Jake McKibbin

And no hits to mention from either.... Hiura looked lost at the plate

If Yelich has a full no trade clause (likely to be able to actually settle in Milwaukee, he did take an under value deal given his performances at the time) then I guess it's all kind of moot

Also watched Hiuras AB's he ain't ready at all. It's just not in sync right now

A beautiful strikeout from Gasser to end the 4th, not getting the swig and miss you'd hope for at times here, and most of the contact is aerial which is hurting him but he's keeping the score under control with damage limitation

I think this sort of roster manipulation is shocking for a player's development and mental space to be honest. Also there's only so much you learn when not being challenged in AAA so that becomes less prospect development and just stagnating him, which could wreck him. Motivation is such a huge thing for these athletes So even suggesting 2026 seems a little nuts. Obviously if he's not hitting all that well or not like the top level chourio at AAA before bringing him up, then that's fair next season, but if he is, you can't just keep a guy down for an extra year and a half for that

I did a quick glance at teams and though our schedule was harder, shows what I know! We have some big teams to play, but also some easier ones, plus overlooked Giants esque clubs against the Reds. Eventually their WOBA luck Vs expected numbers will stabilize, surely!

Can Devanney not running hard there cost a base runner after a poor throw on the double play. Really not a fan of that

Having failed to make a splash at the deadline in recent seasons, the Brewers need to seize the opportunity they have to go deep into this year's postseason. Is a Tigers starter the answer for Milwaukee? Image courtesy of © Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports Mark Feinsand suggested for MLB.com during the week that the Brewers have registered an interest in Eduardo Rodriguez from the Detroit Tigers, who is the standout starting pitcher in terms of trade candidates. Given the Brewers rotation at the moment; Rodriguez's contract situation for the rest of this season; and a likely opt-out coming at the end of the year, what could he do to upgrade the team? Despite getting a quality start from either Colin Rea or Julio Teheran through just about each turn in the rotation, the Brewers haven’t caught fire recently, despite threatening to during the series with the Reds. If they remain a below-average offense, they’ve shown they can win big games, even against the bigger juggernauts like the Phillies and Braves, using quality defense and effective starting pitching. They need reinforcements to ensure that they keep getting that caliber of pitching, though. At some point, it’s likely that Teheran and Rea will get worked out and stop being effective enough to scrape by at the bottom of the rotation, meaning either a fully fit rotation or a potential upgrade would be necessary to make full use of the Brewers' strengths this season. Rodriguez typically strikes out hitters at around a 25% clip, a solid enough ratio, while being above-average in walk rate (84th percentile) and hard-hit rate (80th percentile). His underlying metrics and expected stats show he’s not overperforming to a huge extent this year, with an xERA of 3.46. Risks Rodriguez’s exit velocities against multiple pitches have risen significantly since he came back from injury, and it’s a little bit worrisome. Pitch Pitch May ‘23 (mph) July ‘23 (mph) Difference (mph) Expected BA July ‘23 Four Seam 92.7 92.8 0.1 .317 Cutter 86.5 93.6 7.1 .388 Sinker 80.1 93 12.9 .144 Changeup 75.2 82.6 7.4 .327 As you can see, on everything except his four-seamer, the exit velocities have increased drastically, and on everything except for his sinker, that has resulted in very high expected batting average numbers, potentially a sign that he won’t give you the same level of production he has managed for the Tigers over the first four months of the season. There is also the chance he will be less useful than expected, should the Brewers reach the playoffs. With aces Corbin Burnes and Brandon Woodruff and the fresh-off-a-13-strikeout-performance Freddy Peralta, the three-pronged top of the rotation seems in good order, with Wade Miley and Adrian Houser potentially proving valuable in moves to the bullpen. If you’re going to pay for an in-form starter with a sub-3.00 ERA, you’d expect the cost to match up to a real need, but the Brewers aren’t all that desperate for rotation help. Rodriguez may cost a fringe top-five prospect as a headliner, such as Tyler Black, Eric Brown Jr or Luis Lara, and would he really add that much value over what the Brewers currently have? Benefits As an extra lefty arm for variety, if the Brewers were to reach the playoffs, he could come in very useful against lefty-powered lineups such as the Phillies. Giving him the Brewers' defensive setup to work with could boost his surface numbers even further, while ensuring there are fewer weak starts in the rotation heading down the stretch, which may be vital given the quality of opponents the Brewers have coming their way in late August and September. Having Teheran, Rea and Houser going against the best offense in the league this weekend is far from ideal, and more setups like this are probable until the return of Wade Miley and Brandon Woodruff, if they manage to return to their most effective form at all. Rodriguez’s arsenal is characterized by slight tweaks with the fastball shape, nibbling around the edges and using the four-seamer, cutter and sinker to encourage chases. His sinker down and into righties has been very effective, with a batting average of just .167, and his cutter to the same location has a 24.4% whiff rate and a batting average of just .161. Living off of these fastballs, you’d expect his changeup, which is usually well-located, to play up, but he’s struggled with it this year, albeit without giving up much in the way of extra-base hits (just three doubles against it in 66 plate appearances ending on that offering). With a WHIP of just 1.03 on the season, he’s done a great job of using his locations to generate weak contact and get outs, while having more swing-and-miss than the likes of Rea and Teheran, making him far more reliable. The Brewers could have a premier rotation in all of baseball with these four options, and a firing Miley as your fifth starter. Summary Rodriguez has shown a propensity to be streaky in his career, in a similar way to Peralta, and his underlying metrics aren’t quite as nice since his injury as they were before, making this a riskier trade for the Brewers than it looks on the surface. There’s no such thing as guaranteed performance, but while he would still provide value to this team, and really play up on their strengths, it’s an unlikely move to make unless there are injury concerns around Miley or Woodruff upon their returns. The prospect capital it may take to acquire him would likely be better used either on multiple league-average bats, or one impact bat to really make a difference to the team’s postseason dreams. Other options in this vein for the Brewers who could be slight upgrades at the back end of the rotation would include - a reunion with Zack Greinke from the Royals, who has struggled this year with a 5.49 ERA but is fun and has big game experience - Rodriguez's teammate Michael Lorenzen, who hasn't given up an earned run over his last three starts and sports a 3.49 ERA - Lance Lynn, one of a number of underperforming stars on the White Sox staff whom a lot of suitors seem to believe they can turn around, but who hasn't fared well at all recently What would you think of any of these moves? Should the back end of the rotation be solidified for the Brewers? View full article

