brewerphandog

The point is: I'm, by my own assessment an above average athlete and have been a quality baseball player. I will say this: I have never replicated a swing that Prince Fielder has taken. I have never run as fast as any Brewer spare Ben Sheets and Damien Miller. I have never thrown a baseball harder than the 82 mph I achieved at the fast pitch at MP, and that nearly resulted in a dismembered arm. I have never thrown a curve like any Brewer. I have never hit a homerun in a major league park. nor could I hit anywhere near that far. 335 feet is a long, long way. I couldn't get to 1/8th of the balls these guys get to in the infield or outfield. But...I could look as bad as Weeks looks on a breaking pitch. I can't say that I could replicate anything in MLB, with that one exception. I'm not naive enough to say that I'm the best athlete of this bunch, nor would I say I'm the worst, therefore I feel it is a relevant comparison. Anyone who tells you "I could throw 85" is full of it, "I could hit it out of Wrigley" is full of it...these guys are world class, even the ones we criticize. But I could do what he does to a breaking pitch and that is scary as @@@@. I think it speaks to something that is very wrong with his approach and swing. I'm not building myself up, nor would I profess to be able to lace that liner into center. But as good as he can look, he defies major league logic by looking as pedestrian as an above average 37 year old man. That freaks me out. Sorry if you disagree. But there isn't anyone on this board who could do anything that a major league athlete can do, with that one exception. We can look completely befuddled versus any breaking pitch. The problem, it happens on a daily basis for him. Take that as you may.

the quantitative analysis has ended, let the qualitative begin. Buy a stats book, comparison doesn't have to involve #'s. To say that the people here on this board could swing and miss at a pitch by 2 feet and .2 seconds is a qualitative analysis consistent with a comparative qualitative design. I realize we live in a Theo Epstein driven universe driven by OPS etc, but that is not the only method to arrive at a conclusion. Here's an example of how it is valid. PTI the other night aired the footage of the oldest man to bat in a professional baseball game. He was I belive 93? He stood in there, not being terribly agile or mobile and without much of a swing. The pitch came in (A league I belive) and he missed, badly. It isn't a stretch to say that I a healthy adult with significant experience in the sport would stand an equal chance to swing and miss at a pitch by 2 feet. Considering that this is a regular event and not an isolated event by Mr. Weeks. It is certainly valid to suggest that in that at bat last night the overwhelming # of us could have put a similar swing on that ball. Now to suggest some of us could actually hit major league pitching from time to time would be ludicrous. I'm pretty sure that most of us on the board would hit in the tier below Ben Sheets. But I would put myself in the same category as the 93 year old guy who was indeed able to whiff by a considerable margin.

do we honestly need stats to prove Cappy has been bad? That is hilarious.http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

How is it a rant? He can't hit anything outside and his bat looks woefully short considering where he stands. That is a legitimate point. The example of 99.9 of us is valid as you only need to be propped upright with arms to swing over the top of a slider by 2 feet.

If a hitter goes 0-30 some of us would dig deep and find out how many pitches he faced per at bat and determine the slump is not as great as it seems. I had a stats professor who said that baseball was both a statisticians dream and nightmare as it is a game that is driven by quantification, yet at the same time there is room for qualitative analysis. If a guy simply looks bad, sometimes it is just that simple.

My apologies. Did anyone catch that at bat in the 8th. I am confident that 99.99% of the people on this board could have put together that at bat. That is absolutely putrid. Condesending or not, anyone who would suggest that that swing is not worthy of a trade to a team willing to part with an all star is not looking at the overall picture of his improvement. He has not improved offensively since he arrived. I have not seen one bit of improvement since he entered this level of competition. Power...down. Clutch hitting, non existent. K's up. Average down. Embarassing at bats--all time high. Let's hang our hat on the OBP, which drives up the OPS, which tends to be the rosetta stone for interpreting Weeks performance . The fact that he stands on top of the plate and gets hit with a ton of pitches likely has something to do with that. You'd think standing on the plate would allow him to have some control over the outside corner?!? Is he using a 28 inch bat? Is this how he has such bat speed by using a 28 inch wiffle bat? He looks bewildered at anything middle and out.

