Michael Trzinski

Image courtesy of David Banks--Imagn Images Over the first three months of the season, Isaac Collins showed himself to be a solid player, performing well in the field and at the plate. As the calendar flipped to July, the switch-hitting Collins was hitting .252/.358/.384 over 159 at-bats with 12 extra-base hits and eight stolen bases. In his first game in July, he flipped the switch. The diminutive fly chaser went 4-for-4 with a double and a home run in a 7-2 win over the New York Mets. Collins has started 26 of 28 games so far in July and August and is hitting .357/.447/.520 over 98 at-bats, including five doubles, one triple, and three home runs. In those 28 contests, Collins has collected multiple hits in 11 of them. To reward him for his breakout month, Collins was named the National League Rookie of the Month for July. The Brewers have won eight of their last nine games, and Collins is playing a key role, going 14-for-33, hitting .424/.525/.636. Among players who have played more than 500 innings in left field this season, Collins ranks sixth in the majors with +5 Defensive Runs Saved (DRS). On the offensive side of the ledger, Collins has reduced his strikeout rate from 24.7% in mid-June to 22.1%, including 19.2% over the last five weeks. The 5-foot-8 Collins is far better from the left side of the dish, hitting .321/.428/.438 over 196 plate appearances, while scuffling a bit from the right side, hitting only .245/.330/.436 across 106 appearances at the plate. But it all adds up to .292/.392/.436 with a bWAR of 2.8, which ranks third on the Brewers behind Freddy Peralta and Brice Turang. Collins looks more comfortable every day and knows he doesn't have to worry about his spot in the lineup, much less his spot on the active roster. His 135 OPS+ ranks first on the team with players with more than 100 at-bats. His two triples rank third on the team, and his 13 steals rank fifth. He is fourth with 39 walks, second in 'qualified' batting average (.292), first in qualified OBP (.392), and first in qualified OPS with .828. (For the sake of argument, 'qualified' here means more than 100 at-bats.) In June, Brewer Fanatic's Matt Trueblood stated, "By no means is Collins a star, and by no means can he ever become one" in an early-season article. That might have been true then, but I would argue that while Collins hasn't reached 'star' status yet, he is one of the best players on the team right now with his near-Gold Glove fielding and solid hitting, and may very well become an equal to Turang or Sal Frelick. BetMGM recently had Collins' chance of winning the National League Rookie of the Year award third-best in the league behind Madison native Drake Baldwin (Atlanta catcher) and Miami Marlins catcher Agustin Ramirez. Role player or star, Isaac Collins has put himself high on the list of fan favorites at Uecker Field. How do you feel about Isaac Collins? Is he a star or will he become one? Let us know in the comments section, and thanks for reading! View full article

Three-sport star Kirk Nieuwenhuis made a recruiting trip to the University of Colorado and was standing on the sideline watching practice. Off to his side, a muscular 6-foot-2, 200-pound player dwarfed Nieuwenhuis, who was less than six-feet tall and was kind of slender. It turned out that the player was Mason Crosby, who went on to kick for the Green Bay Packers for 16 seasons. Years later, Nieuwenhuis said, "If this guy’s the kicker, what am I getting myself into?” Nieuwenhuis chose to play baseball instead. Kirk Robert Nieuwenhuis played basketball, football, and baseball at Denver Christian School in Colorado. He attended Azuza Pacific University in California and played in the Alaska Baseball League, where he was named ABL Player of the Year in 2007. He was chosen by the New York Mets in the third round (100th overall) of the 2008 MLB Amateur Draft. Nieuwenhuis spent four seasons in the Mets organization before getting called up to the Mets in early April 2012. He batted .252/.315/.376 over 282 at-bats in 91 games but was sent down to make room for another player coming off the disabled list. After playing five games at Triple-A Buffalo, Nieuwenhuis was found to have a partially torn plantar fascia in his right foot, which ended his season. The lefty-swinging outfielder, who had grown to 6-foot-3, 225-pounds, split time between Triple-A Las Vegas and the Mets the next two seasons, playing a total of 108 big league games in that time. In 2015, he played for both the Mets and the Los Angeles Angels before being selected off waivers by the Brewers in December 2015. Nieuwenhuis and Keon Broxton split time in centerfield for Milwaukee in 2016, but Nieuwenhuis only batted .209/.324/.385 across 392 plate appearances. He set career bests with 125 games, 18 doubles, 13 home runs, eight steals, and 56 walks. He began the 2017 season with Milwaukee but was sent down to Triple-A Colorado Springs after a slow start with Milwaukee where he batted .080/.233/.240 over 15 games. Nieuwenhuis was released after the season and was signed by the Seattle Mariners in early 2018 but played only at Triple-A Tacoma. He never made it back to the majors. Nieuwenhuis spent 2019 playing for Long Island in the independent Atlantic League. In 2020, Nieuwenhuis became the hitting coordinator for his alma mater. Two seasons later, he was named head coach. View full player

