MrTPlush

His career high in innings was 158 in 2016. Innings are usually a concern for young pitchers and those coming off major injuries. As years have gone on the whole innings limit/concern isn’t what it once was anyway.

Didn’t four of them go pro overseas? I’m not a Badgers fan so I don’t really follow them…so maybe they want to go pro overseas and haven’t actually signed with anyone, idk. If they have, sounds like their careers are just fine.

For reference, he was 1-3 with a walk his last ‘debut’ after coming back from AAA.

Sounds like it may take till 2026 or something like that. The current contract runs another ~4 years. They would have to get all the bowl games on board with it etc etc etc. The interview I saw the guy didn't say it would be impossible to get it sooner, but he said no one should really bank on it before then. You don't even need the lesser teams to win, even ever. An occasional upset would bring enough excitement to those lesser schools and fans in general. While it wouldn't be some mid major Loyola or FGCU, I still think fans would get giddy when Oklahoma/LSU/etc. lose to Nebraska or whoever it may be. I saw that the 5-8 seeds would actually get to host the first round at their stadium. Even if those teams get blown out in the second round consistently that would be huge. Can you imagine if Wisconsin got to host a playoff/bowl game at Camp Randall?

He called it before it hit the ground, so I will give the ump a break. He camped under it and he called the infield fly. Unfortunately, a millisecond later the fielder realizes he was indeed not under it. It was shallow. If that fell by his feet we are getting doubled up. You wish it wasn't called till a guy fakes that and ends the inning with your runners looking dumb.

Honestly I care how much Hiura is whiffing compared to actually putting the ball in play. The K-rate is great and all, but he is walking at like a 14% clip at AAA...MLB pitchers don't walk Hiura at that kind of rate. At the MLB level they blow it past him and he strikes out instead of walking him, hence a walk rate less than half that at the MLB level. I don't think it is totally wrong to look at his rate of striking out compared to ABs instead of PAs. His low K-rate at AAA is pretty misleading because I doubt he has magically found out how to walk twice as often. That being said he was still striking out less his second go around...but we are talking really small sample sizes and the K numbers still royally suck.

Though I agree with the theory you're putting forth here, I just don't know how applicable it is. Wisconsin's system has been Wisconsin's system for what, 30 years? These guys knew the score. If they didn't, that's more than a little on them. It also requires you to believe that Gard is dishonest, at least in a recruiting sort of way, which goes contrary to everything I've heard and even know first hand (vaguely) about him and his family. Is he probably telling them they're the greatest and they'll really help Wisconsin win like every coach is? Sure. But is he telling them he's getting them a path to the NBA lottery? I find that doubtful.... To be fair they were switching coaches around the time most of these guys came in. It wouldn't be crazy to believe the new coach (especially if he said it) things might be changing. Of course they did give the job to Gard who came right from under the old coach, so no one should have expected much change. I would tend to believe Gard is a bit dishonest in some ways when it comes to coaching the team. I don't think the majority of the team gets this upset because they are babies and unreasonable individuals. Many of them even acknowledged Gard changed in a satisfactory way after Kobe King left, but then went back down the drain. That leads me to think the players didn't have unreasonable expectations and that Gard could indeed please them. I guess one will see what the future holds, but obviously Gard was massive failure at coaching those kids. To have the entire senior class think that poorly of the coach (and I am sure more guys on the team had issues) just has no excuse. Maybe he will learn from it to coach similar guys better or maybe he will recruit differently. He has got to be way better though.

Probably some hullabaloo with the "re-opening day" stuff, combined with the Bucks being in the Eastern Conference finals. Ahh yes, I knew there was some kind of reason. Probably would have gotten more people not trying to make it a gimmicky "opening day" style time. They are no where near selling out that game.

