adambr2

He had a triple yesterday too.

It's becoming a downright joke. Almost to the point where they need to tell him - "That bat does not leave your shoulders until you have a strike. That bat does not leave your shoulders on a 3-1 count." I mean right now no one has any reason to ever give him a pitch to hit.

Who would have thought Manny Pina would be a better catcher in every way than Jonathan Lucroy this year?

Hacks Perez wastes no time getting himself out.

How to piss away a scoring opportunity in one pitch. Bettis isn't a strikeout pitcher, but we're making him look like one.

Here's my thoughts: from what I know of Stearns, he isn't going to place a 'volatility discount' on Broxton. If Broxton does succeed in finishing around the numbers given in the OP, Stearns will price him at a price appropriate with those numbers, along with his cost and control. Maybe this makes Broxton less likely to be traded, I really don't know, but I don't think he'll do it just for Brinson's sake regardless of what he can get. I think it's totally possible that he has entertained the idea of holding onto Broxton, keeping Brinson, who presently has more trade value than Broxton, in Colorado Springs in 2018, where he'll presumably rake and maintain that value, with the potential of using him as a centerpiece in a big deadline deal if we're in contention.

Http://www.brewcrewball.com/2017/8/19/16137394/bcb-mailbag-30-is-lewis-brinson-injury-prone Sums up my feeling on Broxton vs. Brinson just about perfectly. Broxton should be dealt this off-season only if Stearns receives an offer that fully compensates us for Broxton's value. Not simply for the sake of freeing up a spot for Brinson. Broxton hit his 20th home run yesterday and has 19 steals, so it’s really only a matter of time until he reaches the 20/20 benchmark. His OPS this season is up to .774 and his wRC+ up to 95; for his MLB career he now has a 100 wRC+ with 29 homers, 43 steals, and 3.4 fWAR/2.9 bWAR across 626 plate appearances, or roughly a full-season’s worth trips to bat. We would be ecstatic if Lewis Brinson could achieve those types of numbers, right? A 3+ WAR player who is capable of producing a league-average OPS, is a threat to mash 25+ long balls and swipe 40+ bags, all while playing average-to-better defense at a premium position in center field? So why then should the competing Brewers feel the need to so quickly jettison a player who is already actualizing that production at the MLB level, who has at least one more year of control at league minimum before possibly hitting arbitration as a Super 2 player, and isn’t eligible for free agency until after the 2022 season? In my opinion, Keon Broxton should be the starting center fielder until someone takes the job from him. Lewis Brinson isn’t going anywhere. He’ll inevitably get his opportunities - someone is going to get hurt or have their play fall off at some point. But until he truly forces the issue - which he hasn’t yet at this point - I don’t see a great need to get rid of a controllable and talented player like Broxton or Domingo Santana simply to give Brinson a chance to prove he can be even as good as one of those two players.

Cubs 4, Jays 3. Unfortunately the Cubs have gotten exactly what they hoped for when they traded for Wade Davis. There just isn't going to be much help forthcoming from the Cubs remaining schedule. That's why series' like this one against Colorado are just so critical. We really need to rally and win the last 2 here. Potential 4 game swing in the WC race at stake.