Jerry McNertney was a baseball star at Gilbert (Iowa) High School and went on to play three years for Iowa State. The right-handed batting McNertney was a slick fielding first baseman and was twice named the winner of Iowa State’s ‘Mr. Huckle-de-Buck’ award, given annually to the player that best represented the ‘fire, hustle, enthusiasm, and desire’ of the squad. In June 1958, McNertney was signed by the Chicago White Sox and began his professional career at Class D Holdrege (Nebraska) in the Nebraska State League. Gerald Edward McNertney was born in 1936 In Boone, Iowa and played basketball in high school. During his first three years in the minor leagues, McNertney played first base, third base, and the outfield. In his third season (1960) at Class C Idaho Falls in the Pioneer League, McNertney had a monster season, batting .341/.408/.517 with 32 doubles, 10 triples, 13 homers, and 125 RBI. The following season, McNertney was converted to catcher and became a solid receiver. McNertney spent six seasons in the minor leagues and made his major league debut on April 16, 1964. He split time behind the plate with J.C. Martin and Camilo Carreón during the season but still played in 73 games, batting .215/.290/.290 across 186 at-bats. He threw out 36% of runners attempting to steal, which was just below league average. After the White Sox received two-time All-Star catcher John Romano in a three-way trade that also included Tommie Agee, Tommy John, and Rocky Colavito in early 1965, McNertney started the season at Triple-A Indianapolis. McNertney was off to a good start, batting .292/.286/.500 in 15 games when he suffered a right-hand injury caused by a foul ball. Two weeks later, he was run over in a play at the plate and suffered a double fracture in his right shinbone. He came back in the winter to play in the Florida Instructional League. McNertney played a reserve role at catcher for the ChiSox the next three years before he was drafted by the Seattle Pilots in the 1968 expansion draft. McNertney set career highs in 1969—the only Seattle Pilots season—in almost every major offensive category. The following season the Pilots became the Milwaukee Brewers and McNertney saw his playing time dwindle as Phil Roof took most of the starts in 1970. McNertney batted .243/.302/.348 across 296 at-bats. After the season he was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals. McNertney played two seasons with the Cardinals and finished his career in 1973 with Pittsburgh. After retiring as a player, McNertney spent three seasons as an assistant baseball coach at Iowa State. From 1977-1983, McNertney served as a coach in the New York Yankees minor league system. In 1984, he spent three months as the Yankees bullpen coach but was demoted to Triple-A Columbus, purportedly in response to a bullpen incident in which pitcher Dave Righetti suffered a cut finger, putting him on the disabled list. After working for a couple seasons in the minors for New York, McNertney became the Boston Red Sox bullpen coach in July 1988 and finished the season before resigning from the post. McNertney spent a couple years in the early 1990s as a coach at Iowa State. View full player

You said 'small sample size.' Naughty, naughty...lol

Image courtesy of Getty Images Brandon Woodruff returned to action on July 6 after nearly two years of inactivity due to major shoulder surgery in October 2023. Thus far, he has made a handful of starts for the Brewers and has been everything the organization has hoped for. In his five starts, the red-headed right-hander has thrown 28 1/3 innings while allowing only 14 hits, seven runs, and four walks. He has struck out 37 batters for an impressive K rate of 35.5%, which is the highest rate of his career. Likewise, his walk rate of 3.8% is a career best. In Woodruff's latest outing against the Washington Nationals Saturday afternoon, Woodruff allowed one hit, a two-run shot by Robert Hassell III, two runs, and one walk while striking out eight. It was the fourth game in which he pitched at least six innings, which goes a long way toward giving the bullpen a little downtime. The only Brewer player to ever win the Comeback Player of the Year award was southpaw pitcher Mike Caldwell in 1978. Caldwell went 22-9 with an ERA of 2.36. He completed 23 games along with six shutouts, and added one save for good measure. Ten former Brewers earned Comeback Player of the Year awards while toiling for other teams. Josh Donaldson, Mike Moustakas, Prince Fielder, Casey McGehee, Gorman Thomas, John Jaha, Gary Sheffield, Greg Vaughn, Clyde Wright, and Tim Leary all won the award while playing on another squad. Although ‘Big Woo’ has started great, players like Ronald Acuna Jr., Spencer Strider, Kodai Senga, Robbie Ray, and Brewer Christian Yelich are all in hot pursuit for the Comeback Player of the Year honor. But if Woodruff can make another 10-11 starts and match the production of his first five outings, he will be in the thick of things and could become the second Brewer player to win this prestigious award. How do you think Big Woo will finish his season? Can he win the Comeback Player of the Year Award? Let us know in the comments section, and thanks for reading! View full article

