I appreciate what Rea's done this year, but he just scares me to death in a playoff series with his propensity for pitches like that. Why Freddy is still my Game 1 starter.
Agree to disagree I guess. I just think he's proven beyond doubt that he can handle every "burden" the Brewers can throw at him, and now that he's seemingly figured out MLB pitching, next ST is as good of a time as any to start working him in there with the value boost it would provide to what is their franchise player. I'm also not that anxious to pencil the other light hitting guys in the lineup every day if it can be avoided. I personally hope we sign a power hitting corner OF bat in FA as there's several on the market.
I think teams will see the increased FB velo (which at 97 MPH is a career high) and have some of their fears be allayed.
I think the biggest culprit with the K's is teams don't even think about the top of the zone anymore whereas they still did a bit in 2021-2022. His secondary pitches are still all high whiff rate pitches. Cutter whiff rate has curiously declined even though as mentioned he's throwing it as hard as ever.
Boyle is a hard thrower with solid stuff, but one of the wildest pitchers in the majors. Going to be a game where we'll have to be patient and not start swinging wildly as that will only help the guy.
On the Chourio fielding discussion, Thomas Nestico helps shed light on things with his new app.
The most blatant "drops" that people remember from earlier in the season were almost all super low probability plays that only a handful including Chourio could even get close to.
The one in the 9th against the Marlins in May that everyone pounced on him for was a mere 5% probability catch, of which only a handful have been converted in MLB this season.
Bottom line is Chourio's range is incredible for an OFer, and he should only get better as he improves his reads and jumps which you would certainly expect from someone who was an infielder until a couple years ago.
https://tjstatsapps-catch-probability.hf.space/