Joseph Zarr

RHP Ryan Birchard. Walk Artist. He gets the starting nod for Peoria - who actually managed to end their losing streak (woot! woot!) - and he walks 5 men in 2 1/3 IP. His perplexing 2024 carries onward. It wasn't all bad. 2 1/3 IP, 2 H, 5 BB, 5 K, 1 WP, and 2 ER. 63 pitches in 2 1/3 IP is...ummm...yeah. 34 strikes. The struggle is real in his first full professional season. He managed to minimize damage. That's what we'll take away. As mentioned, the Javelinas won! 5-4 over Mesa. They improve to 3-8 on their young AFL season. Many a Brewer played a part in this one: 3B Brock Wilken: After a two game absence he returned to the third spot in the batting order. He went hitless yet again in an 0-for-3, 1 BB, and 1 K evening. What's more? He was picked off first base after the walk. We can highlight the 'Brockets' all we want. The truth is: Wilken has not played quality baseball of any kind since the anomalous month of July. The struggle is very very real. Sure, it's a small sample size currently in the AFL but Wilken is batting 0.121 with a 0.519 OPS, regardless. This after batting 0.123 with a 0.441 OPS in 81 August AB and then following up with a 0.100 BA and 0.550 OPS in 40 September Shuckers AB's in a post-season push. Have I mentioned: the struggle is extremely palpably real? 2B Juan Baez was back in the line-up after a single game's rest and he went 1-for-3 with 1 R and 1 K batting sixth. The young man continues to make an early name for himself by showing up in nearly every box score and every bit of game action. RF Luis Lara brought his power stroke hitting his first long ball of the AFL season in the bottom of the fourth frame. A 98 mph poke that went 388 feet over the left CF wall. Noice! 1-for-3, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 K, 1 HR. RHP Will Childers came aboard after Birchard's final walk in the third frame. He inherited a runner. He walked one of his own. K'd the next batter. Then ended the inning via a force out. Solid work overall in his 1 2/3 IP of hitless, scoreless, 2 BB, and 3 K work. Kudos to LHP Mark Manfredi who inherited RHP Travis Kuhn's bases loaded mess. Kuhn came aboard protecting a 4-2 lead in the seventh and final inning and proceeded to struggle through all sorts of control issues - 2 HBP and 3 BB scored two tying runs around his 2 K performance. Manfredi came in after the game had tied with the bases still dripping. He K'd his only batter on five pitches. He picked up the 'W' - his first of the AFL - while lowering his ERA to a ripe 19.29. Hey, he had a blow out in his most recent outing. Take it easy. Peoria will not play again until Tuesday October 22nd. They will face the (7-4) Glendale Desert Dogs who have already taken three early contests versus the Javelinas. Can Peoria turn the tide?

The Javelinas fell again. The early season has been quite unkind - 14-4 to the Salt River Rafters. The Javelinas sit at 2-8. The lone Brewer to make any appearance was RF Luis Lara. Batting 8th, he put forth a 1-for-4 line. The Javelinas will look to bounce back and end their current losing streak tomorrow evening vs Mesa.

Javelinas fall to 2-7 losing 11-6 to Scottsdale. The 2B Juan Baez breakout party continues - 3-for-4, 2 R, 3 RBI, 1 HR, 1 K. Hello small sample alert BUT Baez leads the entire AFL in BA with 20 AB or more through 9 games - 0.524 BA - while also sitting 2nd in OPS at 1.440. The 'What happened to 3B Brock Wilken?' Woe Fest continues: 0-for-5, 1 K. How bad is it for Wilken? It's bad. In the midst of a mini comeback rally in the 9th frame - 11-6 with runners on the corners and nobody out - Wilken weakly popped out to 1B foul territory on the very first pitch. <Very Sad Face>. The struggle has been mighty for essentially two straight complete months. CF Luis Lara batted ninth yet again and put forth a 0-for-3, 1 R, 1 HBP, 1 K line while tallying an OF assist at 3B. RHP Will Childers pitched a scoreless 1/3 IP while grabbing the last out of the Scottsdale ninth inducing a very weak grounder to the mound.

Having taken the 7-1 lead in the top of the sixth, a Baez throwing error (his first of the young AFL season) was key in getting the mini rally going for the Sox. Bases were juiced with one down. Could have been an inning ending DP - classic routine weak grounder right to him. Plenty of time with a slow runner. He sailed the throw to 2B low and into the left field grass. Rough play. That's likely an inning ending play right there. Instead? Five runs proceeded to cross from this point. AND, the Javelinas ultimately lost 8-7.

Crow: Impressive curve ball early. Baez makes a really nifty charging scoop and fling play to 1B for the bang-bang first out. Has some movement on the heater - not a level flat pitch. Definitely has some ride and rise and the ability to give the heat some late tailing movement. He's hitting 90-93 mph - where he was sitting before TJ. This is HUGE for him. The curve is nasty. Slider appears to be a sneaky get it by you pitch. Gave up a single to LF. Got a weak pop up to Baez at 2B and a gift from the infield ump on a blown dropped DP ball by the Javelinas' SS. Both K's came in the second frame. He was using the change-up, slider, curve, and heater (which appeared to have a couple different shapes depending upon what he was looking to do). Very impressive second outing for the 23-year-old. We have to be pleased with this!

