MilwaukeeCounsell

I don't really get the crazy hate. I've read a lot from draft guys (Jim Bowden, Kevin Goldstein, Jim Callis, along with some of the Fangraphs writers). Here are some thoughts on the picks. Jeff Sackmann: Jungmann would've been my pick for the Brewers as well. Absolute groundball machine. Not far from the big leagues. Kevin Goldstein: Jungmann might not be the sexiest guy on a scouting level, but he's big, has solid to plus stuff across the board and is NEVER bad. ERA under one for much of the year. Jim Bowden: Jungmann is 92-94 mph 6-6 225....delivery getting better which is resulting with better slider...not always consistent release point....3rd of rotation type starter...inning eater (I've read 2-3 starter) Marc Hulet: Brewers: Taylor Jungmann, RHP (U Texas): Linked heavily to the New York Mets, Jungmann would be a steal if he gets to the club. He has an enviable pitcher's frame, as well as the potential for three plus pitches: 92-96 mph fastball, curveball and changeup. He also has solid control and command for his age. Jim Callis said on Twitter about Bradley: Forgot all about Jed Bradley for a moment! Silly me. #Brewers get a nice LHP who might have gone top five a month ago. #mlbdraft Bowden thought it was a steal, Goldstein wasn't too thrilled. Marc Hulet: Brewers: Jed Bradley, LHP (Georgia Tech): Mostly linked to teams like the Indians and Blue Jays - clubs that traditionally favor college picks in the first round - Bradley is a solid overall pitcher. His repertoire is not overpowering, but he has the ceiling of a No. 2 or 3 starter. He throws an 88-93 mph fastball, slider, curveball, and changeup. He has slightly-above-average control and could move swiftly through a minor league system. Brewers go with arms that could get to the Majors quickly Overall I like what I've read from the draft guys around the internet. I don't have insider so I can't see what Keith Law is saying.

This was an interesting take on the Yuniesky problem, which points towards a logical platoon. "Expecting a 40-year-old shortstop to play daily is a bit much, which means a platoon is a better idea. The contrast in batting hands allows for a perceived natural platoon and the numbers support the idea. Betancourt doesn’t do much well, but his ability to hit left-handed pitching seems genuine. Betancour has even managed on-base percentages over .330 in three of the last four seasons against lefties, which is worth noting because Betancourt is not known for reaching base. Interestingly, Counsell has walked more in the last three seasons than Betancourt has in his entire career in about a third of the plate appearances. Counsell saw his numbers versus righties slide last season, but he’s usually good for an on-base percentage over .330 versus them." I did not look at his splits, so it looks like he can manage to decently hit lefties. Hopefully the Brewers make use of this. Here for the full article: http://www.fangraphs.com/...php/pondering-a-platoon/

When looking at some of his stats, it's clear his home run rate should decrease. His HR/FB% was 7.6%, which is 3.1% higher than his career average. 3.1% doesn't sound like a lot, but it represents a 69% increase, which is dramatic. Then, when using HitTracker, which rates the true distance of home runs, 6 of his home runs were just enough, while 2 were lucky. Seems like a lot of that can be contributed to an irregular increase in HR/FB%. Also, looking at his wOBA (weighted on-base average), which is better than OPS because OPS undervalues OBP, he ranked 6th worst in the league with a wOBA of .300. League average is around .330, and his career average is .297. So we can expect about the same production from him, with less homers. Only real positive is that his BABIP was .267, which is 18 points lower than career average, so his batting average should increase slightly next season assuming that normalizes. His bad, below-average offense, coupled with his bad defense make him a terrible player. It's really hard to find anything positive about him. I really really hope Melvin is looking for other options.

That might work, except his O% for 2010 is lower than his career averages. He's actually swinging at more pitches in the zone this year than last year.

