mertonmonk

In his interview with the MLB gang last night Yellich commented that he can hit differently at Miller Park than he could before (obvious reference to Miami). The Brewers got him because his power would play better at Miller Park than in the much-more-spacious park the Marlins inhabit. Hitting the fly balls results in more dingers in Milwaukee - they would have been long outs in Miami. This is exactly what the Brewers envisioned and Yellich is capitalizing nicely.

I have to admit I'm fairly anxious to know what the Brewers are going to do in the next hour. I wonder how the players feel? If their phones ring in the next hour I'm sure they'll jump a bit. It seems like the Brewers are in 'have to do something' mode.

I've been to Maryvale and just about all the other ST ballparks. I've taken part in the Brewers Fantasy Camp twice at Maryvale. Yeah, the area itself isn't great, but the Brewers complex is outstanding. The cheap tickets at all the parks and the access to the players makes ST games more fun than regular season games. Just avoid Cubs games because they always sell out, so you can't just walk up and get tickets, and the Cubs park doesn't do any of the fun between-innings promotions that all the other teams do. The minor league complex at Maryvale is also very nice. You don't even have to buy tickets to go to the games - just show up. I sat next to Ned Yost's wife when their son was playing for a Brewers minor league team. I'm pleased the Brewers are staying in Maryvale and have it locked up for such a long time. That means they can develop that site to suit their needs and tickets probably won't go up much in cost. I believe the Brewers use that facility year-round as a rehab location, so it's not just a 6-week facility. Having the minor league complex right next to the major league fields also makes it easier for the team to shuttle players between games if they need more guys to cover a game, or if they just want to give someone a little exposure to major league level play. For people staying in Phoenix to watch games, there are great hotels everywhere and Maryvale and the other parks are all a short drive away. Phoenix is not a sprawling metropolis - most of the parks are 15-30 minutes from whatever hotel you pick.

I hope Broxton stays in for defense.

Why not the following - I know it doesn't alternate batters, but Walker and Villar can switch. J Villar CF (bats left) D Santana RF (bats right) R Braun LF (bats right) T Shaw 3B (bats left) N Walker 2B (bats left) E Thames 1B (bats left) M Pina C (bats right) E Sogard SS (bats left) Z Davies P (bats right)

Hopefully both players thrive for their 'new' teams. I root for lots of former Brewers players.... except when they play the Brewers.

Agreed - Jeffress can hopefully help the bullpen, but the glaring problem has been 0-for-RISP. To some degree that's a product of a lot of all-or-nothing hitters and right now we're getting more of the nothing part. It's way too reminiscent of the 2014 campaign, but the offense isn't as centered on Braun/Lucroy so there's a lot more hope that this offense can get untracked.

having been outrighted to the minor leagues before, jeffress would have the right to refuse the minor league assignment. Right - but considering his stats, what other team would take him? That might be a risk the team is willing to take, banking on the fact that Jeffress knows his best route back to MLB success is with the Brewers, even if that means toiling in milb until he regains form.

This is a low risk move, but we give up someone on AA and have to put the replacement on the MLB roster, unless they want to immediately put him through waivers are try to assign him to AAA. The Brewers haven't had many blowout games where they can throw someone who is throwing gas on a raging inferno until they hopefully figure things out.

Very true! If Villar can return even close to the 2016 version, if Braun can stay on the field and do what he normally does and if Guerra can return even close to his 2016 version... this will be a very deep and talented team. In the off-season it looked like there were holes at 3B, probably at C, maybe offensively at SS and RF, a wildcard at 1B and an unknown bullpen along with a shaky starting rotation. All the acquisitions, except Feliz, have paid huge dividends. The starting rotation isn't spectacular, but it's solid. The bullpen has had some rough patches but it's improving. I can't imagine that anyone would have guessed 50 wins by the All-Star game. The offense isn't relying on 1 player anymore - the entire lineup is dangerous at the plate. Even with Brewer Goggles on, how many wins will they have at the end of the season? 90 seems to be in the realm of possibilities. Will that be enough for a playoff spot?

Melvin's last few moves have proven to be very good for the team. I absolutely agree that it's good Melvin is still around, and that shows a rare humility you don't often see. Stearns has been pretty good too - there has been a lot of churn on the roster. Sometimes that churn seemed to be just for the sake of change, though I'm not sure that's a bad thing. The knowledge that you have to produce or expect to get traded/designated can be a good motivator. If it wasn't for Feliz's price-tag I wonder if he would have been DFA'd sooner? I don't mind them taking the risk on Felix - sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I do appreciate the fact that they were willing to decide that it was time for a change, no matter how much payroll they had to eat.

What are the biggest changes from last year to this year? 1B: Carter (lots of HRs, not much else) to Thames/Aguilar - big improvement. 2B: Gennett platoon to Villar - looked shaky early this season, but Villar is improving nicely. I'd call this a draw. 3B: Perez - Shaw - big improvement RF: Having Santana play regularly has been a big improvement. C: Maldonado is serviceable - Pina/Bandy - huge improvement. Over all the offense is nicely improved and the defense is also better. The starting pitching has been more consistent. The bullpen is the area that has suffered the most, and it is the area most easily addressed. This can be addressed fairly easily before the playoffs, and this team has already played well against the best teams in MLB. It would be nice to have a lock-down ace starting pitcher, but in a best-of-7 series I like the chances our starting rotation gives us. Knebel has been lights out. Bridging the gap between starter and closer is the area that needs attention and this team could win a lot more games. The offense will score against any pitcher. This is a fun team to watch.

Gamecast shows that last pitch to Sogard as clearly outside. Was it really that bad of a call?

Odds that Thames gets tested today? That makes 16 and looking for more!

What about Juan Nieves? He pitched the only no-hitter for the Brewers.