Michael Trzinski

He will hit 35 jacks if he stays healthy...mark it!!

I like Lara and Wilken for sure. Might have to take a trip to AppleTown and watch the T-Rats this summer.

Bummer

Suter would be a great add. Least of all, for his humor.

Yes, and that is a HUGE problem.

Six years ago, third baseman Lucas Erceg was ranked fourth on the Milwaukee Brewers Top Prospects list by mlb.com. Today, he is hoping to become a regular member of the bullpen for the Oakland A’s in 2024. Image courtesy of © Stan Szeto-USA TODAY Sports Lucas Erceg stood on the mound at Minute Maid Park on May 19, 2023, during his big-league debut. As he looked around, he saw his wife Emma and a couple of friends in the stands. He worked one inning and although it wasn’t perfect, it was perfect to him. “Being drafted as a position player, it didn’t work out the way I wanted to, but I still had the second opportunity to continue my career as a pitcher, and I’ve put in a lot of hard work to get to where I am today,” Erceg said. Erceg was drafted by the Brewers in the 2nd round of the 2016 June Amateur Draft. He was the 46th overall pick, ahead of fellow second-rounders Bryan Reynolds, Pete Alonso, and Bo Bichette. Those three guys have all played at least 500 games in the big leagues, and they have all played in at least one All-Star game. Erceg finally made it to the majors in 2023—as a pitcher. Erceg’s circuitous journey is one worth looking at: a journey of depression, alcohol, and finally, healing. Drafted out of Menlo College (CA) Erceg signed a few days later for $1.15 million. He began his professional career in Helena, Montana, playing in the Rookie Pioneer League. Erceg lived up to his reputation, slashing .400/.452/.552 in 115 plate appearances, earning him a promotion to Low-A Wisconsin in the Midwest League. The 6-foot-2, 215-pound southpaw swinger didn’t disappoint in the higher classification, hitting .281/.328/.497 across 180 trips to the plate. In 2017, Erceg played most of the campaign at High-A Carolina in the Carolina League and performed well, slashing .256/.307/.417 in 127 games. He was promoted to Triple-A Colorado Springs, mostly as another bat in the Sky Sox’ playoff run, which ended short as they were defeated in the semifinal round of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) playoffs. In his short stint, Erceg went 4-for-10 with a pair of doubles and RBIs. He finished the season playing for the Salt River Rafters in the Arizona Fall League, slashing .250/.278/.404 in 14 games. Erceg played at Double-A Southern League Biloxi in 2018, slashing .248/.306/.382 across 508 plate appearances. That earned him a promotion the next season to Triple-A San Antonio in the PCL. He dropped to eighth on the 2019 Brewers top prospect list. One concern was that he was expanding his zone and swinging at poor pitches, resulting in weak-hit balls. Erceg only slashed .219/.305/.398 in 406 trips, including 15 home runs. After the season, he dropped to #24 on the Brewers top prospect list, with the rankings following his performance. The 2020 minor league season was wiped out by Covid, but Erceg played independent ball in the Constellation Energy League, based in Texas. The season was a flop by all measures, with a slash line of .180/.245/.202 in 89 ABs and only two extra-base hits. The pandemic, frustration about his worsening numbers, and drinking all led to depression. Erceg decided to do something about it and started by giving up drinking on June 10, 2020. The day after, Erceg said “everything looked brighter.” Next spring, the Brewers gave Erceg a chance to pitch as well as play in the field during spring training in Arizona. They probably agreed for two reasons: Erceg’s career as a 3B had stalled, and he was able to throw 97-100 miles per hour. He did okay in his first attempt at a Shohei Ohtani impersonation, slashing .223/.270/.379 in 112 trips, while starting 13 games (22 appearances) on the mound, with an elevated, but probably expected WHIP of 1.53 and an ERA of 5.29 across 47 2/3 innings. Not great, but you must start somewhere. Erceg became a full-time pitcher in 2022 and made his Brewer debut in spring training and impressed manager Craig Counsell, who said, “Good velocity, great arm. I think we’re all really interested in watching him and we’ll see what happens.” The right-handed hurler began the season in Biloxi and although his numbers weren’t the greatest, he was promoted to Triple-A Nashville. Erceg upped his game, posting not-great-but-good numbers in 33 appearances. For the year, he pitched in 49 games to a 4.55 ERA, 1.65 WHIP, and 10.1 K/9. All in all, it looked like a season of someone just learning how to pitch. In 2023, he began pitching for Nashville, appearing in only 13 games before he was acquired by the Oakland A’s in mid-May for cash considerations. Although he was initially assigned to Triple-A Las Vegas, he instead made his major league debut May 19 in Houston. Erceg was treated rudely by the Astros, allowing two hits, one run, and one walk in an inning of work. He notched his first major league win on May 29 against the Braves, pitching three perfect innings while striking out four. He struggled in July and early August, giving up 18 earned runs in 12 1/3 innings (13.14 ERA) during that stretch. Erceg finished strong, allowing only three earned runs in 20 2/3 innings (1.31 ERA) from mid-August to the end of the season, a stretch of 18 games. Erceg finished his rookie campaign with 50 appearances, striking out 68 batters in 55 innings. He still needs to work on his control (36 walks), but his potential is seemingly unlimited. He throws a four-seamer, two-seamer, change, and slider. And he has touched 100 on the gun. All the trials and tribulations have made Erceg a better player, and a better man. He has been sober for three and one-half years and has wife Emma as his support staff. Another person solidly in Erceg’s corner is former Menlo College coach Jake McKinley. “No matter what happens in his baseball career, I am just proud of him as a person,” said McKinley, who is now the Brewers vice president of player development. “The big leagues are hard,” Erceg told Martin Gallegos of A’s Beat. “It definitely will expose you in terms of what you need to get better at. I think that’s the best part about having so many games played in the big leagues this year. Now I get to go into this offseason with a list of improvements I need to make. Now that I understand how hard this game is, it’s only going to push me to get better this offseason.” With all Lucas Erceg has gone through, it’s not hard to wish him the best, even if he isn’t a Brewer. View full article