No. It's being lazy and inconsiderate, not "fine". I don't know how else you would explain not taking the simple steps to put a cart back where it belongs when you are done using it so that it does not block a spot or possibly roll into someone's car. So many people out there who believe they are "special". I'm guessing I'm going to get responses stating certain cases where it's not being rude (someone who is disabled, etc). May be true, but clearly the minority of incidents of this behavior. He is saying it is fine to leave it in the cart stall...where it belongs. He isn't saying it is fine to leave it randomly in the lot or in a parking space.

This is basically Keston's last chance before the deadline to prove himself.

Why is the entire upcoming Rockies series afternoon games. 3:05 PM on a Friday?

Gard’s #1 goal may be winning games, but these players surely had expectations/wants when they were recruited. If they want to be prepared for a pro career, you promise that, and don’t actually do that guys are going to get mad. Pretty much every player referred to Gard saying one thing and doing another. Saying something just to appease guys in the moment is a short term fix and a long term problem. Seems like a few specifically stated lies or shortcomings from what they were told in the recruiting process. Sounds like Gard needs to start being a bit more honest even if it isn’t what someone wants to hear. Don’t lie to keep them around. Let them leave and find a better fit for the roster/goals.

Since the end of last season Ryan Braun has picked up a bat like two times. Once to practice for an old man HR Derby and the other time was to play in it. Pretty sure any guy with a sliver of thought he might play this year would actually be practicing occasionally and staying in baseball shape. It appears that is not happening. If we want a .281 OBP bat in our line up I think we can find one a decade younger that is already up to speed and in baseball shape.

It is all relative. Obviously someone in sports or on ESPN is comparing it to other cities with pro sports because that is what they experience on a daily basis. They aren't comparing Milwaukee to Birmingham or Greensboro. Then you consider the fact they all live in LA or New York...then yah, small market Milwaukee in the midwest is probably comical to them. Many people in Milwaukee probably think LA is a dump and you couldn't pay them to live there. I hate Chicago and I am sure many people think it is the most glamorous place on earth.

I thought the comments were pretty douchey, but when it comes to other large cities with pro teams....Milwaukee does kind of suck. I just thought it was strange they decided to go dump on Milwaukee/Phoenix. Phoenix is nice unless they are hung up on the weather aspect. I don't recall them dumping on Cleveland when LeBron was taking them to the finals. I get they are LA/New York people and Milwaukee is a trash can compared to those massive cities...but jeez. Probably has more to do with them being mad the large market teams with the flashy big time players are not making it to the finals for them. There was also a guy absolutely ripping on the Bucks during the telecast that had the draft lottery. One guy basically said the only reason Milwaukee won was because of the Nets injuries and the Bucks defensive game plan was trash. One of the other guys did come in and defend the Bucks and praised their defensive plan against Durant...saying Lopez defended him better than just about anyone has.

What if you have two undefeated teams? Ironically UCF finished #12 in the final playoff rankings when they went 12-0.

They likely won't, but they probably should fire him. Sorry...but some of those comments are pretty brutal and the fact that many players thought Gard was a horrible coach and treated them like garbage is terrible. Everyone wanted to say Kobe King was the problem, but looks like most of these guys thought Gard was a problem back then, Gard changed a bit, but then went back in the sewer as a coach. Seemed there were 2-3 comments in there from anonymous players regarding this leak and they think Gard still didn't hear them out and still doesn't get them. That is probably the worst part of this entire thing. Two years of major problems and yet...it apparently is no better now. Dekker's tweets...I am still not even sure the point he was trying to make in his tweets. As far as Ben Brust, idk, he is basically calling them soft. That seems like a lot of soft players and even if they are maybe Gard should learn how to coach them. Because when the entire team thinks you suck, that is pretty good proof you sucked at doing your job. While both Dekker/Brust played while Gard was an assistant neither of them have any idea how Gard runs a program as the head guy. While there were some example in the meeting (terrible communication, not having their backs) it seems like a lot of it went far beyond the court. While they didn't lose an underclassman, they certainly lost a ton of players because of this that could have come back. Who knows how this leaked meeting will affect things in the future. It probably isn't uncommon to have disconnect with a player here and there, but pretty concerning to have such widespread issues over the course of multiple years.

