JosephC

https://www.ootpdevelopments.com/ June 19 - Diamondbacks 5, Brewers 1 The Diamondbacks have been a team of extreme streaks recently. They had lost 8 of their last 9 games prior to this game, but before that had a 9 game winning streak. Like the Brewers they've had good hitting, bad starting pitching and a bullpen that has started to come around (although their closer, Archie Bradley, continues to struggle). The Brewers figured to have the starting pitching advantage as team ace Freddy Peralta took the hill, but a good start by Peralta was wasted as he was out-dueled by Luke Weaver. Avisail Garcia got the scoring started when he crushed a 421 foot solo home run to left centerfield with 2 outs in the third inning. That was it for the Brewers in terms of scoring. The only other good chance the Brewers had was in the top of the first when Lorenzo Cain and Avisail Garcia led off the game with singles, only to have Keston Hiura ground into a double-play and Christain Yelich end the inning on a weak fly ball to left field. Freddy Peralta was excellent. 10 strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings. Arizona were 12 up and 12 down to start off the game, but Eduardo Escobar led off the bottom of the fifth with a double and then Jake Lamb hit a 2-run homer to give the Diamondbacks the lead. Those were the only 2 guys who reached base against Peralta. He retired the next seven hitters and then Counsell went to the bullpen with Peralta at only 80 pitches. The Brewers still had a chance as they trailed 2-1 heading into the bottom of the eighth. Corey Knebel started the inning got Stephen Vogt to fly out and then struck out Nick Ahmed. Wyatt Mathisen singled and Ketel Marte doubled him in. Alex Claudio then replaced Knebel, Starling Marte was intentionally walked to get the lefty/lefty matchup and David Peralta doubled in the 2 Marte's to give the Diamondbacks a 5-1 lead and effectively end the game. It's so disappointing as Knebel just can't seem to get over that hump. He now has a 7.54 ERA, 1.54 WHIP, 5.62 FIP and really should not be pitching in any critical situations. And to make matters worse, both Lorenzo Cain and Justin Smoak were injured in this game. Thoughts of "season over" crossed my mind when Cain exited, fortunately the injury is a sprained finger and he is listed as day-to-day for two weeks. So far, most guys with day-to-day injuries have kept right on playing and it hasn't seemed to negatively impact their numbers. Smoak's injury information is listed as pending which could be a bad sign. If there is any silver lining in that, it's that Logan Morrison's injury time is listed as 2 more days so the Brewers were going to be forced to make a decision on him as he is out of options. So if Smoak is out for any length of time, the Brewers can go back to the Morrison/Braun combo at first base, although Smoak has the best OPS of the three (Smoak = .899, Morrison = .865, Braun = .849). Standings after today's action has the Cardinals in first place with the Brewers and Reds both 1 game back. The Pirates are on a 9-2 run and are 3 1/2 games back. And more injury news from around the league. It's been a brutal week for injuries. Rays starting pitcher Charlie Morton has elbow tendinitis and is expected to miss 7 weeks. Morton has a 4.68 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, 4.52 FIP in 2020. Vince Velasquez has stunk in his first two games with the Rays (6.52 ERA), but now it's looking like he could prove to be a very important pick-up. Ex-Brewer, current Blue Jay Chase Anderson has a torn flexor tendon in his elbow and is considered out for 15 months, so the rest of this year and probably all of 2021. Tough blow for Anderson and the Jays as his run prevention had been very good (3.69 ERA, 1.24 WHIP, 4.33 FIP). The Blue Jays have also been on a pretty nice run and have worked their way up to a 41-35 record. Jordan Romano will take Anderson's spot in the rotation. If I remember correctly, there were a few Brewer fans in this forum that were hoping the Brewers would Rule 5 Romero away from the Jays a couple years ago. Romero had been pitching out of the Blue Jay's bullpen and has a 3.51 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, 4.03 FIP in 24 innings of work. [attachment=2]6_19_game summary.jpg[/attachment] [attachment=1]6_19_batters.jpg[/attachment] [attachment=0]6_19_pitchers.jpg[/attachment]

DH is definitely bad for small market teams. Must be a lot of young people on this board who forget that that the "no DH" factor was the Brewer's primary reason for jumping to the NL. Brewer fans will love it today because they can stick Braun in there. But next year when the Brewers don't have an ideal candidate and...lets say the Cubs spend 16 million to put a DH masher in their lineup....then Brewer fans won't like the DH so much anymore. That said, I wouldn't argue if someone pointed out that Hiura's defense will be so bad that he'll be an idea DH candidate no later than 2022. That is a certainly a possibility.

