BruisedCrew

From what Counsell and Hiura have said it sounds like Thursday would be the earliest possible day for Hiura to play in the field.

If you think the Cubs are going to smoke the Cards, to me that’s all the more reason to hope the Cards also lose one or two to the Nats. To illustrate, if the Cards lose 2 to the Nats and 3 of 4 to the Cubs, the Brewers could move ahead of the Cards by winning 5 of their next 6 and still be no more than one behind the Cubs. If the Nats lose 2 to the Cards they still have a lot more games, all or most of them against non contenders, to stay in the wild card race. By next week the Phillies will likely be out of the playoff hunt and by the last weekend the Indians might be too. Again, for me it comes down to winning the division being much more valuable than winning a wild card spot. Winning the division means a couple of days rest before starting a best of 5 series against the Braves. Getting a wild card spot means a one game crapshoot on Tuesday followed quickly by starting a best of 5 against the Dodgers. I’d rather shoot for the best instead of settling for a consolation prize.

I can’t let go of the fact that winning the division is much, much more valuable than just getting a wild card spot, especially the second wild card spot. When they first put in the second wild card spot, my thought was that getting that spot and losing the wild card game would not feel like making the playoffs. Being out with no home playoff games and without making it into a multi game series is not very satisfying. So, I’m still going to be rooting for the Nationals to beat the Cardinals before I start rooting against them the rest of the way. I’ll decide how I feel about the Cubs and Cardinals on Thursday. The Brewers could be anywhere between 1 and 5 games behind the Cardinals by then. I’ll probably be rooting against the Cubs no matter what because keeping the Cubs out of the playoffs would help ease the disappointment if the Brewers end up losing the wild card game to the Nats. But, if the Brewers are only 1 or 2 games behind the Cardinals, I will be hoping for the Cubs and Cards to split.

I disagree about 89 wins getting the Brewers in “easily”. Let’s say those 9 guaranteed losses come in the form of the Nats and Cards splitting their two remaining games and the Cubs winning 4 of the 7 against the Cards. For all of those teams to get to 90 wins: 1. The Nats would have to go 7-4 against the Marlins, Phillies, and Indians. Sweeping the woeful Marlins would be a big head start on that and those last 8 games are at home. It would help if the Indians are still in playoff contention going into the last weekend. 2. The Cubs would have to go 4-1 against the Reds and Pirates, certainly doable for them, especially if they keep scoring runs in buckets. 3. The Cards would have to win 2 out of 3 against the Diamondbacks. For any of those teams to drop to 88 wins, they would have to lose 2 more games than that, and that would mean a pretty big collapse. I don’t consider having to play extra games, or getting in by 1 game, getting in “easily”. If the Brewers get in with 89 wins and no extra tiebreaker games, it would likely be because the Cubs lose at least 4 of 7 against the Cards. I don’t know who has said that the 2018 Brewers had a much better roster than the 2019 Brewers. Coming into the season I thought the 2019 team had a better roster than 2018, which is why I thought they had a good chance to win 90 games or more. That is what made it so disappointing to me that, after getting to 10 games over .500 in mid June, they drifted down to only one game over by late August while playing the relatively weak looking part of their schedule. This recent spurt to me highlights how much the team underperformed for most of the season. If they fall just a game or two short of winning the division, or making the playoffs at all, this season will go down for me as a huge opportunity lost. When you say “just 4 games”, and by the end of the season it will probably be more than that, you are ignoring that “just 4 games” is often the difference between winning a division and missing the playoffs entirely. That’s why “every game counts” and piddling away series against bottom feeding teams like the Marlins, Mariners, Padres, Giants and Reds matters.

Unless the Mets can rally from a 5 run deficit in the 9th they have joined the DBacks and Phillies as not even worth talking about as playoff contenders unless and until they win 5 or 6 in a row. I think the Brewers have to get to 89 wins to have a decent shot at a playoff berth, and even that wouldn’t be a guarantee. Those other 3 teams now almost have to win out to have any chance and they’ve shown no sign of being able to do that.

Simultaneously, Ozuna and Hayward with run scoring doubles and the Cubs and Cards both are up 4-2.

Need a lot more wins like this. Very little stress and don’t take a lot of time.

Those boxes on the screen obviously have a lot to do with it. I wonder sometimes how accurate the boxes are.

You mean the rookie in his sixth major league season? Please don't engage him. We are trying an experiment where everyone ignores him. Got it.

You mean the rookie in his sixth major league season? ETA: somebody edited the last word of his post while I was replying and now Incant delete mine.

I wish I had 20-20 hindsight.

I expect that Black will be a part of the bullpen next year, even if it's one of the "shuttle" spots. He'll have an opportunity in spring training to earn a bigger role. Some of that depends on whether Knebel comes back at full strength and what Bobby Wahl is like. But I don't think he has shown yet that he has what it takes to be one of the top late inning options. I also expect the Brewers to sign one or more veteran relievers to help fill out the pen.

It might, but I wouldn’t count on it. That would leave the Brewers at 87-75. To get to 88 wins: The Cards only have to go 5-8 The Nats have to go 6-8 The Cubs have to go 7-6. Yes, there are 10 head to head games with two of those teams. So that guarantees 10 losses, but also guarantees 10 wins. The Nats have 3 at Miami and 5 at home against the fading Phillies. They might easily get 5 or 6 wins in just those games and not need any against the Cards or Indians. If they get swept by the Cards that just puts the Redbirds that much closer. The Cubs have 3 at home against the Reds and 3 at Pittsburgh. They could get 5 of the wins they need right there and need only 2 of 7 against the Cards to get to 88. If the Cubs only win 2 against the Cardinals, that would give the Cardinals 88 wins right there. They also have the games against the Nats and fading DBacks to add more wins. I still think 89 is the target. Anything less than that and the Brewers would need help from teams like the Pirates, Reds, and Marlins and that is dangerous.

I can’t wait now for the archive telecast to come up on Mlb.com so I can watch the 9th inning with the Cardinals announcers. That usually comes up about 90 minutes after the game ends.

Not too long ago the brewers were only one game over .500. Now we're 2 weeks from the finish line and still playing games with meaning. If the Brewers end up falling short, I’m going to be looking at that 28-36 stretch from mid June to late August that included a lot of losing series to bad teams as the reason why.

A lot of Cardinal fans are leaving. They must not know the Brewers bullpen.

Unbelievable. Even better than a 3 run double.

The shadows are in a bad spot.

Not me.

Need Braun to pick out a fastball and hit a 3 run double down the right field line.

Would have been nice to see Yelich get a shot here.

Any chance this is when Shaw will have his moment of the season?

Probably not at all because there aren’t other serious contenders.

My poor fantasy team. My 3 position player keepers this year were Trout, Yelich, and Jose Ramirez and they’re all done for the season.

The DBacks are in the edge of extinction, but their schedule opens the possibility that they could finish like the Brewers did last year. I wouldn’t mind seeing them hang around close enough until they play the Cardinals next week. My usual target for making the playoffs is 90 wins. Looking at the current standings and remaining schedules my current target is 89. The Brewers would have to go 10-4 to get there.