HarveysWBs

There’s some patented Cubs defense!

It's really not Claudio's fault, he can't get righties out, never has, and shouldn't be used against them. With his arm angle I would imagine his stuff looks baffling to LHB but looks like candy to RHB. Yeah, his usage is baffling to me, sometimes. The brass must see something that makes them think he can have success vs. righties, though.

Nice job, boys. Still work to do coming up, though. Hope Hader is tanned and rested.

Man that was a garbage pitch to Russell. He’s an 8th hitter, but he’s still a pro. Have to execute.

I was shocked when I checked the lineup and there wasn't a double switch. Would have figured Gamel hitting 9th, Burnes in Braun's spot, but apparently not.

C'mon, Aggie. Now is the time. Edit: ...to take a walk?

Pitching change works, for now...

To be fair, Rock can be a little brutal with opposing player pronunciations sometimes. Heck, sometimes he screws up Tavern of the Game... But I still love the guy.

Sac bunt from the pitcher? Weak. Chicks dig the long ball, Cubs.

I guess the creep can still roll. Only 30 pitches through three--that doesn't bode well.

And they haven’t even played the Marlins yet!

Why wait that long when we can anoint Derek Johnson as the saviour that got away & sunk our entire season while calling for Hook's termination in IGT's less than 25% of the way into the season? What you're advocating for doesn't sound like very much fun. The Derek Johnson worship the last few seasons was getting to me a bit. Not that I had a bone to pick with DJ I just thought it was a little much. It was interesting to contrast how everything that went well pitching-wise was attributed to DJ but none of the bad. And when it came to Darnell Coles as hitting coach he was nearly universally blamed for everything that went wrong with the offense but got no credit for any of the good. He's with Arizona now and look at them sitting near the top of the NL (and MLB) in hitting. Not that everything good can be laid at his feet, just like how not everything bad should have been laid at his feet when he was with the Brewers. I’ve always found the discussions fans have about coaches and managers to be amusing. We as fans see the performance side of the equation, but aren’t privy to the conversations coaches have with players between the lines, and we don’t see the practice, the drills, or the analytical side of the game, which is no doubt 90%+ of the job. Plus, there is the human element of building rapport and relationships with these guys, which certainly matters a great deal, too. With that comes all the potential pitfalls of human interaction, including teaching styles not meshing with certain players, messages getting stale or not resonating with a certain clubhouse mix. And we as fans are aware of almost none of this stuff. So to say anything definitive about the job performance of DJ or Hook or even CC strikes me as quite presumptuous. I’m not suggesting people shouldn’t have opinions, and I vent about decisions I don’t understand sometimes too. But I also try and remember that fan opinions are just that—opinions—and the ones about coaches are almost never worth the energy it takes to consider them.

This zone is hot garbage. I’ve seen dumpster fires in Death Valley that were better than this. Angel Hernandez had a better zone the other night.

Cleanse this offense with fire

I’m actually kind of encouraged by some of what I’m seeing from Burnes tonight. His misses have not been in the heart of the zone, and on a couple of the hits (like Blackmon’s double), they’ve just gotten to well-placed breaking balls—and with relatively weak contact. That’s some improvement, at least, although it may be damning with faint praise.

That right there is the difference between good defense at C and “passable” defense. I like your style. I’d be interested in some pitch-framing metrics for the first month, though, before I definitively called his D passable. I’ve seen enough on Aguilar, though.

If he could snag a few more balls, he could go for the monk look for all I care. I love his bat, but there are a lot of balls getting through that you have to figure Piña likely gets.

That right there is the difference between good defense at 1st and “passable” defense.

Location is still a bit concerning, but those fastballs were just up enough in that inning.

I know these IGT’s are all hot takes, all the time, but it’s getting spicy hot now...

That was a good pitch, especially with two strikes. Bummer

I am all for trying the Waxahachie Swap at some point this season. Statistically speaking based on splits, Alex Claudio and Freddy Peralta would be the perfect pairing for such a maneuver. Unlike the Cubs, the Brewers don’t have corner outfielders who you just replace as part of a cute gimmick, [sarcasm]at least not when Gamel starts. That guy is becoming a state treasure, and to think he got his start doing those Jack Links commercials.[/sarcasm]

Base running is actually a strength of this team? Is this still the Brewers?

Claudio facing any righty in a big spot is a strategy that is pretty easy to argue with. Technically, the strategy was for Wilson to get three outs. Claudio having to get two of those outs—one against a righty—was just the unfortunate contingency plan. Plan B’s are Plan B’s for a reason.

On Renfrow: https://www.nfl.com/prospects/hunter-renfrow?id=32195245-4e35-8499-ff02-b25484b87290 Scroll down to read the description of his strengths. Adept at finding space, comes back to the ball, great at going down to get low balls, excellent field awareness; tell me that isn’t Aaron Rodgers’ dream slot receiver? That sounds like everything a Packers or Patriots team could want. Maybe he isn’t going to be the next Wes Welker, but a Cole Beasley seems reasonable as a comp. And the guy hasn’t met any lights that were too bright or a stage too big in his playing career, and that’s got to count for something. I know the Pack has a lot of young receivers to develop, but if we wound up with him in the 5th or 6th, I wouldn’t mind at all.