Uggghhhh, they are looking to put advertising on team uniforms in 2020 and 2021 (which actually means from now until the end of time). Having the Nike logo was bad enough, but I would have made an exception if they would have placed it in the butt crack. Can't wait for the days when uniforms look like stock cars, which will probably be much sooner than people expect. Why not just get it over with an get rid of the Brewer name and just be the Milwaukee AmFam's (until the contract runs out of course)?

A batting- [attachment=3]6_18_A batting.jpg[/attachment] A pitching- [attachment=2]6_18_A pitching.jpg[/attachment] DSL batting- [attachment=1]6_18_DSL batting.jpg[/attachment] DSL pitching- [attachment=0]6_18_DSL pitching.jpg[/attachment]

https://www.ootpdevelopments.com/ June 18 - scheduled day off Roster moves made- Drew Rasmussen recalled from AAA, J.P. Feyereisen optioned to AAA and then sent to AA NL Central Standings at the end of today's games- [attachment=2]6_18_NL Central.jpg[/attachment] Lots of injury news from around the league- Cardinals reliever Jordan Hicks hasn't pitched all season because of Tommy John surgery. Now he has suffered a setback in his rehab and will be out at least the next three months. Giants pitcher Kevin Gausman suffered a torn rotator cuff and will miss the rest of the year. Devastating blow for Gausman and the Giants as he had been one of the best pitchers (108 1/3 innings, 2.08 ERA, 0.94 WHIP, 3.23 FIP, 2.2 BB/9, 8.1 K/9, 2.9 WAR). The Giants are going nowhere at 31-43, but Gausman was probably the most attractive starting pitcher who would have been on the trade market. He and Mike Minor would have been my #1 and #2 choices for the Brewers. Mets infielder Jeff McNeil will miss the next five weeks with a back injury. McNeil is having another good offensive season - 285 plate appearances, .307/.354/.471/.826, 8 HR, 29 RBI, 1.7 WAR. Diamondbacks relief pitcher Josh Green was having what was thought to be some minor hamstring problems, but the injury is more serious and he will miss 5-6 weeks. Green has thrown 20 1/3 MLB innings and has a 4.43 ERA, 1.38 WHIP, 4.16 FIP. Tomorrow the Rocky Mountain Vibes start play which will mean all the minor league teams will be in action. OOTP does have the Arizona Brewers split into Blue and Gold. Those teams have only played two games, so it's not really worth posting those stats yet. I just posted the MLB, AAA and AA stats a few days ago, so today I am going to post the A+, A and DSL stats. A+ Batting- [attachment=1]6_18_A+ batting.jpg[/attachment] A+ Pitching- [attachment=0]6_18_A+ pitching.jpg[/attachment]

https://www.ootpdevelopments.com/ June 17 - Brewers 7, Twins 1 Roster moves made- J.P. Feyereisen recalled from AAA, Drew Rasmussen optioned to AAA Brent Suter activated from the disabled list and sent to AAA for a rehab assignment Nice easy win as the Brewers jumped out to an early 5-0 lead and cruised to victory. Brandon Woodruff with a great performance. It looked like he had a legitimate chance to throw a complete game, but he allowed a one out walk to Mitch Garver and a single to Willians Astudillo in the eighth and quick-hook Counsell put Feyereisen in the game. Feyereisen got the last two outs in the inning but then walked three batters in the ninth which brought Hader into the game to finish things out. Hader had only pitched 1 time since the 9th and, with another day off tomorrow, it seemed like a good opportunity for him to get some work in. Back to Woodruff, the only run he allowed was in the fifth on a single by Eddie Rosario that scored Miguel Sano. Other that that it was smooth-sailing. I don't know if I would say that this was Woodruff's most impressive performance of the year as he had some good outings early, but it's easily the best start that he's had since early in May. On the other side, Jake Odorizzi took the mound for the Twins and was awful. Brewer hitters had no trouble with him and pounded out 8 hits in 2 2/3 innings, and there weren't many cheapies in there. Best inning for Milwaukee was the third when they scored four runs. Manny Pina led off with a double, Lorenzo Cain singled, Eric Sogard singled which knocked in Pina, Christian Yelich grounded into a fielder's choice that scored Cain, Keston Hiura singled, Yelich scored on a wild pitch, Justin Smoak struck out and Ryan Braun singled to knock in Hiura. Zack Littel came into the game at that point and got Luis Urias to fly out to end the inning. Lorenzo Cain, Eric Sogard and Keston Hiura all with 3 hit performances. The Cardinals win and the Reds lose. St. Louis now alone in first place with Milwaukee 1/2 game back and the Reds 1 game back. In other league news, Mariners pitcher Clayton Richard announced he will retire at the end of the year. Richard had signed a minor league contract with the Mariners on March 30 and worked his way to the major league roster where he hasn't been very good (41 innings, 5.93 ERA, 1.49 WHIP, 6.30 FIP). For his career he's at 71-88 with a 4.56 ERA. [attachment=2]6_17_game summary.jpg[/attachment] [attachment=1]6_17_batters.jpg[/attachment] [attachment=0]6_17_pitchers.jpg[/attachment]