Yeah, it's absolutely nothing like that. I think that comment is about as relevant to this discussion as people talking about what would happen to them in their jobs if they made the same mistakes. These are the best in the world. Most people using the argument are not at the same level in their profession and their profession(speaking generally) are not a comparable level of difficulty. And hitting the ball deep into the OF is absolutely NOTHING like a pitcher getting a pitch just off the plate a strike because he's been able to command the ball regularly and hit his spots and a catcher is able to frame a pitch well. I think there's a group of people who like the game, enjoy the game but who think that virtually everything about the game should be driven by a computer. I'll leave it at this. I love the game. I probably played 700 games in my life(give or take) and I've hated the umps at time. I've caught pitchers who have pitched in the big leagues and this is just my opinion, but this game doesn't need to be called by robots. I find the idea just impossible to wrap my head around. Those who dismiss and laugh at the "human element" I just don't get it. Baseball is a game of error. You do what you can and do the best you can. You don't make it a video game with real players. I've already said I think they went too far with some of the new rules they've implemented with instant replay. And I've never considered myself an old school type of guy. I do know for a fact that the guys playing the game do not want a robot calling balls and strikes. Edit-I should only speak for the players I've known or discussed it with and that's a very small group relative to the entire MLBPA. I don't think this could even come close to passing the Players Union. How in the world does an automated strike zone make the game a video game with real players? It literally leaves everything up to the guys on the field and takes the umpire element out completely. What player would have a problem with that, and why? I know there are many who still do, and no doubt it's in part because getting people to change anything at all is hard. But there are already many starting to shift to the new way of thinking. It's gradual, but it is happening. I'm not saying this will happen in the next 5 years, or even 10, but inevitably, yes, this will happen. It's not a matter of if. It's a matter of when. And no, conversely, I don't understand people who are so attached to the "human element". How is that any different than me saying, "Tennis has been ruined by replay. It was so much better when the judges could get an "in" or "out" call wrong. Do any tennis fans actually ever say that? There is the human element. It's the 18 guys on the field that play the game. That's the human element. Why there should be anyone other than the guys playing the game, that actually decide the game, when you have the ability to prevent it, I can't wrap my head around. Also, even if they implemented fully automated strike zones, there would still be an umpire behind the plate making the calls. The strike calls, everything, would be the same. Literally the only difference is that he is not the one deciding the calls. Why some believe it is so crucial to the game that an imperfect middle aged man be the one deciding these calls, rather than a far more accurate system, even though the umpire is literally still telling what the calls are, is a mystery to me.

Yeah, I don't have much use for Perez. It's too bad because every other part of his game is adequate. He can play anywhere in the field adequately, is an alright hitter with some pop. If he were a .258 hitter with a .328 OBP, he'd be a nice valuable player. 258 with a .286 OBP is just horrible. Maybe it's Dubon next year. He profiles as a utility backup. With Perez being a minimum salary guy I'm not totally opposed to keeping him around as a utility player next year but it doesn't look like he'll ever walk. He's actually showing less patience than last year.

He has none at this point. Depending how the last month goes, if they have a better plan in mind they might be better off passing on the option, rather than picking it up and finding out he has no trade market like they found out with Scooter last year. My guess is you could pick up the $5M option and trade him, but if you don't want to keep him, what's the point? He isn't bringing anything of value back. At this point I would guess they either pick up the option and plan on him as their #5 next year, or just straight pass on it. I don't think a pick up option and trade strategy makes much sense at this point when you're just not going to get anything worthwhile. Garza has a 5.10 FIP and 5.04 xFIP to go with his poor ERA, so he hasn't just been unlucky. Add that to his troubles staying healthy, there's not going to be much of a trade market for a year of this guy, even for $5M.

And maybe you should also tip your hat to the pitchers IF you get a swing at a pitch 1 inch off the plate, or if you get a called strike because you've been hitting your spots all game. This would be the biggest change in the history of baseball. Integration changed the level of talent in the game....advanced metrics have slightly changed the way the game is played. This would fundamentally change the way the game unlike anything ever before. And if you like offense, I suppose you'd like this because you'd likely never see another season like Kershaw has put up recently. It would no doubt be a big change. The biggest change in the history of baseball, nah, I doubt that. That would be the end of the dead ball era. The last sentence is just not true. In fact, hitting your spots would become even more of a strategy because if you can find that actual bottom outside corner spot and hit it with consistency (not just come close), you'll get the call every time. As pointed out earlier, slow curves that actually cross at the bottom of the strike zone but are always called balls will now be strikes. Batters won't get rewarded anymore for when a catcher gets crossed up and the pitch goes right over the plate and doesn't get called for a strike. I don't see any basis to the theory that pitching will suffer. Plenty of balls in the strike zone are being called incorrectly as well. It's not just the other way around. And even if true, if you're saying that Kershaw has only put up seasons like he has recently because of unfairly getting calls off the plate, that seems like a pretty poor reason to me to keep the current system.

Well, that's not a good start. We cannot afford a poor road trip at this point. If we put together a 2-7 west coast clunker, I think we can go ahead and start making off-season plans.

ANYBODY, go watch his last 3 games and stop yourself right before you start slashing your wrists. I would rather use the bullpen by committee. Hader should have started in Colorado tonight. I actually have seen his last 3 starts. Apart from today he hasn't been horrible. Certainly better than the 4 I mentioned. Actually, Jungmann has been very good as of late.

