The stache

I don’t think the schedule is so favorable. In a 41 game stretch, we play: The Cardinals 5 times The Giants 2 times. The Rays 2 times. The Dodgers 7 times. The Mets 3 times. The Yankees 3 times. We also play three against an improving Red Sox team, and have all sorts of games against the kinds of teams we should whip (the Pirates, Reds, Cubs, Rockies, Dbacks), yet always seem to play down to their level. I think even assuming that we make the playoffs at this point is a bit of a stretch. I’m not at all please with the way the team is playing right now.

I hate…HATE being negative. But this franchise continues plodding along, decade after decade, and never gets any closer to a championship. *****, even the lowly Marlins have won two of them. We make bad decision after bad decision, and we just live with them. We have a manager who everybody gushes about “being one of the best” that continually pisses away game after game with his boneheaded decision making. And giving Yelich all that money after the broken knee, before we knew it and how it would affect him long term, was colossally stupid. And I’m sorry, the, “well, he was massively underpaid when he was an MVP, so it’s really not that bad” narrative is just another piss poor attempt at rationalization that is emblematic of the Milwaukee Brewers franchise. The sports media in Milwaukee never hold ownership’s feet to the fire, never ask the tough questions of our manager after losses like the one the last night when Counsell obstinately refused to see Hader’s unraveling. Just one softball question after another. An acceptance of mediocrity permeates this organization from the ground floor up, We’re so proud of the fact that we make the playoffs now. Whoopie! So, instead of face planting in the regular season, we do it now in front of a national audience. I’m tired of just being “competitive”. We play in one of the two weakest divisions in baseball. The baseball gods have gifted us the Cubs, Reds and Pirates, and we should be beating them like a drum. We can’t even do that.,

We’re in the middle of the National League in RPG, and one 19 run explosion from being 11th place. When we’re not hitting the long ball, we struggle mightily.

Baseball Reference had us at a 43.2% chance to make the playoffs entering today.. our loss, coupled with wins by both the Giants and Phillies, who are right behind us, is going to lower the further. And really, does anybody expect this sorry group to even break wind, should they make the playoffs? Because I sure am looking forward to getting embarrassed by the Dodgers again.

This team is a dumpster fire. 12-15 in June Soon to be 6-9 in July 18-24 since June 1st. That’s .429 baseball. Is it any wonder nobody is coming to the ballpark?

Considering that this was the new “pitching and defense first” Milwaukee Brewers, yes, it is.

Oh please, spare us. I’ve been watching and studying the game in detail for 43 years, and I’m pretty sure most on this forum know the nuances of the game well. Don’t condescend, please. A few years ago, Christian Yelich was one of the two or three most feared hitters in baseball, en route to winning back to back National League MVPs. Then he hit a ball off his knee, and hasn’t been the same since. Next you’re going to tell me that Yeli is the guy you’d want at the plate with the game on the line because he used to be hot stuff. The past few years matter not at all. Fortunes, and players, can change radically in a short period of time, This is the year 2022, and recent performance is what matters. And recently, for whatever reason, Josh Hader has been an utter dumpster fire. And it’s the manager’s job to see everything, and make prudent decisions. Let’s recap Hader’s recent play, shall we? Before Mike Yastrzemski strode to the plate, going back to July 4th, Hader had thrown 4 1/3 IP. Why only 4 1/3? Because in his last appearance against Minnesota, he came in to a 1-1 tie, and gave up 3 runs in the loss without recording a single out. But back to the period July 4th to right before he pitched to Yastrzemski. 4 1/3 IP, 11 hits, 3 walks, a hit batter, 4 home runs and 8 earned runs. That’s an ERA of a 16.74 and a WHIP of 3.255. Stevie Wonder could have seen the writing on the wall, but our illustrious manager, apparently, could not. Grand slam! Ballgame! So, now in his last two times on the mound, Josh Hader has recorded one out, giving up 9 earned runs, and responsible for two losses. 9 earned runs in 1/3 IP, a lovely 270.00 ERA. But yes, let’s put him out ther again in the next high leverage situation we face in the ninth, because Robocaller says Josh Hader has been elite the last few years. That he has a 25.12 ERA since July 4th…..? Who cares???

I didn’t see the game, but after Hader gives up that second home run, was Counsell sleeping in the dugout? How the hell is Hader not immediately yanked, and replaced by Suter? Bedore tonight, Hader had a 13.50 ERA over his last five appearances, giving up 6 earned runs and 2 home runs in 4 innings. After giving up two home runs, Hader gave up a single and a stolen base, hit a batter, gave up another hit…..loading the bases, and Counsell sat there and did nothing. GRAND SLAM. GAME OVER! This is 100% on our manager. Hader should have never pitched to Mike Yastrzemski. NEVER! The Brewers aren’t good enough to simply give away games like this. I Ir’s time this franchise seriously begins looking for Counsell’s replacement. Tonight’s loss is inexcusable.

