Jake McKibbin

I think my sister's heading to this game (she's at uni in cleveland) so fingers crossed she gets a cracking game, with Yelich hitting 6 home runs

Is there an issue with those teams being judged in hindsight as world series contenders/winners whereas at this time of the season, they were viewed as listless and awful? I think a lot of baseball is getting hot, and one recent issue is the lack of competent pitching sadly. Yelich's AB's were really good last night, a lot of loud contact, but there are holes in the line-up with Turang and Wiemer/Taylor that just kill momentum, as well as the Adames funk and Winker's lack of, well, anything fun to watch. But I'd disagree there isn't teh ability for the rookies to find their feet, for Woodruff and Burnes to be lights out from July onwards, with Miley and a return to form for Lauer, plus potential arrivals of Hiura/Frelick. There's potential there to be a terrifying team, it just hasn't clicked at all in the last month or so

Even amid a difficult stretch, the Brewers are a first-place team. Their problems are first-place problems, and there are signs that even they can be ameliorated. Here are five statistical foundations for optimism. Image courtesy of © Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports Even amid a difficult stretch, the Brewers are a first-place team. Their problems are first-place problems, and there are signs that even they can be ameliorated. Here are five statistical foundations for optimism. Darin Ruf is the Lefty Masher We Craved Ruf has shown an ability to make consistent, solid contact for the Brewers, striking out just twice so far, with only one groundout, and a lot of hard-hit balls to the outfield. He has a 58-percent hard hit rate and an expected batting average of .286. He is a subpar defender, even at first base, but his bat has shown value so far, doing exactly what it says on the tin, with more to come with a little better batted-ball luck. His at bats have been high quality, with a good eye at the plate and an ability to foul off pitches and draw out the at-bat, and I’m looking forward to seeing more of him in the heart of the order against lefties. The Untapped Potential The Milwaukee Brewers have won two and lost three of their last five games against the surging St Louis Cardinals and red-hot Tampa Bay Rays, yet even despite a poor performance from Eric Lauer (again) they’ve managed to eke out wins while going through a rough stretch with the bats when they needed them. The Brewers had just four hits in 42 at-bats with runners in scoring position against two top teams, and could have brought in another couple of wins had they been even league-average in this area. It’s an area of the game that has a lot to do with luck, and a rebound next week could get the Brewers back to winning ways in the next series. Tyrone Taylor’s Manageable Misfortune Taylor’s current slash line is a measly .179/.203/.268 for a .471 OPS. However, his expected stats would be a .244 batting average and a slugging percentage of .391–by no means dominant, but a significant improvement. He smashed several balls against Shane McClanahan that were a mere few feet from extra-base hits or home runs. That could have been a real difference-maker in such a low-scoring game. Taylor has a strikeout rate of 20.3 percent at the moment, and is lifting the ball well, but he will need to improve even his expected statistics. The Brewers have the worst output in baseball from their right fielders so far this season. Brian Anderson’s All-Around Presence This past week, a lot of the Brewers’ big names struggled, with Christian Yelich out of action in the Cardinals series. Rowdy Tellez, Willy Adames, and William Contreras showed some signs of life in the final game, but certainly, the hope was for more consistent production from those three. Enter Brian Anderson, with a .407 on-base percentage in the last week, with three strikeouts, six walks and two long home runs. Add that to his barehanded catch and laser throw for the first out of the ninth inning on Sunday, and you can see how valuable he is for this streaky Brewers team. He’s gotten on base at a .373 clip in his last 15 games, having gone through a rough patch, and with the way in which the Brewers have been hitting for power recently, that is invaluable going forward. Joel Payamps: Shut-Down Innings Payamps is in the 94th percentile for hard hit rate, and the 96th for walk rate, with his added reliance on the slider resulting in incredible results for him. He is recording career lows with 4.8-percent barrel rate and 3.2-percent solid contact rates, as well as a career high 26.6-percent strikeout rate (it was 17.7% last season). The only issue is that he has a .426 xBA and a .636 xSLG against his sinker, and his four-seam fastball has performed fantastically thus far, so he may tweak his pitch mix a little bit as the season progresses. It’s undeniable that he has been an incredible weapon in the 7th inning for the Brewers relief corps. View full article

When do they take away the stickier ball at AA this season? Have they set a date?

Also we're four weeks into Frelick's 6-8 weeks prognosis

That Burnes interview is kind of worrying if he thinks he's thrown the ball well so far this year and getting what he wants... the peripherals aren't great and the serious drop in swing and miss must be concerning

Was it just me, or was there something seriously wrong with Burnes control on the cutter I've seen some reports about a change in his action with where he cocks his arm, I wonder if this is intentional or not, but he's just not been the same. The cutter location is vital for him, and he can't afford to be so wild with it, he's leaving himself in bad counts then leaving them over the heart of the plate.

I think this is a great point and I wondered earlier in the year, I'm surprised they don't see dip in velocity and instantly say "go for an MRI". It's not exactly a huge cost but could absolutely be worth it in the long run

I'm also someone who loves watching big loopy high spin curveballs, so Knoth could be very interesting

I think this is the category I'm most excited about, the brewers clearly look for 3rd round + later pitching talent and it's worked out well in the past Really curious to see if they can grab anyone like that this time round I like the look of sykora and lord

The fact you're able to be in any way optimistic while holding twins in the middle of the night as they cry is just awesome. Hats off to you sir!

