The stache

Very happy for Mike, too. I wish it would have happened while he was in a Brewers uniform, though. 1986 was a long time ago, and the way this season has gone, having a no hitter to celebrate would have been a great thing.

Baseball is a numbers game, and the Brewers, as a team that can't spend a lot of money in free agency, needs to develop their own talent, obviously. The best way we do that is by having good coaching throughout the system, and a lot of prospects with high upside. Some will fall by the wayside, yes. But the more good, young players we have, the better our odds that a few of them become impactful Major Leaguers. Obviously, Brett Phillips, Trent Clark, Domingo Santana, Tyrone Taylor, Clint Coulter, Montee Harrison, Michael Reed, Demi Orimoloye, Victor Roache and Kyle Wren all won't become big time players. Hell, most will probably fail, if the law of averages tells us anything. But if we get two or three really good outfielders from that batch, and one of those two or three is a star, we're good. We should get at least a couple really athletic fielders from this bunch-good defenders with good speed and power. If they can hit for average, and show plate discipline, the Brewers ought to do well.

I said it in the other thread, I'll say it here. Milwaukee can't compete with the big clubs. Whenever we get a guy that is a major home run hitter, we can't keep them long term. It's not that we haven't had great power hitters. Eventually, they just benefit other teams instead of our own. Prince Fielder started in Milwaukee. He's over 300 home runs now. Gary Sheffield started his career in Milwaukee. He hit 509 home runs in his career. But he was unhappy here because the team wasn't a contender. Richie Sexson didn't start in Milwaukee, to be sure. But if we had kept him here long term, he might have hit more than 251. In his three full seasons, he hit 119 home runs, for pete's sake. There have been some special power hitters to play ball in Milwaukee. 252 isn't a huge number, but let's remember our relatively abbreviated history, and our financial means. Besides, if somebody were to mention our puny all-time home run leader, I would remind them that Hank Aaron hit 398 home runs in Milwaukee as a Brave, and Eddie Mathews hit 452. I imagine that would shut them up pretty quickly.

Same. I didn't think there was anything out of the ordinary with Bob's call. Within the context of the franchise, it is a big deal, because nobody has ever hit 252 before. That's a nod to the fact that we are a small market team, and usually when we have a true superstar that could hit 200 + home runs, we lose them to one of the big boys. Yount happened to play in a different era where players still stayed with one franchise. Within the bigger scheme of things, the history of the game, 252 isn't that big of a deal. But Braun is 31, and clearly his power hasn't diminished one iota. The thumb might affect how consistently he can turn on some balls, but when he makes clean contact, he hits the ball a really, really long way. Think about it. As bad as this team is, and even with the thumb issues, Braun is on a pace to hit about 30 home runs, drive in 100 runs, and steal 25 bases. You can say what you want about the mistake he made. But Brauny goes out there every day and plays hard. Our offense might be really sad right now, but seeing him at bat, it's clear he's not going to slack off because we're out of contention. That's a true professional.

I think Gilbert Lara or Jake Gatewood will be our third baseman of the future. Both should have the power to play the position, and both have above average arms. The only question is if they will hit enough. It would take some tweaking, but this is a possibility: left field: Clint Coulter center: Brett Phillips or Trent Clark right field: Monte Harrison first base: Domingo Santana second base: Yadiel Rivera shortstop: Orlando Arcia third base: Gilbert Lara or Jake Gatewood I have no idea who will catch for us, but there are some really intriguing possibilities for the Brewers of the future. We could have a pretty nice defensive outfield with Harrison in right and Phillips in center. Harrison has an absolute cannon of an arm, so he immediately helps pitchers out by limiting the amount of extra bases taken on balls hit to right. Phillips has a really strong arm, too. The weak link would be Coulter in left. He's slow, but does have a decent arm. Clark and Tyrone Taylor are also in the mix out there. As for Domingo Santana, I just like him better at first. At 6'5" he doesn't even have to jump for balls hit down the line. Rivera is exceptional defensively, and would likely transition well to second. He has the range and arm strength to play the position. How much he will hit at the Major League level remains to be seen. On the left side, we're going to be really solid. Arcia is an exciting prospect. And we have two guys in Lara and Gatewood that could fight it out at the hot corner. They have the size and power potential to make for a prototypical third baseman. Honestly, this group coming up has some exciting potential, but I think no matter how they do from a pure offensive standpoint, our team is going to have much better defense. If the Brewers elect to move Rivera to second, with either Phillips or Clark in center, our defense up the middle is going to be rock solid. I think two or three years from now, we're going to be surprising a lot of people.

I said he'd been hot the whole season. As for the rest, thank you for stating the obvious.

Dee Gordon has been on fire of late (well, all season). 7 multi-hit games in his last 11 games, including a pair of 3-hit games. Hitting .333 on the year, and should steal 50 +. The only thing he doesn't do is walk. If he ever learns a little more patience, he's going to be a great leadoff hitter for a long time. Brauny with another RBI. 2 for 2 with a walk tonight. Currently 9th in the NL in home runs (21), stolen bases (18), RBI (71) and 5th in runs scored (69).

How are we losing to the Fish? Justin Nicolino is going to be a pretty good pitcher (he was their #2 pitcher in the minors behind Andrew Heaney, who the Fish inexplicably traded). But he's not Jose Fernandez, and they have no Giancarlo Stanton yet.

I HATE losing to the Cubs.

