tmwiese55

Bauers must still be nursing those injuries quite a bit to be out vs a lefty.

I'd argue it helped them greatly. First, they didn't have to do the dumb WC round that they've lost in several times. Second, they got up 2-0 in the next round and ultimately won the round. Getting the 1 seed last year was the biggest thing that helped them get past some post season demons last year.

Bet on MKE then. I actually do think their chances are better than what the odds will be set at, so I'd generally agree with your notion. But to the original ;point, they're a dog vs LA no matter who gets the extra game. So I don't value it a ton since no matter what I'm hoping LA gets beat before us, and if not I realize we need a lot of breaks to go our way. But yea, Freeman's power is down, Betts isn't what he was, Teoscar has been bad this year, Tucker has been bad, Ohtani is a tick below his normal hitting, etc. They aren't the unbeatable machine they could be, but come playoffs we all know they'll kick it in, and somehow Kiki will play at a HOF level for 3 weeks. But most importantly, even without Ohtani pitching their starting pitching is head and shoulders above everyone else, barring injury. One thing that could go a long way is one of the starters going down and not being able pitch playoffs.

For 1 game with Miz on mound sure. I meant the whole series though. They'd still be clear dogs (assuming normal health from LAD). Maybe my word 'huge' is a bit off in baseball due to even the biggest still being like 35% to win a series. but they'd be clear dogs probably in the 57/43 range for the series For example: with the assumption we'll be 1 and them 2 right now, LA is +100 vs MKE +325 to win the NL

I've been thinking the 2 is the best spot for a while. Sure you lose HF vs LAD if you play them, but you're a massive dog vs them no matter where it is. Your real hope is that someone beats LA before us anyway (them dropping to the 3 would be great) and if that happens you still have HF vs everyone else. But its not like they should tank to chase the 2. Things could still work themselves out with the Cubs dropping to 6 or maybe Phil catching ATL. Side note, is today the Cubs inevitably catch us in the standings according to real truth tellers?

If the QB doesn't get hurt this year, I'd expect them to make a bowl with 6 or 7 wins since the schedule is so light. Which I think is enough for them to keep him around another year since it shows progress. With their logic mostly being that the money to buy him out and for a new coach would be better spent on players. I haven't looked in a bit so memory might be off, but every year or two more they get out of him reduces that cost. And the bs one year extensions every year do not change the buyout, hopefully that hasn't changed. I'll put the caveat on there that in their losses there isn't a big time blowout to a team the likes of Iowa/MN/MSU etc. If you lose to them its ok as long as you play real games vs them then its progress. Just get the two cupcake Ws, roughly split against the winnable remaining games, don't get blown the F out by other blah B1G teams, stop fumbling kicks every game, is enough progress. Step 1 is to actually roll over the crap team this weekend instead of struggling vs teams like this as they have the last few years. Anything less than that though, yea I agree he's gone. Even if the QB injury excuse is there again

I'll admit they looked way more competent than the past two seasons. Can take some good positives from the 1H. And generally speaking, I think the D will be fine/competent. In addition, take away the terrible ref call to give them a free TD and it does change the game quite a bit. I know they wouldn't have won, but could've hung around a lot longer. Perhaps not being down as much leads to less pressure to throw and the pick 6 doesn't happen. Next thin you know its the 4th Q and maybe you're only down 7-10 and can claim you hung with a clear top 10 team. But ultimately in the first quarter of the season, after talking all offseason how this year is gonna be different they had: a fumbled kick, fumbled snap at critical point, and a dumb 15 yd personal foul. 3 of the main things that have plagued the whole Fickell era and the lack of discipline, attention to detail, coaching, etc. At this point, they should be fair catching every kick.

Side note, its kind of surprising Ross hasn't popped back up as a manager somewhere. He did a perfectly fine job there. He was probably content collecting his free money for a year or two but you'd think his name would've been out there again by now.

Yea that and it was the 5th or 6th inning and Vaughn had just hit, I think. So they were probably figuring just 1 more AB for Frelick at that point, and it didn't turn out that way. Plus if this is going to be a consistent route then Vaughn can't bat after Turang since its an automatic lefty to coming in for Turang/Frelick then since turang can't touch lefties. The unfortunate part on Bauers D in RF right now is that he's pretty clearly banged up in his lower body. OF course I'd never have called him good at RF D two months ago either, but lately he's clearly a step slow and off so its noticeable how bad he is. Which makes sense with balls off his feet, broken toe, those belly flop slides, etc. Seems he's taken a beating lately. And unfortunately this is the best way to keep the best hitters in the lineup. But with that I do get why they might yank a bit early especially with a lead to get one of the great defenders in there instead, especially when its likely only one more AB. The way things are going there should be plenty of times for rest by the end of the month

Since late May he as like a 1.1 OPS. Its genuinely crazy and much closer to that freak bonds level than people realize. ANd if I remember right June/July area he was like 1.3 or something even crazier. But yes, obviously much more easily done since he's not massively pitched around (though being pitched around so much to automatically give a .450 OBP is a bit of 'cheat' on ops). But, pitching is also much more difficult to hit now than it was then. But yea while I respect it as real at this point, there's no way I expect him to be a consistent 1.1+ ops with 50+ HR and 45 SB type from here out which is what his late May til now pace would be

To me its just the dumb jock bro vibe he gives off that annoys me. Prior to this year I didn't think much due to his offense being blah. He sucked on O to finish last year and started out trash this year. So I thought his 1H last year was a fluke. But after whatever date his turnaround started this year he's been neer Bonds level on O, while being elite at D. So its not like war type stuff is purely from D. I'm still not convinced his O can't be brought down by smarter pitching as he does still seem to chase too much. But this has been going on long enough that you have to respect it as real.