https://www.ootpdevelopments.com/ June 16 - Twins 8, Brewers 3 Adrian Houser versus Homer Bailey. Bailey has found the fountain of youth and is having a pretty good season (following the game he has pitched 92 innings with a 3.91 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 4.24 FIP). We all know what Houser has done so far in the sim. This matchup may very well favor the Brewers in real life, but it didn't in the sim and unfortunately this game went pretty much as expected. It doesn't help that the Twins lineup can flat out hit. They have 6 regulars with an OPS of .834 or better. A 7th regular has an OPS of .793. The two regulars below that are centerfielder Byron Buxton and catcher Mitch Garver, both good defenders that play superior defense (in Buxton's case, plus-plus-plus defense). Houser, coming off a good start and a respectable start and looked like he was maybe starting to turn the corner, was absolutely terrible. He was smacked around in the first inning for four runs, pretty much everything off the Twins' bats were rockets. Keston Hiura committed an error with one out in the second inning, then Josh Donaldson drew a walk and Miguel Sano doubled and that was the end of Houser's day. 6 hits, 2 walks, 5 runs (4 earned) in 1 1/3 inning. Chris Lee and Ray Black, two of the best relievers, were also charged with giving up runs. Both of these guys are starting to fade, thankfully others like Drew Rasmussen and David Phelps have been better recently. Certainly the highlight of Brewer pitching on this day was Corey Knebel, who pitched the eighth and had a 3 up, 3 down, 3 strikeout performance against Donaldson, Sano and Max Kepler. Lorenzo Cain led off the game with a home run. Luis Urias doubled in Braun in the fifth. Christian Yelich hit a 428 foot bomb to straight away right field in the ninth. Keston Hiura with an 0-4 day and he's been struggling. Hiura has a .222/.255/.400/.655 slash line in June. The loss drops the Brewers below .500 for the first time this year. The Cardinals and the Reds both win, so the Brewers also drop from 1st place to 3rd place in the standings. In other league news, we have a bunch of injuries to report- Braves pitcher Cole Hamels has a torn labrum and will miss at least four months (33 2/3 innings, 5.35 ERA, 1.69 WHIP, 3.87 FIP) Rockies pitcher Jairo Diaz has a torn flexor tendon and will miss the next fourteen months (26 innings, 6.23 ERA, 2.23 WHIP, 5.14 FIP) Marlins pitcher Elieser Hernandez has a torn muscle in his back and will miss the next four months (36 2/3 innings, 7.61 ERA, 1.69 WHIP, 5.22 FIP) [attachment=2]6_16_game summary.jpg[/attachment] [attachment=1]6_16_batting.jpg[/attachment] [attachment=0]6_16_pitching.jpg[/attachment]

AAA batting [attachment=3]6_15_AAA batting.jpg[/attachment] AAA pitching [attachment=2]6_15_AAA pitching.jpg[/attachment] AA batting [attachment=1]6_15_AA batting.jpg[/attachment] AA pitching [attachment=0]6_15_AA pitching.jpg[/attachment]