Going back to look at Crow's 2.0 innings of work. Will report back.

AND, he just gave up his second long ball. An oppo jack over the LF wall to a lefty on a high upper zone heater. Another rocket. Javelinas trail for the first time tonight 8-7.

Merkel on for his first full inning after getting the last out of a five-run 5th for the Solar Sox. He nearly gives up an absolutely rocked long ball down the RF line on a hanging off-speed pitch. He proceeds to throw two more off-speed and the second is rocked over the RF wall for the tying run via homer. Absolute hanger. 7-7 game. This was Merkel's first run.

RHP Coleman Crow got the starting nod tonight vs the Mesa Solar Sox. He did not disappoint. 2.0 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 2 K, 0 R, 1 Balk - 34 total pitches. 23 strikes. Peoria leads 5-1 in the bottom of the 4th frame. The only field player taking the diamond tonight is 2B Juan Baez. He is currently 0-for-1 with 1 BB and 1 SB.

I agree. AND, I would politely 'argue' (I'm not arguing but it is worth sharing) McManus is actually much better than average. He is Top 10, historically, hitting from 50 yards and In over the past 15 years. That's in the upper 1/3rd of NFL kickers. He is hitting at a rate 8-9% higher than the League average in that pivotal range. Factor in he hit 69% his rookie year and 75 % his 4th year. In his career, he is hitting 91 % 50 yards and in. Narvsy, that beautiful lil fella, already missed 5 this season from that same distance. Crazy.

Power has never been Wilken's weakness. Consistent contact (of any kind) is very much his kryptonite. He struggled mightily all season in Biloxi with swing decisions, timing, contact, and success with the lumber. His 2024 28% K rate with a 0.200 BA and a 0.679 OPS speaks to this. In the early AFL he has 9 K in 28 PA's with a 0.650 OPS. In other words: picking up where he left off. I opined at the end of the season a reset and spending time with his newborn was likely more beneficial than an AFL assignment. It's obviously very very early. BUT...there is a very poignant and purposeful 'BUT' here. I very very much wish him success. I have very very much watched the majority of his most recent season. I had given him the benefit of the doubt for months with the HBP in the face and a newborn in his life. Still reasonable 'excuses' for a mulligan of sorts in 2024. Wilken is also facing these things as a 22-year-old until next June. Lot of runway left. However, when you have the pedigree and the hype he brings with it? At some point in time, we'll absolutely need to see better results. It is what it is. This is a results business.

I want the Brewers to acquire McMahon because I know how deeply you want him on the Brewers roster. I hope that happens! We certainly know none of the players in the Minors are remotely close to ready to fill that position at an MLB-caliber level.

Fwiw, here's Gutekunst talking about the signing:

Yeah. The original charges were dropped as a procedural item whereby the victims' names were originally not included. The refiled a few days later and included their names. I have to say, and I am not explicating McManus' alleged behavior in any way, but having read a description of the events in the original filing...this very very much seems like a case of an athlete who drank a bit too much and violated personal space like a drunk man would. In other words, it reads like things that happen in bars all the time. However, this happened to have happened on a plane crossing the Atlantic to a couple of flight attendants. It just reads like a case of some inebriated really bad judgment. I'm just not sure there's all that much there. And, having heard Gutekunst speak today I think the Packers know that to be true as well. Again, not explicating or discrediting this in any way...but I'm not going to jump on the classic modern social media outcry and canceling bandwagon like I've seen throughout Packers twitter.

Henry Ellenson is now 27 years old. He just finished a season in Japan, apparently. He was signed to an Exhibit 10 deal with the Buckaroos today. (This time of year this typically means he'll be waived shortly. This is a move for the Herd who will have to acquire his G-League rights - I 'think' they still belong to the Raptors? Been a long time since I've thought about Henry Ellenson! Anywho, it's a similar thing they just did (in a more prolonged way) with G Terence Davis who was waived to make room for Ellenson. Davis' G-League rights had already been acquired by the Herd.)

LHP Mark Manfredi had an outing to forget as the Javelinas continued their losing ways vs Glendale: 1.0 IP, 5 H, 7 R (5 ER), 1 BB, 1 HB, 1 K, 2 HR With Baez getting the day off, Luis Lara was manning the RF grass batting 7th - 2-for-5, 1 R, 1 K. The HR shown above was Wilken's sole poke in a 1-for-4, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 2 K, 1 HR afternoon. He also was charged with a fielding error at the hot corner. Peoria loses 19-9 to Glendale falling to 2-5 on the young season. The Javelinas will try to find some winning production as they return tomorrow evening to face the Mesa Solar Sox at 8:30 CST.

Fun fact: In 2022, McManus missed 7 XP's for da Broncos. Phew! I triple checked. He only doinked 2 XP's in 2022. We are SO back! We got our Man!

