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Playing Catch

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Everything posted by Playing Catch

  1. Playing Catch
    Oh, certainly. But he's only nabbed 1 of 10 basestealers, not that the percentage matters, but if he's throwing a few more runners out, it probably means his shoulder is getting back to normal, hopefully.
  2. Playing Catch
    I think if the Brewers were dead-set on overpaying for current production right now, the way they paid for Priester, Urias would be a good candidate. I just think that many of us need to see a bigger playoff opportunity in order to start trying to save the season with having to overpay for, let's face it, a dubious track record, particularly with his not-insignificant home/road splits playing in that home stadium.
  3. Playing Catch
    I really don't mean this to sound like an "I told you so," (because I'm not big on proving/disproving past opinions, so long as they were expressed as opinion, and not fact), but it seems to me that this was the plan for the Brewers all along. We were ALL fretting over covering innings in the off-season, and I felt at the time that it was their intention to split up all of the innings throughout the season using their tremendous depth of average-ness. I particularly was intrigued by Patrick, following the success they had with Myers last season. This, of course, counted on spectacular defense, which we have yet to see. But I think the plan all along has been to save their best* pitchers until later this season. *upon reflection of this comment, I should rephrase as, "strongest pitching staff". I guess I just mean that I can envision Freddy coming up with a sprained ankle at some point when other guys get back. It doesn't change the idea that they are trying to spread innings out among their starters, and their willingness to use 2+ inning relievers and openers.
  4. Playing Catch
    That's a really good article, thank you for sharing it. I think the dramatic increase in foul balls has more to do with the tiny parks that taxpayers have built since 1998. There's so much less foul ground these days. Very few dramatic awkward catches outside the lines. The nets, too, contribute to that. But the whiff-rate numbers, which include fouled off pitches look undeniable.
  5. Playing Catch
    I just love that Pena's play keeps insisting that he's better than Made. I would guess that Quero has a ways to go before he's "game-ready". Catching is a grind. The first thing I look at, too, is if the other team is running wild like the other day, or not, like yesterday. So much depends on the quality of that throwing arm.
  6. Playing Catch
    Raising prospect floors, and developing young men and turning them into big league contributors is probably one of the most difficult things to evaluate, and also one of the most important aspects of a successful organization. The macro-scouting media don't have the resources to peer into the future for a guy like Jadher Areinamo, and frankly, doing deep dives on players like that don't serve their purpose as media outlets. It doesn't require a lot of development chops to turn Jac Caglianone into what he will become. But turning organizational soldiers into Jadher Areinamo or Jeferson Quero, or at the big league level, turning has-been prospects, or never-have-been prospects into guys like Blake Perkins and Chad Patrick is where the Brewers system deserves its flowers. The Misiorowskis, Chourios, and Mades are simply icing on the cake.
  7. Playing Catch
    IMHO, That would be an overpay for Skenes. Look, I am on board the Skenes-hype train, I am. But a guy that dominates one game like he does is A LOT less valuable on a losing team than on a playoff team. Their on-field team would be MUCH better with Turang, Henderson and Misiorowski than just with Skenes. They could then trade Made, Payne and Burke for serious on-field, team-controllable talent, too, if they wanted. Their whole organizational outlook brightens with that trade scenario.
  8. Playing Catch
    I think Freddy+ for Lawlar would be really achievable, though. Even adding a guy like Areinamo could be enough to backfill the position for the D-Backs. Freddy+Pratt would undoubtedly be enough, no?
  9. Playing Catch
    Just finished The Maniac, by Benjamin Labatut. I had never heard of Jonny Von Neumann before reading the book. A strong compliment to the history of 20th century science and technology. The book, while based on real events, fictionalizes personal accounts about one of the brightest minds in human history. I've read much of the sci-fi mentioned here (looks like years ago, though), but always recommend the Area X trilogy by Jeff Vandermeer. Annihilation, the first book was excellent. Pretty fresh sci-fi content, I thought. Although the transition from cool Sci-Fi story to examination of human psychology, existence, faith could probably be a bit much for some readers. It was a bit much for me, but I also chalked it up to being a little overambitious, which I appreciate. I like my ambitious thinkers/artists, even when they miss their mark sometimes.
  10. Playing Catch
    This was interesting. Thank you.
