Turning2

I'm not condescending anyone by my understanding of that term. If others interpret it that way, that is beyond my control. That is not my intent. The pushback, I suspect, is driven from a version of cognitive dissonance - essentially - being confronted with what a person doesn't want to have to acknowledge as true. The polite term is "whistling past the graveyard". So, the obvious thing I must question is .... what stats support ... "but of all major sports out there, baseball is the one where stats tell the biggest part of that story". Do you recognize the irony? Most fans seem to be content relying on stats / metrics to tell the story... until the story can't be supported by stats / metrics. We can't claim "numbers" if we can't support with "numbers". That's why I don't claim "numbers" generally speaking. Stats / metrics / measurements are an indicative tool, but they should never be wholly relied upon as many are want to do. LOL... all I'm saying is .... they need more consistent offense, one that instills fans with confidence in the clutch / high pressure scenarios. Winning a ton of games, scoring a ton of runs, flattering stat rankings mean NOTHING if they can't do it when it counts the most. That shouldn't be an unpopular, contentious opinion.

We haven't landed on anything as a baseline definition. Using LA as the standard is a reasonable comparison, but it also is not the end all be all. I never said it was. I'll ask you the same question - If the Brewers had a pitching staff equal to the Dodgers in every metric, stat etc - do you believe that our offense could win the WS by their offensive capability alone. This assumes that pitching and defense is equal). If great pitching beats great hitting, but both teams have equal pitching - how confident are you that our bats would beat their bats?

In a nutshell... yep. Unfortunately, people get offended when that is pointed out because they can't see the forest (the big picture reality) for the (statistical) trees.

That is a reasonable response. We must understand however that the "facts" (a/k/a - the stats, metrics) don't exclusively determine sports outcomes. There are other, non-measurables that can't be accounted for. Can the spreadsheets account the impact of such on oddity as a 5 hour delay on the charter plane? Of course not. Similarly, other "outside the numbers" things cannot be measured such as heart, ego, drive, competitiveness, pride. This discussion topic has careened way off what I intended, which was to try an identify the holes on this roster. To be clear... I like the team, I support the team. But I also don't whistle past the numbers graveyard in hopes of a WS. I'm a realist that doesn't operate simply by robotic numbers. The numbers lie to those who bow before that altar. They are not close to winning a WS without some incredible serendipity falling into place. I am not bashing the team. I'm just saying that I believe this is what improvements need to be made in order to truly compete.

Stats and data aren't the gospel truth, the end all be all. Consistent is demonstrating that on any given day you have the capability to score 5+ runs, and it might require a 3 run bomb on a somewhat regular basis. There probably isn't a perfect match for "what team achieves this" standard. It's highly subjective as it must be because again..... the numbers don't tell the whole story. Here's a question for you - If the Brewers had a pitching staff equal to the Dodgers in every metric, stat etc - do you believe that our offense could win the WS by their offensive capability alone. This assumes that pitching and defense is equal). If great pitching beats great hitting, but both teams have equal pitching - how confident are you that our bats would beat their bats?

Nope

Isn't that basically saying "why bother playing? The outcome is already determined by the past numbers". No, we should reasonably expect that eventually they overcome the hurdle of "a guy we have never beaten, in a park... etc". The Brewers faced 4 "Logan Webbs" in the NLCS and might possibly do so again this year. We're basically admitting and accepting that the Brewers' annual ceiling is getting bounced once they reach a certain level of playoff pitching. The starting of Cannone didn't bother me, they are managing innings due to injury bum luck to Priester and losing the ill-fated gamble on Woodruff's health with a QO. If all the impressive (on paper) offensive rankings were as meaningful as they look, then the offense should be able to carry the challenges to the depleted pitching staff. It often doesn't. And that will be their death knell once again at season's end.

Did you not read the second sentence. This is a topic I could have posted any day after any game. Of course, good teams, lose games. There is more nuance to it than a simple scan of the W-L record.

Yes, by the numbers, they look good on paper. That just shows that raw data doesn't reveal the whole picture. Baseball is not as straightforward as numbers on a spreadsheet. It was fairly easy to see early on that they weren't winning the game yesterday.