Excellent article. When I think of where Doug Melvin ultimately failed this team, it comes down to our poor return on high draft picks (not just his fault), and the terrible replacement pieces we have put on the field (that is his fault). When Jeff Bianchi, Yuni Betancourt, Logan Schafer, Alex Gonzalez, Juan Francisco, Lyle Oberbay etc are getting nearly 20% of your team's at bats, those black holes will sink an offense, especially in the NL where you have the pitcher hitting. Far too often, the bottom third of our offense was inept at best. The trades for Greinke and Marcum, while netting a playoff appearance, have really hurt this team in the long run. As Cameron alludes to, our team's fortunes would look much brighter with Escobar, Cain and Odorizzi still in the organization.

Rather Gomez-esque don't you think? He was given a free pass for years, why penalize Scooter for the same nonsense? There needs to be accountability on this team. Make a stupid play like that, and you ride the bench the rest of the night, no matter who you are. Gomez got a free ride because, in spite of his occasional gaffes, he was one of the most exciting players in the game. The net result of not sitting him, though (and others) is that they never correct those mistakes.

Agreed with the majority of your post, but I don't think his speed has really declined that much, if at all. He's 16 for 18 stealing, and is racking up the doubles at a pace that would tie his career high. He didn't have a double in his first 29 games. In the last 80 games, he has 22. That would put him at 44-45, which is his personal best, which he reached in 2010. Keep in mind, in 2010, he only hit 25 home runs. I think if his thumb were healthy, he'd be putting up some eye popping numbers. Why? Look at how far his home runs are traveling, and the speed of the ball off the bat. He's actually hitting the ball farther than he did in 2011 and 2012, and the velocity of the ball off his bat is very much in line with his MVP and MVP runner up seasons: 2015 Avg true home run distance 409.7 Speed off bat 104.4 2012 AVG true home run distance 406.9 Speed off of bat 104.2 2011 AVG true home run distance 406.7. Speed off bat 104.7 Source ESPN home run tracker.

He's 3 for 4 tonight. The rest of the team has three hits. At .871 with his OPS the last three months. Ya, he's just been so terrible.

It's the year of the pitcher, in case you guys haven't noticed. I have five starting pitchers on my fantasy team with an ERA under 2.50. Look at some of the pitchers in the game, and what they're doing. Hell, Zack Greinke and Clayton Kershaw had back to back 30 inning shutout streaks. Hello? Braun is doing just fine. His BAbip is still 29 points below his career norm, which explains his batting average still being lower than we're used to. And his OPS is only 29 points below where it was in 2010. He's hitting the ball hard, obviously. His numbers the last three months have been quite good, actually. From May 13th to August 12th: .279 AVG, 79 games played, 47 runs, 77 hits, 20 doubles, 2 triples, 14 home runs, 47 RBI, 14 steals in 16 attempts, 28 walks, 67 strikeouts. Slash line of .350/.518/.868. That projects out to the following numbers if he played a full 162 game season: 96 runs scored, 158 hits, 41 doubles, 4 triples, 29 home runs, 96 RBI, 29 stolen bases. 74 extra base hits.

I agree here. He is very much in his prime years and he is playing like he is winding down. PEDs have to be part of the reason. PEDs do give the players strength. These guys have put up better stats than 95% of baseball history. Tough to ignore. Please....stop with the PED nonsense. He's got 20 home runs, on a pace for 29 homers. The thumb issue is a factor, but he's still one of the most productive hitters in the NL. Top ten in home runs, runs scored, and RBI.

Brauny with number 20 on the year, and 250 for his career. He needs one more to tie Robin Yount for the franchise record.

That's five times in the last fifteen games we've been shut out. Ugh.

Nice to see a win finally. It's been a while!

Ya, the last three games he's had 11 plate appearances, and he's gotten on base 8 times. 6 hits (4 of them doubles) and 2 walks. He's not quitting.

I know we just dumped a bunch of players, but this is still embarrassing. We've been outscored 46 to 18 in the last ten games, and we're about to fall to 1-9 in those ten games. Ouch.

It makes more sense to trade Khris Davis this off-season and put Santana in left. Davis will have 2016 cheap, and three arby years. Think about it... what would a team be willing to pay for a hitter who can deliver a lot of power, and comes cheap/under club control for FOUR YEARS? It makes more sense to trade Davis, put Braun back in left, and put Santana in right. I think his arm is stronger than Braun's, and Braun was a pretty decent left fielder while he was there.

The card player analogy is a good way of looking at what the Brewers have done over the last year. In 2014, at the trade deadline, we were a virtual lock to make the playoffs. The Brewers "had a good hand", and attempted to improve their chances of winning by picking up another card. This year, they were dealt an awful hand from the get go. There's no reason to pick up cards when you can't win, so the Brewers folded, and started thinking about the next hand, or the future. What the Brewers have done recently makes perfect sense. The Brewers parlayed Gerardo Parra's strong offensive season into a pitcher that immediately becomes one of our top 10 or 11 prospects. Zach Davies has a really good chance of sticking with the organization. Parra was not a part of our plans, long term. Even if we'd decided to keep him for a few more years, he'd have found it difficult to get on the field. Look at our system right now. Brett Phillips (#2), Trent Clark (#3), Domingo Santana (#4), Tyrone Taylor (#5), Clint Coulter (#7), and Monte Harrison (#12) are all outfielders. All of those guys have more upside than Parra. Our team is in rebuild mode now, and Parra wasn't going to make enough of a difference on our active roster to change that. So, trading him and getting a piece for the future is smart management.

It's going to be painful for a while, guys. Just keep thinking about the future. That's what I'm focusing on. That, and a new franchise home run leader soon. That's one thing to look forward to, I guess.

So, do we refer to this stretch as "Logan's Run"? Well, at least the defense won't fall off much out there. The offense, however......oi. Let's bat Logan cleanup tomorrow just to hear Billy Schroeder's head explode.