BruisedCrew

The races for the NL East title and second NL wild card spots are heating up. Some stumbles by the Reds and Braves (both 4-6 in their last 10) while the Mets and Phils have both won 7 of their last 10 leaves the Braves, Phils and Mets within 3.5 games of each other, while those three teams, plus the Padres, Reds, and Cards are within 4 games of each other. The Brewers will have a hand in this with their 7 games against the Cards and 3 against the Phillies and Mets.

They aren’t completely redundant because one can start at 1B and the other can be a left handed bat off the bench. But it would be hard to find two other players who are as similar as the two of them in terms of what they offer and how narrow their skills are. Whether they keep both of them will probably depend on how many pitchers they think they need. It looks like Taylor is going to be ready for action before long, and I assume he would be ahead of a second 1B/PH player. If it comes down to the two of them, you’d have to decide who is more valuable: Vogelbach as a pinch hitter or Bradley as a late inning defensive replacement.

Under the old rules it was pointless to put a player on the 10 day IL in September.

Scroll down on that to hear a very similar call from last Sunday against the Pirates.

They were up 7-10 games in the division from mid-August onward. From July 26 to August 28 they went 27-5 to put everyone else away that year. I've been wrong a lot lately. Just remember it feeling more precarious to me then. What you’re probably remembering is that the Brewers beat the Cardinals on Labor Day to go ahead by 10.5 games, but then lost 2 to the Cardinals and 3 to the Phillies to drop the lead to 6 and then it went to 5.5. The Cardinals were on a hot streak and the 5 game losing streak was unsettling. But it never got closer than 4.5 and the Brewers clinched with 5 games to spare.

That was one of the goofiest endings possible for me. Because the game ran past the four hour mark, I was already outside grilling for a family get together. I was kind of following how it was going on my watch, but figured that they blew their last best chance when they didn’t score in the eighth. Then in the ninth I saw that they had loaded the bases with one run in. Suddenly I hear the girl next door yell out to her Dad and brother “”Walk off grand slam” and they ran in the house. It took awhile for the app on my watch to report that. Now I’m looking forward to watching the replays of the finish on both the Brewers and Cards telecasts. This one is right up there with the one Braun hit in St. Louis in 2019.

It wouldn’t be shocking. They do have a 7 game home stand coming up with 4 against the Dodgers and 3 with the Reds. Those games will have a significant bearing on the playoff races. Yeah, Cards will be in it...but what a tough schedule. Now, if the Crew is playing for nothing, that will help STL. Or if the Brewers have to field lineups like the one they’re facing today.

It wouldn’t be shocking. They do have a 7 game home stand coming up with 4 against the Dodgers and 3 with the Reds. Those games will have a significant bearing on the playoff races.

I don’t see this as a situation where getting the starter out of the game is a good thing. I was really hoping someone else could connect on the crap Lester tosses up there before he escaped. The relievers are likely to be tougher.

Lucky to escape that.

I guess Strickland was due for a bad outing but he is all over the place and is giving Goldsxhmidt a chance to pile on.

You cannot walk Lester. Good grief.

At worst the Brewers get one off the Reds magic number today. Because the Cards have 3 fewer losses, their magic number is the same.

Hitters popping out on the first pitch?

Shocker. Bradley with a weak grounder to the right side.

That could be enough for the Cards today. Three runs courtesy of a walk and bad defense.

Terrible play by JBJ letting the runners move up by making a hopeless throw to the plate. Counsell bringing the infield in here suggests that he doesn’t expect much offense from his lineup today.

These outs on the bases are getting ridiculous.

Then there’s Bradley grounding out to the right side under “things I expect to see almost every time JBJ doesn’t strike out”.

There’s a run from an unexpected source. OK, Burnes, there’s your run.

Garcia still aching, Adames on the IL, and Yelich getting a day off produces a classic Sunday lineup that could neutralize the starting pitcher advantage the Brewers would seem to have. Cain batting 5th, Reyes and Bradley in the lineup period, and 4 lefties facing Lester might not produce a lot of runs. I’m glad the Brewers have a comfortable lead because some of the lineups they have been forced to put out there the last few days are going to have some low scoring days (like Thursday’s Giants game). Maybe an old, soft tossing lefty will be the kind of pitcher that the bench players can hit. But, either way, the pressure will be on Burnes to hold the Cards in check.

I would use a fourth starter, and it could be Houser or Lauer depending on who the opponent is and what happens between now and then. It might also be different if you find yourself down 3-0. The Brewers have been using a 6 man rotation for most of the season, meaning all of the starters have usually been getting 5 days of rest in between starts. To suddenly change that to 3 days rest sounds kind of risky to me, unless the plan is to limit the starters to no more than 6 innings and rely more heavily on the bullpen. Once you go to a 3 man rotation you’re kind of stuck with it for that series. The “assuming Peralta returns to normal” is a big assumption. There is some basis for concern that he has hit a wall. Even if he bounces back with some good outings, I don’t think I would want to push it by starting him on 3 days rest in a LCS. I would prefer a rotation that would have Woodruff and Burnes (in some order) in games 1 and 2 and 5 and 6, Peralta in 3, and then Peralta (on a short leash) in a possible game 7. So are you saying in a five game series you’d go with houser/lauer also I think this was covered in another thread, but for Game 4 in a 5 game series I might want to use the Game 1 starter in Game 4 if my team was behind 2-1. The Brewers bullpen gives them a lot of flexibility to approach a playoff game (especially one with an off day following) by using a starter on a short leash with whatever relievers are needed to follow. Whatever plan a team has for a playoff series has to be flexible based on how games unfold. An unexpected short start from an ace or a 15 inning game can quickly affect what follows. Managers plan and the baseball gods laugh.

I would use a fourth starter, and it could be Houser or Lauer depending on who the opponent is and what happens between now and then. It might also be different if you find yourself down 3-0. The Brewers have been using a 6 man rotation for most of the season, meaning all of the starters have usually been getting 5 days of rest in between starts. To suddenly change that to 3 days rest sounds kind of risky to me, unless the plan is to limit the starters to no more than 6 innings and rely more heavily on the bullpen. Once you go to a 3 man rotation you’re kind of stuck with it for that series. The “assuming Peralta returns to normal” is a big assumption. There is some basis for concern that he has hit a wall. Even if he bounces back with some good outings, I don’t think I would want to push it by starting him on 3 days rest in a LCS. I would prefer a rotation that would have Woodruff and Burnes (in some order) in games 1 and 2 and 5 and 6, Peralta in 3, and then Peralta (on a short leash) in a possible game 7.

That is a sweet win.

I would have Hader ready at the first sign of trouble.