Absolutely, and I'd imagine Hernandez is getting some larger offers, but his ability to allow the Brewers to rotate through DH with Yelich at times is handy, as well as his lefty mashing. He's also got the ability to get very very hot and carry the team, and I dd't expect it, but it's clear that the Brewers lineup needs some form of relatively consistent power. 1B could help too, but outside of Cron I'm not sure where else they're going to go

To be fair, this might actually enhance overall competitiveness, and makes rebuilds faster if you do sell. One thing I like is that playing all the better teams pre deadline, and the poor ones after could be a huge difference, and it's still an advantage but not so much as before. The worst thing is a baseball game where the front office hope to lose, or are apathetic to winning

I think it's fair to say though Jeferson has performed consistently better than Edgar Quero this season with the jump to A ball, although Edgar has a good walk rate. Its a .718 OPS with minimal 3 home runs compared to an .871 OPS with 13 home runs, and I'm assuming due to his quality there, even better defensively so MLB rankings likely just to be updatd, or over doing it on Edgar's High A stats from last season The No .3 Angels prospect has had an awful year, 5.88 ERA in double A and just hasn't looked anything like the pitcher he was at the same level last year

After Tyrone Taylor's game-winning home run Wednesday, it might feel like the urgency to make a trade that upgrades the Brewers' right field situation has abated. Don't be fooled. Image courtesy of Brewer Fanatic The promotion of Sal Frelick has, maybe, led to the belief that the Brewers don’t need an offensive upgrade in right field, and that the defense (combined with the bat-to-ball skills) of Christian Yelich and Frelick makes it more than adequate as it stands now. Frelick is able to provide plus defense both in center field and right field, which allows for some versatility in right, where the Brewers have a WRC+ of just 75 across the players used so far this season, while a sizeable offensive upgrade could allow for more rotation through the DH spot to rest the likes of Yelich every now and then. The Brewers have placed an absolute premium on outfield defense, so they will prefer anyone they put in right field to be at least an above-average defender, and as it so happens, there may be one trade candidate in particular who fits the needs of this team to a T. Best Option – Teoscar Hernandez First and foremost, it’s important to note that Hernandez is in the 71st percentile for outs above average, and 76th percentile for arm strength, which is crucial to this Brewers team, and will make him more than just a filler in right field with a bat that hopefully fires. Currently playing for the Seattle Mariners (who are fast dropping out of playoff contention, given the stranglehold the AL East has on the Wild Cards and the runaway form of both the Houston Astros and Texas Rangers in the West), Hernandez may be a very tradeable asset come the deadline. He'll hit free agency this fall, and is on a relatively cheap contract. Add his defensive performance and offensive reputation to the fact that he is underperforming his expected metrics significantly, and he may be more under the radar than the likes of Cody Bellinger with his hot streak at the plate. His current wOBA is .307, some 34 points lower than his xWOBA. He has an average exit velocity of 91 miles per hour, an average launch angle of 12.9 degrees, and an xBA/xSlg of .255/.482. He has power in his bat to be a middle-of-the-order player, one who can drive in the runs that the Brewers so desperately need given how prolific Frelick, Yelich and William Contreras have been with getting on base. He chases far more pitches than he should, but he punishes mistakes, and that’s something the Brewers need desperately. Their team slugging percentage is currently .376, which is only above the Royals, Tigers and Athletics--not exactly the company a contending team wants to keep. Another reason why he would be very good for the Brewers is how they’ve struggled against breaking pitches so far this season, with lots of their hitters going well against fastballs, but struggling with the elite curveballs and sliders. Hernandez has no clear weakness, hitting: Fastballs – xBA -.260, xSlg - .542 Off Speed – xBA .249, xSlg .428 Breaking – xBA .257, xSlg .445 The Brewers' splits have normalized since June, showing them to be just as shoddy now offensively against both left- and right-handed pitching, but Hernandez has hit .302/.315/.581 against lefties so far this year. He's a true right-handed power hitter. His splits against righties are merely passable, but his underlying numbers do suggest him to be far better than what’s shown so far this year, and last season, he had a .769 OPS against righties to complement a .978 OPS against lefthanders. Hernandez is the