Great job by Rev. Priester tonight!!

Hey @Jack Stern, what are the Powerball numbers for Wednesday? 😁

Tony Muser only played 15 games for the Brewers as a player, but spent 13 seasons as a minor league manager, major league coach and hitting instructor, and minor league instructor and scout in the Brewers organization. After he left the Brewers, Muser spent five years as a coach for the Chicago Cubs before signing on as a major league manager for six years with the Kansas City Royals. He also worked as a coach for San Diego for four years and finished in the Padres organization as a minor league instructor. After 43 years in baseball, Muser retired in 2010. "I just got tired of it," Muser said in 2010. "I didn't get tired of baseball but I just got tired of the politics. That's just baseball today." Anthony Joseph Muser grew up in San Diego and was picked in the third round by the San Francisco Giants in the 1966 MLB January draft but did not sign, instead waiting until mid-1967 and signing as a free agent with the Boston Red Sox. The left-handed first sacker played in the minors for parts of three campaigns and missed most of the 1968 season due to his obligation to a Marine Corps Reserve unit. He made his big league debut on September 14, 1969, getting a hit in the ninth inning off Yankees pitcher Jack Aker. He played one more game for Boston that year and wouldn't play again in the bigs until 1971 after he had been traded to the Chicago White Sox. After July 1972, Muser played almost exclusively in the majors for the White Sox until a trade in 1975 that sent him to Baltimore. He set career highs in 1973 with 38 runs, 88 hits, 14 doubles, four homers, 30 RBI, and eight stolen bases. Muser played for the Orioles for three years and set a career high with 136 games in 1976. Muser was released by Baltimore in the spring of 1978 and was signed by the Brewers in April and played at Triple-A Spokane until July when he was called up by Milwaukee. Over the last three months of the season, Muser played in only 15 games and had 30 at-bats, hitting a meager .133/.212/.233. He was released after the season and played for the Seibu Lions in the Japanese Pacific League, batting just .196/.273/.268 in 168 at-bats. In November 1979, Muser was named to manage Single-A Stockton in the California League, beginning his 31-year post-playing career in baseball. View full player

One Roger Miller earned his chops as a country singer. Another Roger Miller was a guitarist for the band Mission of Burma. Our Roger Miller was a fireballing phenom who made steady progress through the minor leagues and pitched two games for the Milwaukee Brewers in 1974 one month after his 20th birthday. After at least two arm issues in 1976 and 1977, he retired from baseball before the 1978 season. Sadly, he died at age 38 in an explosion that was caused by a leaking acetylene tank while welding. Roger Wesley Miller was a baseball star as a youngster and high schooler in Connellsville, Pennsylvania. He was drafted by the Brewers in the 15th round of the 1972 MLB Amateur Draft. Miller spent a season at Low-A Newark and despite an ERA of 5.49, was promoted to Single-A Danville in the Midwest League in 1973, where he posted a record of 8-4 with an ERA of 3.32. That earned him another promotion, this time to Triple-A Sacramento. Despite giving up 26 homers, many of them at Sacramento's Hughes Stadium, which had a left field fence that was just 232 feet from home plate, Miller was named to the Pacific Coast League West All-Star team. In September, he was called up to the Brewers. The 6-foot-3, 200-pound righthander pitched in just two games, both against the Boston Red Sox. His major league totals show 2.1 innings, three hits, three runs, no walks and two strikeouts. Miller pitched at Sacramento in 1975, missed 1976 due to arms injuries, and finished his career in 1977 at Triple-A Spokane, which was the new Brewers affiliate. After retirement in early 1978, Miller returned to Pennsylvania and worked with the local high school and American Legions teams until his death in 1993. View full player

Hopefully Chewy doesn't get hamstrung by his malady.

