BruisedCrew

I guess when Counsell said yesterday that calling up Donaldson wasn't imminent he meant the next few hours.

Maybe I misread the SOS on Fangraphs. They had the Brewers at .488 and the Cubs at .465. Because that was in the section for projected wins and losses and followed the winning percentage for the rest of the season I thought it referred to the SOS for the rest of the season. Maybe that's the SOS to date.

Ironically the game Alcantara started is the one game the Brewers won in that series (by a score of 1-0).

I still have flashbacks to last September when a weak Marlins team came into AFF and all but ended the Brewers playoff hopes by taking 3 of 4. Can’t afford a repeat of that.

I didn’t really make any predictions so I’m not sure what I would be wrong about. On the schedules, I think Fangraphs has the Brewers as having a slightly harder schedule for the rest of the season, but I would agree that they are close enough to be considered comparable. I think that if you break it down, the tougher part of the Cubs schedule, at least on paper, comes in the last week when they play 3 in Atlanta and 3 in Milwaukee. I’m sure Fangraphs can’t take into account any question of whether the Braves may not be fully motivated in the last week. I’m also not sure whether their simulations take into account that Gallen and Kelly will apparently not be pitching against the Cubs. On the other hand the Brewers play the last week at home so their final week schedule looks slightly more favorable than the Cubs’. If they are still leading by 3 games going into that week their projection for winning the division will be significantly higher than it is now.

The Brewers are facing a big challenge the next two weeks. They have 14 games in 14 days with 7 games against the contending Marlins, 3 against the Nats (who have been over .500 since the ASB) and 4 on the road against the Cards who, as the article notes, seem to have found their offense in recent series. Meanwhile, the Cubs have 6 games against the Rockies, 3 at home against the Pirates, and 3 at Arizona, where they may miss both Gallen and Kelly who are scheduled to go Wednesday and Thursday against the Mets. They also have 2 off days to reset themselves. . The Brewers will be doing well if they can get through these two weeks without losing ground to the Cubs.

Lower Fangraphs percentages doesn't necessarily mean worse odds (as in betting odds), but I'm surprised they were that low. Maybe I just had more hope for that team because they finished strong and were coming off of a strong playoff performance the year before. I would quibble about this team being at worst the 6th or 7th best in franchise history, I think you are undervaluing some of the teams from 1978-1992 that were strong teams that did not make the playoffs because of a higher bar and having other extremely strong teams in their division and no wild card berths to bail them out. I can really only speak for myself, but despite being bearish about this team, I am enjoying the season a lot more than those seasons that had bad to mediocre Brewers teams with no shot at making the playoffs. I suspect that a lot of the posters who regularly complain about the 2023 Brewers feel the same way. As long as people are complaining it means they still are interested enough to pay attention. I don't think that criticizing the team (even in harsh terms) and "enjoying the ride" are mutually exclusive. But, though there is always uncertainty about how the season will end, I don't think it's unreasonable to be more positive and enthusiastic when the chances of a positive outcome are a lot less remote than they are this year. If the Brewers beat the Cubs in the final game to win the division, it won't be anywhere near as exciting as it was on the final day in 1982 when the win made the Brewers one of the favorites to win the World Series and there would have been no wild card consolation prize for a loss.

I don’t think it’s irrelevant to recognize that the expanded playoffs have allowed teams into the playoffs that would have been nowhere near them in many past seasons. It wasn’t that long ago that only 4 teams made the playoffs. I also think it’s reasonable for fans to feel better about their team if their chances of playoff success are greater than not being precluded from bucking long odds. If the Brewers do make the playoffs this will probably be the worst odds they have had when entering the postseason, not counting the phony 2020 season and maybe 2008 when they limped in with a weakened pitching staff and a team in a major hitting slump. At least that team had one less round to navigate. The teams in 1981, 1982, 2011, 2018, 2019, and 2021 were, in varying degrees, more impressive teams in absolute terms and relative to the competition than this one.

I was talking about comparing the offensive numbers that you cited not odds for winning the World Series.

How does that compare to the other teams that are likely to be in the NL playoffs.? The Brewers should be compared to championship contenders not bottom feeders. For most of my life being the fourth best team in the league would have meant a 0% chance of making the World Series.

Not a no hitter but Harvey Haddix pitched 12 perfect innings against the Braves in 1959 but lost in the 13th.

Counsell said today that a call up of Donaldson is not imminent.

If Yelich is going to be out a few more days (which wouldn’t surprise me) and the Brewers were to call up Donaldson, they could just plug him in at DH with Canha in the OF. I seriously doubt that they would put him in the field right away.

I think with game threads you have to take into account that each game is a separate event. Fans process every game, every day and then move on to the next day. Today the Brewers did the worst thing they could have done. They not only lost, but they lost in very frustrating and maddening fashion with some questionable managerial decisions (or at least one very notable one) to make it worse. To top it off, they lost a game off their division lead. If you want people to look at the season as a whole while a game is going on and shortly after, a game thread is the wrong place.

They’ll be facing some good pitching against the Marlins. Let’s see what the Brewers can do with them. They are the one playoff contender that compares to the Brewers, but their ballpark is a factor in that.

That’s like a triple loss. Lose a game, lose a game of the lead, and weaken the bullpen with 14 games in 14 days still to go.

A good pitcher is going to work differently with two outs and nobody on than with runners in scoring position.

It still looks bad. The Braves have been coasting since they won the first 3 games of their series against the Dodgers. Or if winning a series against the Dodgers is a sign of a team that is hard to beat maybe we should be more concerned about 7 games against the Cardinals, who also just won a series in Atlanta and are going for a sweep over the Reds today.

The division winner gets the home FIELD advantage but not necessarily home CROWD advantage.

I enjoy the obscure players to go along with the stars, but I do appreciate an ID when using the obscure ones.

I was watching a football game so just finished watching the Brewers recording. I think the most amazing thing was that there was anybody left in the stands at the end. After a 2 1/2 hour rain delay the outfield display in the 8th probably would have sent me home. And if not the bases loaded walks in the 9th would have finished me off. Have to kick those guys in the pinstripes while they’re down.

There is some serious flooding at Yankee Stadium right now.

Cubs take a 1-0 lead. Bellinger hit a mile high popup with two out that the 2B and SS lost in the sun let drop and Hoerner scored from first.

No, but it looks like it could be a significant delay. There are slow moving thunderstorms in the area with heavy rain.