Playing Catch
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Everything posted by Playing Catch
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Bingo. What's also true with pitch selection is the situational nature of things. The pitcher may use swing-and-miss pitches in higher leverage situations, and weak-contact pitches in lower leverage situations. Perhaps the Brewers simply have been in a lot of lower-leverage situations (e.g. big lead/deficit, no runners on base, looking for double-play, etc.) -
I don't believe the Brewers will keep playing him regardless of performance. They are trying to win. For all of the knee-jerk perceptions regarding Counsell or the Front Office, I feel that management has traditionally had a pretty short leash on underperformance. I think any exceptions were usually due to a strong track record of success (McCutcheon/Cain/Yelich?), which often correlates to the financial commitment. The length of the leash in any organization is relative to the financial commitment. With his lackluster defense, but baserunning prowess, Yelich needs to OPS somewhere around .700 to have a shot at keeping a spot in the lineup. Right now, he's not meeting that threshold. But he's going to be provided time to figure it out. Perhaps Counsell will rest him more frequently against lefties, or give him more time at DH, but they want him to be a player that benefits the team, and if he isn't benefitting the team come July, he'll be getting more days off, or perhaps a stint on the the IL with a soft tissue injury. My guess is that Counsell and the Front Office are also running out of patience. If he remains a replacement-level player come August, longer-term solutions will need to be considered.
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Article: Brewers 2, Angels 1: Tell ‘Em, Tellez
Playing Catch replied to Jason Wang's topic in Brewer Fanatic Front Page News
Luke Voit saved runs in this game, scooping two tough throws from Willy late. -
All of the minor league sticks are pretty cold to start the year
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Only 3 teams, the Yankees (7-5), Blue Jays (4-2), Brewers (6-3) have winning records vs. teams above .500. Meanwhile, the darlings of baseball, the Tampa Bay Rays are 1-2 in such contests, and the Atlanta Braves have yet to play a game against a team currently over .500.
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Another great win. Kudos to Trueblood. This series is well-conceived and features excellent writing. Granted, I look forward to it more when the Third Bucket Winning Percentage is 1.000.
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Your 2023 Nashville Sounds
Playing Catch replied to Jim Goulart's topic in Brewers Minor League Talk
That's my belief as well. I have no doubt that changing up his timing and weight shift could make him more consistent as a power threat, but I agree that I'm not sure it will change his strikeouts. He can't catch up to high heat. -
Your 2023 Nashville Sounds
Playing Catch replied to Jim Goulart's topic in Brewers Minor League Talk
I haven't seen any video, but I really hope that he makes some significant changes that will keep a more-level bat in the zone for longer, because I just can't accept that he doesn't have the talent to hit .300. -
Not sure about Devanney, but I'm not worried about Chourio's strikeouts... yet. I read some scouting thing somewhere that really has stuck with me. They mentioned that good young hitters are rewarded for swinging a lot, and that they don't necessarily learn swing discipline because they've never needed to. Even in last night's game after twice striking out on Perez's breaking balls, he comes back and homers on a hanger. I expect that as he climbs the ladder, he will learn that he can't swing at breaking balls in MLB because they rarely hang them... or I certainly hope so. In addition, he covers the outside of the zone amazingly.
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I'm on Brewerfan(atic) all the time. I know everyone has different thresholds of what they are willing or able to pay, but the ad-free experience is awesome. Now that the minor league seasons have started, I'm feeling the article-overload again, just as an observation. With that said, I LIKE the articles, I think they are well-written most of the time, but yeah, I'm not always sure which thread has the conversations going.
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Is there a "pitching efficiency," metric of which I'm unaware? Something that attempts to qualify low pitch counts?
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I think there's an interesting topic here. I think I've been conditioned during the 3TO era to believe that K-rate is the most important pitching stat, and that bigger is always better, like hitting more HRs is almost always better. We celebrate, and rightly so, the dominance of the "immaculate inning," but conversely constantly worry about pitch counts. Perhaps, if our defense continues to be as good as we think it is, having a lower K-rate will allow our best pitchers to rack up what I believe is the most overlooked counting stat for pitchers... Innings Pitched. Or as Counsell likes to say, "getting outs".
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Highlighted above, and evident with the eye-test, has been the improvement of the defense. The Brewers might be better at every position sans the holdover starters. Turang and Wiemer look like gold glovers. That kind of defensive impact wins games.
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- christian yelich
- willy adames
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So fun to watch!
