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Myers came up due to Ashby paternity leave. Ashby is back, but they sent down McGee and kept Myers. With Hall, Ashby, and Myers, they've got a plethora of multi-innings guys if they need them.

I would rather face them when they can't throw their top 3 starters and entire bullpen at us, but the same can be said of us. Regardless, it's still econo-team vs. Goliath, and there really is no getting around that. Plus, if the Dodgers have any fire in their belly, they probably are looking to pay us back for the sweep last week. Getting one of these 3 could be a chore. Plus, I hate West Coast swings - I'm an old guy and not staying up late for the end of a few of these next 6 games. It's especially crummy from not having a game to follow since last Sunday - it's like going almost two weeks without a full fix.

I like the discussion, and I like what they're doing with DQ Hallster. Perhaps the issue with too many piggyback combos, however, is how it limits flexibility in how to use your 13 pitchers. In the above scenario, you have 8 pitchers with scheduled starts/appearances in the 5-game rotation where they would presumably all go multiple innings and not be available between appearances, Let's say the other 5 are Koenig, Mears, Anderson, Uribe, and Megill. In the normal course of the season, there will be days that only 2 or 3 of those guys are available. It's risky to set things up where you couldn't use those long relievers on their non-scheduled piggyback days (or if you did use them, it screws up the availability for the scheduled piggyback start). OTOH, this may actually be pretty close to how the long relievers get used anyway - just have to be somewhat judicious in too many innings for the long relievers.

The in-game threads are always full of hyperbolic overreactions, but I feel like the bullpen is getting way over-criticized. Ashby had a bad outing today, but it still only resulted in a single run. Over the Dodgers series, the pen pitched 10 innings, gave up only 2 runs (the other was a meaningless homer with a 9-0 lead) on 5 hits and 4 walks, plus they racked up 14 Ks. And I'll remind you, this was against the DODGERS. A scuffling Dodgers team, granted, but this is not your run-of-the-mill major league batting order. Give the pen - and the manager - some credit and maybe don't expect perfection. The lack of Brewer offense makes these games tight and any chink in the armor gets magnified, but overall, the pen is more than just solid.

If I were Outman, I'd either become a pitcher or change my name to Hitman or something...

Honest question - and this is going to seem a bit superficial compared to the experts around here, There's a lot of factors to consider, mostly coming down to the tension between going for it this season and positioning for the longer term. People here know more than me about contract situations, so I've largely left that out. I would think the top of our wish list would be a corner infielder with power. Who is a target that fits that bill from a non-contender (or from a contender that has depth at the position)? I'm not a big fan of McMahon as a difference-maker As far as assets, we have starting pitcher depth. which I assume is a valuable thing. Non-contenders will probably prefer the young guns, whereas contenders would prefer the proven commodities. While we like all of them, we have too many of them for them all to contribute to the major league team right now. Woodruff and Peralta - as a fan, I prefer they keep these guys to win this year. On the flip side, we won't be able to afford them long term (am I right about that?). So, it's a trade-off between whether you think getting something for them now is worth more or less than increasing the chances of winning this season. You can reasonably take a chance with the remaining starters, but none of them have comparable track records. That's why GMs get the big bucks. Cortes and Quintana - more veteran than the others and would only probably go to contenders (and more likely Quintana, I would think). The youngsters are in no particular order: Miz, Patrick, Priester, Henderson, & Myers. I'd hate to really lose any of them, because that could be a solid rotation - and a couple of those won't be put on the table - but you gotta give to get. Then there are wild cards like Ashby and Hall. Not sure what the plan is with them - they could start for a lot of teams. Probably not as valuable in a trade as they are in the Brewers bullpen for the immediate future. Thoughts?

Tripped over that bolded adjective. Usually, it's used to describe something of poor quality - like say, the Rockies. But, the Dodgers' talented and expensive roster certainly does fill me with dread, so I'll allow it. Go small market team! Beat Goliath!

If that had been almost anyone else in the lineup today besides Hoskins, that was an inside-the-parker. That’s how they happen - not an error, but horribly misplayed.

I’m not a big fan of McIntosh, but he’s not really to blame on this one. It’s the economics, plus title IX. Plus, IMO, college baseball in the north - outside - is a dumb idea if you expect to have a season during the school year which ends in early May.

Cal Quantrill is the son of Paul Quantrill who pitched 14 years in the majors (seemingly not that long ago, but this happens to me more and more as my age advances). Paul got drafted out of UW, back when they had a baseball team. Long way to go to make the connection of Cal to Wisconsin, but there it is.

Gotta be an opener. He has started twice this year but has 34 appearances and 42 IP. Whether they end up piggybacking him with Tidwell, we'll see.

