to Braun's need for off-days and their effect on his health, so I don't have a problem with this move. Resting Braun and Ramirez on the same day is a bit curious, but it's not exactly like Ramirez has been tearing the cover off the ball this year. I'm also not sure how much to read into Counsell's choices right now. Seeing Luis Sardinas in the lead-off spot would typically be alarming, but given Counsell's options I can't really complain.

I'm a bit surprised to hear the dislike for BA on here; I've always personally been of the opinion that he's one of the best handful of announcers in the business. That said, since BA's tenure we've been fortunate enough (until this year) to hear him announce meaningful baseball. I honestly haven't tuned in to MLB.tv more than a dozen times this year, and when I have I haven't paid much attention. Calling meaningless games feels like it takes a somewhat different skill set, so perhaps that's some of it. I always enjoy Uecker, but feel that in a strange way, he's at his absolute best during a day-game in mid-July when the Brewers are already 10-20 games back. Again, I haven't watched as much baseball this season for obvious reasons, but tuning into other broadcasts has strengthened my belief that BA is one of the best in the business. I can complain a bit about Schroeder, but I think he does a fine enough job.

I'm actually curious about this now. Say you took the 2001 Mariners, and had a chimp manage them. Basically teach it how to write on letter in the batting order for each different player, and have it pick the same lineup every day and run a standard five-man rotation. Probably train it to have the starter go six innings, then pick any random reliever for the remaining three. Maybe you could teach a chimp more, but let's say we start with this plan. That's got to be at least a .500 ballclub still, right?

For those of us who watch via NBCSportsLive, they just put their app on the Roku. A bit late, but nice to have it on my big screen rather than the iPad.

He's incredible. Just an absolute joy to watch play. If Barcelona were easier to watch on my iPad I'd tune in every game.

I wonder about something behind the scenes as well. Last year he wasn't good by any means, but .220/.320/.362 is totally serviceable for a catcher who is decent+ defensively. If he's not a complete headcase I'd imagine somebody will jump on this quickly.

Managerial debut: Kershaw vs. Lohse Ouch.

This seems like an ideal situation for Counsell -- there's basically no pressure for this season, and he can develop any 'soft-skills' necessary to manage the club. I'll be curious to know how analytically inclined Counsell is, and hopefully he'll be a rare blend of a 'baseball guy' who also has some understanding of the analytical side of the game (lineup optimization, defensive evaluation, etc.), given his experience with Melvin.

http://www.hardballtimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Burns-Roster.png These guys can still rake.

I have no idea what to contribute except variations on a theme of amazement in this team's ugliness. If (if?) they lose tonight, they're 15-41 since the start of last year's collapse. Of course, it's difficult to do the whole 'sell-off and reload' deal when the team's trade chips are performing so terribly.

Wow. We all know they've been struggling, but seeing 3-15 is sort of amazing. It's really hard to be out of the post-season by late April, but it looks like they've done it. Oh well, here's to playing spoiler to the Cardinals and Cubs. Also, Orlando Arcia has a 238 wRC+ in AA right now as a 20-year old. Clint Coulter has a 211 wRC+ in A+ right now as a 21-year old. No need to rush these guys now.

He's certainly been struggling, and obviously there's no need to rush him back, so hopefully they don't rush him back. Lucroy has played more than just about any catcher in the game in the past few years, and probably falls about 24th or 25th on the roster in terms of guys who can take any blame for the past couple of years.

On a more serious positive note, Clint Coulter is continuing to hit baseballs hard.

Doug Melvin watching this season's Brewers: http://reactiongifs.me/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/after-a-workout-homer-simpson.gif The rest of us watching this season's Brewers: http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/simpsons/images/a/a8/Btl_cry.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20120801133551

I've long wanted a "Ghost of Quantrill" amnesty day.

We should probably go ahead and start a magic number thread. "We won a game yesterday, if we win one today that's two in a row. If we win one tomorrow that's called a winning streak. It has happened before."

Hey look Tiger remembered he's good at golf.

You know, maybe Roenicke just figures so few fans are following a Friday game after a season-opening sweep that he can sneak in Gennett and Lind against LHP. I didn't realize how bad Lind has been against LHP (I knew he was bad, but seriously...) Lind: 893 PA, .213/.258/.331/.589 (wRC+ 54) Gennett: 85 PA, .125/.146/.138/.284 (wRC+ -31) We may need some 2004 vintage Bob Uecker stories to get us through the season.

I'll be curious to see how Bo Ryan decides to deal with Jahlil Okafor. From watching Duke a lot of times this season, it seems like those teams that fall into the trap of doubling Okafor in the post leave themselves susceptible to kick-out threes, which is rough as Duke has several guys who can probably hit ~50% of their good looks outside (obviously they're worse with contested looks). Notre Dame basically spent the first half of the ACC championship game giving Okafor room inside and never bringing in help and it worked really well for them. Late in the game, they just put him on the free throw line. http://scores.espn.go.com/ncb/boxscore?gameId=400784978

$83MM over three years for a guy who has been a league-average player since they've signed him, something tells me they're not enjoying having to pay the rest of that contract. I didn't think the comments were that outlandish, if this is what you're referring to. Pretty easy to read between the lines though. http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/04/03/gm-jerry-dipoto-angels-have-serious-concerns-about-josh-hamiltons-conduct-health-and-behavior/

fivethirtyeight gives Wisconsin a 31% chance of winning, and I think that's quite reasonable. Wisconsin winning this would be a moderate upset. Kentucky has largely avoided the elite teams this year (Notre Dame's 32-6 season, ACC title, and good tournament run perhaps qualifies). I have a strange feeling that either Wisconsin pulls it out or Kentucky runs away with it, but I'll go with the former. Wisconsin 71 Kentucky 68 Michigan State 55 dook 71

Wisconsin's offense is incredible. Per Ken Pomeroy's adjusted offense per 100 possessions: Wisconsin (2015): 127.4 Michigan (2014): 124.1 Wake Forest (2005): 124.0 Missouri (2012): 123.9 Duke (2014): 123.5 Ohio State (2011): 123.3 Notre Dame (2015): 122.9 Creighton (2014): 122.8 North Carolina (2009): 122.4 North Carolina (2005): 121.9 Unless I missed something, since Pomeroy started tracking these data in 2002, Wisconsin is 3.3 points better than the next best offensive team.