The problem with using something like average runs per game is that, over a short period of time, it can be skewed by a big game or two. If I look at Corbin Burnes' average run support in 2022 (expressed as runs scored by the Brewers per 9 innings pitched), I see a mark of 4.65, which would be very good. The problem is that in two of Burnes' starts, Milwaukee scored 10 and 19 runs. That 4.65 RPG isn't an accurate reflection of what the Brewers typically provide for him in the way of offensive scoring. In seven of his nineteen starts, the Brewers have scored 0 runs (twice), 1 run (once) and 2 runs (four times). Burnes is 7-4, and should have 10 wins or more. In two starts, he threw 7 and 6.2 innings, giving up not a single earned run (or unearned), and got a no decision. The Brewers lost both games. In another, Burnes gave up 1 earned run over 6 innings, and lost, as the Brewers again got shutout. In yet another, he gave up 1 earned run (1 in total) over 7 innings pitched, and got a no decision. I know this is focusing on a pitcher, and may be diverging from the original premise, but it's done in an effort to show how a bit more study is necessary than simply looking at runs scored per game. The Brewer offense can look great for an extended period of time. It clearly has some good power. But there is a whole lot of room for improvement. Being ninth in the National League in OBP, at .315, doesn't help. But Christian Yelich, since being moved to the leadoff spot (30 games), is hitting .296 with a .396 OBP. That's outstanding. If he can continue getting on base, and OPSing .800+, and stealing the occasional base, it will help the offense in the long run. His back and knee able, I'd like to see him stealing more bases. That's one thing he's been ridiculously good at since arriving in Milwaukee, and continues to excel at. He's stolen 78 bases in 89 tries dating back to 2018. That's an absurd 87.6% success rate. Anyhow, I'm rambling a bit. It's good to be back, so I'm a bit more chatty than usual.

Somebody needs to give Josh Hader a hug.

The Brewers are second in the National League in home runs (having nine more than Minnesota), and ninth in the Majors in OPS. They're not exactly the '82 Cardinals.

I’m with you ‘stash. When Counsell was first hired he actually had some creative ideas, however as time went on he became more and more like every other manager, boring and extremely predictable. Throughout this year he had some head scratching moments, but he really lost it during the last 3 weeks of the regular season. It was inexcusable the way he managed against the Cards and the Dodgers. To let his foot off the gas was just plain stupid. To continue to bat Yelich 3rd didn’t make any sense and then to PH for Freddy in game 3, just smacked of desperation, it was almost like waving the white flag. Both he and Stearns need to sit down and figure out some creative way to get some above average bats in here. Anyone who thinks next year will be better is just fooling themselves. Do you really think Burns, Woody and Peralta will improve on their 2021 seasons or the current bats will magically improve is delusional. I hate harping on Christian Yelich. I really do. He's such a good guy, and it kills me seeing him struggling. But our manager has to see where any given player is at a current time. Putting Yelich in the #3 spot in the lineup makes sense if the Christian Yelich of 2018 and 2019 is the guy walking to the plate. Hell, I can let it go if he's the Christian Yelich from the Marlins. His last two seasons in Florida, he hit .290 slashing .373/.460/.833, a 127 OPS+. That's during his age 24 and 25 seasons. But Yelich was 1% below league average for the season, and that's after hitting .313 with a .359/.470/.829 August. Yelich hit .221 and slashed .315/.305/.620 from September 1st to October 2nd. And in the first three games of this series, he was 2 for 10, slashing .333/.200/.533. I'm sorry. With the season on the line, that's not who you want at the 3 spot. It's just not. He struck out 50% (5 of 10) of the time he came to the plate in those first three games, then he struck out 3 more times tonight. For the series, Yelich was 3 for 15 with 2 walks and 8 strikeouts. And yet, had we won, you can be sure Counsell would have had him in the 3 slot again for game 5. I'm sorry, but that's not smart managing. There's no justification for it.

