jay87shot

Agree, I would have really like Murph to let him get out of the 7th yesterday. At 81 pitches, with 2 out and 1 on, seems to early to pull him. If he could of got Gimenez out I would have probably let him go back out for part of the 8th. He did seem to use the breaking ball later in the game which at least changes the speed up if not a true offspeed. The 9 strikeout numbers are a bit worrying he was at 9.6 per 9 last year and is at 4.3 per 9 so far. I don't know if there is and obvious difference in stuff or if he is pitching better to early weak contact. However you look at it Patrick has been by far the best starter we have had even if he isn't going very deep in games (i think 6 2/3 was long outing of a starter this year) consistently.

I would guess that doesn't even count any of the differed spending that would be attributed to the season. Probably add on another 150 or so for that.

I am very intrigued at how the organization will face promotions for players early in the season. Specially in A+, Pena, Josh A, Dinges, and Fischer shouldn't really be in Appleton for more than a month or so however there is really no one even close in Wilson to move up and take those places. How long do we give it before Lara is just to hot not to get a chance in the bigs. I get it that he is still 21 and this could just be a hot streak but that bat is badly needed in the bigs. The team comes back home next Friday the 24th, if things keep going the way the have he could be up by then.

Burke at 5 SB is really crazy for a guy his size and power, I am sure he won't be a huge threat to steal a ton in the bigs. However Josh Naylor did steal 30 last year so maybe the big man speed is for real. Fitzpatrick has been great to start the year, he maybe be taking the early lead as a potential 40 man bullpen add over Holub and Childers.

I agree Uribe should be the guy, he hasn't been great but has been the best of the group. I would maybe save Ashby occasionally against lefty heavy lineups but I do like the way he has been used to this point. Maybe Yoho can get healthy and be an option in a few weeks.

I wouldn't say the depth is weak, take the 2,3, 5 hitter out of any lineup other than maybe LA and that teams lineup looks pretty weak. The rotation depth isn't really the issue it is that we can't get through 5 innings, I think the depth is fine it just is that all of our guys are young or injury prone and Murph is the type of manager who pulls a guy at 80 pitches with 1 out and 2 on in the 5th. I don't mind that strategy a bit early on but eventually those starters need to get out of innings on their own. I agree the lineup is going to look horrendous for a couple weeks at least. If I was managing I would probably be risky and put Sal 1 despite the slow start and move Turang to 3 in an attempt to fortify the middle of the order. 1) Sal 2) Contreras 3)Brice 4)Sanchez (DH) 5)Mitchell 6)Bauers 7) Lockridge/Perk/Jones 8)Hamilton/Rengifo 9)Joey

I really just mean whom ever is the hot ticket big name 2-3ish years down the road. I agree, Hurley as a coach is fine but he is a jerk or so it seems.

I was hoping for Lara just to see him play but Jones is probably the right move since we have enough OF depth. To bad Wilken or Adams weren't of to hot starts, they would fit the DH mold better for a week or two.

Agree, he is still an athletic big who can shoot and block shoots. We might have to take an iffy contract back but we should get a 1st. My proposal was Turner for Jonathan Isaac, Goga Bitzade/Anthony Black, and the Magic 2026 1st. We get young rotational piece in Goga/Black and a mid round 1st for Turner and taking the bad Isaac deal. The Magic get a perfect big to make an impressive lineup of Suggs, Bane, Wagner, Paolo, Turner and go for it 1 more year before possibly blowing it up,

Coaching plan... Hire Sam Cassell. This team isn't going to be good for a while and it will take 2-3 years to have the resources to even start fully rebuilding. Give Sam a couple years and hopefully in 3 years we have enough young talent to hire a top candidate like Hurley or something.

Great observation, couldn't agree more.

I will say I am still very positive, yes this has been a rough stretch but I think there have been enough bright spots to be able to turn this around. Offense- Injuries have hurt and clearly are leading to some inconsistencies (hopefully good Yeli news is incoming). For the most part there has been more good than bad, Contreras, Yeli, Bauers, Sanchez, Turang, and Mitchell are off to very good starts and Hamilton and Lockridge have been solid. Rengifo, Sal, Perk, and Joey have been rough but Sal is the only one that I would say is not expected and I think most of us have faith he will figure it out. Chourio is hopefully a week or two away which would leave the 3B/SS as the hopefully only hole in the lineup. Overall I will give it like a B- Defense- Somehow Turang and Sal are -1 DRS by baseball.reference which is strange to me. Overall I think the d has been solid even if there was a difficult play missed here or there. Rengifo and Hamilton have done a great job with the glove and there really aren't any defense weak spots unless Sanchez is playing 1st. Overall B+ Starting Pitching- For me this is a bit hard to judge, Misi, Woody, Harrison, and Patrick have all been solid but not really special (outside of Misi's K's). The staff hasn't soaked up a ton of innings and the 5th man/opener/spot starters Sproat/Drohan/Henderson/Ashby haven't been good at all. I have a lot of faith that the 4 guys will build upon a decent start and someone will claim the 5th spot however there is room to go. I think base on result I would give the starters a B- but because they have hurt the pen with lack of innings I will lower it to a C. Bullpen- I would have given this group the highest grade before the Nats series but it is hard to not be worried after Megill, Zerpa, Uribe, and Ashby to a lesser degree struggled so recently. I am mixed because this group is so talented and deep that there is potential to be one of the top bullpens in the league but also alot to worry about. I will give them a break based on overall workload and the start of the year C- grade. Team MVP- Turang (take out the 3-4 games around his injury and he has been specular. Top Pitcher- Ashby, 9 OF 15 games and 12 2/3 over that period has been nuts even if he has had a couple small blips.

