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Playing Catch

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Everything posted by Playing Catch

  1. Playing Catch
    I think that the idea that the Brewers are burning out their bullpen because they have the most total bullpen innings is a fallacy. Or, perhaps it's true, but that it isn't any more true for the Brewers than any other team. They simply don't seem to be treating individual pitchers any differently than any other team. Here is the fangraphs database for the Brewers bullpen, but toggle to the Cardinals... toggle to just about any other team, and I don't see there being a major difference in how they're using guys. Most of us acknowledged that the Brewers were going to need a lot of pitchers to cover a lot of innings. Starters, relievers, swingmen, waiver-guys, DFA a lot of guys, bring up kids like Myers and Rodriguez. Well, so far that is EXACTLY what they are doing. I don't remember times where I thought they were abusing guys by pitching them multiple days in a row, or for multiple innings. I think it helps a lot that they've enjoyed some blowouts to keep guys like Megill's IPs down. Conversely, all 3 high-leverage Cardinals relievers have 30+ IPs so far.
  2. Playing Catch
    Game 1 - Rea Game 2 - Freddy There's probably evidence to refute my theory on playoff matchups, but when a team knows it's out-gunned on the mound, I always think Game 2 is the most important game to win, as going down 0-2 is such a huge emotional hill to climb. Hope Rea can keep them in Game 1 long enough for the offense to squeak out a Game 1 win against an ace. Hopefully he can go deep enough to save some of the bullpen for the "must-win" game 2.
  3. Playing Catch
    I'm not sure if this is "appropriate" or not, and it's possible, that Michaelis would prefer reserving his responses to his podcasts, so mods feel free to delete the thread, if you like. This also doesn't need to be specific to Michaelis, if there are other "experts," in the field that can answer certain questions about player development. The first question for the thread relates to Manuel Rodriguez's velocity, which was recently brought up in one of the minor league reports. How much velocity do pitchers typically gain from 18 to 25? Is it reasonable to expect that Rodriguez will one day hit 95+?
  4. Playing Catch
    I haven't looked deep enough to have an opinion on this, but there are 22 qualified hitters in the Southern League (AA) with an OPS better than .700. There are 42 such players in the Texas League (AA), and 47 in the Eastern League (AA). Now obviously, that doesn't help Misiorowski's case at all, but perhaps explains some of the offensive struggles. We'll all have to hope there is a mid-season turnaround for them. As for Misiorowski, does it seem like he's working on a new pitch, where is his velocity at? Is he working on his mechanics?
  5. Playing Catch
    Certainly the shift in leadership, both Stearns to Arnold (started last year, kinda), and Counsell to Murphy, Murphy to Weeks, is one of the storylines for the season. Just the overall upheaval and changes the club endured, the shift away from pitching and finding a different path to find wins... It really is remarkable, and if they are able to sustain this to 90+ wins and a division title, the rest of the league will need to stand up and take notice.
  6. Playing Catch
    In short, yes. There were a lot of thoughts that I had during the whole ordeal. My head was telling me that the most likely scenario was that managers, on the whole, don't make much of a difference in terms of in-game decision-making, and winning or losing on any given day, but that the good ones help lead a team through the grind of the season with the way that they respond to players behind the scenes, and how well they jive with the front office. I figured that Counsell was a good manager because he worked well with the players, kept a good clubhouse culture, and was of like mind with the front office and scouting. But I also felt that Counsell hired Murphy in his first season for a reason, and that Murphy probably had/has many of the same qualities. However, as it played out, I was worried that I was wrong about all of that. I mean, Jed Hoyer paid A LOT for Counsell. Hoyer knows the business FAR BETTER than I do. But as it's playing out, I'm feeling like my head was right all along. I had many of the same thoughts with losing Stearns. I felt like the entire Brewers operation has a lot of deliberate redundancy in leadership (and on the field), in order to not suffer big drop-offs when people leave. For all we know, the former Rays executive, Matt Arnold was fundamental in Stearns' success. For all we know, Murphy was fundamental to Counsell's success.
  7. Playing Catch
    On MLB NOW yesterday, Brian Kenny was highlighting the fact that the shortstop position is really, really deep in MLB right now. Perhaps the deepest it has ever been. EXCEPT for the Dodgers, what other team would be bidding on him? Maybe Seattle? I just don't think, even if the Brewers were inclined, that they would find a team that would be willing to part with even fair value, let alone the value we would want to see from trading a good starting shortstop.
  8. Playing Catch
    I'd be surprised if he didn't add about 5 mph in the next 5 years. By then he'll be... 23.
  9. Playing Catch
    Who? Chourio? I kid. But if Chourio starts looking like a good big-leaguer, perhaps trading for Robert makes less sense. Now don't get me wrong, Robert would still be a better player than the internal options, but at that price-point, maybe you just stick with the kids.
