BruisedCrew

Somebody forgot about the Cardinals, who are suddenly scoring runs in droves with red hot Goldschmidt leading the way. He must think he’s playing the Brewers.

If they had pitchers better than Gonzalez we would have seen them a long time ago. Even if you think Woodruff is the only pitcher that mattered, just losing him is a big blow. Then losing two more veteran starters puts a huge dent in the depth. No way that losing Gonzalez doesn’t matter. If you have to throw Houser back into the rotation that weakens the already thin bullpen.

Such a frustrating team and season. For expecting an elite offense they sure do get shut down a lot.

I didn’t realize 1B was Shaw’s original natural position. It seemed like he was billed as a 3B when the Brewers acquired him and that he had played mostly at 3B in his last year in Boston.

Some potential weak spots in the defense tonight. Thames in the OF always scares me and I’m not warm and fuzzy about Shaw at 1B either. Though he can’t really be much worse than Aguilar.

Just in time to use him in relief against the Brewers. I suspect the “illness “ that caused Lester to skip his start Wednesday flared up when they realized Hamels wasn’t going to be able to go on Sunday.

Despite what Counsell says, I have to think that Thames going on the IL is a possibility. His wincing and weak swings the last few days look like someone who could use a few days off. Having the 3 days with the DH next week does add a wrinkle, especially if they anticipate the A’s throwing right handed pitchers.

You can take the boy out of Kewaskum but you can't take Kewaskum out of the boy. I thought he was from Kewaunee? Is it too much to ask for some of these posters to get their facts straight?

I agree. I don’t think there was any discretion in this case. Albers was the pitcher of record when the Brewers took the lead. The scorer’s discretion only kicks in if the relief pitcher who was the pitcher of record is “ineffective in a brief appearance” and at least one succeeding reliever pitches effectively to maintain the lead. Then the scorer can exercise discretion to name the most effective reliever the winner. In this case, because Albers’ brief appearance was effective, he is the winner. But, if he had given up a couple of runs before getting out of the fifth inning, the scorer could have named Hader the WP.

BTW. When are the Brewers going to figure out that Thames is hurt, put him on the IL, and bring up Shaw? I’m sick of watching him wince through wasted ABs.

I don’t think I can watch this ninth inning. Some combination of walks and HRs seems pretty likely.

And then he did anyway.

I think he’s showing the strain of trying to carry a struggling team on his back.

Keep in mind that they won’t have their salaries either and that will give the Brewers an opportunity to pursue other free agents. Hopefully the loss of Grandal and Moustakas (who could possibly be back) could be offset by improvement from other players, especially pitchers, the return of pitchers like Knebel and Wahl, and some new acquisitions.

Even if they decide to rest Yelich, Grandal, Moustakas, and Hiura to make sure they are ready for the Cubs series? All those guys will already have Thursday off. I don't see the need to give them today off as well unless they were specifically hurting. This could mean hiura of course, but we'll see. I'm with willie, I think Brewers blow one open today. I think we win and Josh Hader doesn't have to pitch. I’ll have to figure out how to put my comments in blue because apparently the sarcasm was not obvious enough. So, only Moustakas is sitting out

Even if they decide to rest Yelich, Grandal, Moustakas, and Hiura to make sure they are ready for the Cubs series?

That's because they got to play the Reds and Pirates(twice) coming out of the All Star break..they will return to earth in their next couple series against the Astros and Dodgers. While the Brewers fatten up with 12 straight road games against the Cubs, A’s, Cubs again, and Pirates. The pitching matchups this weekend could be really brutal with Gonzalez, Anderson, and Davies facing Quintana (of course), Darvish, and Hamels (assuming his rehab assignment tonight goes OK).

Looking like another “Salvage Day” tomorrow as the Reds are on the verge of taking the lead in the season series against the Brewers. Good thing this is just one game and doesn’t really matter.