[attachment=3]6_15_NL Standings.jpg[/attachment] [attachment=2]6_15_AL Standings.jpg[/attachment] [attachment=1]6_15_NL Wild Card.jpg[/attachment] [attachment=0]6_15_AL Wild Card.jpg[/attachment]

https://www.ootpdevelopments.com/ June 15 - scheduled day off Roster move made- Drew Rasmussen recalled from AAA, J.P. Feyereisen optioned to AAA 26 man roster- Rotation = Brandon Woodruff, Corbin Burnes, Freddy Peralta, Adrian Houser, Josh Lindblom Bullpen = Josh Hader (closer), Corey Knebel (setup), Devin Williams (setup), Alex Claudio (middle), Ray Black (middle), David Phelps (middle), Chris Lee (long), Drew Rasmussen (long) Catchers = Omar Narvaez, Manny Pina Infielders = Justin Smoak, Keston Hiura, Eric Sogard, Luis Urias, Brock Holt, Jedd Gyorko Outfielders = Christian Yelich, Lorenzo Cain, Avisail Garcia, Ryan Braun, Keon Broxton DL = Brent Suter (one day), Logan Morrison (five days) Other 40 man roster players (36 players)- Pitchers = J.P Feyereisen, Eric Yardley Catcher = David Freitas Infielders = Orlando Arcia, Ryon Healy, Ronny Rodriguez Outfielders = Ben Gamel, Tyrone Taylor [attachment=2]6_15_team stats.jpg[/attachment] [attachment=1]6_15_batting.jpg[/attachment] [attachment=0]6_15_pitching.jpg[/attachment]

https://www.ootpdevelopments.com/ June 14 - Reds 3, Brewers 2 Roster move made- J.P. Feyereisen recalled from AAA, Drew Rasmussen optioned to AAA Had a good feeling about this one as the pitching matchup really seemed to favor the Brewers: Corbin Burnes (3.33 ERA) versus Anthony DeSclafani (5.59 ERA). But DeScalfani only allowed 2 runs in 8 innings and Burnes had one rough inning and the Reds won the game. Biggest difference in this game was Red's centerfielder Travis Jankowski, who made several highlight defensive plays and took several Brewer runs off the board. The Brewer runs came in the second on a Justin Smoak home run and in the seventh when Luis Urias knocked in Smoak on a single. They had two men on base in the bottom of the ninth when Luis Urias hit a sinking liner to center that Jankowski made a spectacular diving catch on to end the ballgame. Burnes went 9 up, 9 down with 5 strikeouts through the first three innings and really appeared to be on a roll. Then in the fourth Jankowski led off the inning with a walk, Jesse Winkler singled, and then Omar Narvaez threw the ball into left field on a double steal attempt. Jankowski scored on the play and Winkler advanced to third. Eugenio Suarez then came up and hit a 2-run home run to conclude the Reds scoring. The loss drops the Brewers to 35-35. After a 2-0 start to the season, followed by a loss, followed a 4 game winning streak...the Brewers were off to a 6-1 start so this is actually the first time the Brewers have not had a winning record in the sim. The Reds and the Cardinals are now only 1/2 game back and the Pirates are sticking in there at only 3 1/2 games back. In other league news, we have a swap of minor leaguers between the Red Sox and the Marlins- Marlins get- RHP-Thad Ward - in AAA - 41 1/3 innings, 5.66 ERA, 1.86 WHIP, 4.33 FIP, also had 21 1/3 innings in A+ with much better numbers (1.69 ERA) Red Sox get- LHP-Daniel Castano - in AAA - 57 1/3 innings, 4.24 ERA, 1.45 WHIP, 5.37 FIP RHP-John Baker - 7th round pick in 2020 Draft The inclusion of Baker in this trade is a screw-up by the engine. Trading of draft picks and recently drafted players have different game settings that can be altered by whatever the user prefers. I initially thought I had screwed up the sim setup, but I have checked the settings and have the Trading of Recently Drafted Players setting at "Next Offseason." So this is an engine screwup. Thad Ward goes into the Marlins top prospect list at #19, John Baker goes into the Red Sox top prospect list at #17 and Daniel Castano isn't listed. Would have to think the motivator for this trade is that the Red Sox see Ward as far enough along where he could eat up some MLB innings this season, as the Red Sox pitching staff has been wiped out by injuries. [attachment=2]6_14_game summary.jpg[/attachment] [attachment=1]6_14_batters.jpg[/attachment] [attachment=0]6_14_pitchers.jpg[/attachment]

Those are not the numbers that I've been seeing. I was under the impression the 50 game model was more around 1.1 billion and the latest offer guarantees 1.5 billion if the playoff happen. The players also had a chance for their auditors to have full access to the books when the owners proposed a 50/50 revenue split and the players immediately rejected it. I was on record saying an earlier proposal by the owners seemed a bit short, but maybe would be alright depending on the amount of playoff money that would be kicked to the players. Based on the revenue estimates, it seemed like 1.5 billion should be the fair numbers that players should be shooting for. Looks like the owners have gotten to that point. If I was a player, an offer that guarantees 1.5 billion if the playoffs happen would put me in favor of playing.