Nothing against you, Jake. I just question how accurate the framing stats really are. Kinda like when the Brewers official scorer calls an obvious throwing error a hit, and on Aug 18 in Wrigley Field, the Cubs official scorer calls the same exact play an E1. Who is right? Too much subjective objectivity, ya know? 😁

As a dinosaur when it comes to new analytics, I am not convinced that framing numbers have any merit at all. That's just me. I still think wins for pitchers are a 'thing.' 😁

Nice to see Opie struggle for once...two K's and an airmail throw to the dish...

IF Contreras is going on the IL, this was probably a must-do deal. Yeah, the price is a bit high, but otherwise I'm sure David Fry was available 😁

In 1994, Cincinnati catcher Joe Oliver played six games in April and missed the rest of the season due to synovitis and arthritis in his left ankle. One year later, Oliver was signed as a free agent by the Milwaukee Brewers when starting catcher Dave Nilsson underwent arthroscopic knee surgery. Oliver started 87 of the 144 games played in the strike-shortened season, splitting time with B.J. Surhoff and Mike Matheny. Joseph Melton Oliver was selected in the second round of the 1983 MLB Amateur Draft out of William R. Boone High School in Orlando, Florida by the Reds. Even though Cincinnati legend Johnny Bench retired in 1983, Oliver spent seven years in the minors before he made his big-league debut in 1989 as a 23-year-old. Oliver spent six years with the Reds, including three seasons in which he started more than 100 games behind the plate. His arm was above average as he threw out 34% of runners trying to steal, compared to the league average of 31.4%. Oliver played in a total of 97 games for Milwaukee in 1995 with a batting line of .273/.332/.439 over 337 at-bats with 20 doubles and 12 home runs. Oliver became a free agent after the season and re-signed with the Reds in 1996. After two solid years with Cincinnati, Oliver became the definition of a journeyman, playing in Detroit, Seattle (two years), Pittsburgh, Boston, and in New York with the Yankees over the next four years before calling it quits at age 35 in 2001. Oliver coached in the high school ranks in Florida, at Pine Castle Christian and Bishop Moore Catholic in Orlando between 2004-2011. He then got back into professional ball, managing in the Red Sox organization from 2014-2019 at the Single-A and Double-A levels. In 2022, the led the Frederick team in the MLB Draft League, which was a collegiate summer league. Joe Oliver never made an All-Star team or won any major awards, yet he was a solid big-league catcher in the early 90s, including one nice season in Milwaukee. View full player

Hank Allen grew up in a baseball family. Two of his brothers played in the major leagues, including Hall of Famer Dick Allen. Hank’s career wasn’t nearly as good, but he still played for seven years with three different ball clubs and was a member of the Milwaukee Brewers in their inaugural season. But Allen was best known as a thoroughbred horse trainer/owner, having won 286 races in a 23-year career from 1976-1998. Harold Andrew Allen was signed by the Philadelphia Phillies in 1960. In his third year in the organization, Allen won the Triple Crown (37/140/.346) for the Magic Valley (Twin Falls, Idaho) Cowboys in the Pioneer League. He was attacked by a drunk one night before the end of the season and ended up with a sore neck, which probably contributed to Allen going 0-for-12 in his last three games, nearly costing him the batting title. After two more seasons in the minors, Allen was purchased by the Washington Senators. Allen, a right-handed batter who played in the outfield and infield, made his big-league debut for the Senators on September 9, 1966, going 1-for-2, getting his first major league hit off Chicago White Sox pitcher Gary Peters. Allen spent most of the next three-plus seasons in the majors for Washington, playing in a total of 324 games for the Senators, batting .251/.290/.326 with an OPS+ of 82. On May 11, 1970, Allen was traded along with infielder Ron Theobald to the Brewers for outfielder Wayne Comer. Allen played almost every day for the Brewers over the next month, hitting .246/.317/.316 over 57 at-bats, including his best game as a Brewer on May 23 when he went 3-for-4 with a double and threw out two baserunners from center field in a 3-1 loss to the Kansas City Royals. In mid-June, he was involved in a trade with the Baltimore Orioles in which he was optioned to Triple-A Rochester. The Wampum, Pennsylvania native would go on to play two seasons (1972-73) with the White Sox, re-united with brother Dick. Hank Allen also spent time as a scout in the Houston Astros organization, He passed away on May 29, 2024. View full player

Summer reading material: The Arm: Inside the Billion-Dollar Mystery of the Most Valuable Commodity in Sports, by Jeff Passan A true must-read for sports fans.