RollieTime

Huge fan of Shaw, but this is exactly right. Some players take offense to being demoted and I think Shaw will be disappointed, but he’s a guy who will understand that he’s not producing and has to be better if he wants to start on a contending team. Once he finds his stroke in the minors, you bring him back up. I think Shaw will have a couple more weeks of at bats to see if he can get it going, but if he is still struggling at that point and Hiura is crushing the ball all over the diamond, a move has to be made.

Hiura is a man among boys right now. It’s just ridiculous. If the rotation continues to stabilize, one option they could consider is sending down a bullpen arm to make room for Hiura. If they had all of Hader, Jeffress, Guerra, Burnes, and Williams in the bullpen, they have plenty of guys that can go 2+ innings in a pinch. Wilkerson and Houser can be used in that role as well. Throwing Claudio and Albers into the mix, I think they could manage pretty well.

Yelich with a bomb into the third deck in right. The pop he has is insane.

I don’t think Pina is going to be DFA’d if that’s what you’re suggesting. He does not have any options available so that isn’t a possibility. He has put together a couple good years and is fantastic defensively. He will hit better. He only has 32 at bats this season with very sporadic playing time. It’s tough to be sharp when playing so little.

Looking at the bullpen, I think Hader will be available for an inning. Jeffress and Houser can both probably pitch an inning today. Claudio should be good to go for an inning as well. As it sits right now, that’s probably about all they have available. I would imagine that a starter would be brought up and kept available incase of another extra inning affair where they need a guy for 5-6 innings. I think they will be fine for today. Davies is just going to have to pitch at least 6 innings regardless of how he is doing. Hopefully he dominates today and the bullpen is able to get a break.

Braun with a 6 hit night and the walk off hit to win the longest game in Miller Park history! What a special night for him and the Brewers!

Nice first half for Connaughton tonight. Bledsoe needs to get it going.

I find it funny how Manfred is all about speeding up the game to try to interest younger fans, but at the same time, wants more scoring to make it more interesting. If they are truly juicing the ball and changing it in some way like it’s rumored to be, pitchers are having to learn how to throw a different ball that has lower laces and a much different feel in the hand. This will lead to less control, most likely more walks, and more homeruns because of mistake pitches. So not only are pitchers throwing more pitches trying to get a feel with the new balls, there are more walks and more homeruns, leading to longer games. This is in an era where players are striking out at alarming rates as well, increasing at bat lengths and game time. Maybe it’s just me, but it’s funny how Manfred wants shorter game lengths, but more scoring. While at the same time changing the ball where pitchers have to in a way relearn how to pitch with the new ball. The logic of the entire situation is really something else...

I think Woodruff is similar to Nelson in that it’ll take him a couple years to settle in and be a staple in the rotation. He will definitely have his ups and downs this season, but he should have a solid season overall. Hopefully he can get 25 starts or so this season to get him some experience and build off of that heading into next season.

Brauny baby!

Brauny baby!

Or our expectations for these guys were out of whack. Impossible! We have 4 aces with a 5th one in Nelson returning soon!

Scary play there for Gray. Good thing he got his glove up in time to block it from hitting him in the head.

This. Grandal would be traded and Moose would be another option to be moved. Braun isn’t going anywhere, Shaw, Cain, and Yelich are all staying. Arcia could maybe be a trade candidate if the price is right. Otherwise I don’t see too many guys on the move.

Yes, thank you. It's anything but rigid, just like the model to have the starter go 7 followed by a set-up man and closer isn't anything more than a daily goal. It's something you hope for but adjust accordingly. And the dual starter model isn't an equal dose of both by target or plan. If one guy gives you 5, the other might only throw 2-3. The guy who goes 5 will be down for more days than the guy who goes 2-3. Maybe they flip roles and reverse their order of appearance if they happen to throw in the same next game. (The one who started last time relieves, while the one who came out of the pen, gets to start his next time out.) People are used to a set 5-man rotation and I get that. This completely scraps that and wouldn't have a set schedule. Which is probably why it's so hard to pin down. You play matchups and availability. And you cover for the shorter starts by having more starter-like pitchers. They're already shortening these starts, they may as well have a staff constructed to better handle it. And the upside gained is taking advantage of pitchers' general dominance over batters when avoiding a 3rd look on a given day. I admit I could be wrong, but it seems like you explain your plan differently every time. They're not going to flip SP and reliever roles back and forth. Why? They haven't, are not, and won't do anything close to this scheme. I really don't understand what is being acccomplished here, other than making things way more complicated than necessary. More relief pitchers who can go multiple innings? Sure. Every team is trying to do that. But making the rotation a merr-go-round, not so much. Here is a quote from “The Future of Pitching” thread. It is full of him verifying that pitchers should be used in totally unconventional ways. He was saying to take the GREATEST pitcher in the game and using him to finish games. And now he’s completely changing it and saying that pitchers will go 7 innings sometimes. Let me get this straight. So if a pitcher is struggling, he gets pulled early. But if he does well, he pitches 7 innings? That’s literally how baseball is played today! Good thing we heard about this new revolutionary tactic in baseball all offseason! You already backtracked on everything you said and want people to believe you’re still ahead of the game with your ideas. Everybody needs to go read that thread

