steelydan

Does anyone know who has final say on the playoff roster, Murphy or Arnold?

I tend to agree.

I think this is a super interesting take. One of the things I love so much about baseball is the intensity of the moment before the pitch, especially in the biggest moments in the playoffs. In that moment, baseball has the intensity of a one-on-one battle but in the context of a team sport. Not sure there's anything quite like it in any other sport. So the question I think maxximus is posing is whether the Brewers will slow down in the playoffs due to the pressure of the moment and/or other teams forcing the Brewers to slow down because those teams will make sure to slow down themselves rather than responding to the Brewers' pace. I honestly have no idea, but I think it's a fascinating question. If the Brewers have gotten used to playing fast and can maintain their pace in the playoffs (possibly reminded and urged by their coaches), their faster pace might be even more effective in the playoffs because of the added stress that the other team is experiencing. And the Brewers themselves may feel even more confident knowing how they're pressuring the other team. I could really see this playing out either way. Over time and with greater playoff experience, the Brewers may become even better at maintaining their pace in the playoffs, but they're very young at the moment. So this factor may change over time. In any event, it will be really interesting to watch.

Much (but not all) of this discussion about how the Crew rushes other teams hinges on this: The hitter has to be in the box and attentive to the pitcher by the time the clock reads :08, but of course, they have the option to do so sooner. The pitcher, meanwhile, can't pitch without making eye contact (or, at least, ensuring that the batter is ready), so there's a real sense in which the batter controls the tempo of the at-bat. Clearly a batter can slow things down by taking all the time they're allowed. But the only way they can speed things up (which is the foundation of Matthew's argument) is by getting ready fast and thereby applying psychological pressure on pitchers to respond to their readiness sooner than they would prefer. Circumstantial evidence was presented that the Brewers' hitters are in fact rushing pitchers by getting ready fast. But there's no direct evidence of this, such as pitchers admitting to it (which might be the only direct evidence possible). I'm going to remain a tad skeptical of the theory. The reason is that professional athletes are highly trained and coached, as well as highly competitive, so wouldn't teams see what the Brewers are doing and say, "Hey, man, you're not going to rush me with that crap." It's possible that opponents will figure it out over time and the impact of fast readiness will decrease. Or maybe a pitcher's psyche is just easily influenced like that and the tactic will continue being effective indefinitely. And then maybe more teams will start teaching this. I don't know, but I remain at least a little skeptical for now and am interested to see how it plays out over time.

Matthew, thank you for sharing this important history and present-day commentary.

Durbin just seems to be in the middle of a lot of stuff haha

I'm no manager, either, but if a manager expects only 67% positive performance, isn't that a ticket to the minors and especially not good enough for playoffs? I think some teams lack quality pitching and might have to live with that, but the Brewers don't seem like one of them. I have a feeling that leadership is thinking hard about whether Miz can be trusted in playoffs.

Matthew, thanks for still another super interesting and well-written article. A few thoughts: - I love the concept that guys are working on new approaches. No idea if it's true, but I like the idea. - The adrenaline idea is also interesting. One thing that's unique about the Crew is their position at top of MLB win total for a long time. As Matthew stated, that can have an impact at this time of year. - Another factor that can slow movement in an athlete is stress. The feet in particular, but it can affect anything. This idea is actually the opposite of the previous one, but as the Brewers have been playing less well and the playoffs approach, some players could be experiencing stress. - Lastly, there could be a combination of factors at play, and those factors could differ from player to player.

Maybe I'm overreacting, but Miz doesn't seem reliable enough to pitch in post-season in any role. In fact, he seems like the prototypical huge talent that can't yet command his pitches well enough and needs more time in the minors. Am I off-base on that? I've seen some discussion about his attitude, maturity, focus, etc. I tend to think that he just has some unusual personality traits and tics which can lead to concerns but really don't mean anything. Especially under stress, some people can show some peculiar behaviors. I think if he really had an attitude problem, he wouldn't be up in majors still.

Turang leads the team in average home run distance by a significant margin. I believe he has for each of his years playing. I've wondered about that as a sign of some latent power that would emerge someday. It seems like it's emerging. Turang also has a quiet personality that belies his talent. He's like Yelich that way.

Obviously Brewers should have had 3-4 more runs today and Toronto 3-4 fewer were it not for Brewers mistakes in field and on basepaths. It was kind of shocking to see all those mistakes, which speaks to the high-quality ball the Crew almost always plays. But one thing happened today that was foreseeable: Contreras turning a double into a single. He's been watching borderline homers for a while, and one of them was bound to not make it out. He's not the only one on the team who does this, but he might be the most extreme. I wonder if the general thinking around this is that if the ball doesn't get out, the player can still make it to second, which is as far as he would have gotten if he'd run hard from contact, anyway. I'm a bit uncomfortable with that concept, though. A ball can take an odd bounce and then third is in play if running hard all the way. And of course what happened today with Contreras can happen, too. So should all players sprint on any long ball not clearly well out? It would certainly take a bit of the fun out of a lot of homers. I don't know. I just know that if this sort of thing costs a run in a playoff game, no one is going to feel good about it. Murph is going to be speaking to the team about a few of the mistakes today, if he hasn't already. But I'm not sure what will be said about this one.

Fantastic write-up of this great play! I was surprised how little it was discussed on post-game show and presser. I also loved the walks by Yelich and Vaughn in 9th. The hitting by Contreras and Collins was great, too. Such smart baseball all over the place to pull out that game. I was listening to Miz after the game. It doesn't seem like he received any technical help or special coaching to help him recently, although I don't think he was clearly asked that question. But I was curious about it. I'd like to know more about how the Brewers are coached-up so well.

First time here. Excellent article and thoughtful comments. Enjoyed it - thanks!