Bombers

As a pitcher it has to feel good to get the other team so p*ssed off they throw bat / helmet after a K

I am not sure on Thames splits vs righties the last month, but his overall is a .691 OPS in august. If he keeps that up for another month I would assume he wouldn't be starting. Although things can change over ~ 4 weeks of baseball. I really think Aguilar should get the bulk of the AB's over the next month. If not him for the 1 game play-in, then yes, Walker should be at 1B. I guess my preference would be: Option 1: Aguilar at 1B, Walker 2B, Villar at CF Option 2: Walker at 1B, Sogard at 2B, Villar at CF Option 3: Walker at 1B, Villar at 2B, Phillips at CF

Spoke to soon - should have went for 0

I agree with this. The giants stink they are currently the 3rd worst team in baseball. The homerun hitting brewers should fair well at Coors. So I say sweep the lowly Giants, 2-1 vs Rockies and 1-2 vs dodgers

why what you problem with? This had me laughing out loud +1

Great post TJ. I agree with this 110%. I always felt years ago when we had Fielder, Braun, Weeks, Hardy, Hart and others we should have been finding more players who hit like Jerry Hairston Jr and Nyjer Morgan who seemed to have higher bb rates / lower K rates. If this is indeed their plan, I am in.

Great Post TJSeven7 I work in the analytics space and have a few thoughts I can offer up - I apologize for the length Data Science is growing into a top degree and career path based on these studies. Analytics / Big Data is not just a baseball thing anymore as businesses everywhere are interested in data. https://www.indeed.com/jobtrends?q=Big-Data%2C+data-science&l=&relative=1 http://www.teachthought.com/everything-else/a-new-social-science-statistics-outgrowing-other-stem-fields/ I had received a powerpoint from a Cubs Season Ticket Holder that was given by Jed Hoyer and had a graph showing that Analysts in MLB have grown from 33 in 2009 to 142 in 2016 for a 330% increase. I would imagine that number will continue to skyrocket as teams are building their secret sauce through data. So what does all of this have to do with the Pina vs Broxton to bunt vs not bunt? It points to teams are building these big data systems and these systems will pull in many factors to consider. But in the end, these systems have variability as there is more than 1 way to build the house. The op has a link to the run scoring as a hole. 68 % when runners at 2nd/3rd with 1 out and 61% when 1st/2nd with 0 out. One can ask is that enough or what else can we consider? Splits of Pina vs Broxton vs players on the bench. Splits for 2017 vs their career. https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/split.fcgi?id=broxtke01&year=2017&t=b https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/split.fcgi?id=pinama01&year=2017&t=b How about the current pitcher Tommy Hunter is he a fly ball pitcher or a ground ball pitcher https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/split.fcgi?id=hunteto02&year=2017&t=p As the OP stated "statistics often times are interpretive" and I agree with that. Teams are building their framework around what they believe to be important factors and leaving others out. Some teams may look at position player bunting or maybe bunting with a person on 1 / 2. How fast is the person at 2nd base? Can he get thrown out at 3rd? What is the chance for a double play with 1st/2nd with current hitter? Is there a better player on the bench to deliver a fly ball? Will they walk that person to load the bases up and then what is the double play rate for the next person due up? So many variables As many have stated - statistics don't give you absolutes - they paint pictures. However different artists paint different pictures. One analyst may rely more on one set of data and another on a different set. In the end, teams are building trust into their analytics machine. While fans don't sit there with an ipad connected to terabytes of data, teams do and their scientists are in place to make sure it is readily available during the game to help them make in game decisions. So I would lean towards answering the OP's question / comment around assumption that analytics people assume there are no quantifiable variations to be I bet you they do it's just not readily available on baseball-reference.com and sometimes not statistics based. (Pitcher looks tired, maybe Pina or Broxton has hit the ball well all day, etc, etc) My assumption is these teams are taking gobs of data and presenting multiple scenarios for the manager to consider and then Counsel ultimately makes the final call. I would love to get a peak into these systems to see the data being given to the coaching staff these days.

I was reading an article about Josh Hader on JSOnline and it said that he wasn't able to wear 17 so he went with 71. The Brewers haven't retired 17 and Gantner hasn't played in forever so why can't he wear it? Q. Your uniform number is 71, which is also unique in the major leagues. You’re only the second 71 in Brewers history as well (Scott Linebrink, 2007). But 17 is the number you’ve had for most of your career previously. It’s not retired in Milwaukee, but it won’t be issued anytime soon, either, because it belonged previously to Jim Gantner. Have you ever talked to him about it? A. I’ve never talked to him about the number situation. I’m sure maybe he heard something. But it’s a number. If I could get it, I’d get it. http://ow.ly/KQwr30e3J78

A couple of thoughts come to mind. The Lucroy trade from Brewers to Rangers is a stark reminder of why, IMO, it is foolish to trade top prospects for .5 - 2 years of a "star." I am just not a fan of the July trade unless you are really missing just 1 piece. The Brewers are missing more than 1 piece and can't fix it in July. As for Jeffress - I remember Doug Melvin saying relievers are often times good 1 year, bad the next and then good the year after that. Here's to hoping that is Jeffress.

You are dealing with the 5th largest city in North America. Even with 2 teams in that city, there are just considerable more Cubs fans than Brewers fans. Plus it's just cheaper. Looking at the future cubs /brewers games in Sept on Seat Geek show row 1 behind the brewers dugout at Wrigley for $540 and row 1 behind the Cubs bench @ Miller park for $360 per ticket

Yep. Just a lot of bad AB's after Braun showed them how to take 6 straight pitches and walk to first.

