MNBrew

It shouldn't be this hard to score more runs off this Nats SP when he keeps gifting us baserunners. I get that we're not going to score every time someone gets on base, but the RISP thing on this team is baffling, as is the knack they sometimes have of disappearing offensively after a decent 1st inning & promising-yet-no-runs 2nd inning. Maybe it's just a matter of time and they'll starting hitting better. But it's so hard not to get anxious quickly when they don't consistently take advantage of good opportunities, whether in the standings or in game situations.

According to TH on Twitter, Jeffress would've pitched the 9th if we were leading.

Bonifacio won’t get a meaningful AB so it is irrelevant. He is purely a PR. I don't think Bonifacio even ever makes the Brewers' MLB roster. We've become so dependent on having a mega-bullpen that I don't think we can afford the luxury of a speed-only bench guy who we'd never want to see touch a bat over a Thames, Broxton, Santana, Saladino, etc. -- guys who might lose a 25-man spot to Bonifacio (already figuring likely roster "givens" Perez & Granderson & whoever's not starting between Shaw/Moustakas/Arcia/Schoop) -- not that that first list of guys are (or aren't) stellar options, but rather they're still greatly preferable in the batter's box over Bonifacio. With 12 position players we have 4 reserves & one is a catcher. That would mean only two non-Bonifacio IF/OF reserves available to PH, double-switch, play in the field, etc. The Brewers have put such a premium on defensive versatility and if Bonifacio plays in the field, they may not often be able to afford taking him out of the game b/c it would mean two bench guys used for a single spot in the lineup -- a legit concern, I'd think, since already they pretty much always PH for relievers.

We needed him for one batter. This was not a hey let's send him out there for the 8th and 9th. This was one batter, an elite hitter to face off against our elite pitcher. If he gets Soto, we head to the 9th up 2 at minimum against Zimmerman and the bottom of their order, which is horrendous. If Soto gets a hit, you get the same result as what happened and likely only used Hader for a 1-6 pitches. Hader hasn't really been overworked lately either. His last outing was 10 pitches and that was 2 days earlier. If we can't use Hader for one hitter after a 10 pitch outing 2 days earlier and a longer, kind of disaster outing 3 days ago, when are we ever going to use him? I agree with this logic, but in the end, if he wasn't available, then he wasn't available and that's that. I'd guess this sort of situation happens all the time with guys in the bullpen. It's just not been so often this year that the reliever we probably needed most wasn't available and then the available guy(s) blew it. If there's a sliver of a silver lining to this ugly loss tonight, it's that there's probably a really good chance Jennings isn't available tomorrow!

Broxton's on a plane to D.C. today, too. Love Curt Hogg's "source" here -- doesn't get much more definitive than that!

If anything is perplexing, though, it's this: How in the world did Stearns make all those trades today and forget to get us another infielder?

Berry was released recently & signed to an AAA contract by the Yankees just a couple days ago. Bonifacio is fast but can't steal 1st base.

7 if you count the Jordan Lyles claim. I agree ... that's a lot of turnover for a team that has been near the top of the standings all season. I love that they aren't being complacent, though. Going to make for an exciting September. As we all know, though, our team that's near the top of the standings has lost 2 SPs to lengthy injuries since the season started (Davies, Suter) and had many other guys perform below expectations (Santana, Arcia, Villar, Pina for the 3 months before he went on the DL, even Braun, not to mention Barnes, Knebel, & another pitcher or two). I think if anyone had predicted around Opening Day that we'd add Moustakas, Schoop, Granderson, Soria, Lyles, Cedeno, & Gio Gonzalez between Memorial & Labor Days.... well, I'd ask them for Powerball number suggestions, too.

- There's a mutual option on Moustakas' contract and he sure fits the team well, but he's not cheap next year and there's that small matter of position redundancy if Travis Shaw's not going to be an everyday 2B. - There's a team option on Soria's contract, and I think the Brewers will want to keep him. - At least based on how this month has gone, I'm not sure I'd want Schoop back, but I doubt they'd just to give Schoop away for nothing (as in non-tendering him). The sum of those two options & final arbitration year contract probably represents a lot of money, and keeping both Moose & Schoop would perpetuate a non-ideal defensive infield, so I'd think something eventually has to give. It would also seem that either Santana or Broxton would have to make the team or be gone b/c they're both out of options, so something eventually has to give there, too. The depth they have now is pretty cool. They have to maintain that, but do so through some inevitable turnover due to budget, individual players' circumstances as noted above, and other players hopefully playing themselves into (or out of) the mix. Maybe Schoop is packaged with another asset or two for that elusive glizty SP acquisition we've been waiting on since the 2017 season ended -- and if it's with other MLB-roster fringe guys, that depth has to be replenished somehow. As to the thread topic specifically, I think it's all about playing like a top-level team much more consistently because they really should be a playoff team.