Not needing surgery means next to nothing where the severity of an injury is concerned. It only means that team physicians didn't need to intervene in order for the patella to heal on its own. Four years ago, I tripped while walking, fell, and broke my left patella into two pieces. Literally into two pieces. There was a very small part of the bone that was still attached at the very top, and my orthopedic surgeon (well, one of two) put me on bed rest for six weeks hoping that the bone would heal on its own. It did. The fracture completely healed. I'm much older than Yelich is (just turned 50 a few weeks ago). I'm not a professional athlete like he is. But if I have to, I can run, and outside of a little soreness afterwords, I'm fine. But putting torque on the knee, while bearing weight, is incredibly painful. I can't do it. Running, and swinging a bat, impact a knee in two completely different ways. The physics are completely different. Mickey Mantle destroyed his right knee in the 1951 World Series. The orthopedic surgeon interviewed by Jane Leavy for her book on Mantle postulated that he tore his ACL, MCL and meniscus. The "Unhappy Triad" injury. Mantle played his entire career with a severely damaged knee. Only his neuromuscular genius helped to compensate for the injury. Mantle could still run like the wind, north south. He experienced no decrease to his burst speed. But he couldn't cut while running. At all. Different situation, clearly, but it goes to the discussion that this knee injury may not impact Christian's ability to run, but it may still be incredibly distracting, and limiting, where his swing mechanics are concerned. I am more concerned that it's a degenerative back condition that they're not talking about. There's no coming back to anything resembling an MVP form from that. I am, too. I'm lucky enough to be dealing with both. They both suck. It's a gigantic leap, obviously, for me trying to understand what could be limiting Christian Yelich from being the player he was even before coming to Milwaukee. Mostly it's trying to find some logical explanation after yet another heartbreaking loss. Some light at the end of the tunnel that gives me a little hope he could be the player he was with the Marlins. It wouldn't be anywhere near value for what we're going to be paying the guy, but if he's a solid bat, average and power wise, with a high walk rate, that would at least be something. I do think it's the back more than anything. But I have to believe it's an issue that has been present for some time, certainly before the 2019 season. And the Brewers would have known about it, and still committed to him for $200 million after the knee injury. And that boggles my mind. Knee injuries can and do exacerbate back issues. A knee injury led to Robert Brooks' back problems, which ultimately forced him to retire (thanks again, Tyrrone Drakeford! ). But how could Milwaukee give him that big an extension before seeing him in actual game play? Existing back issues + new major knee fracture = "hey, let's possibly mortgage the team's future before we know how he is really doing." /face palm

Not needing surgery means next to nothing where the severity of an injury is concerned. It only means that team physicians didn't need to intervene in order for the patella to heal on its own. Four years ago, I tripped while walking, fell, and broke my left patella into two pieces. Literally into two pieces. There was a very small part of the bone that was still attached at the very top, and my orthopedic surgeon (well, one of two) put me on bed rest for six weeks hoping that the bone would heal on its own. It did. The fracture completely healed. I'm much older than Yelich is (just turned 50 a few weeks ago). I'm not a professional athlete like he is. But if I have to, I can run, and outside of a little soreness afterwords, I'm fine. But putting torque on the knee, while bearing weight, is incredibly painful. I can't do it. Running, and swinging a bat, impact a knee in two completely different ways. The physics are completely different. Mickey Mantle destroyed his right knee in the 1951 World Series. The orthopedic surgeon interviewed by Jane Leavy for her book on Mantle postulated that he tore his ACL, MCL and meniscus. The "Unhappy Triad" injury. Mantle played his entire career with a severely damaged knee. Only his neuromuscular genius helped to compensate for the injury. Mantle could still run like the wind, north south. He experienced no decrease to his burst speed. But he couldn't cut while running. At all. Different situation, clearly, but it goes to the discussion that this knee injury may not impact Christian's ability to run, but it may still be incredibly distracting, and limiting, where his swing mechanics are concerned.

I think a lot of the blame should be placed at the feet of Craig Counsell. The entire final two weeks, or so, of the regular season was a giant dumpster fire. It started by losing two on the road to the Tigers. We took two of three from the Cubs, but they'd had a giant fire sale, getting rid of Rizzo, Bryant and Baez. We faced the Cardinals and the Dodgers ten times in that finishing stretch, and went 1-9. The narrative I saw over and over on social media was, "well, they're locked in at the #3 spot in the playoffs. They can't improve their playoff seeding, so it makes sense to rest some guys." No. These guys are professional athletes, conditioned to play a 162 game season. You don't limp into the playoffs. You keep playing hard until the season is done, they you go into the playoffs playing good baseball. We didn't. Losing Williams to a colossally stupid broken hand only compounded things. This team is not mentally strong. Neither is our manager. Counsell just makes too many questionable decisions in high leverage situations. Putting our third string catcher in to pinch hit, with Tyrone Taylor available, was just one. Taking Woodruff out after 12 pitches to put Hader in for the bottom of the 8th, meaning that somebody would have to pinch hit for him in the 9th....if we go to extra innings, we have virtually nobody left to pitch with our season on the line. I'm in no mood for silver linings. We're starting to become the Brooklyn Dodgers. "Wait until next year". Only, the Dodgers actually won a World Series. We got our butts kicked by an 85 win team. Does anybody seriously think this team would have any chance against the Giants or the Dodgers, if we somehow made it to the playoffs against them?

At this point, the ways that this franchise just continues to find new and excruciating ways to break my heart is bordering on cruelty.

Fart in the wind. "Future is bright" blah blah blah. I've heard it all before.

And strike three looking by our $200 million dollar hitter. What a perfectly apropos way to end our season.

WHY????????????????????????????????????????????????

That's Christian Yellich-esque. Well, two years ago. Just a bang up job of managing, there, Craig. You can walk home, for all I care.

Screw you, Counsell.

For the record, I don't like bringing Hader in now.

Putting a career .203 hitter in an incredibly high leverage situation when Taylor could have batted.....just brilliant managing, Craig. Brilliant.

13 Brewers strikeouts. Now Taylor is on deck?????? Now?

Woody can hit. Putting him at the plate is not a wasted AB. I keep him in for one more, because it's still tied, and there's a very good chance that this game goes to extra innings. I sure wish we had Williams right now.