This a well balanced lineup. I do like the makeup of our roster and how we are not all one sided. Really hope Villar can swing it around as I like having a switch hitter

Neither do GMs who end up trading stars because they're chasing after the next 'proven' commodity time after time and never have the patience to find out what they have in their prospects. Tyler Thornburg was controllable and proven. How's that working out for Boston? Look, if you have a Bellinger, or a Trout or a Harper or Kershaw in your system, you know it pretty quickly. I don't see any of those guys in the Brewers system. And everyone keeps saying "emptying the farm" for Gray. if you can get him for a top 10 prospect, and then a few other pieces..that's not emptying the farm by any stretch. The Cubs certaintly didn't "empty" the farm for Quintana..a couple of A ballers(highly regarded), that weren't going to sniff the majors for awhile anyway. At some point, these prospects will have to be traded anyway..and if you keep thinking "okay next year is our year", or the following year or the following year, and it never comes, then what?? You always deal with the known...and what is known RIGHT NOW, as unlikely as it is, is they are in contention this year. You play to win the game...now. The future is just that, the future and unpredictable. True it is un predictable. That is why you stand pat. This team is not good enough to compete with the top teams. As you say, you will know it when you see it. Now isn't it. Plus one has to wonder if next year sees regression from Shaw, Santana, Aguilar, Thames, Anderson, Nelson, etc. it would be unrealistic if none regressed and they are all perennial borderline all stars. So build for the future until you "know it" as you say and then go for it. That I agree with

My concern is this year is on pace to be similar to 2005 where we finally finished with a .500 record after years of losing. However, we faltered down the stretch and had a shot at post season that year. But we all knew we were not ready. So we let the older guys go finally rolled the whole year in 06 with the young guns. (Fielder, Hardy, Weeks, Hart) After a disappointing year in 2006 we said, yep just 1 pitcher away and purchased Jeff Suppan. (Still makes me mad) we gave up a high 2nd round pick for Suppan. I just don't want to see that again. If we would have just stayed the course and continued drafting and developing we would have been much better off. Stay the course and minimize expectations for next year as we are not there yet. After this week, the following 16 games of @ WAS, CHC, STL, @ TB , @MN/MN will be telling of where we sit. Then again at the end of August / early sept when we @ COL, @ SF, @ LAD, STL, WAS, @ CIN, @ CHC. Those are two really tough stretches coming up. I think the largest challenge for the Brewers brass is the maneuvering of our 40 man and what to do with log jams like we are starting to see like our OF: Braun / Broxton/ Santana / Phillips / Brinson. We don't need 5 starting OF but who do you trade? So I just continue the course and aim for 2019/2020. If we make the playoffs this year, it should be with the band we got.

I think for this year you need to just call it. I am still high on Villar going forward. Just like Segura, I think it is hard to go from absolute stud to horrible and then just be horrible for ever. Next year will be a telling year, but I think Villar is just in a sophomore slump. So with that, I agree, we need to do something. (Possibly even sending him down soon) I do not think Arcia is the answer and I would prefer him to stay where he is and continue to provide value where he is. The Brewers are 5th in all of baseball in OPS and 6th in runs scored. That ain't nothing. I would send Villar down along with Rivera and bring up De Jesus when we re-activate Sogard. I would then platoon them both and let De Jesus hit against lefties as he is currently .410 / .463 / .525 /.987. Then let Sogard hit RHP as he is 343 / 461 / 486 / 947. What is the worst that could happen? If it isn't working in a month and Villar is doing fine in AAA then we just bring him back up.

And the other cool part is the Cubs and Cards window shopping the playoffs at 6th and 7th place in the National League. Take it in while we can

This link has 49 by Chapman from 2013 through 2014 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Major_League_Baseball_individual_streaks

That's a good point and could be a reason. I haven't looked at his splits or advanced metrics. The numbers tell a story and I'm sure the Brewers are deep into them analyzing what the issue may be

Not to me. The best spot to hit from is between 2 guys hitting well as they can't afford to toy with you and will offer hittable pitches. So if you feel him getting a few better pitches will help it's worth a shot. At the end of the day though he is just cold and might need a minor league appearance to right the ship

+1

Sogard after the game: "Hi, I'm Eric and I'm here for the pee test" ... I mean he has to be on something .... right Lackey?

I went to the Brewers game on Sat 4/29 and here are my 3 concession's encounters: 1. ~ 40 min before game started - went to AJ Bombers (near the original location) to get cheese curds, tots and a burger. My son got his tots and cheese curds right away and I had to wait about 15 minutes to get my burger as they "ran out" (or that was their explanation after originally saying it would only be a couple minutes) 2. It was $1 hotdog / $1 soda day. My son wanted a hot dog and we got it just a few minutes on the 100 level. The stand we were at had 1 person in line. 3. During about the 5th inning as we were sitting behind home in the 400 section, my son wanted the ice cream in a helmet and I waited for about 30 minutes. Missed 1.5 innings of the game. They had 1 cashier and 1 "helper" person. I did notice the lines for the new craft beer stands/bars were very short. But I have also been to 19 parks around MLB and rarely do I have to wait for a beer. At $10 a beer, I really shouldn't have to. My sarcastic response is that it seems like they are paying for the concession rebuild by paying less workers. I will be back this Saturday and will see if it's any better.

I agree on the cult following. And with the interviews he is a great follow. His blood and urine quote was pure gold Jerry. Anyhow, as far as a nickname, I agree with those saying something along the lines / something to do with the Thames River. (I know they are not pronounced the same - but it's what I think of) ... I am going to my first game on Sat and I hope his walk up music is something with River in it. Like the new song by Bishop Briggs - "River". Anyhow - I am loving him and his mashing of homeruns.

+1. Where is McClung when you need him

Nice win on a wild pitch - a good throw he could of had Braun at plate