https://www.ootpdevelopments.com/ June 12 - Reds 7, Brewers 3 Roster move made- J.P. Feyereisen optioned to AAA, Drew Rasmussen recalled from AAA Brewer starting pitching woes continue. Josh Lindblom was the starter, gave up a 2-run home run to Jesse Winkler, and Mike Moustakas scored another run on a Freddy Galvis sac fly to put the Brewers in a 3-0 1st inning hole. Lindblom allowed another 2 baserunners in the second inning but was bailed out when Avisail Garcia gunned down Nick Senzel at third. He then pitched a solid 3rd and 4th but then ran into trouble again in the 5th and allowed a 2-run homer by Moustakas. On the other side, Tyler Mahle is having a really good season for the Reds and handled just about every Brewer not named Sogard with relative ease. Mahle threw a complete game, struck out 10, didn't walk anybody and only allowed 4 hits. Two of those four hits were solo home runs by Eric Sogard. It could legitimately be said that Sogard has been the team MVP so far this season. .305/.383/.525/.908 with 10 home runs. Never underestimate veteran grit! Normally I don't comment on MiLB movement because so much happens that it is just about impossible to follow. But today will be an exception. Brice Turang has been promoted to Biloxi. There was really nothing more for Turang to do at Carolina as he was slashing a ridiculous .349/.484/.503/.986. Only 3 home runs in 244 plate appearances but still almost a 1.000 OPS. Other thing I like it that he was grading as a 55 shortstop and a 35 second basemen when the season began. He has played 2B all year and now grades as a 55 shortstop and 50 second baseman so the engine has also added the position flexibility as well. Have to admit that I wouldn't mind seeing the engine stick him at 3B since the Brewers have Hiura and Urias at 2B and SS, although I doubt the engine would do that. The Brewers have also signed 3rd round pick LF-Slade Wilks. 740k signing bonus. In other league news, Yankees SS-Gleyber Torres broke a bone in his foot and will miss four weeks. Big blow for the Yankees as Torres has a .300/.352/.578/.929 line this year. [attachment=2]6_13_game summary.jpg[/attachment] [attachment=1]6_13_batters.jpg[/attachment] [attachment=0]6_13_pitchers.jpg[/attachment]

I'm not much of a fan of rounds 2-5. Three of the guys seem to have rather average offensive skills. Warren holds some intrigue but generally the "we'll make the guy a catcher" approach doesn't work, so I'm pretty skeptical about that. MLB Draft becomes such a crap-shoot after the first few picks that there is really no point in being too fired up or too disappointed about what happens past the first round, but I definitely would have been targeting guys with more offensive upside and would have liked to grab a couple pitchers in there. Time will tell.

https://www.ootpdevelopments.com/ June 12 - Brewers 4, Reds 3 Excellent come from behind victory. Christian Yelich, who has been slumping (sub-.700 OPS in June), hit a 2-run homer in the bottom of the 8th to give the Brewers the late-inning win. Top 100 prospect Tyler Stephenson made his MLB debut for the Reds and hit a 3-run home run in his first major league at bat. At that point it looked like it would be another tough outing for Brandon Woodruff, but he settled down and pitched well from that point forward. Woodruff only allowed 1 baserunner in innings 3-5 (a walk to Votto in the third), and then he struck out Jesse Winkler to start the sixth before getting pulled with a pitch count of 95. I'd probably say it was Woodruff's best performance since May 4, a 6 2/3 inning performance against the Marlins in which he only allowed 1 run. The Brewers got a run in the second inning on a passed ball that allowed Justin Smoak to score, and then another run in the fourth when Luis Urias doubled and Eric Sogard knocked him in with a single. Yelich then hit the game-winning 2-run blast in the 8th. Hader struggled a bit in the ninth, allowing a walk to Mike Moustakas and a single to Freddy Galvis, but he was able to strike out Tyler Stephenson to end the game and record his 12th save. The Reds and Cardinals are now tied for second place, 2 1/2 games behind the Brewers. In other news, the engine has made a trade that makes zero sense to me- Padres get- LF-Nelson Cruz (202 plate appearances, .185/.292/.428/.720, 13 HR/27 RBI) Twins get- RHP-Kirby Yates (25 1/3 innings, 3.55 ERA, 1.42 WHIP, 4.28 FIP) 2B-Owen Miller - in AA - (184 plate appearances, .358/.424/.459/.883, 2 HR/21 RBI) I just don't get how Cruz fits into the Padres lineup? Neither Pham (.841 OPS) nor Puig (.740 OPS) look like they need to be replaced. Maybe 1B to take at-bats away from Hosmer (.691 OPS), but Cruz has never played there and OOTP only gives him defensive ratings as a LF and a RF (obviously very bad ratings at both spots). Yates wasn't having a great year but trading him definitely weakens their pen. I like Owen Miller as a prospect in real life...in the game he has decent enough ratings and goes into the Twins prospect ranking at #20 (he'd be 11th in the Brewers system)...so he's a pretty nice role-player level prospect and IMO more than just a throw in lottery ticket. [attachment=2]6_12_game summary.jpg[/attachment] [attachment=1]6_12_batters.jpg[/attachment] [attachment=0]6_12_pitchers.jpg[/attachment]