Today will be game 16 of the year roughly 1/10th of the way through. Obviously it is early and after getting swept by the Nats vibes aren't great at the moment. Injuries have been rough but the season is young and I don't think anyone else in the Central has been amazing even with the Pirates and Cards being better than expected early. Where are each of you currently with expectations and overall thoughts about the team so far?

Anyone else worried by just how bad that Wilson team is right now? I understand how some players here and there throughout the system get of to bad starts however that entire team looks really rough right now (maybe a couple pitchers of to decent starts).

The Nats best hitters Wood, Abrams, Garcia, and Lile are lefties and at least in the last game hit 1, 2, 4,5. As long as Patrick is comfortable coming into the game in the middle of the 2nd or 3rd inning I like the strategy. Not only does it get us in positive matchups to start the game, it also likely allows Patrick to go 5 innings and only have to pitch to that entire group of lefties 1 time. Just because the Nats arent very good is a reason not to use the best strategy available. I would guess they will use the same things for Sproat with DL Hall (slight chance Ashby could open again if super efficient).

What if we traded like Henderson and Drohan for Shane McLanahan or Drew Ramussen (assuming health) in like June. I believe the Rays are going to struggle all year and likely would trade Diaz and the 2 pitchers. In this scenario we trade 2 arms for a proven pitcher with control through 2027.

Burke has some Yordan Alverez going on in his swing. I know it is too early for a call up but if he keeps this up for another week I would think he would force the issue.

I think the biggest concern is the starting pitching over 162. Right now we are at like 55 innnings in 12 starts by our starters. That is ok early but if we get to the middle of the season and only average 5 innings a game the pen will get eaten up fast. Right now Ashby is on a pace for like 90+ appearances and around 120 innings out of the bullpen, which just isn't sustainable. I will say our biggest weakness is still the end of our lineup even though they have been decent. Offense for 3B, SS, 1B (until Vaughn is back), CF (to a much lesser degree) is still I think the biggest potential hole that I would call a weakness. I have a lot more faith in finding 2 consistent starters to go along side Misi, Woody, Patrick, and probably Harrison to this point then I do in the bats of Rengifo Joey, Perk, and Bauers (starting to feel good about Hamilton, Lockridge, and Mitchell) and the AAA depth has been sketchy to start the year at SS/3B.

6'6" 200 Lefty out of Duke. He had a really rough year in 2025 7.29 ERA 42 innings 37 k's/18 walks. However he was much better in 2023 (2.32 era) and 2024 (3.76 era). Stuff has some potential especially at 6'6" with our pitching team.

I think the go ahead Garrett Mitchell single last night was an absolutely perfect representation of why the Brewers are so successful. 1st and 2nd, 2 outs, tie game. Mitchell scorched one to left. A ball that Turang should be out by 2 steps. He gets a great jump and forces Roman Anthony to rush and make a bad throw. For most teams, that is it, however our superstar Yelich is going 100% and scores from 1st by an inch. To add to that, the entire time Mitchell is going 100% and ends up on 3rd. Not only does our team see the most pitches which annoys pitchers. All the runners go 100%, annoying fielders, and our defense is one of the best in the league annoying hitters. Add to that 2 out hitting has been spectacular this year, annoying managers. PS... Misi should throw the 1st pitch to Contreras about 2 feet behind his back tonight (dont hit him). Really piss em off.

I would expect that Drohan (Woodford if a bigger lead one way or the other) works a couple innings today just help the bullpen recover today. Should be a good one, I watched a bit of the Red Sox broadcast after the game ended and slightly sadistic way loved how down the tone of the broadcaster was. If we could best Crochet today head might start flying in Boston soon.

The Sox are 2-7 and fans have been chanting for the owners to sell the team. I am excited to watch us sweep the Sox and have complete choas. I was thinking that it would seem like Koenig or Anderson might soon "develop" an injury and we will get some run from Crow or McGee or whomever.

I love Height as one of my favorite sleepers. With Bailey on that team he is easy to over-look, He is a little small but as a 3rd or probably late 2nd if we want him that can be over looked especially if we think he could play some off ball LB and edge.

I would think he would be in line for a huge payday to transfer out. That really stinks but I kind of predicted it. I would really go for Zens, if at least to build a bridge into getting favor in recruiting a Knuppel brother in the future. He does have good size and skills to be an old school Badgers power forward (Wilkenson) or new age 3 (Dekker).

I am sure if we need bullpen help McGee, Crow, Drohan, Yoho, Rob Z (when healthy) get the go 1st but who would you put at the top of the non 40-man relief tier. Holub, Childers, Fitz, Petey Strz? Honestly if anarchy happened and we needed Childers or Holub to pitch a bunch in the bigs this year I wouldn't be to worried with either (probably worried about the 5-8 injuries it would take).