Well, here's a larger sample size, Matt Garza now sports a 4.81 ERA on the season with a FIP and xFIP over 5, which any way you slice it is a well below average staring pitcher.

Absolutely no production out of Braun and Shaw today. Tough to win at Coors when your 2 best hitters are a no-show.

Nelson, Anderson, Davies, and Woodruff should all be pretty good bets for next year's rotation. That leaves one spot. I sure hope they can find a better option for it than Matt freaking Garza.

Well that was big. Still a chance in this park.

Garza isn't going to look like such a fantastic bargain for $5M next year anymore when he finishes the season with an ERA near 5.

I'm as negative as anyone about our roster but this doesn't look like the Cubs year. They have done everything they could and still they are only up by two in the loss column. Lester just went on the DL and they emptied their minors already. If the Brewers can get modestly hot, maybe get a veteran CF when Broxton gets cold and they just might win this. Here's the teams they have left: Toronto: 59-63 (2) Cincy: 51-71 (5) Philly: 43-76 (3) Pittsburgh: 58-63 (7) Atlanta: 54-65 (4) Milwaukee 63-59 (7) St. Louis 62-59 (7) NY Mets 53-66 (3) Tampa Bay 60-63 (2) That is insanely easy. I hope I'm wrong for sure, but it'll take quite a collapse not to come out of that stretch smelling like roses.

I have seen several posters say this, but I am not seeing how this is actually going to fix the problem. Held accountable how? Fine them, suspend them? Ok, how is this going to get rid of the bad calls? These guys are (supposedly) the best in the world at what they do. I am operating under the assumption that they are in fact not on the take and are attempting to call every pitch correctly already, so I don't see how holding them accountable is going to make them more aware of the strike zone. They are still going to make mistakes.

I agree completely. I can't understand the perspective that the human element (read: incorrect calls) need to be a part of the game. I understand some have that opinion, I just can't understand it. No one would ever say "I think it's an important part of our judicial system that sometimes the jurors get it wrong," or "I think it's a good thing that sometimes less qualified people get promoted at work over more qualified people." The goal is obviously to get it right, as much as possible. Obviously these are extreme examples, but i still don't understand why a different standard and expectation is applied to baseball. Human lives, money, and careers can still be affected. Take Armando Gallaraga for example. A mediocre career pitcher, he will always have one thing to establish a legacy for himself -- a perfect game. Except he doesn't, because of something that was completely and entirely preventable -- the human element. I realize this would be prevented now by replay, but there's still nothing preventing a blown ball or strike call from affecting the game the same way, or worse, costing a team a playoff game or World Series.

IMO this is probably our best possible lineup with the guys we got.

Yeah it's just really hard for me to see us catching the Cubs. No matter how small the lead is, their remaining schedule is just such gravy. More than likely we'll need either a really hot month against good competition, or we'll need to basically go 6-1 or 7-0 against the Cubs in our remaining games. Tough asks... That said, if we somehow swept the Rockies, all of the sudden we're looking at only 1.5 GB in the WC, which changes that race entirely. Even 2 out of 3 would put us only 3.5 back of them, and they have 13 games left against the Dodgers and Diamondbacks. So while this entire road trip is obviously crucial, this is the most crucial series for that reason.

No doubt he has been productive on the whole, but with Broxton it's more complicated than that. As an acquiring team, you're going to have to be comfortable knowing that for extended periods of time, he has shown to be almost completely worthless at the plate. It's not ebb and flow with Broxton, it's flood or drought. His volatility devalues him. To what degree is up for debate. I just don't think a team gunning for the playoffs is going to be comfortable with the prolonged lack of production as a primary outfield piece. Edit: Forgot to note, he'll be 28 for next season, which is about the age a player's speed starts showing increasingly diminished returns in general. Might not happen to Broxton, but it's another consideration when working out his value. Is this actually true though? Yes, it's possible a team could add him and he might be a train wreck in the playoffs. It's also possible thst he happens to catch fire in the playoffs and mskes the difference between a World Series and an early exit. Is there any tangible difference in terms of wins and losses for their team between 2 players at the same position with the same statistics at the end of the year, one that has been very consistent, and one that is very volitale? Or do we just assume this because we've always been conditioned to assume consistency = good? I'm not saying you're wrong. I'm honestly curious as to whether there have been analytical studies done on it to try to value 'consistency.'