People are going to say it is way too many teams, but I think 12 might be better than the 6 or 8 team playoffs some have proposed in the past. 12 teams allows a complete round that avoids the top 4 teams playing anyone. This could, in theory, make a very competitive first round of the playoffs. The problem I see with 6 or 8 teams is the first round that features those 'expansion teams' just getting shelled making it seem like waste. 12 teams will not only make it plausible for any team to make the playoff, but the first round featuring those teams should be fairly competitive/exciting. I think it is a big win for college football to do it. The current set up has become problematic when it features the same 3 teams with one other spot usually dominated by another small set of schools. Will the eventual winner still be Clemson/Alabama/Ohio State 99% of the time? Maybe, but at least other teams will have a chance and will occasionally maybe make a shocking run. Everyone loves the March Madness even though past the top 4 seeds the teams basically have no shot.

The Bucks certainly benefitted due to the injuries and they probably don't win the series if that doesn't happen. That being said it is a part of the game and certainly a defining characteristic of that Nets team. Not like they suddenly ran into tragic injuries, an injury prone team got some injuries. Always ways you can spin it to be "why we helped ourselves win" or "why the other team handed us the win". The Bucks certainly flipped a switched internally, for the better, in Game 3. The first two games they looked confused and unprepared. Come Game 3 things slowly got better as the series went on.

Most of the grocery stores by me that I frequent are set up like a Menards. The In/Out are separate so leaving your cart by the out is probably more of an inconvenience than just putting it in the cart return. When people leave it in the store it isn't like they all get nicely stacked together. They just push them off to the side. 10 carts later it looks like a warzone.

Bucks would have to have multiple guys excessively blow the entire series. Like Middleton/Holiday both just flat out suck. Thankfully Holiday will probably not be as bad as he was against the Nets. Anything could happen though. If the Bucks drop one of the first two games they then have to go on the road. Then you could certainly see the possibility of splitting those. Suddenly you are down to a 3 game series. Even if the series goes terribly I am guessing the Bucks would still win it. If Atlanta were to win I am guessing they would need to win one of the first two games and then win on the road in a Game 7...I just can't see them going into Milwaukee and winning multiple times. We had to sweat out a series win against the Nets because one player turned on god-mode, thankfully the Hawks don't have that kind of player.

It is a pretty different animal. You got guys trying to work on pitches so they won't necessarily pitch Hiura in the best way possible. Hiura is going to benefit heavily if a pitcher is suppose to be working on off speed stuff...pretty common in AAA. There also probably isn't as much scouting and heavy game plans like you will see at the MLB level. AAA pitching isn't that good though. The AAA - East has 8 qualified pitchers with a sub 4 ERA. The #4 guy has an ERA of 3.60. They really don't light the world on fire. It isn't that rare for a guy to mash AAA pitching and be clueless against MLB pitching, hence the term AAAA player. It very common to be honest.

I was more referring to the entire situation in general. It is such a joke I almost want the most comical next chapter in the story possible. I see how you would take that the wrong way as I only mentioned Murphy. I have never been a Murphy fan though and his constant mentions to the situation is kind of annoying to me. Rodgers is pretty annoying himself with the cryptic stuff every once in awhile. At this point any time I see something related to Rodgers and the Packers all I can do is laugh...the whole thing is dumb and its just a media circus.

Well it has been basically a month since they said months away. Bullpens start pretty light so he is still probably on a trajectory of August to be on the MLB squad. Figure he does bullpens for awhile and then has a pretty lengthy rehab assignment. Being a bullpen arm maybe we could see him sooner than that...but I doubt they rush him and I am guessing we acquire a pitcher(s) late July to make it even less urgent. Trading for an arm and then banking on a decent Topa return might be a route for Stearns to go.

The D Backs have only won 6 times since the start of May, they also had a 13 game losing streak in May, and their only win this month was June 1st. I don't think it is even possible to play worse than the D Backs have the past few months.