5/23/02 I was at the game when Shawn Green hit 4 home runs

Well, Macha back to his old ways. Gomez is batting 2nd with his .298 OBP

And Suppan's FIP is 4.44. I'd rather have neither on the team

I'm sure the site was going pretty nuts during Braun's rookie year. But Heyward is currently hitting better than Braun did in his rookie season (and this season)..at 20. And I'm assuming his defense in RF will be better than Braun's at 3b

Good points, I overlooked that stuff when I quickly looked up the numbers

Tulo put up a 5.3 WAR his rookie season, compared to Braun's 3.0 Braun's bat won him the award, since voters (at least then) voted pretty much only on counting stats.

People need to keep in mind that he is only 20 years old. He has the chance to do anything with his career (HOF, bust in 2 years). But right now, he is a good player. Look past the average, as that doesn't tell very much. He has an OPS+ of 120, which is just below was Justin Upton had last year as a 21 year old. He is very impressive and will be even better as he adjusts to major league pitching.

http://www.fangraphs.com/...e-the-phillies-thinking/ Thoughts from the guys at Fangraphs And Keith Law's take: "This is one of the worst extension of its kind -- it's an overpay in both years and dollars. Howard is one of the last guys in the middle of the lineup I'd give that kind of money, too. He's 30, has a bad body, is not a good defender, and has struggled to make contact to versus lefties -- he's gone backwards in that area over the past couple of years. If you were locking him up through age 31, it's not so bad. How happy are if you're Albert Pujols? If Howard is worth $25 million, Pujols is worth $50 million a year." I agree about Pujols. As much as Cards fans want to think Pujols will sign a hometown "discount," you've got to believe his agent will seek more than the $25 million given to a guy with a worse skill set.

Just glad this means Suppan is out of the rotation

Didn't get to watch the game since Madison doesn't get WMLW. Looked like a good win!

For the SABR crowd, Doug's BABIP against is a staggering .502 The league average is about .300 and his career average is .312. Also, his ERA is 11.52, while his FIP is 5.61 Basically, this is a fluke and can be chalked up to bad luck/small sample size. It will surely come down, just like his ERA

If he pitches like this over the next 3 or 4 starts, I'll be worried. But until then, I'm more inclined to look to his career numbers and believe he'll pitch closer to those than maintain a 12ish ERA

Wins and losses are probably the worst stat in sports, so I don't know why that would matter.

His ERA after 3 games last year was 2.57, but I'm guessing no one was throwing him into the Cy Young consideration.

Davis has always been a slow starter. While not this bad, his career April ERA is 5.00 http://www.aww-kittah-aww.com/up/files/2751/Davis.PNG I'd rather use a career set of numbers than 3 games to make analysis about DD. Give it some time.

I disagree with a lot of this. Counsell is not a below average SS even at this point and McGehee is hardly a terrible 3B, I think most of this thinking comes from his play last year while hurt. It is a bit too early to judge Edmonds defense in RF but from what I've seen I'm not ready to call him below average. Agreed. Looking at UZR/150, Counsell is still above average and has been his whole career. Prince showed improvement last year but it remains to be seen if that was just a lucky year. Still too early to decide on McGehee but I think he is around average to slightly below average. And Rickie has shown overall improvement over the last few years, hopefully he can stay healthy.

My post copied from the game thread "People just need to realize it is a long season, and not overreact after one single game or a string of games. Last year, at the end of April, Pirates had the best team ERA, with the Royals in 3rd and A's in 5th. They all ended up last in their divisions. Meanwhile, 4 playoff teams were in the bottom 7 of team ERA after April (Yankees were 2nd last) Point: LOT of baseball left. " Knee-jerk reactions like DFAing Davis would not be smart at all.

People just need to realize it is a long season, and not overreact after one single game or a string of games. Last year, at the end of April, Pirates had the best team ERA, with the Royals in 3rd and A's in 5th. They all ended up last in their divisions. Meanwhile, 4 playoff teams were in the bottom 7 of team ERA after April (Yankees were 2nd last) Point: LOT of baseball left.

What does his brain size have to do with his physical skill set?

I would hope so, seeing as he plays 2nd base http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif

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