Still pinching myself (only lightly - it's late!) that Lyles actually walked with 2 out in the inning to keep it alive.... and then Kratz & Arcia both deliver in a row to win the thing. It really took that b/c Mr. Hot Streak Yelich becomes Mr. 3x GIDP, Braun K's a couple times late, and the offense totally turtles as hits -- let alone clutch hits -- disappear almost entirely for 8 full innings. Heck, actually it was 1 hit over 8 2/3 innings -- 3rd out in the 6th through the 1st out of the 15th -- close to a complete one-hitter (equivalent) in the middle of the game!

Pointing out the obvious, being the claiming team is just the first step unless the Reds just let him go, which after hanging onto him at the previous deadline seems unlikely. Claiming Harvey and successfully working out a trade are totally different steps. Hard to guess the likelihood of the latter, but demoting Davies makes me wonder if/what any potentially corresponding move will be (given that Davies was on the DL).

Junior's been really pretty crappy for his past 7-8 starts (ERA over 6). Last night the defense imploded so there were piles of unearned runs, and there were lots of weird, fluky things, but it doesn't change the fact that they started hitting Guerra pretty easily after the 2nd inning. I'm not in love with Harvey and I'm not even sure how much he's truly needed or whose roster spot he'd take (is Knebel quietly hurt?), but we claimed him and can get him for a very modest cost, I'd be glad to have another capable, non-dumpster-fire & possibly even good veteran arm for depth & insurance rather than watch Aaron Wilkerson pitch for the Brewers again this year (granted, Woodruff's ahead of him in the pecking order, but there's not much after him).

Hughes would've cost nearly $3M rather than the $1M-ish deal he got last year when Cincy let him go in similar salary-driven circumstances.

Unless Pina's shoulder is toast for the season, he'd go on the 10-day DL and they'd have to outright someone off the 40-man to create a spot for Bandy or Bethancourt. With Asher DFA'd, I wonder if Ariel Hernandez might be the guy gone gone -- as quickly as he arrived (remember Stearns' approach to waiver claim is a rather different than Doug Melvin's, when Doug seemingly often used to count on them as roster locks, keep them on the 25-man or 40-man longer than many others could justify, invite them to family gatherings, etc.) -- unless he's instantly figured out what was ailing his game. Then again, if no other team claimed him, he'd still be Brewers property, just no longer on the 40-man (assuming he doesn't reject the outright and choose free agency, that is, if he were eligible to do so).

Generalizing for a just a moment to day games in general, after today's downer (although yesterday's win was so encouraging), does it seem a little unexpected based on how this year's going that the Brewers came out of a series at Wrigley having improved their season winning percentage in day games? There are a few things in the bigger picture that are concerning. The Sunday thing is a glaring & obvious one. Certainly there's no legit excuse. Same for this: In today's game, Haudricourt noted that the Brewers have had a .204 BA on the season with the bases loaded. In a circumstance when batters often thrive because their focus/concentration/whatever is usually especially elevated.... our Brewers are largely stinking it up. Yikes! Hopefully we make the playoffs in spite of it, but it's a circumstance where a little better success rate could potentially have some pretty significant payoff in the standings. It reminds me of the one "off" year (2009, maybe? just stabbing at an answer, not looking it up) Prince Fielder after he'd already been good, when he had when his BA w/ RISP was especially lousy -- one of our biggest run producers wasn't doing what he was one of the main guys counted on to do -- yet folks were countering that he was at least walking a lot and had a good OBP. What he did well wasn't unhelpful, but he wasn't doing a main thing the team needed him to do most. To me it was almost akin to singing the praises of Braden Looper for his 14 wins (not insignificant, but...) and saying he was actually a good pitcher and that his 5+ ERA wasn't really indicative of the quality of his work. So hopefully the crappy-so-far Sunday record doesn't keep them out of the playoffs, but hopefully they start getting it together big-time on that front and a few significant others.

It's an easy formula to figure out Lots of good position players added since last winter + 0 "name"/significant outside starting pitchers added since Spring Training + concern if not legit angst over several lousy games in a long mediocre stretch + total absence of promising Brewers-related trade rumors = Look for a ridiculous thread or past Brewer to dredge up. Voila! You get the itch to dig up a Kevin Mench thread!

^^Completely agree. This isn't great news, especially in light of our seemingly thinner rotation depth, but I think it's what was realistic all along. Since his injury and its diagnosis, I've felt that any Jimmy Nelson time on the mound for the Brewers in 2018 would be a pleasant plus -- a bonus I never counted on. Those early projections of June or whatever just seemed way too optimistic. Nelson's still young enough that there's a lot of "long term" potentially still ahead for him, and getting him right for that is far more important than any risks that would go with pushing him to get back before this season's over.

