Ron Robinsons Beard

If this weird season has taught us anything, it's that we have a foundation of solid arms to build around. Devin Williams's performance is making it much more palatable to accept that Hader may likely be traded for offense this offseason.

Yep, zero excuse for pulling Urias there. Terrible managerial decision. Urias is also a better defender than Sogard.

Don't jinx it!

Hendricks is on the hill tomorrow, which means we'll likely see Gyorko, Taylor and perhaps Braun back on the bench. Sogard is guaranteed to start once this series, if not both Saturday and Sunday.

I agree, Skip Bayless is very good at what he does -- he's very close to being Stephen Colbert from the Colbert Report. Which would actually be a great character for a sports-related show. Except that everyone who watched the Colbert Report was in on the joke.

The only way Fox will do anything about Bayless is if sponsors start pulling ads. Unfortunately, most of those sponsors likely also are happy with the added publicity.

Same deal here, only I'm playing against Deshawn Watson. He was terrible last night until he got a couple garbage time TDs in the 4th.

Too soon

He's likely got four starts left after today. If he can go 4-0, average 7 innings a start, and the team makes the playoffs ... he still probably doesn't stand a chance against the much more recognizable Darvish and DeGrom.

Probably should have been seeing him as soon as Cain opted out.

So ... when is the lineup today just going to be "the lineup"? Gyorko should be the everyday 1B, and Braun and Vogelbach can split time at DH, with Braun also seeing time in RF so he's in the lineup nearly every day.

Problem is I'm sure every team in MLB would also like to flip their aging positional talent for younger alternatives.

That's only true if you truly believe that Houser's last 6 games pitching during this weird pandemic year is truly who he is as a starter. I'm not convinced yet that that's the case, although the evidence is beginning to mount. Yeah, he was lights out as a reliever, but I think you'd find that a lot of MLB starters have put up better numbers out of the pen than in the rotation. I think it's likely that he starts 2021 as the team's #3 or #4 starter, but will likely have a bit of a shorter leash based on the inconsistency he's shown this year. He's pitching about as well as he did a season ago as a starter. We seem to want to make excuses for him and his poor results. At what point is it enough data? He wasn't very good in the minors as a starter. He hasn't been good as a major league starter. He has shown to have elite stuff in the pen and on a good team, could be a difference maker back there. Right now he's just a "guy" in a rotation that happens to be able to throw enough pitches to get to 4-5 innings. Why not maximize what he is? If he was a younger guy, I might think differently but he's not. He'll be in the rotation until they have a better option to replace him with. Right now "just a "guy" in a rotation that happens to be able to throw enough pitches to get to 4-5 innings" is good enough to hold down a solid rotation spot given the lack of options. Hopefully if these guys continue to improve and develop, and Houser doesn't improve, moving him to the pen in favor of a better rotation option will be a viable option. Right now it isn't.

That's only true if you truly believe that Houser's last 6 games pitching during this weird pandemic year is truly who he is as a starter. I'm not convinced yet that that's the case, although the evidence is beginning to mount. Yeah, he was lights out as a reliever, but I think you'd find that a lot of MLB starters have put up better numbers out of the pen than in the rotation. I think it's likely that he starts 2021 as the team's #3 or #4 starter, but will likely have a bit of a shorter leash based on the inconsistency he's shown this year.

That'll happen when you blow out your elbow when you're on the cusp of the major leagues, and miss over a year and a half because of it. And Lindblom las less than 200 MLB innings because he has 830 KBO innings on his resume. The work is going to fall on Counsell, not Stearns, because the only question is where these guys are going to slot into the rotation. Have to think that Woodruff and Burnes are locks. I'd like to see Peralta get another look. Lauer is going to get another chance. Anderson has probably pitched well enough that they may look to re-sign him.

Tougher schedule, and they probably played above their heads a bit last year. But they were also playing under a 1st-year head coach and a new offensive system. I think the offense takes a step up this year, while the defense has perhaps has fewer big plays, but plays more consistently. I think Gary puts up a 10-sack season and shuts up all the doubters. Christian Kirksey is also going to be very good in this defense. Offensively, I'm excited to see Dillon get some run. They haven't had a bruising tailback like him since the days of Dorsey Levens (Lacy was a bruiser, but just didn't have any juice). Also excited to see how they integrate Deguara into the offense. My sleeper for a breakout is Malik Taylor. They really seem to love the kid, and dropped a valuable known commodity in Jake Kumerow to hang onto him, when they probably very easily could have passed him off to the practice squad. That tells me there must be something there that they really like. I think this team's sweet spot is 11-5, with the possibility of a game each way.

Adrian Houser this season: First 2gs: 2-0, 0.75 ERA, 0.92 WHIP Last 6gs: 0-4, 7.45 ERA, 1.62 WHIP I was hoping to be wrong and said it in this thread. I don’t think I am and the numbers continue to pile up. Yeah. I still have hope, but he is pitching like crap. Not sure how much proof you can get out of this pandemic season, but he is certainly going to be on notice going into next year. Right now it is looking like I could be wrong, again. Why can't this team develop nice things?

Well, I did say a huge step. I say that because last season they were an 8 or 9 win team that found a way to somehow win 13. They won't get that lucky this year. Oh. Well this could be true. Could be... Still see too many standing out the mountain top trying to be the smartest in the room saying how bad the Packers will be because they didn’t get the WR they wanted in the draft. Not saying that’s what you are doing but Packers fans have become some of the most annoying fan bases. Spot on. Love the Packers. Hate their fan base. Too full of cynical wanna-be GMs.