  10. Playing Catch
    I was slow to get to this point in thinking, mostly due to how great Turang is as a defender --- I had a hard time accepting that Ortiz could be as good defensively. But after seeing him get a few innings there, it looks like the Brewers have a really strong keystone-connection for the foreseeable future. The other thing is that for the Brewers, having a great defensive 2nd-baseman (hang with me here), may just be MORE important these days than having a great shortstop. The shift rules, obviously, made defense at 2nd super-important. And usually, your 3rd baseman is a stronger defender than your first baseman. I still think Turang is the rangier, stronger-armed defender. He converts so many outs (like last night's last out), by ranging far to his right, and still being able to make accurate throws from that spot. If your team features a decent 3rd baseman, he should be cutting off a lot of those tough throws from the hole for the SS. Sorry to derail the thread.
  11. Playing Catch
    I'm NOT advocating for this, but part of me is really, really interested in not trading for a starter at all. I just want to see how much further they can push this.
  12. Playing Catch
    I'm really intrigued by Patrick. To my untrained eye, he's got goofy fangraph stats, that I can't make much sense of. His BABIPs are all over the place, he's always stranding runners, It looks like he must live up in the zone with a good fastball, and gives up lots of flyballs, which, go out of the park a lot. Good K-rates. BB-rates are inconsistent, but have been decent this year. Like, maybe a 3TO pitcher?
  13. Playing Catch
    Chourio getting hot! His ROY campaign starts NOW! Let's gooooo!!!
  14. Playing Catch
    So is this "brace procedure," that a couple of guys have had, basically making a tendon that is totally normal and acceptable for most human beings a "super-tendon"? Making it bigger and stronger so that it can throw baseballs really hard?
  15. Playing Catch
    I was never really on Turang's bandwagon until just before his debut, and I read something that quoted one of the fangraphs scouts (Longenhagen, probably). He was asked what prospects he felt were "underrated," or maybe, "overlooked," by the rest of the scouting community, and he mentioned how much he liked Turang. It was then that I wondered if he was showing more on a day-by-day basis than what the underlying stats were revealing. Certainly, he's a stud on a day-by-day basis. He can go 0-4, with a BB, SB, 1-run scored. Doesn't look like much unless you are watching the game, and notice how his speed and instincts on the basepaths all but scored the run on their own. You watch the game, and his 2 or 3 gold-glove plays on defense saved runs in the later innings. He's such a good ballplayer.
  16. Playing Catch
    I miss the days when I could get excited about recruits and dream on what they could become. I know we're all feeling the same thing, but you just don't know what the 2024/25 roster will look like until November, let alone what subsequent rosters will look like.
  17. Playing Catch
    I think that I know baseball pretty well. Then I come to this thread and feel so stupid. My memory stinks. You all are amazing. I'll cheat sometimes when I know the player but can't think of his name. Or often with the team-team parts, I'll look up old rosters to remind myself who played on those teams.
  18. Playing Catch
    Is Hoskins hobbled at all? I think it's curious that he's not at first with Contreras DHing. I'm all for Contreras sitting out a couple of games, but I'd prefer it wasn't against the best left-hander in baseball.
  19. Playing Catch
    I keep coming to this same sort of thinking with a lot of the positions, or possible trades. The lineup could look MUCH different in a month... Chourio could get hot, and get Mitchell back, maybe Black comes up. All of these things could really change the offensive outlook. And with the pitching, I mean... They keep churning out quality innings. With the days off during a playoff series, a team can really rely on their bullpen. Do we really want them to give up these good prospects for "average" big league production?
  20. Playing Catch
    Same here. Thanks everyone!
  21. Playing Catch
    I'd bet Sanchez catches today, though.
  22. Playing Catch
    I wanted to start a "Blake Perkins Appreciation Thread," but (A), I wasn't sure that was a big enough topic on its own to merit a thread, and (B), I was worried it would jinx him. I was going to find some thread to highlight his contributions, but realized there are so many pleasant surprises on this team so far. I saw someone in the IGT thought he was closing in on "favorite player," territory. Are there any other favorite storylines so far? Perkins, BTW, has already racked up 1.5 fWAR on the season. He just makes so many winning baseball plays, as do many of the other guys. Up and down the lineup, Ortiz, Yelich, Contreras, the Turangutan. They've all been great. And I haven't even mentioned the pitching.
  23. Playing Catch
    Really, the division is shaping up as most of the pre-season projections projected, other than the Brewers, being on a 96-win pace before any trades, and with a patchwork rotation. What is the Brewers secret??
  24. Playing Catch
    How awesome is it that it's June and we're debating the competency of the Brewers offense, and comparing it to the "other" top offenses in MLB?
  25. Playing Catch
    We've all been there... well, all of us except for torts.
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