roadcrew3

Streaks like that are always funny to me. They are records you never know (or could care less about) until your guy is going to break it, then suddenly they are a huge deal that everybody is following and rooting for.

You beat me to it...these announcers are awful. Today is a day to mute the TV and listen to the radio

I think he tried his own version of Moneyball by bringing in players who have decent splits vs either RHP or LHP with the idea that they weren't every day players so were cheaper but the team could play them full-time in a platoon and the sum would be above average production. Players like Sogard, Gyorko, Holt, Smoak, Morrison, Thames all represent this mold but the production hasn't matched the concept.

I understand this sentiment but also what difference does it make who the hitting coach is when you are putting out lineups that have Pablo Reyes, Billy McKinney, Vogelbach etc. getting significant playing time. A lot of players are scuffling but if this offense was "going good" it would still be below league average.

It's becoming a lost art. Hoping at some point it rubs off on some of the other players

I realize how hard it is to develop pitching but small market teams must consider everything to sustain success and right now our lack of depth is being exposed. The lineup is a joke and the minor league system has nothing even close to changing that fact. Again it’s great having two aces but it’s also no fun watching this team struggle to score any runs at all. I am not even saying we should move either of our aces but we should be willing to listen on everyone if the right offer is out there. Something has to be done about this lineup and no one should be off limits. As the Brewers are showing you can have lack of depth in hitting and you can still compete with strong pitching ,however it much harder to compete with strong hitting and weak pitching .IMO for all teams but especially small market teams it starts with developing your own starting pitching and you do not part with it once you have it. Yep...pitching in baseball is just like having a top QB in football. You can cover up a lot of holes when that is the strength of your team. If this season has proven anything, it's that you don't need many runs to win with this staff...don't screw that up now by using those pieces to try to add on offense. The offense this year has been dreadful no doubt and I have been a basher of them myself, but some patience is needed as I don't think this is the year the Brewers try to get everything to line up and go for it anyways. Thinking about the next few years: Woodruff and Burnes under contract Williams and Hader under contract Yelich during his prime Urias will have more experience Mitchell has looked great (very small sample here but not unreasonable to think he could be on a fast track to the Majors in the next season or two) Turang likely is around the corner Taylor showing potential at the MLB level Ashby looks promising Cain/JBJ/Garcia contracts off the books freeing up $$ for outside additions Maybe this post belongs in the Brewers optimism thread but the point is, there are a lot of reasons to be excited about the team this year but this year isn't a make or break year for the core of team either. Pitching is a big reason for that so you don't go and screw that up.

can't wait to trade for Sogard at the deadline

They just had an off day on Sunday!

How long until Stearns makes a move for offensive help? Injuries obviously aren't helping, but even if fully health you have to think they will try to upgrade a few bats...so why wait?

The spring training lineup really takes away from the pitchers duel. Watching Woodruff and Wheeler going back and forth would be a lot more enjoyable if we had any confidence our lineup could eventually string together some hits and scratch one across.

This team has a weird habit of winning close games but when they lose, they lose big. If they give up a big inning then they just know the offense won't be able to come back so they pack it in and get ready to fight again tomorrow. At least they give the A relievers a day off in the process...

Probably stayed back on the taxi squad the whole time. Forgot about the taxi squad. Thanks

Does anybody know how the travel worked with Taylor the past few days? The team knew he was going to get optioned on Monday so did he even travel to Philly on Sunday? Or did they bring him with just in case this happened with Yelich?

If you think MLB is bad then I hope you aren't an NBA fan. Star players rarely ever play any games back-to-back. Can never understand how these guys grow up playing 6-8 AAU games a weekend, but once they get to the professional level asking them to play games two consecutive days is criminal.