There is a chance I won't watch any baseball depending on the start date. I will still visit the site, watch box scores, look at Fangraphs, etc..but probably not watch any games. There is just a limited amount of time each week that I want to spend watching sports. Under normal circumstances, we all start with baseball in late March and by the time that September rolls around I just stick with it because I already have so much time invested in watching the team. But say if they start in August...if football starts in September I'd rather just not invest time in watching MLB and just wait for the football season to get underway. I'll spend August watching more film, going out and doing other activities, just seems like a better use of time rather than watch one month and bail on it when football starts. If they would have started on July 4...maybe having that extra month would make me feel differently about starting to watch and continuing to watch when football begins.

https://www.ootpdevelopments.com/ June 11 - Padres 7, Brewers 4 Roster move made- J.P. Feyereisen recalled from AAA, Drew Rasmussen optioned to AAA Felt pretty good about this one as team ace Freddy Peralta took the mound. Peralta got 2 strikeouts and a weak ground out and looked sharp in inning #1. The Brewers came to bat and got a run scoring double from Ryan Braun, a run scoring single from Keston Hiura and a sac fly from Omar Narvaez and held a 3-0 lead at the end of the first. It all went downhill from there. Peralta struggled in the second, allowed two runs in the frame, and then gave up a 3-run home run to Francisco Mejia in the third which ended Peralta's day. The Brewers were trailing by a 7-3 score heading into the bottom of the eighth inning, threatened in both the 8th and the 9th, but could only push across one more run to make the final score 7-4. Drew Pomeranz started the eighth inning and allowed a single to Christian Yelich, Hiura hit into a fielder's choice, Omar Narvaez singled and Luis Urias walked to load the bases with one out. This forced Kirby Yates into the ballgame early. Hiura scored when Brock Holt hit into a fielder's choice and then Yates got Eric Sogard on a weak ground ball to end the inning. The Brewers got the first two men on in the ninth inning but Braun hit into a double-play that didn't end the game but pretty much ended any chance the Brewers had of winning the game. 7 relievers used right before a big series with the Reds, so the engine will probably have Rasmussen back tomorrow. Nick Castellanos crying as he has a hand contusion and will miss the Brewer's pitching staff (listed as out for the next five days). Last time these two teams met, Castellanos had 11 RBIs in the 3 game series. Sonny Gray is also on the DL with a sprained elbow (out for 3 more weeks). In other league news, the following players have all suffered season ending injuries: Minnesota starting pitcher Michael Pineda (shoulder inflammation) - 20 2/3 innings, 3.05 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, 4.96 FIP Washington starting pitcher Austin Voth (elbow ligament reconstruction) - 20 1/3 innings, 4.87 ERA, 1.72 WHIP, 7.01 FIP Pittsburgh shortstop J.T. Riddle (ruptured MCL) - 102 plate appearances, .160/.218/.255/.473 [attachment=2]6_11_game summary.jpg[/attachment] [attachment=1]6_11_batters.jpg[/attachment] [attachment=0]6_11_pitchers.jpg[/attachment]

I Will Buy You It's a Japanese film by one of my favorite directors, Masaki Kobayashi. https://www.criterion.com/films/28007-i-will-buy-you It is SLOW and VERY CYNICAL and certainly is not for everybody. If the current MLB situation has you down then you probably do not want to watch this movie.

I like the pick. Totally predictable that Mitchell was going to be the pick at #20 because he perfectly fits that toolsy outfielder profile. Was he the highest upside bat left on the board? I'd probably say so. There does seem to be a significant boom-or-bust factor. It's also probably pretty likely that the Brewers plan to make some potentially major adjustments in his swing when reading about the ground ball and high percentage of low angle liners that currently come off his bat. Will be interesting to watch his progress.