  11. Playing Catch
    It looks like his journey to the big leagues could look similarly, as early round catchers with similar builds, and similar career outlooks, but only because Dinges has demonstrated enough defensively to actually start believing he can catch at all. Lucroy was drafted as a classic dirtbag catcher, and that's exactly what he was throughout his career. We can imagine a similar career after its all said and done, but their areas of growth are different. Lucroy had to keep proving he could hit, and Dinges will need to keep proving he can catch (obviously. if a guy is a starting catcher in the big leagues, he'll need to do both). Dinges has the look of a dirtbag, though... in a good way.
  12. Playing Catch
    Are foul balls good or bad? For whom, the pitcher or the batter? I found a couple of short columns on the topic that did some research that examined it within the frame of a single plate appearance, but foul balls are so contextually relevant. Number of outs, baserunners, pitch location, pitch counts within the at-bat, pitch counts within the inning, pitch counts within the game... With how pitchers are handled these days, it seems like being able to extend at-bats, even if the outcome favors the pitcher, can have significant effects throughout a game or series, when considering bullpen usage. So, is being able to foul pitches off a skill teams would want to promote? Or does the inherent passivity in such a skill too detrimental to slug to have value? Anyway, I've had a number of these thoughts lately without anywhere to put them. Feel free to ignore my initial post if you have your own questions that have been rattling around your brain.
  13. Playing Catch
    I guess I am hoping that Jim Henderson has a big enough voice in the manager's office that he is fully aware of how taxed guys' arms are, and that they aren't needlessly endangering them to injury (recognizing that guys can blow elbows in any number of pitching scenarios). And part of navigating injury is giving guys more time off, even if fans think the time between appearances has been enough rest. Admittedly, it's a pet theory I've mentioned a few times, but isn't the logical conclusion to the current momentum of pitching staff management just a whole bunch of guys that can go through the order one time?
  14. Playing Catch
    This is certainly possible. My rationale is that Burnes/Woody had already "mastered" the art of starting, and that they need to hone their competitiveness pitching out of the pen. They needed to learn to trust their stuff in the zone. Learn how to pitch aggressively. I think for Misiorowski, even though he'd be dominant pitching that way out of the pen, if he's going to become a starter, he needs to practice reining it in, not going all out.
  15. Playing Catch
    Admit it. You just don't want the big club to keep raiding Nashville's staff.
  16. Playing Catch
    I hate to introduce a dead horse to this excellent conversation, but this is the rub, in my opinion. They simply don't exist right now. The position is either a clear plus for a team, or a clear minus for a team, much like first base, as Brock mentions. If Durbin has a few more hot streaks this season, he could very well end up with "league average" production at 3rd, or at least, has as much of a chance of that as anyone the Brewers would be willing to procure. Ortiz, as a very talented defender, also isn't as far away as it seems. If Ortiz hits a couple homeruns this week, he will be tied for 16th most HRs in baseball by a primary shortstop.
  17. Playing Catch
    Obviously, a great win today. Murphy, I thought, was pretty forthcoming about how they went about the bullpen decisions after the game. It's still fair to hate the rationale, but he's not pulling decisions out of nowhere, or just "going with his gut," as his persona would imply. I also don't think there have been too many of the "sell now," opinion, actually. I know when I've swayed that direction, I always had a faint hope they'd go 20-5, or something, and keep trying to win, because they are an easy team to root for.
  18. Playing Catch
    I can't remember such a satisfying series.
  19. Playing Catch
    I can't help but think of really athletic offensive tackles when I see Blake Burke. I think he's sneaky athletic.
  20. Playing Catch
  21. Playing Catch
    I mean, he said it like 3 separate times!! Just hilarious.
  22. Playing Catch
    That was a great win. Anyone else see Murphy's post-game presser on Brewers Live? Someone needs to give him a different term for warming up relievers without putting them in the game. Holy cow.
  23. Playing Catch
    This conversation is giving me deja vu from last year.
  24. Playing Catch
    A team can't replace him in free agency, or via trade. If the Brewers intend to contend next season, keeping him would be the best way to "maximize his value". With this said, I believe Peralta could pull in a blocked, starting caliber player (better than Durbin) with years of control remaining.
  25. Playing Catch
    Subscription required, I think... Baseball America: Breaking Down Jacob Misiorowski Basically, they are really impressed with his start to 2025, and are feeling like he's been too promising lately to move to the pen. They feel like the best thing for Brewers (win now, put him in pen), and best thing for his development (let him develop as a starter in AAA) may be tricky to navigate.
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