Ron Robinsons Beard

I still believe Burnes is going to be a quality starting pitcher. Something just isn't clicking yet, though.

That's been the story of his season.

Well, HR #1 is a solo shot at least.

I guess that could be a good comp if Arcia suddenly becomes Billy Hamilton with the legs and gets on base...but I doubt that. I don't get what you are trying to prove, really. Ozzie Smith was already close to HOF status without his defense by WAR standards (50 WAR and a HOFer is usually about 60ish). Ozzie didn't have power, but he knew how to get on base and use his legs. Orlando Arcia is neither and that is why he is a negative offensive player. Ozzie Smith, as crazy as it is, was almost HOF worthy without his defense (50 OWAR). You are trying to claim Ozzie as comparable because of OPS...which seems way off the mark. I can't even come up with another example of a 0 WAR player offensively starting year after year just due to defense. Hamilton would be somewhat the same. He may be the only other guy starting despite being a 0 WAR guy. And really all he did was get a 5mil salary for one year from a terrible team...probably bringing him in hoping to catch lightning in a bottle and have an exciting player to watch. Not for real value purposes. I am not saying his defense isn't valuable, it is, especially considering the rest of the infield...but hardly some great player. Just a guy that is there...filling a hole, but darn close to being a black hole when his offense falls off a cliff. If he is hitting .675 or above I don't really care. If he starts getting above .700 that is a solid SS for us. Hopefully he can be more consistent. When I read this, it appears that you think that Arcia is a finished product. You also seem to believe that 0 WAR is Orlando's future, while looking past the 2.5 WAR he posted as a 22-year-old in 2017. My argument is that, at 24 years old, there is room for growth. Ozzie didn't hit his stride as a consistent 5+ WAR player until his age 27 season. He also played in an era where station-to-station baseball and stolen bases were much, much more prevalent. I think it's probably short-sighted to believe that, at 24 years old, the current version of Arcia is al he ever will be.

Arcia has a long way to go to match Ozzie. Just because you are the best defensive SS in the league at any given time does not automatically mean you are in the same conversion with Ozzie Smith. Given today's shifting, increased K rate and emphasis on launch angle I think the defensive value of a SS is lower than Ozzie's day. In his 17 seasons before age 40, his worst dWAR currently matches Arcia's career high, 1.3. Point taken. It's also important to note, though, that Ozzie made his debut with the Padres as a 23-year-old. Arcia is 24. There's plenty of room for growth.

Obviously a great fastball. He was also known for having a good change-up and a developing slider that was inconsistent. Three solid pitches would put him in the mix to be a starter, but that arsenal definitely screams high-end reliever.

Rasmussen will turn 24 in July, so he is far from a young, green prospect. That velocity is going to play. The fact that they are aggressively promoting him seems to indicate a fast-track toward the MLB bullpen. Could Rasmussen be this year's Corbin Burnes?

Not necessarily. If Chase stays in, you lose him for the next several games, and he would no longer be a candidate to take Saturday's start. Pulling him when they did conserves that possibility. I'm sure Chase is down today, but he should be good to go for tomorrow, or could take the spot start Saturday if that's the way they go. Pitching Wilson last night right before leaving for paternity leave keeps him sharp, and he'll be rested when he comes back on Saturday. With a comfortable 6-run lead, they were looking toward conserving pen innings and keeping options open.

Another "Wizard" of a SS put up a career OPS of .666 in his 19 year career, with a high-water mark of .775. While he was known for his defensive prowess, his offense also played up in big spots. Despite his defensive wizardry, he had years where he had 25, 24 and 22 errors. Sometimes excellent range will lead to more errors, simply because that player has more chances. The guy I'm speaking of is now a Hall of Famer and universally known as one of the best shortstops of all time. Don't try to tell me that defensive excellence isn't valuable.

Confirmed:

I think you nailed the plan 100% here. Yes, Petricka can be recalled in this case.

I agree with you completely. Especially when you take a 3B and play him at 2B, you need a top notch defender at SS. I would certainly love to see Arcia improve offensively, and he has teased us with the ability to do so. Perhaps that's why he's so polarizing? The ability to be an above average offensive performer is there. If he had an Alcides Escobar level of offensive skill, I'm sure most would be just fine with him. It's that untapped potential that seems to rub people wrong. We forget that the guy is only 24.

Gamel - CF Yelich - RF Grandal - C Moose - 2B Braun - LF Shaw - 3B Aguilar - 1B Arcia - SS Burnes - P Cain getting the breather today. I'm excited to see what Gamel can do in the lead-off spot. Also happy to see they moved Grandal up to provide some Yelich protection. I see complaints about Braun, Shaw and Aguilar being stacked, but what can you do? It really sucks that we are getting so little production out of spots that should be run producers.

Yep ... the Kimbrel posts showed up as soon as Wilson put a runner on last night. They are going to be deafening the first time Jeffress gives up a run, whether that's this afternoon or next month.

Claudio strikes me as one of those "rubber arm" types who you could throw out there for an inning every day. He's got an easy delivery, and isn't going to generate a lot of torque with that mid-80s fastball.

Glad Wilson got used last night now. Kinda makes the "OMG why did they remove CHASE?!?!" insta-reactions sound silly now. There were a lot of really silly insta-reactions last night that didn't make a lot of sense in a game the team had control of pretty handily.

Get ready to welcome Jake Petricka back to the major league roster:

I swear, sometimes it seems like this organization pulls aside the guys with good hit tools and tells them "Forget everything you thought you knew ... because DINGERS!!!"

That chart doesn't show him sitting 90-91 with his fastball early in the season. And he didn't start last season after being shut down due to a sore shoulder. This is a disaster in the making. I hope CC has the sense to use him in low leverage situations so the Brewers don't actually lose games as a result of horrible pitching. Again, don't you think it may be prudent and appropriate to actually let him pitch in a major league game before you determine it a disaster? They guy hasn't even thrown a pitch yet, and the sky has already fallen? That is just a really, really bad hot take. I mean, every fan knows that your prediction is ultimately possible, but you make it sound like a foregone conclusion. Why even bother watching the games?

Swihart's only value is in his positional flexibility. He's a switch hitter that you could pretty much throw anywhere on defense except probably SS. I just don't see how he'd fit the the current roster the way's its constructed, though.

There is nothing horrible looking about Kristine Leahy........ Touche. She's probably not there for her encyclopedic knowledge of professional sports.

Wow, Fox Sports Wisconsin sure is pimping the heck out of this horrible-looking Kristine Leahy interview show.

That's the rub. The team obviously doesn't have infinite financial resources at its disposal. What happens if they sign Kimbrel, then they don't have the financial flexibility to make the deals at the deadline they'd like to? I don't think Stearns has a strict cap he's gotta stay under, but he's not giving out blank checks either. Would Kimbrel make the pen stronger? Yes, possibly. The clear favorite? That's a stretch.

If they get him, great. If they don't .. they'll figure it out. In any case, the "OMG the Brewers need KIMBREL!" talk is getting kind of annoying. Let's not let the facts get in the way of you being annoyed right? Ok. The only fact that matters is this team is sitting at 12-6, and the "OMG THE BULLPEN IS HORRIBLE" talk is being blown way out of proportion.

This board is going to implode when Barnes gets the 9th tomorrow