I think the easy way out on the bullpen having a bad stretch is to say it is workload. When you look game to game, I do not see anyone in the pen pitching too much. If anyone was it would Jeffress and Jennings. Jeffress isn't an issue as we know. And Jennings is pitching a little stronger lately than in the middle of the season. It would be nice if they kept him away from righties a little bit more, but sometimes he pitches in blowouts and it doesn't matter. Williams isn't probably used to this season, but you hope a 27 yo would make it, regardless he just got a break anyways. I've long thought the 8-man bullpen is overkill, but if starters only cover 4-6 innings the majority of the time, then maybe each guy's getting comparable use if you go back to the days of the 6- and 7-man bullpens and most starters routinely went 5-8 innings. Maybe it's just an unfortunately timed bad (read: mortal) stretch for a handful of guys at once. And maybe data-informed scouting's just gotten that much more "fancy" (read: good) re: dissecting pitchers' stuff, tendencies, etc., just like it got to being over the past decade-plus on hitters. In the end, I think a solid starter would still be a plus for the Brewers right now and Sonny Gray makes a lot of sense.

They can have Wilkerson AND a 25-30 (or sub-30) ranked A-ball player. Can't pass up that deal! Besides, Wilkerson was previously in the Red Sox' system and what a brilliant way to rub a playoff defeat in the Red Sox' faces if you're the Yankees!

Besides the injuries down in the bullpen, I'm wondering if part of the issue is the results of relievers being used to cover too many innings all season long. If there's any merit to that idea, Sonny Gray as "damaged goods" in terms of a "sell low" candidate makes plenty of sense. I'd be on board if we could pay a price comparable to what Oakland just gave up to get Mike Fiers -- basically an injured lottery-ticket non-super-prospect -- and I can't see why NY should think they should get anything more.

2 of 3? Schoop has been horrible, Moose is not better than Shaw (the man he replaced at 3B), and Soria gave the Brewers 5 IP before landing on the DL. This trade deadline is looking like a disaster. I get the impulse to make an immediate judgement, but I don't think Aug. 11th is the point at which a definitive conclusion can be reached. I'll hold off my judgement until the end of the season and, ultimately, next year, by which time I'll bet... - some of the folks who would've needed to be retained on the 40-man (and may not have kept their 40-man spot) are no longer around to create a crunch, - some of the future prospect-types who would need to be added to the 40-man for Rule V protection are able to be added because there will be less of a crunch, - Soria -- who pitched well except for the grand slam -- will likely have been back from the DL for at least a month and maybe more, - Schoop has a chance to get into a groove, and possibly also Moustakas will prove more of his worth, ... and so on.

Agreed - it's unforgivable to run out of pitchers or pinch hitters in a playoff chase when you can expand rosters. I was hoping they'd use the two open roster spots for QTC and Ramirez because you could have a lot of lefty-righty matchup switches. But they chose to go with Lyles and Hernandez. RE: Hernandez - I know the Brewers are infatuated with spin rate, but he/Asher/Orf are the ones most likely to lose their spot to a 3rd catcher, elite pinch-runner, and another bullpen lefty. Hernandez could be a decent future piece but could just as well end up like some of the easy-come/easy-go winter waiver claims -- Stearns just doing his thing to figure out ways to add depth. Whether it's Ramirez, Berry, QTC, Bandy/Bethancourt, etc., any non-roster guy added means an opening on the 40-man must be created. Ramirez & QTC intrigue me more than the others who seem more like novelties (unless a C is necessary because Nottingham's not available and 60-day-DL-bound) -- and even adding more pitchers in September I'd think would come from the talent currently on the 40-man -- some of whom have been decent in their limited MLB action -- rather than at the expense of someone who seems to rank "ahead" of them (though why Wilkinson keeps getting protected is puzzling to me, because regardless of his AAA work, he's done absolutely nothing productive in any of his limited shots on the MLB roster this season).

I'd never heard of the thing about September service time not counting. And then I looked it up and, sure enough, it's right: http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/official_info/about_mlb/rules_regulations.jsp It's not just the 45 days thing because that just pertains to service time. There's an "OR" in that definition, with the other part being about not exceeding 130 ABs or pitching 50 innings in the majors (that's the stuff I did know about already). Some players exceed the minimums (more likely to be hitters than pitchers, I'd guess) without breaking the service time threshold, which makes service time consideration (for rookie status) moot because they've played enough to lose rookie status.

Depth move in the spirit of Doug Melvin's nugget-mining glory days!

Well, they're miserable in day games, and pretty much every Sunday is a day game since they're not ESPN darlings, so those facts line up. addendum: Noting in Rosiak's tweet, they're 13-14 in non-Sunday day games. Still, today's loss at least was a close one w/ that cool 9th inning comeback & Knebel dealing until he left that 3-2 pitch in the jackpot zone to Arenado.