type of hitter the Brewers need to make a difference over the next two months, as even an average lineup with this quality pitching staff can do damage deep into the postseason. In terms of cost, it’s difficult to say what Hernandez is worth, but I’d suggest it may cost the Brewers some lower-level, high-hype prospect (like Luke Adams), or (if you followed my pieces on tradeable players in the farm system) a grade 3 and grade 4/5 talent would probably do the trick. He has a hard-hit rate north of 40% against everything except the cutter so far this year, and is due for a hot streak. Would you make this trade? Another option: Andrew McCutchen After the debacle that was McCutchen playing relatively subpar offense in the DH spot last season (although that would be a sizable increase for this season), he has been playing incredibly well for his Pittsburgh Pirates team in what may well be his last season in the majors. It remains to be seen whether or not he would want to be traded if this was the case, or if he would prefer to go out with his original team, but his performance has certainly turned heads. There are certain things McCutchen guarantees you, and first and foremost is a high-quality on-base percentage, which sits at .382 on the season. His power numbers have dropped significantly from his prime years, but he’s walking at a 15.7% rate, striking out just 20.6 percent of the time, and has popped 10 home runs and 12 doubles this season, while also still showing enough wheels to steal 10 bases. A positive presence in the clubhouse and an experienced head for the likes of Joey Wiemer and Frelick to learn from, McCutchen hasn’t been used too often in the field this year, but he has enough speed to play at least passable defense in right or left field should the need arise, grading out as average in the outfield last season. The Pirates may be loath to trade their hometown hero, and he may be loath to leave them, but he certainly is a viable option for the offense starved crew. These are all options with just a few months left on their contracts, but there are other options with more control available, such as Lane Thomas of the Nationals, or Tyler O'Neill in St Louis. Do you think the Brewers should go for a longer-term upgrade? And what would you give up for Hernandez? View full article

With Cincinnati 1.5 games back and the Cubs on a hot stretch just 6 back of the Brewers, and both teams playing a lot over the next two months, that could be a huge series coming up to start next week. Hopefully St Louis can grab a game or two off the Cubs this weekend, but that series could make or break either teams season. More make for the Reds or break for the Cubs, but still!

Good lord that's nuts, for the contract he got Chourio has massively improved his contact skills, there was a lot of swing and miss on the outer part of the plate coming into the year and he seems to have taken a real step forward. It's just not swinging at bad pitches now, I think his contact out of zone is pretty good still but it's causing cheap outs

He's our boyyy Realistically it makes sense financially, but I really like his production and if he even continues something between his June/July numbers (July has a ridiculous OPS for his with 6 home runs too) I'd be happy enough, even to get that next season. He's worked hard and is a real solid piece there. If the back gives way it's trouble perhaps, but I wouldn't trade him I don't think. Also 26m a year isn't really that much compared to what some players are getting

Yeah, Jeferson has vastly outperformed Edgar for starters this season. Do the Angels have any actual prospect capital left? Seems the farm may be as ransacked as the Padres

Chourio has two walks in all of July until his last two games, where he's taken three free passes It's his final obstacle regarding swing decisions, and seems to be some sort of memo/focus for him. This could be HUGE

Keston just hit his first dinger for a while.. if he gets hot, he's up

Adames to the Dodgers may no longer be feasible, theyve just acquired amed rosario EDIT didn't realise he was a FA after 2023!

They've acquired amed Rosario too, which may impact any deal for Adames

Is that due to the abundance of the right handers out there? Yeah I think his age is absolutely fine, and he's shown himself able to learn when he's been moved quite aggressively in the Brewers system. I don't think he's likely to be any more than a number 3/4 starter at his ceiling, but the Brewers would love that given the hitting potential hey have coming through right now

Absolutely, he's a really good shout actually, given the strength of the current catching corps that could be an attractive piece elsewhere (though the power drop off on promotion to high A is slightly concerning) but not someone I'd considered in these articles!

Yelich with good contact, but when he doesn't get on I almost assume we're not scouring in the inning