More than brought McManus in. He signed. Narvs 'we hardly knew ye' was released.

Not to mention the Brewers currently no longer have any truly meaningful depth in the upper levels. They are no longer playing with House Money. OF Carlos D. Rodriguez? Free Agent to Be. Very adept on base and contact guy but with very average defense and a non-factor arm. OF Chris Roller? Free Agent to Be. Incredible defender but average arm and extremely streaky at the dish - closed 2024 extremely strong after struggling the majority of the season (while spending a good deal of time on the 40-Man) Are these men returning? We currently don't know. Beyond that? You are looking at Phillies release and pick-up Connor Scott who faded once injured down the Shuckers stretch and who is also an impending FA. Dylan O'Rae who wasn't shown any demonstrable ability to hit Double-A pitching at his young age with his very early call-up and resulting sub-par performance overall. Then you are looking at the dynamic but very young and unproven CF Luis Lara followed by CF Yophery Rodriguez. Both extremely unproven and inexperienced. In other words: they absolutely need the high-quality and cheaper MLB depth they have. Most likely, they are going to need to sign more outfielders in Minor League Free Agency to simply acquire the players they are going to need at the Triple-A level. This is no longer 2022/2023.

I'm going to steal most of @Ro Mueller's thunder from last year and copy and paste his worthy intro post while adding some of this season's context to the mix. Now an annual tradition, the Brewers will once again be sending several minor league prospects Down Under to play for the Brisbane Bandits, whose season will run from November 14th to January 19th (plus playoffs, if applicable). We can use this thread for all things Aussie Baseball-related. Why am I posting this now? Well, the Bandits just announced their first Royals prospect heading 'Down Undah': I can only imagine once these Royals are announced this week the Brewers will be announced shortly thereafter. Remember, last year we saw really solid seasons from all three of 1B Tayden Hall, RHP Sam Gardner and LHP Brian Fitzpatrick. If we recall, oh so fondly, Mr. Gardner was lights out winning the Aussie League 'Relief Pitcher of the Year' for his incredible work.

I was more devilishly thinking: Time to grab Hassan Reddick for a 7th Rdr. 😅 (I also see the Jets are now shopping WR Mike Williams? Amazing. Man, the Jets are simply amazing with A-Rod at the helm.)

Wilken has been scuffling mightily since the calendar flipped to August. Go ahead and look at the cumulative totals: ugly stuff. Now he did just become a dad for the first time. Maybe that's something. Maybe that's nothing. Maybe he is just in an epic slump. Maybe he isn't as good as we think he can be and we want him to be. Much too early to tell. But, what we can say is his production is extremely spotty at present. Let's hope that changes.

Yes. By my eyes, the sideline is wide open there for a post fade type route - you think leading him up and to the sideline is a poor decision? Maybe you're right. BUT, Williams did slip. Then A-Rod threw him under the bus claiming he ran the wrong route. You can see right there he is having to come back for the ball. And, obviously, he could sit in that Zone there? Maybe? Maybe that is where that route was supposed to take him? I don't imagine A-Rod would lie in the post-game presser. Maybe it was one of those "You're supposed to know what I'm thinking!" routes? But, the ball died mid flight by quite a bit and came low and inside with the Safety shading him there. Safety made an incredible play. Unfortunate for the Jets. I'm merely pointing out: A-Rod consistently sees this type of result with the game on the line regardless. And, he consistently by-passes the open underneath routes for more chunk plays in crunch time and it rarely ever works. This is his second consecutive INT in a final drive scenario where the Jets were driving and had a chance to win the game. I feel like his clutch magic died at least five years ago. Maybe I'm wrong. Anywho, just really really glad I'm not a Jets fan. Is there a more glaring 'Sunk Cost Fallacy' scenario going on in the NFL than the Jets continuing to throw the kitchen sink at their 40-year-old HOF QB?

He looks older and can't throw like he used to. BUT that has been the case for several years. I can't tell you the number of times I saw A Rod force it into Adams downfield when a winning play was staring him down like this - heck thinking of that blown opportunity at Lambeau vs the Brady Bucs. He hasn't been a big moment clutch performer for quite some time in my view. A better throw to the sideline likely works out there but he can't throw like he used to. He might think he can. That was an extremely costly misfire mistake in a crunch time moment. When is the last Brady-esque drive any of us saw from Rodgers. I honestly can't even think of One any more.

This just in: The New York Football Jets absolutely still stink - with or without Saleh. What an ugly arse football game on this fine fall Monday evening. Tyler Bass missed a kick. Zurlein missed two kicks. Narvs had a twinkle in his eye. A-Rod under threw a pass toward the sideline for what would have been a big gain as the Jets were 'marching' for a possible go-ahead score or FG for a tie (with Zurlein missing with frequency, far from a guarantee). WR Mike Williams had a chance to make a play but slipped and fell as the ball fell short and to his inside back shoulder. Looks like a poor throw to me, regardless: