adambr2

I think those expecting big things from Williams this month are going to be disappointed. Counsell said he might not pitch at all. Definitely does not sound like he'll see any meaningful innings.

Bubba Derby? Maybe. I was thinking more of the high upside guys. Not really sure that Derby has the stuff to be more than a back end or swingman starter. Peralta's strikeout numbers for Biloxi are eye-popping. It goes to show though how much our system has turned into a pitching-strong farm. Guys like Derby and Wilkerson, who have starter upside, and Taylor Williams who has Corey Knebel type upside, aren't even in our top 30.

Yeah, I mostly agree with Briggs. There's really only one spot up for grabs next year. Maybe they sign a FA, maybe they give Guerra another shot, maybe Hader gets tried out as a starter, but if so you'll have to watch his innings. If we're going to talk about Corbin Burnes and Luis Ortiz as second half starter possibilities next year, shouldn't we also talk about Freddy Peralta?

Adding Williams hopefully with great results to add to the current big 3. Counsell: ""We’re not going to overuse Taylor," he said. "He might not pitch; I don’t know. If he gets in there, we’ll take care of him, for sure. That’s certainly part of the equation." Not sounding like a guy who is going to get any important innings over Torres.

Knebel's stuff seems extra filthy when he's getting regular work. it's when he gets long layoffs that he seems to struggle with command. Great job by him, Hader and Nelson. Hopefully the offense will be interested in participating this weekend.

Ugh Shaw has just missed 2 HRs the last 2 ABs.

Hader >>> Swarzak A couple righties coming up and Hader still came in and blew them away. Who knew?

I loved Doug Davis, but it's kind of a sad statement about the history of our starting pitching to see him 3rd on this list.

Damnit, thought Shaw got it off the bat.

Good thing is Colorado keeps slipping, down 3-0 to Arizona. Within 1.5 of the Wild Card if things break right tonight.

I can't imagine that has happened more than a handful of times in MLB history with no outs on the bases.

Arcia single handedly botched that inning. Can't expect Jimmy to do anything other than what he did.

Nah, I said awhile back that Braun is still good, no longer great . He's got a comparable WAR this year to players like Keon Broxton and Hernan Perez, even less depending on which type you reference. What do you want me to say? No doubt there's been some bad luck these last few weeks. There's also just been bad ABs. You don't lose 100 points off your OPS in 2 weeks in late August/early September off just bad luck.

Conversation looked like it went have something along the lines of, "Hey, what the hell, blue?' 'Well, he called me a $%$#@@#$#.' 'Ah, nevermind then. We're good.'

Frustration clearly showing for Braun. That was a strike.

My God Jimmy...just giving it away on walks.

My God we miss Pina bad. Vogt is just a nightmare with runners on base.

Shaw going home on paternity and bereavement is a little different than Garza heading home the rest of the season. I realize this is pretty sensitive territory. I do sympathize with anyone who has ever lost a child. No one should ever have to feel that pain. On high risk pregnancies and other hardships, I'm not quite sure where the line in the sand is. But I do believe there is one. Should guys just start heading home for 9 months whenever their significant other becomes pregnant? Or if a child gets pneumonia? Again, what is the line in the sand? 'Where he needed to be relative to baseball ' isn't really his decision during the baseball season, not if he wants to get paid. Just like any other job, he has a contract that specifies his duties and emergencies that qualify him to be absent. My wife got some news during her most recent pregnancy several years ago that was very stressful on us (thankfully, everything turned out fine.) I could not simply go to my employer and ask to have a week off to deal with it. Maybe I'm less sympathetic as well because I did serve in Iraq and I saw many home hardships dealt with from afar, from cheating girlfriends and wives, high risk pregnancies, parents with cancer, just about anything you could think of. If a family member died, they tried to get you home, but other than that, nothing you could do but deal with it. Plenty of dads watching their children be born via Skype. I just want to add that I do understand that that is a completely different obligation and thing than baseball, which is just a game. And I fully realize and acknowledge that those experiences aren't a good reason to deny a baseball player going home to his family for an emergency. I guess I'm just asking what IS that line in the sand, because I do believe in some degree of loyalty to a team. It's NOT the player's right to decide what to prioritize. Those should be very carefully detailed out to him in his contract. It's not just a 'play when you can but feel free to go on home if things get rough' environment. It's an important obligation and part of their life. That's why I respect the heck out of guys who decide to walk away from millions at 32 when they're already set because spending time with family is more important to them.

Mostly I just happen to think the Cubs are a lot better team than the Rockies. Kind of crazy that we've lost 9 1/2 games on the Cubs since the AS break, but only 1/2 game on the Rockies. I know we like to downplay the Cubs as Brewer fans, but they're good. They didn't win a World Series and triple digit games by being okay. Obviously I'd love to win the division, but as the lead continues to climb (up to 4 today right now), I just think, ok, things keep heading in the wrong direction even as we win. It's probably just not happening this year yet. A shot at L.A. would be awesome. Of course we'd need to win a game in Arizona first.

The Cardinals technically hold their division fate in their own hands, too. That doesn't mean it is realistically going to happen. Us winning the division is more realistic at this point than that, I'm just pointing out that just because a team might control its own destiny for something does not always coincide with that thing being something realistic. I mean come on, we're not going 7-0 against the Cubs. I could see 5-2 if we get hot and they get cold but even that is way less realistic than catching the Rockies, that's his point.

Can Travis Shaw just go home, would that be ok with everyone, seeing as what is going on with his child? Obviously things like that are to be taken seriously, but unless someone has more info, I have not heard of any complications or high risk factors with Garza's wife other than being pregnant with twins, which obviously carries risk but in general deliver healthy births just like single births. Of course there are emergency situations that take precedence over baseball. That's the way it should be. But there are 750 guys on 25 man rosters in Major League Baseball, and all of them have stuff going on in their lives. Marriage problems. Family problems. Friend problems. Health problems with family. Pregnancies. Deaths in the family. Life happens, and they can't all just pack up and head home every time it does. So I definitely understand the other side of that too.

The chances of catching the Rockies are much better than going 5-2 or better against the Cubs plus having everything else that needs to go right to go right, that's all anyone is saying. Does it really matter what we are shooting for? All it is is another thing for fans to debate over. It's not like the Brewers have any control over how the Rockies or Cubs finish, besides the games actuslly against them. All the Brewers can control is how many games they win and see if it's good enough. Either way, I don't see us going 5-2 or better against the Cubs, but I'd love to be wrong.

I agree. Very solid return considering that Houston is taking on around $60M in salary. But I think it's a good move for Houston (even if it is costly). They can use the quality arm in their rotation. And their window for winning is now - so Verlander fits right in with that window. He'll be nice arm for three potential playoff races for them. Not sure if he'll necessarily be there that long or not... https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2017/08/justin-verlander-could-opt-out-if-traded.html

I'm not sure. 13 HR at the end of August is a pretty underwhelming number for him. He's still a good player. He's just no longer a great one. We just need him to be 'good' for 3 more years while hopefully staying relatively healthy.

It's too bad the Cubs have such a weak freaking schedule. Makes it almost impossible to make up any ground on them. At least we can pick up another half game on Colorado with a win.