So now you don’t think piggybacking makes much sense or tandems and feel that they won’t have rigid roles? You can’t have two pitchers throw 4 or 5 innings and 80 pitches and somehow pitch one or two days later to avoid “piggybacking”. The guys will need either 3 or 4 days off if they throw that many pitches. If teams were to start going this route of trying to get 4 innings from a couple guys per game, what’s going to happen when you burn through 8 pitchers in a two game span because they all got lit up and threw a bunch of pitches? Since they don’t have strict piggybacking roles, are you bringing in a guy to pitch 3 innings after throwing 65 pitches only 2 days prior? What about that dreaded 16 inning game where you burn through 6 multi inning guys? I don’t see baseball going this piggybacking route at all. It’s difficult enough finding 5 quality big league starters. Look at what the Brewers were getting from their starters so far this season. A lot of those runs were being scored in the first three innings so piggybacking wouldn’t of been a revolutionary change. Our starting pitching couldn’t even get through 4 innings without giving up 4 or more runs. You can keep suggesting these ideas, but there isn’t a single team in baseball that could implement this strategy effectively by having 10 arms that can throw 4 innings each of mostly effective baseball by only allowing one or two runs. It just won’t happen. If a team had that many arms that could hold down their opponent every single day, there would be a 130 game winner in baseball. Not even the Yankees, Dodgers, Red Sox, Cardinals, or Astros have 10 starting pitchers that are all highly effective. That doesn’t even include injuries to 3 or 4 of those guys. Now you need 13-14 3 or 4 inning pitchers at the least. Not sure how a team could fit all of those high quality pitchers onto a payroll and somehow field an adequate offense to go along with it. This idea is getting way more run than it deserves. If anything, Stearns is trying to use relief pitchers like teams did in the 70’s and 80’s where they would pitch multiple innings. It is not some new concept. It isn’t some new term that you tried to use first so you can take credit for being the first to say it and be able to say “I told you so”. Teams see the value in multi inning relievers and realize that they are weapons used to shut down the opponent for a couple innings. If they were prevalent in the sport, teams wouldn’t covet them. There aren’t that many pitchers that can do it. Usage of relief pitchers from the 80’s could be making a comeback. Just like I think hitters will start to go back to striking out less, putting the ball in play more, spray hitting, and not trying to hit a home run in every at bat. Will it take years to implement? Absolutely because players need to see the value in that and strive to become hitters like that. If it happens, did I discover a new concept? I would say no.

If it’s a back issue, put him on the IL and be done with it. Don’t mess around with a back issue and make it worse. Bring up Hiura, Gamel plays everyday in the outfield with Perez as the backup. Moose, Shaw, and Thames can split time between first and third (with Thames strictly at first or on the bench).

Braun was trying to catch an Alonso hit ball near the wall and a fan dumped a beer on him while he was going for it. The liquid hit him in two separate splashes of beer, the first was smaller and the second soaked him. Braun pointed to it has he went for the ball he missed, and Alonso ended up with a “triple” that was then upheld after a review. Here is a photo.... Thanks, looks like an ejectionable offense to me since he is clearly reaching into the field of play and causing something to make contact with a player. Can’t umpires rule plays like that as an “out” if they feel like the player was going to make the play if not for the interference?

What was the play with Braun getting a drink dumped on him?

Interesting indeed. Woodruff in the 8 hole? Why isn’t he hitting cleanup? What is Counsell thinking?

Nice to see a 10 spot put up without any homeruns. Hopefully it’s a sign of things to come with guys playing a little small ball and manufacturing some runs instead of being so homerun reliant.

Honest question, what do the Packers have as legit slot receiver options going into the season as it stands right now? Allison can play some inside I guess, but do they have any other options as it stands? Really really disappointed that Ridley went to the Bears. He’s going to be a stud for them and a thorn in our side for a while. With what’s left in the wide receiver group, I don’t see anyone that will be of much help right away. There could be a guy they can develop, but there isn’t a guy to step in to effectively replace Cobb this season. Packers have a big hole at slot in my opinion.

Really liked the selections in the 2nd and 3rd rounds. I’m hoping the Packers trade into the 4th round and draft WR Riley Ridley. I’m expecting the Packers to look for a replacement for Cobb and I think Ridley could be that guy. He can also do some damage on special teams as a punt and kick returner if the Packers decide to go that route.

Taking Gary at 12 is a head scratcher to me. I don’t like taking a guy that really didn’t play that well in college and expect him to be a difference maker at the next level. I don’t see Gary having much of a positive impact for us anytime soon and would of preferred to see the Packers take Sweat or trade down with who was available at that time. Savage is a solid pick that should help from Day 1. I was a little higher on Nasir Adderley and was hoping he would be the safety we would target with the number 30 pick, but you can’t teach speed and the type of instincts that Savage possesses. Savage is a nice addition to pair with Adrian Amos.

Fair points guys. Mentioning somebody’s past miscarriages is beyond low. I don’t know him personally at all obviously and I’m sure if the Packers have legit interest, they will scour every aspect of his life to check for past instances of physical altercations or extreme anger issues. I think the way he handled it is still very concerning as he could of pulled the lady off and ended it in a better way. He’s a massive guy. I would still pass on him as the multiple blows to her head/shoulder area seems like he has issues controlling his anger and that can lead to other past altercations arising or future altercations all the more likely to occur.