Good piece, Harold!

Whoa

Has anybody gone back to last year's projections and see how close they were?

Comparison (career numbers) BA Ramirez .289 Miller .241 OPS Ramirez .748 Miller .638 Although he is not a huge power guy, H-Ram would hit 15-20 HRs for Milwaukee. Use him and Contreras at DH and let Yelich, et al. fend for themselves. I think it would be a good pick-up.

I say let her do her job and see how it goes. At the end of the year, we can talk then... Good luck, Luisa!!

'Miz' has a higher ceiling and could end up as a #1 starter but could just as easily be used as a high-leverage reliever. To me, CFR will eventually be slotted as a #2 or #3 starter. I think CFR has a higher floor but probably won't reach the heights that Miz could.

Maybe something along the lines of 2/25m? Both Woody and the Brewers know the seriousness of the procedure and recovery time, but in essence, $5m of that could be for 2024 'recovery pay' and the other $20m for 2025. The team is taking a risk and Woody should know this and consider it a fair deal. But of course, another team will invariably offer him 4/75m and he would probably take that.

Boras would turn Burnes even more against Milwaukee and that would make him unhappy. It's hard to explain, but I know what I meant. Once Milwaukee and Burnes collided last year, things would never be the same. If he stays, he'll do his best on the mound to build up the bidding price, but when the day comes, he'll book from Milwaukee like a lottery winner moving to a gated community. (Kinda what he will be doing anyway.) :)

I don't think Burnes is going to be happy this season, for two reasons: 1) last year's contentious negotiations, and B) Scott Boras is his agent and will be in Burnes' ear all season, I'm sure. Torres plus a couple others for Burnes seems reasonable. Like in times of crisis, don't wait until the last minute to stock up because the cupboards might be bare...

Gone are the days of 'ironman' starters like Pud Galvin, Old Hoss Radbourn, Toad Ramsey, Silver King, Ice Box Chamberlain, Pretzels Getzien, and Egyptian Healy. The cool names are long gone, too. Fast forward 75 years and you will see that a pitcher had to start at least 40 games to make the Top-10 leaderboard in 1973. The last pitcher to start 40 games was Charlie Hough back in 1987. Besides the trip down memory lane, my point is that the game has changed (duh!) and to go from a five-man to a six-man should cause no more anguish than the change from a four-man to a five-man. Your 2024 rotation should have (at least) Peralta and Miley and then a mix-and-match of whoever steps up to cover the remaining spots. O'course, a 'somewhat happy' Burnes would make things easier for sure. And, will the Brewers make a trade for or sign a FA pitcher? Add that to the mix. I think the best guess is gonna be: I don't know. Let's see what happens and go from there. Happy New Year!!

I like having a second 'Coop' at first base. I followed his progress in the Florida State League back in 2015 and was impressed with him then and am impressed with him still. Make it happen!

I'm totally amazed at the talent of the BF crew! Tons of thoughtful, in-depth analytical pieces EVERY...DAY!! Keep up the great work, lads!! Happy 2024!!

LMAO at the Tony Plush Mount Rushmore comment lol

I liked him as a person, but as a pitcher? Meh...

A couple things...does an 'outlier spin rate' directly translate to success, or do people just say, 'He must be good because his ball spins at 50,000rpm' or whatever? And 2) will he be the same after the TJS? I think the Brewers came out on the short end of the deal, trading a #4/#5 starter and #4 OF for a pitcher who may or may not be as successful as the metrics might indicate.

What about TB at first? You know, Tyler Black?

All those fancy sharp benders...no wonder his elbow is trash 😶

I didn't have him on my FA catcher list, but a one-year contract paves the way for 'Jose" Quero! 😁