He did play 4 innings in game one, I think they're probably just trying to get some ABs for Siegler to get him acclimated.

I just wanted to pile on here: 1. Mets had two hits. TWO! And none after a go-ahead single with no outs in the 4th. If I am reading the pxp correctly, there was only a HBP that interrupted the last 18 outs in a row. 2. Peralta got through the 5th having thrown 85 pitches. On a non-doubleheader day, maybe you think about going to the pen in the 6th, but Freddy set the heart of the order down on 15 pitches, That was useful for pen conservation, 3. Mears got through the 7th on only 6 pitches - probably want to just save him for tomorrow, but he could pitch again tonight - like a 10th inning if needed 4. Hall, in addition to having no drama, saved everybody else for tonight and tomorrow. All together, that couldn't have gone much better.

Marquez has been pretty good lately, only giving up one earned run in his last 3 starts. For whatever reason, he only went 4 against the Dodgers despite only throwing 68 pitches (with 49 strikes) last time out on Tuesday. Maybe he got into a jam in the 5th? Anyway, this could be more challenging than it looks on paper, at least for the Brewers offense.

How about Yelich as a 1B? I know there’s probably a reason why not, but that would be a useful solution.

I understand the point you’re making about high scoring games not supposing to be the Brewers’ forte, but this latest stretch has followed a script of getting out to a big lead, taking the foot off the gas, and letting the opponent back in it late. Taking the foot of the gas is obviously a subjective observation, but I can’t be the only one thinking it.

Fun fact: 5 players in the lineup for COL have batting averages higher than the team's winning percentage. Given that they only have to beat .222, maybe the fact that there are 4 players in the lineup with BAs underneath that is an even more hapless stat,

He's also one of only two Rocky pitchers I could name (Marquez the other). Lefty, and I believe has had some success against MKE historically (looked it up - 5-2 with a 2.06 ERA, 44 Ks over 8 appearances against us). This is his first start after a short stint on the IL, though.

I don't know if there is a definitive stat that describes "feast or famine", but being 9th in runs scored feels misleading to me. A couple weeks ago, maybe during the Padres series, someone posted our record in games where we score 2 runs or less - seemed like we have a lot of games that meet that criteria (and lose them at a very high rate). Contrast that with the 35 runs we scored in the 3-game sweep of the Twins, and the 60 runs we've scored in the last 7 - this is a hot streak. I'm guessing most teams have these cycles, but if you don't have a lot of power, it seems like the cold streaks are colder.

Pitching is good and soon will be getting deeper. The volume of bullpen innings bears watching as our starters generally go 5 or 6 most nights. With the incoming SP depth, it wouldn't surprise me if a starter or two might be going to the pen, and hopefully there's no other Civale-type situations. The offense is, of course, the main concern. The bench, especially. If any of our current A-team got injured, the depth (other than maybe Bauers for Hoskins) at the major league level is not great. Perkins will help some. Of course, it'd be a major help to get a bit more power from this lineup, but we are who we are.

On MLB.com, it lists Coulombe as the Twins starter, or more accurately, the opener. He’s pitched in 25 games and amassed just over 19 innings. He has been very good, but likely won’t be around long.

Since I'm a SE Metro guy, I never even considered how easy going west is. You folks don't really have the light rail option (at least not where it makes any sense), so whether it was intentional or just a lucky accident, it was good planning to have the quickish out of 394 for folks that must drive. Negotiating the 10 blocks or so to 35W is a bit of a pain even without a ballgame letting out.

I've lived in the Twin Cities for over 20 years now. You have to remember that the Twins were in the Metrodome prior to their current stadium, so compared to that, Target Field is a huge improvement. That being said, it's ... fine. It's a big ol' pain to get in and out of, but so are a lot of ballparks. Even if you take light rail (which, btw, isn't necessarily significantly cheaper if you've got a group of at least 4), the crowd after the game can have you there waiting for 45 minutes to an hour just to get on your train which will have you packed like sardines. It's supposed to be less hassle than parking nearby, which has you negotiating a pretty bad traffic situation in the downtown area, even if you know which streets you're supposed to take to get where you're headed (I haven't been in downtown Mpls lately, but I assume it's construction season, too). Both options kinda suck. If you have a group of 4, I say drive to the ramps nearby. Stadium itself is nice, and does have nice food options (at expected stadium-premium pricing). It's just a regular urban ballpark, IMO. Nice enough.

GMs are smart enough to know the Brewers’ situation whether Civale (or agent) said anything or not. He isn’t likely to bring back much in a trade either way - maybe if there are multiple teams interested…

How do you pronounce this guy's last name? Hard or soft g? I look at it and think Bair-JAIR, but it very well could be Brr-GURT.