I fully support any means of peaceful protest and kneeling during the national anthem is something that I personally have no problem with. However, it's interesting how the media moans and groans about this politician being divisive and this statement or action being divisive, while there is no question that people kneeling during the anthem is purely a symbolic gesture and it is incredibly divisive. I don't know how it can be viewed any other way. Agree or not, there are a huge amount of people, maybe even a majority of Americans, that listen to the National Anthem and look at the flag and the first thing they think about are people who sacrificed their lives in conflicts like the Civil War and World War II. Those feeling are certainly not limited to the political left or the political right. Again, I personally have no problem with any peaceful means of protest. But I do have to question why people of these means would participate in something that is so clearly divisive in a symbolic gesture that really doesn't accomplish anything? If these high-profile individuals are motivated to make a meaningful contribution and promote real change, I think financial support for organizations like the UNCF is a far more productive action.

https://www.ootpdevelopments.com/ June 10 - Padres 7, Brewers 3 Very frustrating loss as the Brewers had a 3-0 lead after five innings and end up losing by a large margin. Zach Davies took the mound for the Padres and looked like he did during most of his time in Milwaukee, solid but not spectacular. The Brewers got two runs in the second inning when Justin Smoak walked, Luis Urias had a double down the first base line that maybe should have been fielded by Wil Myers, Eric Sogard then had a sacrifice fly that scored Smoak and Manny Pina singled in Urias. Bottom of the fifth was a very interesting half inning. Eric Sogard singled, then Manny Pina hit an absolute tailor-made double-play ball that shortstop Greg Garcia booted for an error. Houser than laid down a sacrifice bunt to move up the runners, Lorenzo Cain singled which scored Sogard but Pina also tried to score on the play and Trent Grisham threw him out by a mile. Avisail Garcia then grounded out to end the inning. So the error by Garcia resulted in a run for the Brewers, but the baserunning blunder by Pina potentially took more runs off the board. Adrian Houser got three outs on very hard hit balls in the first two innings, fly outs by Tommy Pham and Francisco Mejia, and a single by Grisham and then settled down for the next three innings. He only allowed one hit and two walks in the first five innings, and then it all fell apart in the sixth. Pham led off the inning with a single, Garcia struck out, Manny Machado singled and then Grisham hit a 390 foot homer to tie the game at three. Counsell immediately pulled Houser which seemed like the right choice. Alex Claudio came into the game and got the last two outs of the sixth and one out in the seventh and then left the ballgame with what appeared to be a back injury. Devin Williams was the next guy in and was a total disaster. Wil Myers walked, Abraham Almonte struck out (out #2 of the inning as Claudio had gotten the first out), Pham was intentionally walked, Garcia hit a tapper back to Williams that he fielded and then threw over the head of Smoak for a 2-base error that scored Myers...and then Machado came up and hit a 3-run home run. Game over. Williams is charged for 4 unearned runs but he was the one that committed the error on an easy play so he was responsible for all 4 of those runs. I guess if there was an positive to this game, it's that Drew Rasmussen and Corey Knebel both made appearance later in the game and both looked sharp. Claudio's injury has been described as a sore back and he's listed as day-to-day for one week. Claudio hasn't been very good but he's pitched in a ridiculous amount of games (44 out of 66 games played) so I guess he provides some value in that regard. And, needless to say, if this is the way things had proceeded in reality, the Urias/Lauer for Grisham/Davies trade would be very controversial among Brewer fans right about now- Grisham = 288 plate appearances, .257/.376/.473/.849, 10 HR/29 RBI, 7 SB, 1.8 WAR Davies = 14 starts, 83 2/3 innings, 3.55 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, 3.79 FIP, 11 BB, 55 Ks, 1.6 WAR (Davies home ERA is 2.70, road ERA is 4.46) Urias = 244 plate appearances, .226/.321/.377/.698, 6 HR/27 RBI, 3 SB, 0.9 WAR Lauer (in AAA) = 12 starts, 59 1/3 innings, 3.49 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, 5.24 FIP, 17 BB, 58 Ks, 0.7 WAR And then there are the domino effects from the deal- -Garcia gets a notable contract = 240 plate appearances, .231/.268/.362/.630, 6 HR/30 RBI, 1 SB, -0.4 WAR -Arcia to the minors = .226/.306/.581/.886, 0.3 WAR in 13 MLB games, .316/.383/.480/.862, 1.9 WAR in 47 AAA games The Reds and Cardinals both win. The Reds are now 1 1/2 games behind and the Cardinals are 2 1/2 games behind. [attachment=2]6_10_game summary.jpg[/attachment] [attachment=1]6_10_batters.jpg[/attachment] [attachment=0]6_10_pitchers.jpg[/attachment]