He's lost so much confidence in his delivery, and those middle middle pitches he generated whiffs on previously are getting smashed. That was a horrible hanger, and it seems the rays aren't for stopping. The may want eflin to go deepish for a bullpen game tomorrow (unless they bring back Glasgow on a low pitch count)

Houses sinker looked markedly better this time out, been getting too many air outs but that was prime Adrian and something the brewers will need. A game of really small margins that could have gone either way

This is far and away the best the brewers have looked first time through against a lefty all season, some quality contact all round. And against a cy young candidate... Strange

Wainwright with one strikeout in 5.2 innings and a lot of hard contact. Shame we didn't catch him That cards offense is firing though

I had the exact same though, it's particularly interesting as he's a smart guy with these, I think he diagnosed Woodruff's injury immediately. With a strain it's the worst thing you can do, but it makes me wonder how often players play through injury and it works out for them

Just cash considerations

Fixed that for you bro

Liberatore was pitching incredibly well in his first few starts in the minors, but the last few have been rougher. he's built up to go around 100 pitches, and his strikeout rate is much improved from last season with a couple of ticks extra on the fastball. his main wipeout pitch is the curveball, with a decent change-up he reserves for right handers only, and a high velo slider Can have a tendency to miss the strike zone and nibble too much, with his more recent outings taking high pitch counts through less than five innings, and walk rate was a big issue last season He could be very nervy, and again a good start will be crucial, the Brewers can't let him settle easily

Absolutely! I love physiotherapy and how the body works, but damn if it isn't frustrating needing to write about it quite so often as I have in the first 6 weeks of the season. Shockingly bad luck so far

https://twitter.com/UmpScorecards/status/1658843366111555588/photo/1 A lot of Cards fans upset with the strike zone, but it appears the fault was with Bally sports zone being off

In an ill-timed and unhappy turn of events, the Brewers lost southpaw starter Wade Miley to a lat strain last night. Let's try to figure out how long the Crew might be without its wily veteran. In an ill-timed and unhappy turn of events, the Brewers lost southpaw starter Wade Miley to a lat strain last night. Let's try to figure out how long the Crew might be without its wily veteran. Wade Miley’s departure on Tuesday evening was another sad injury moment for a Milwaukee Brewers team that is currently plagued with a misfiring, depleted rotation. Given the early losses of Brandon Woodruff and Aaron Ashby to underwhelming performances from Corbin Burnes and Eric Lauer, Miley was one of the few positive points for the Brewers so far this season, but he was always going to be an injury concern, at his age and with his track record. Going off against a revived Cardinals outfit after just five outs was crushing, although the bullpen did a magnificent job of pulling them through it. It was later reported as a lat strain, so without further ado, let’s get down to it. What is a lat strain? The latissimus dorsi (or “lats”) are the muscles providing width in the middle of your back, connecting to the rotator cuff (specifically the subscapularis) in the shoulders. They’re used extensively in any motion where the hands and arms are extending away from the body. As such, a throwing motion heavily relies on this muscle group, and one of the best things about Tuesday night was that Miley didn’t try to pitch through the injury. Had he done so, the strain would have gotten significantly worse, very quickly. As you can see below, it is a very large muscle, and this is a more worrying injury than a pectoral strain–because of its contraction through the throwing range of motion, and because due to its size, it can be grossly overused as a stabilizer through the motion of both cocking and accelerating the arm. Image: Wikipedia Differential Diagnoses Grade One/Two Strain A grade one strain is categorized as mild, and this would involve feeling no loss of strength in the muscle, but a nipping pain that can make it difficult to throw. Grade two is a moderate injury, with some loss in the strength of the muscle, but both are partial tears, and neither would require surgical intervention. A grade one tear will commonly take two to three weeks to repair, which would be the best-case scenario. A grade two gets slightly longer, taking at least six weeks and probably closer to eight weeks for caution’s sake before beginning to ramp up the throwing schedule again Grade Three strain This is a full tear of the lat off of the tendon, and requires surgical intervention, which takes a significantly longer period of time. The hope is that Miley has avoided this by his responsible approach in alerting the medical staff. However, if he has done serious damage (usually more noticeable due to a palpable mass around the tendons), then the recovery time would be in the region of four to six months. Comparable Injuries Luis Severino 2019 Severino suffered a grade two lat strain on March 26, 2019. He started throwing again after six weeks, but promptly injured his shoulder due to the extra strain it had to bear. In hindsight, the lat wasn’t fully healed, and Aaron Boone confessed they should have taken another MRI before starting up his throwing program again. He has re-injured his lat to start this season, and still hasn’t pitched (although he claims he’s ready to go). Freddy Peralta 2022 Peralta suffered a grade two or three lat strain on July 31, 2022. He did return after six weeks, but his velocity deteriorated quickly, and the Brewers sat him down for the rest of the season after several worrying and short starts. Grayson Rodriguez 2022 Rodriguez suffered a grade two strain on June 1, 2022, a big disappointment given he was pushing to get a call-up to the major leagues at the time. It shut him down until September that year, taking him out for three months in total. The long and short of this injury is that it’s far better to take your time with it than to rush it if it’s a grade-two tear. The question then becomes how the Brewers will deal with his absence, and can you see an impending trade for a back-end starter that can hold down the fort? View full article

A triple AAA pitcher... damn, Keston would've gone bananas on his ass