Oxy

Well, there was that middle-in thigh high spinner that Bryant somehow whiffed right through for a K in the 3rd. Rock started out trying to compliment it as a nice pitch then just kinda trailed off into nothingness as he realized Burnes got away with a massive hanger to an MVP player...

3rd time through the order comes now...

I think he is basically starting over, and will have to earn his spot in the rotation. If he pitches okay and the current staff is doing well, I could see him in the bullpen for most of the year. If he is pitching great and looks strong he'll spell the current rotation in June/July--limiting the innings for the young guys. The same can be said for Anderson. I'm counting on exactly nothing from him though for the rest of his career/time as a Brewer. Any production will be a bonus in my eyes.

That kind of stuff doesn't come from Rock though--from the article linked above it would come from the stat guy that they have in the booth. I like Rock well enough. I think his reputation that is played up here (and in the booth) is a little silly. I think he provides decent analysis and doesn't drone on and on about the stuff that people keep saying he drones on and on about (like, say, Al Hrbosky)

Based on? There isn't exactly a long list of young phenoms who have been out of baseball by his late 20's after putting up a historically good rookie year at the age of 20. So what would make you suggest such a thing? Edit-I, of course, mean position players, not just all players. Obviously, pitchers are a lot more susceptible to injury and the Mark Prior career arch. It's rare an OF'er is this good, this young, this highly touted and then done by the time he's in his late 20's or a bust. The only recent example I can think of is Jason Heyward. Not out of baseball by any means, just an average player making $28 million--which I would call a bust.

I think PIO needs to be used somewhere in the short headline game descriptor. Something like "Brewers tee off on Quintana early then PIO against their bullpen en route to...."

OH- here be my analytics: http://www.baseball-almanac.com/pitching/picomg4.shtml

That's only because "grumpy old men" aren't included (because they refuse to partake) in market research and thus aren't considered "people" by those sorts of people who make grand comments like the above quote. Despite not partaking in those sorts of surveys/research, grumpy old men do watch baseball though. The problem with Schroeder is a lot of his "Back in my day" stories are pretty wrong. The other day he was talking about how NOWADAYS about 6 innings is all you can expect to get from a starter. Back when I played, pitchers pitched 200 - 250 -300 innings" Right now pitchers in the NL average about 5.5 IP per start, and in 1987, it was about half an inning more. The game hasn't changed in some huge, fundamental way, but he wants to think it has, and in some terrible way because the players are weaker and not able to do the herculean feats that the players of his era were capable of. So.... he comes off as a grumpy old man who doesn't understand how to even use the internet to look up some simple statistics. There ARE things you could point to that probably support that opinion, but I agree with Rock on that one (not that I care that much--it's a much smarter game today). Look at the number of complete games. Even in the 80s, good pitchers regularly threw complete games. It never happens now--even when a guy is throwing a no-hitter threw 7 innings since his pitch count was at 117. That is a way in which the game has changed--although it's not really "fundamental"-it's just a slight strategic change that looks at one game within a 162 game schedule and de-prioritizing certain romantic aspects of the game like a no-hitter.

A lot more good than bad that game. Great to see Grandal, Perez and Arcia have good games. The bad parts of our bullpen were bad, but we still got a win. The easiest in-season "fix" to a weak part of the roster is the bullpen. I was worried about this series--seemed like a lot of things were about to pop at once (for both us and the Cubs). Winning game 1 makes it impossible to be a disaster, anyway.

"What people do not want are ex-players taking the persona of grumpy old men on baseball broadcasts." This is what Schroeder comes off as about 3 times per game. That's only because "grumpy old men" aren't included (because they refuse to partake) in market research and thus aren't considered "people" by those sorts of people who make grand comments like the above quote. Despite not partaking in those sorts of surveys/research, grumpy old men do watch baseball though.

It seems like I am in the minority on this, but I love that they changed the camera angle. Pitch movement is much more pronounced with the straight on angle. They changed it before last season I believe. I LOVE it. I don't think you are in the minority of baseball fans. You are in the minority if photographers and cinematographers are included in the survey.

This just keeps getting better and better

It sure gives the game thread a kick in the pants though

Where there's smoke there's fire.

Is Schwarber any better than Eric Thames?

Most of the time I want him swinging there too, but lefty vs. lefty against a guy who cant find the zone (walked the last 2 (including the pitcher)) with Braun on deck (vs the lefty). Yelich is an MVP for a reason. Take all the way in that situation. Braun showed why.

Complimenting the refs/umps by name in game?!?! This gets the prize for game thread post originality. I don't think it's going to catch on.

As it should be. If Gamel proves to be average or better in CF (and at the plate), I'd think LoCain could see a few more off days as well. He's not young. The fresher we can keep our regulars/veterans and the sharper we can keep our bench bats, the better it will be for everybody come August and September....and October

It seems odd that Peralta would have 2 different fastballs with near identical spin rates and trajectories--but it also seems odd that he would have 1 fastball that varies by 7 MPH throughout the game.

What is Jimmy Nelson's roster status? I assume he has been (and still is) on the 60 day DL? When he makes is MiLB debut, he'll need to be removed from that list and officially go on a rehab assignment for a maximum of 30 days--at which point the Brewers can then use one of his 2 remaining option years? Or does his MLB service time (4.107 yrs) basically make his option years moot?

1. Hiura 2. Z Brown 3. A Ashby 4. C Ray 5. T Lutz 6. B Turang 7. Dubon 8. T Supak 9. B Webb 10. Feliciano 11. Henry 12. T Stokes 13. T Taylor 14. J Gray 15. L Erceg 16. T Grisham 17. M Diplan 18. E Garcia 19. L Ernesto 20. C Rodriguez 21. M Bello 22. K Howell 23. C Andrews 24. Adam Hill 25. Lun Zhao

True...I would probably have the sky start falling if the starters start stinking up the joint. I think I could be positive through bullpen struggles though. That is a easier fix midseason. If the starters shart the bed we are in bigger trouble. Kinda...The only guy we probably need to stick with through thick and thin is Chacin. Everybody else has options in case they implode for a few starts. Anderson, Nelson, and Guerra have had success in the past. Although I just now see that we no longer have Josh Tomlin--so we don't quite have the depth I thought we had.

Meh... Cooper was a 1st basemen. Walker was an EXCELLENT right fielder with a cannon for an arm who swiped bags at a pretty good clip too. And he won an MVP. He was a complete ballplayer by any measure of the term who should be and will be in the HOF.

I'll take 5-1, but it feels like stealin'. Doing juuust enough to win games.

Yeah it seems like with the force out he should have been able to get him pretty easy. That said, if he DOESN'T get him it could be a game losing type play.