There is literally no evidence of this. They actually had a whole thing today about how the cubs were doing all they could to help and make sure there isn't any issue. They even let him do a bullpen on the game mound which is out of the norm to help him. There will be 20+ pitchers that pitch on this in this series without issue. There will be 20+ in the next series at Wrigley and there will be no problems. And on and on and on for all other parks you call '****' because 1 player complains. this is evidence that it is not "$hit". And yes, him having extra long extension is a him problem if he's extending too far thus hurting his landing. Its not on the league to create new mounds to cater to him. And, there has been tons of 6'7+ players with long extension too that have no issue They should be making the mound just like they do for every game, however that it is. Now, IDK what norms are or if its normal for starters to ask for things done in a certain way, if it is then he should be allowed just like anyone else. But if its not, then us demanding he gets special treatment isn't fair. Also, if tweaking game to game based on players is not a normal thing. Its kind of bush league if MKE is doctoring their mound to favor him against tradition norms and especially actual rules. If mounds have been made one way forever, he needs to adapt to it. Again, I think a lot of it is mental and then anytime he has a bad pitch he blames it on that instead of what he did wrong. He needs to clear this from his head one way or the other.

How do you feel accusing it of being a **** mound based on the 1 person in the whole league saying it or having a problem with it? There is no evidence of the mounds being any different for him than they are for everyone else. there is no evidence of them being ****. He is the only common denominator on this issue. He is the problem

Well then he has to reduce his stride a smidge and give up an inch or two of advantage. This is likely just how mounds have been made for years and years. Pretty pretty pretty far stretch to be jumping to a conspiracy theory. There's been other 6'7+ guys with long strides that haven't had the problem. This likely just how mounds have been made forever and he's extending too much and slides a bit much. We can't expect them to go out of their way to do something different just for him. And really, I don't even see him slide or have an issue on the throws. he then kicks at it. Maybe digging it up on his own in between pitches isn't the best thing to be doing either. IMO its mostly in his own head at this point. ETA: like every time I'd miss a shot at pick up basketball it was because my hands were wet, lol

Yea this has gotten in his head and he has to get it corrected. He's the common denominator here, no other pitchers are having these issues. He's the one doing something different than the norm. Maybe need longer cleats or just have to start taking slightly smaller strides, idk

How long do we continue to bury our head in the sand regarding how awful Turang is vs lefties? Have to start moving him down in the lineup at some point

They did win a round last year though. And due to the bye essentially won two rounds last year. Much better than the previous 5ish seasons of losing immediately in the WC round. Don't get me wrong, we all want the WS but it seems a bit overboard that this narrative has continued this year even though they did win a round last year. And I don't mean to call you out for one random comment, which does voice the overall frustration we all have with wanting the WS, I mean it more towards we still see the narrative all over online and talked about on MLB tv. I guess its a byproduct of the Ringz culture of the last 20ish years

also the draft pick they got ended up being Blake Burke who tore it up in AA this year and I think just got up to AAA. Obviously who knows on prospects, but he has a legit shot too

They'd have had it for the last like 4-5 years. We have no idea what they would've done. Maybe the keep Hader, maybe they would've locked up Turang or Contreras. We have no idea. Or even just whatever mediocre OF that would've been playing instead of him in the playoffs all these years might've done something to help the team win and go deeper. We have no idea. But chances are, as far as on the baseball field, that 25 mil per year would've been better spent elsewhere the last several years and the next two still to come. But yea, who knows if they'd have won more rounds in the playoffs, etc. Its a funky game. But we know yelich has contributed basically 0 in the playoffs all these years while being paid the most. And you know there's no way they're going to publicly admit its handcuffing them. But cmon, this offseason you have your DH slot locked into a 25 mil per year player who can't contribute anywhere on D and is likely to hit league avg or worse. That in itself is handcuffing your roster building. And keep in mind this coming from someone who's a bit of yelich defender as far as he isn't as bad as folks make him out to be. He was perfectly good last year. I think the bashing is a bit overblown. But to me its clearly a mistake on the contract considering they would've known by the end of the original that he wasn't worth it. I don't really know how it can even be argued otherwise.

Sure, I'm aware all of that was a factor. But I don't think there's any doubt in hindsight they would not have done the deal. They would've generated more good will, money, fandom, etc by having 25 mil extra to spend per year to have hopefully helped them win more or retain other players who could be the next stars. Of course, those potential moves are impossible to know or argue. But considering the first year after signing it became apparent the injury really hurt him it was clearly a mistake.

Anyone know why the trend now when position players pitch is to throw slow pitch softball style instead what it used to be of just throwing normal balls on a line but obviously slower than a normal pitcher?

Yea perfect timing for Wilson to have a minor issue. He and Anderson would be the ones in jeopardy with Uribe/Romero back. Now you can keep Wilson in the system and maybe bring him back to eat some innings the last few weeks when things are hopefully wrapped up. Plus, he's done a good job for MKE so you feel a bit bad having to cut him. This way he can keep collecting an MLB check he deserves, gets to hang around a WS contender the rest of the season and possibly even get to sit the bench in the playoffs and enjoy the experience with the team he's had the most success with (not sure how that works for sure if he's not on the playoff roster).

And he still had 3 if not 4 years left on his original deal so there was no rush to do it. Granted, 1-2 more Bonds level seasons would've put him out of consideration for extension with MKE. But both he and Braun were avoidable mistakes since they had several years left on their original deals when they got extended into their mid 30s

As of now it seems they'll have a good window to get this in, or at least get in Miz's 6 innings. Best case is winning handily like 5-0 after 6 and game gets called

They found the off day vs a lefty for Turang I think I mentioned a few days ago. Though my idea was to do it today and have Vaughn at 3B, though that's a bit less needed if they wanted Bauers another day off. Plus you gotta get hamilton in there