Basically, there was a lockout in 1990 and Vincent sided with the players. The owners held a grudge and a couple years later they had a no-confidence vote after which Vincent resigned instead of being fired (the writing was on the wall). https://www.foxsports.com/mlb/story/mlb-history-fay-vincent-forced-out-as-commissioner-090316 The two most involved in that were Selig and Reinsdorf, who were considered two peas in the same pod. I've been trying to find the quote online but cannot. At one point Vincent actually made a statement to the media that he didn't blame the players at all for not trusting baseball ownership and said that Reinsdorf and Selig were the two main architects of collusion and could not be trusted. Could you ever imagine a commissioner in any sport saying something like that in 2020? Frankly, when baseball put Selig in the commissioner job it was the end of having a neutral figure that had the good of the game at heart. Selig was given that spot because he was "one of their own" and owners were absolutely certain that he would never break ranks. Now a sports commissioner is really nothing more than the organization's top PR lawyer, only there to put be the owner's lapdog and put the "we do the right thing" face on when dealing with the media.

Wow, just wow. When the owners ganged up, threw out Fay Vincent for siding with the players and gave Selig the commissioner spot, that moment right there is the most defining moment of owners being only interested in profit and having no regard for the good of the game.

https://www.ootpdevelopments.com/ June 9 - Brewers 6, Padres 2 Another great start by Corbin Burnes leads the Brewers to a nice, easy victory. Burnes allowed 3 walks and 1 hit over six innings, and there just were no threats to speak of. Meanwhile the Brewer bats scored 6 runs without the benefit of a home run. I think Chris Paddack is the real deal, but he has been bad so far in the sim and wasn't very good in this game. No homers kept the Brewer's run total down but they still were able to get 5 runs off Paddack and tacked on 1 more against the Padre bullpen. Paddack's season ERA is now up to 7.18. The Brewer bullpen had some shaky moments in the 8th and 9th. Trent Grisham hit a 2 run homer off of David Phelps in the 8th. Josh Hader came in to get some work in the 9th but gave up a walk to Yasiel Puig, a single to Jurickson Profar and Eric Hosmer reached on a rare catcher's interference call...Hader was up to 19 pitches and then Knebel came in and struck out Tommy Pham to end the ballgame. It wasn't a save situation when Hader came into the ballgame, but it was when Knebel came in (tying run was on-deck) so it pumped up the team stats a little bit. Three hit game for Lorenzo Cain who just keeps rolling right along. Two doubles for both Avisail Garcia and Brock Holt. Garcia has finally got it going and Holt is turning out to be an excellent bench piece. In other league news, the Phillies and Rays have made a trade- Phillies get - OF-Kevin Kiermaier (185 plate appearances, .240/.314/.353/.667, 3 HR/10 RBI, 8 SB) SS-Rhoniel Rodriguez Rays get - SP-Vince Velasquez (13 starts, 69 2/3 innings, 4.26 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, 3.78 FIP, 24 BB/101 Ks) Kind of a shocker that the Phillies would deal Velasquez after it seems he may have turned the corner. But frankly, he had been a disappointment the previous few seasons so maybe it's a sell high move for them. They definitely needed a centerfield as they had been playing Odubel Herrera there and he's suffered through a .178/.247/.356/.603 slash line. Blake Snell (4.39 ERA) and Charlie Morton (5.11 ERA) have been disappointing, but if they get it turned around, combining Tyler Glasnow (2.61 ERA) and Velasquez with Snell and Morton could really form a top-notch rotation. Rhoniel Rodriguez is a 17 year old fringe/lottery ticket type prospect. [attachment=2]6_29_game summary.jpg[/attachment] [attachment=1]6_9_batters.jpg[/attachment] [attachment=0]6_9_pitchers.jpg[/attachment]

I see the owners also want to have a 16-team playoff field. If that happens it will be a real easy decision not to waste time watching any regular season games, especially since they will be butting up right next to football season. Not knocking anybody who is desperate for baseball and want to see games no matter what. But for me, this season will come off as so asterisk-filled that I'll probably only find interest if the Brewers can work their way into a playoff.