Brewers Run Support by Starter Woodruff (20 GS) 6.4 Peralta (8 GS) 6.0 Chase (15 GS) 5.3 Davies (20 GS) 4.5 Adrian (6 GS) 4.2 Gio (7 GS) 3.9 Jhoulys (18 GS) 3.4 A good deal of that 16-4 record is exceptional hitting support. I said it isn’t “just” run support, not that run support isn’t a factor at all. But, I can’t ignore the fact that Woodruff has 10 quality starts, Davies has 8 and the rest of the staff has a grand total of 7. Sure, he’s had his share of games with a lot of runs scored, but he’s taken advantage of them by covering a lot of innings, maintaining the lead, and saving the bullpen. When a guy can go 8 innings allowing just one baserunner (a solo HR), I’m not going to say he was lucky because the Brewers scored 9 runs that day (some of which were a result of Woodruff’s hitting). Before Sunday’s early departure, Woodruff had gone 6 innings or more in 10 of his previous 11 starts. Considering the “third time through the order” phobia, that’s pretty impressive. No matter how you slice it, the Brewers are unlikely to find another starter (inside or outside the organization) who will be as effective as Woodruff has been.

The Giants are on fire but they still have to play really well over the next 62 games to have a good shot at the WC. 8 games over seems like a realistic low end for the last wild card teams about to buy and bad teams about to sell. That means the Giants have to go 35-27 down the stetch just to hit that low end. Do they believe they can they sustain that kind of run? Any short losing streak makes it very hard. They feel more like the Pirates last year than anything else. I agree with your two posts about the Brewers and Cubs. Obviously I would feel much better about our chances with Woodruff but the Cub's road heavy schedule is nice to see. Cubs also have 10 games vs the Cards, 3 against each the Phillies and Nationals. The Brewers just have 5 against the Cards and 3 against the Nationals. The Brewers on paper have a tough August (If the Rangers and Dbacks sell it gets a little nicer) and a little easier September (starts tough but 17 of last 20 should be against none playoff teams) It seems just as easy to see how the Giants could get to 8 games over .500 as it is to see how the Brewers can get there, especially with the Woodruff injury. The Brewers have gone 16-4 with Woodruff starting and 37-45 in the rest of their games. And that isn’t just good luck and exceptional hitting support. So now the Brewers, who have barely managed to stay above .500 after getting to 10 games over, have to find a way to cover even more innings from the overworked bullpen. In recent weeks we have seen several examples of how the Brewers have trouble finishing games when Hader isn’t available to cover one or two innings. And he can’t cover one or two innings more than about twice a week. It’s really hard to win more than half your games that way, and the Brewers haven’t been able to do that. I would also say that I would bet that the second wild card team will have a record better than 85-77. Teams like the Nationals and Cardinals, who are already 5 or 6 games over despite a lot of injuries, are probably going to end up closer to 90 wins than 85.

Hader did pitch Saturday and Sunday.

Miller Park is the place where last place teams go to get relief.

I’m surprised Thames is OK to play. I wonder if he’ll last through more than one AB, or maybe be a late scratch after BP.

Haven’t heard about any moves, but the Brewers could be short handed tonight. Braun will be out at Tyler Skraggs’ funeral, and you have to wonder if Thames will be available after how he looked at the plate yesterday. That would mean Gamel in left and Aguilar at first and only Pina and Arcia/Saladino off the bench. In other words, basically no pinch hitters. I kind of expected Thames to be put on the IL with Shaw called up.

Calling up one of the AAAA relievers is almost certainly going to be the short term move because they need immediate bullpen help after the heavy load of the weekend and won’t need a fifth starter until later next week. Obviously the real decision comes in the next 10 days. I’m obviously in the minority on this, but I don’t want to see the Brewers give up much of anything for a rental starter. I was skeptical about the Brewers chances to make the playoffs before Woodruff got hurt, and anyone they pick up is likely to be not as good as Woodruff. With so many teams in positions as good as or better than the Brewers, many of them with more resources, and so few teams with decent pitchers selling, the competition will be fierce and the prices will be high. I’d be just as happy to see the Brewers put their hopes on the offense living up to its potential and carrying the team, and accepting the results if that doesn’t work.