Funny… just started listening to the Potawatomi Sportsbook show pod with Allen and Fifer. Tim is saying the exact same things about the inconsistency https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/7-29-26-the-potawatomi-sportsbook-post-game-show-w/id1163449625?i=1000779017359

This isn't a reaction to the blowout. I feel the same when they win in a blowout too. MIL doesn't have enough consistent offense to win a championship. Ignore the W-L record and the other flattering offensive rankings. Those numbers create a mirage covering up the warts. Individually, there is something endearing about each player. Collectively the lineup can be pretty good. At the end of the day though, it's just too Jekyll and Hyde. They have 3 areas that need fixing and it isn't happening this season with trades. Hard choices need to be made. Some guys we like individually have to be replaced in the offseason. DH - This only gets fixed if Yeli can regain some of his past (how grateful would we be at this point if he managed .245 / 20 HRs) Either way, we're stuck with whatever he has left until he's off the books. 3B - Hard not to like Ortiz and Hamilton, but one or the other has to go. OF - I like the group as individuals, but there has to be more pop from it collectively. It seems to come down to Mitchell, Frelick and Lara - at least one has to be upgraded and probably 2. Considering the commitment to Lara, that is probably Sal at minimum.

If you want to improve more than marginally at the deadline, you have to give up value. I had viewed Pena is a surplus prospect piece that had that value. I've changed my view. It's clear the team has too many holes again to fix with a "more than modest but not quite blockbuster" trade or two. If they do anything, they should probably trade for a decent, durable starting veteran pitcher just to get through the season and keep developing in house for post lockout. I could very much see them bringing Freddy back, continuing the summer of entertainment approach.

Sure, but the overarching point was that he's blocked in the infield unless a glut of injuries or washouts occur. He's not beating out SS Pratt, 3B Made, 2B Turang, 1B/DH Burke, Fischer. With such a high prospect rank, he's likely too talented to waste as a utility infielder. Probably headed to the OF.

Where is he going to play in MIL? Utility infielder? Convert to OF?

Maybe not directly. He has mentioned that he has a group he meets with to discuss the lineups. Could just be his assistant staff. But he said something a couple weeks ago that implied there is input from outside that circle. If they were only a couple games up in the division, I can’t believe he would keep him putting him out there.

I suspect Murphy doesn’t have the final say, and/ or is being pressured to keep running with Yeli.

They Just played the feel good clip of Yeli’s ph walk off. It’s in him, but that felt like a million years ago

Hope it doesn't come to that but sure looks pointed in that direction. As a man, that would be incredibly embarrassing to me if I was in that position - especially since my financial wellbeing was locked up many, many millions ago. Dignity has a price too.

It was odd to see him pull up so much. I thought he could have taken a more defensive approach to the bag without giving it up. Brewers weren't winning that game anyway, and I'm glad the worst-case scenario, Lara out with a broken collar bone or something, didn't occur. With Lockridge and Sal already out, losing Lara would have been tough.

Lara is like 155lbs soaking wet. Might have simply been a self preservation, don’t get hurt instinctual moment

It is, and has been, my opinion, that the FO views this as a year to position themselves for after the lock out / new CBA is settled. We all know, they don't make big moves. However, it was fair to think they would be a little more aggressive coming off a club record W total. They weren't. That signaled to me that they don't believe they are as close to a championship as their record might indicate. They didn't mail it in completely, They made their usual types of margin moves. With some luck, the stars could have aligned, and they might have real post season success without major expenditures. As that luck would have it, they lost two Woody and Quinn, but they picked up a gem in Harrison who has helped cover that deficit. And Miz has popped. Yet neither Miz nor Harrison is ready to throw the amount of innings needed. They are winning on those margins in the regular season again, but we know how that ends. That recipe doesn't work in the playoffs. They don't have enough quality starting pitching, HR pop and possibly middle relief. They are not going to go try to fix all of that with impact player moves. They will get guys to spackle the holes like usual. If they only had one glaring hole, they might make one big splash. And they still might. I suspect they will get a mid-tier trade target SP. But I don't expect them to get a significant bat. They might get a mid-tier middle reliever. They might also believe Wilson and DL Hall is good enough for what they want to do THIS year. I hope I'm wrong, and they at least bring in something better than they did last year.

Go not retire with another team next year. Great Brewer, but it’s time to move on. Can’t wait to get his salary off the books.

He’s been useful. Wonder who sticks and who doesn’t when Hamilton is back. Still suspect this is a band aid

The genie has wrongfully been loosed from the bottle already I realize, but there is no reason that professional athletes in any sport should be competing in the Olympics. I could not care less if other nations stack the deck with professional athletes from their nation's version of pro sports. Integrity of competition is compromised when you have professionals competing in what was historically a matching of athletes whose sole motive was to prove "I'm better, faster, quicker, stronger" than you. I'd prefer America rise above it, even if that means never winning any golds in any sport ever again. Integrity matters in my world. An event originally and traditionally reserved for amateurs remaining an amateur event is part of how I define integrity. Much of the wide road world disagrees.

No idea about that. Have watched about 10 minutes of soccer my entire life.