Nice to see Gyorko back in there against a righty. He's another one who should be playing every day until further notice.

Nice to see Gyorko back in there against a righty. He's another one who should be playing every day until further notice.

There are many more, and I'd argue much better ways to improve a team than simply through outside player acquisition. Isn't it entirely possible that the current personnel's 2nd year in the offensive scheme could very well lead to improvement? As for player acquisition, sometimes it's a case of the grass not always being greener. The team added a tailback and an H-back that fit the offensive scheme that Lafleur intends to run. They have Lazard back, who flashed as a rookie last year. They have St. Brown back, who flashed as a rookie in 2018. The stories about MVS improving may be smoke, but there may be something legit there, too. Adams didn't make the jump until his 3rd year after looking pretty terrible his 2nd year. But saying that an offense can't improve without adding different and/or new pieces is just not true. I mean, I totally get that they aren't really a talented enough team on paper to warrant a 13-3 record. But they did it, and that matters. This team is better talent-wise than a 7-win squad.

There are many more, and I'd argue much better ways to improve a team than simply through outside player acquisition. Isn't it entirely possible that the current personnel's 2nd year in the offensive scheme could very well lead to improvement? As for player acquisition, sometimes it's a case of the grass not always being greener. The team added a tailback and an H-back that fit the offensive scheme that Lafleur intends to run. They have Lazard back, who flashed as a rookie last year. They have St. Brown back, who flashed as a rookie in 2018. The stories about MVS improving may be smoke, but there may be something legit there, too. Adams didn't make the jump until his 3rd year after looking pretty terrible his 2nd year. But saying that an offense can't improve without adding different and/or new pieces is just not true. I mean, I totally get that they aren't really a talented enough team on paper to warrant a 13-3 record. But they did it, and that matters. This team is better talent-wise than a 7-win squad.

How does a team that didn't really lose anything of note personnel wise in the offseason (besides maybe Bulaga) take a 6-game swing record-wise? And who are you saying are the 3rd and 4th best options? Allison and Kumerow? Graham? Those guys are very, very replaceable. I mean, I understand the idea that last year's team perhaps outperformed its talent level, but 7-9? Really? Last years team was not a 13-3 team. They probably played to the caliber of a 9-7 or 10-6 team but had a few breaks go their way. I just don't see how we're going to score enough. The only way this team can get to that 10-6 level again is if we can keep teams in the teens in scoring pretty consistently. I was referring to Allison and Kumerow. I'm aware they are replaceable, but the guys replacing them are slightly worse players on paper...and those 2 guys really aren't very good to begin with. We appear to be embarrassingly bad at WR beyond Adams. I'm not really counting Graham as our 2 young tight ends will probably be as good or better than him. Unless some of the young wr take a massive step forward, or one or both of our young tight ends break out in a big way...we're going to struggle to score. Allison and Kumerow were steady players, with zero upside. MVS is about as unsteady as you can get, but the upside is substantial. ESB is pretty much a blank slate right now. He flashed some ability his rookie year, but was not consistent enough to get any sort of read on. I would say that saying the WR corp is "embarrassingly bad" would be accurate if you are going by name recognition. But when looking at talent, it's there. The chance they are taking, though, is depending on those two young guys to take a big jump. The thing is, the offense didn't struggle to score too badly with Adams and a bunch of bums at WR last year, and with a very over-the-hill Graham clogging up the TE spot. Heck, they were better when Adams was missing, with Lazard and the RBs leading the way in the passing game. I don't see how they are going to suddenly struggle now.

How does a team that didn't really lose anything of note personnel wise in the offseason (besides maybe Bulaga) take a 6-game swing record-wise? And who are you saying are the 3rd and 4th best options? Allison and Kumerow? Graham? Those guys are very, very replaceable. I mean, I understand the idea that last year's team perhaps outperformed its talent level, but 7-9? Really? Last years team was not a 13-3 team. They probably played to the caliber of a 9-7 or 10-6 team but had a few breaks go their way. I just don't see how we're going to score enough. The only way this team can get to that 10-6 level again is if we can keep teams in the teens in scoring pretty consistently. I was referring to Allison and Kumerow. I'm aware they are replaceable, but the guys replacing them are slightly worse players on paper...and those 2 guys really aren't very good to begin with. We appear to be embarrassingly bad at WR beyond Adams. I'm not really counting Graham as our 2 young tight ends will probably be as good or better than him. Unless some of the young wr take a massive step forward, or one or both of our young tight ends break out in a big way...we're going to struggle to score. Allison and Kumerow were steady players, with zero upside. MVS is about as unsteady as you can get, but the upside is substantial. ESB is pretty much a blank slate right now. He flashed some ability his rookie year, but was not consistent enough to get any sort of read on. I would say that saying the WR corp is "embarrassingly bad" would be accurate if you are going by name recognition. But when looking at talent, it's there. The chance they are taking, though, is depending on those two young guys to take a big jump. The thing is, the offense didn't struggle to score too badly with Adams and a bunch of bums at WR last year, and with a very over-the-hill Graham clogging up the TE spot. Heck, they were better when Adams was missing, with Lazard and the RBs leading the way in the passing game. I don't see how they are going to suddenly struggle now.

Coaching-wise, yes. That's where the improvement came from last year, and how I expect them to compete this year. Save for an injury to a key player (Rodgers, Jones, Adams, Clark), I expect this team to be firmly in the playoff hunt again. I think 10-6 or 11-5 is probably the sweet spot.