First of all, the Brewers aren't simply going to give either of those players away. It doesn't help them in the short run, and the thought of removing struggling but established veterans from the lineup and replacing them players who've performed better albeit in a small sample but remain unknown commodities is inconsistent with the patience given by this front office (Shaw in '19, Hiura '20-'21, Smoak et al.), and making their roster less talented is inconsistent with where they want to be as a team (competing for the playoffs in 2021). Secondly, both those players are scuffling and making decent money their value in a trade is zero. No GM is going to take on 10+ million in salary for one of those players (not to mention give something in return) when a journeyman like Brian Goodwin (career .250/.317/.455) was just released and is freely available. In fact, the White Sox already have journeyman Billy Hamilton in their organization. Freeing up cash for a "potential" deadline deal isn't a reason to trade a player in May. Not only is it more probably true than not that additional room for acquisitions is already built in, but its doubtful after just 30 games any GM would be that brash to start "freeing up cash". As for Taylor he's no doubt been hot in limited at bats in the majors. However, his minor league numbers suggest its a matter of time until advanced scouting and video catch up with him. Taylor is not comparable to a Trent Grisham situation where the light goes on one year, he destroys the pitching in the minor leagues and forces his way on to the major league roster. Taylor has always been the same player, average numbers for a CFer but his bat has been too weak across 3400 minor league at bats, to ever profile as an every day corner outfielder in the majors. This seems like your being pretty selective saying the situations aren't comparable. Both were highly touted prospects who underperformed their rankings before it started to click. The only difference is Grisham has had the opportunity to prove his play wasn't just a hot streak while Taylor hasn't yet. All reports were Taylor played well last season, had a strong spring, and now played well in his first stint with the team this year. I'm not at all saying he will be as good as Grisham, but Taylors current situation is becoming pretty comparable to Grisham a few years ago. Having a minor league season this year should shed a lot more light on his potential with the big league club.

If the White Sox came calling I can't imagine them asking for anybody but Taylor. I also think he holds much more value for the Brewers than he does for a larger market club. He is cheap, has shown potential, has options left, Brewers have outfield openings as soon as next season, and his contract status keeps him with the team through his prime. I see no reason why the Brewers would move him unless they were taking back a significant package of controllable players, which I am not sure why another club like the White Sox would be willing to pay.

Need Cain on and Yelich to go deep then delay this

He'd be more fine as a reliever if we had better starting options. I think a team like Milwaukee will be able to say this every year about the back of the rotation arms. I agree, playoff time I would want him in the pen but he's shown he is capable of going through an order multiple times and that has much more value in the rotation during the regular season.

I don't get the Houser hate. He has been solid all year, gave up a few hits early today but has settled in and is dealing right now. Game could be 2-1 without the Urias error

Robert Murray reporting Yelich and Cain should be returning tonight

Hiura has been awful but is it really worth being that upset about him hitting 4th? The difference between batting 4th or 7th during 1 game is maybe 1 AB and having guys on or not is literally just chance. Even with how bad he has been, I’ll still take my chances with Hiura than I would with somebody like Pablo Reyes...and if its a big late game moment, Shaw and Vogelbach are on the bench and I’m sure Counsell wouldn’t hesitate to use one.

I agree Lauer needs an opportunity, but I am not convinced he is ready for it right now. He was a serviceable starter with San Diego but based on last year and Spring Training this year, has been anything but that. Small sample no doubt but for a pitcher to get consistently shelled in the way he has suggests a mechanical issue that I would imagine is tough to correct in a months time. I haven't given up on him over the long term but just can't believe he has made a great improvement in a few weeks at the ATS. Would be thrilled to be proven wrong though...

Based on the injuries we have had this year I'm not really sure how you can say we didn't need another outfielder? You can be disappointed about either the cost or the performance of JBJ so far but without him, we would just be discussing how we should have brought in another guy for the inevitable Cain and Yelich injuries that is forcing us to play a combination of McKinney, Garcia, Taylor, and Ray for 3 weeks. Of those four, only Garcia is proven at the MLB level and as discussed in multiple other threads, his track-record is average at best.

Good news is that game is over...bad news is not much reason to think this weekend will be much different. Hoping for some good news on Cain and Yelich soon

Especially when you are down 4 with 2 outs in the 8th and team has a pretty poor offense overall...walks don't help much, need to be swinging