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I'll predict Wiemer makes OD roster. Many of us were surprised when Mitchell came up last year, even though he was the chronological choice. Wiemer, too, is chronologically, the choice ahead of Frelick. In addition, he is the better defender, bats from the right side, offers more power, and is the baserunning equal. We keep talking about what GMs do to manipulate service time, and maximize value, but we rarely give credence to the idea that GMs are usually judged by how effectively they help the team win. Wiemer has yet to experience failure whilst healthy (or one could reasonably say so). Other than prospect lists, why wouldn't bullish Brewers fans like ourselves not consider him to not only be a superior prospect, but also the best current starting RFer in the organization?
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I didn't realize this. I had it in my head that Naquin was a good OFer, defensively. If it's true that he's bad, I too, do not care to have Naquin on the roster.
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- tyrone taylor
- brice turang
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Good defense, good wheels, lefty stick, ostensibly strong "makeup". He'll play for a long time in MLB. I just don't see him ever being league average. *ducks*
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I have to think that signing four Nicaraguans is all about trying to establish relationships there, in order to have a leg-up in the future.
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I was encouraged, too, by the comment that he "hit balls hard in every quadrant of the zone". He also has good walk rates. But yeah, the strikeout rates are frightening.
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- alexander cornielle
- janson junk
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What I was positing, is that it's possible that agents/players WANT to go to arbitration. Either so that they get their number, or so that they can go to the media the next day to complain about the system, and make vague references badmouthing the system/ownership/MLB. I'm not claiming this IS what happened, just that I think this is a method by which the union creates sympathy with fans over their plight. It is especially effective when you are all but guaranteed to hit a record-breaking jackpot in free agency, as it very likely gets some national attention.
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As I mentioned in another thread, it makes one appreciate the NBA's CBA/Global Marketing, which allows for smaller markets to compete with the big markets. Regarding Burnes, we're only going to get his side of the story. While I think it's unlikely, it's possible Burnes wasn't willing to sign for either arbitration number. It's possible that was simply what he and his agent thought they could win in the case. Perhaps they wanted a big deal and the Brewers countered with a deal commensurate with what arbitration figures would be. But we won't find out the details.
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Glad to be looking forward to spring! 1- I forgot about the balanced schedule. That will hopefully make the boring 3TO baseball a little less so, with some fresher opponents, but also make it more difficult for the Central divisions to earn wild cards. 2- Success is finishing ahead of the Cards and the Cubs.
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I love the idea of Houser to the pen. I don't understand advanced pitching metrics well enough to know, but it seems that a ground ball pitcher that can also strike guys out is a real benefit. He can come in with the bases jammed and nobody out, and you can still hope to prevent any runs. In addition, his 2019 season (18 starts, 35 appearances, 111 IP) resulted in very good K-rates, and his lowest walk-rates. He's a great guy to be the swingman. Also a great candidate to piggy-back with Ashby being that they are RH/LH and both look better in shorter stints. I guess all pitchers do.
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Burnes in on pace to sign the largest contract for a pitcher in the history of the game (simply because salaries keep rising, not because he's some kind of unicorn). I don't see him signing an extension. I think if the Brewers want to keep him long term, they should build up a lot of good will in the next couple of years, and then offer him that megadeal in free agency. Few of us here believe this will happen, or believe that it should happen. For a team that is ostensibly trying to compete every year, I don't see the Brewers getting fair value back in a trade next off-season (because 1 season of Cy Young is extremely valuable to a team trying to win). I also don't believe they will trade him at the deadline (barring having an uncompetitive record, or injury issues). So I guess I'm in the camp that says the Brewers will have benefited from having one of the best starters in baseball during his prime, and for that I am thankful. It's important to note that very good, big market teams also lose out on signing stars to extensions or out-bidding teams in free agency sometimes.
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Burnes in on pace to sign the largest contract for a pitcher in the history of the game (simply because salaries keep rising, not because he's some kind of unicorn). I don't see him signing an extension. I think if the Brewers want to keep him long term, they should build up a lot of good will in the next couple of years, and then offer him that megadeal in free agency. Few of us here believe this will happen, or believe that it should happen. For a team that is ostensibly trying to compete every year, I don't see the Brewers getting fair value back in a trade next off-season (because 1 season of Cy Young is extremely valuable to a team trying to win). I also don't believe they will trade him at the deadline (barring having an uncompetitive record, or injury issues). So I guess I'm in the camp that says the Brewers will have benefited from having one of the best starters in baseball during his prime, and for that I am thankful. It's important to note that very good, big market teams also lose out on signing stars to extensions or out-bidding teams in free agency sometimes.