I must be totally missing something on Weeks. His performance has been unimpressive. His career #'s don't even begin to suggest that he shouldn't be traded for an all star player. You guys need to quit sucking helium, the guy looks like Tarzan and plays like Jane with bifocals on backwards, folded up in a lawn chair, while sliding down a mudslide. There isn't one club in baseball in 06 or 07 that Weeks would be even considered a top 5 selection for an all star birth.

I've not been a huge fan of Supuano's efforts lately, in fact it reminds me of the Soprano's final epsiode...unsatisfying and woefully incomplete. The only thing you can really do is ride them out, they are quality arms with a good approach...Supp just gets hits hard as he is finding way too much of the plate and the walks are absolutely impaling Capuano. He either needs to throw strikes or I guess we'll see alot of 4th inning piggybacks between him and Gallardo.

There are some great posters here, the vast majority of whom have forgotten more about baseball than I know about baseball, but there are some serious issues with statistical validity going on here. We can use an ERA to ascertain how bad a pitcher is, but only sometimes? The third Thursday of each month? Is there a sale? We can use WHIP to diagnose a pitchers ability, only some times, perhaps during the vernal equinox.

excuse the sarcasm...but what I've gleaned from this board lately: 1. Weeks is fine and will be a stud. 2. Capuano is fine and is a stud 3. Suppan has been a horse 4. But Yost makes bad decisions and its his fault our team loses despite walking guys who couldn't get a hit if you tied the outfielders to the ground and let him place it anywhere in between them while putting a fence around the infield to prevent their interference in the matter. I've also gleaned that all stats are useless unless they meet the specified approval of about five of us who can verify the authenticity of the statistic, and whether that said statistic meets veriability requirements, such as whether said statistic agrees with viewpoint of said statistical interpreter.

You see this is the type of post that I find troubling. Rickie Weeks at present is a solid player. I would call him an average player at his position considering his offense and defense, he's a hardworking guy, good teammate, etc...he is not "done". What he is not is an all star or near all star caliber player despite the simple fact that with even a small amount of focus he should be.

I'd be delighted if he developed in any year. Two things are certain: a>it's highly possible he will develop. b>should he not develop, people will still wait trotting out the myriad of Weekscuses that we currently suffer from.

Lukevan "I have yet to be disappointed by Weeks" are you an employer anywhere in the Milwaukee area? I'd like to come and work for you...

Braun is the next big thing offensively in the national league, along with Dan Uggla, Hunter Pence, Josh Hamilton, Adrian Gonzelez, Prince Fielder, Hanley Ramirez, Russell Marting, etc... There are some big time young offensive players in the league, and Weeks doesn't register as a blip on that radar screen. I think the league has figured out that he'll swing at a slider or curve from his shoe tops to the first base dugout and anywhere in between. They seldom throw him fastballs middle in, which he loves and as a result he flails. He has put together some at bats that would make JosK Hernandez blush, and all the while still possessing one of the quickest bats in major league baseball. He has tremendous talent, but unless he corrects his shortcomings he will remain at best a tease, an enigma. I think we in Brewcity see the bat speed and think, oh any day now...well unless he develops some semblence of a way to hit off speed pitches that bat speed is irrelevant. I talked to a HOF high school baseball coach about him and his response was trite and simple "clueless, he should hit .330 without even thinking about it with that bat speed". The bat speed is there, bad wrist and all, he just swings at unbelievably bad pitches. If you guys want to think they are related, be my guest. I just happen to think that approach is absolutely foolish. I think Yost tries to protect him from scrutiny such as mine, by talking about his focus on defense, and his wrist, etc...bottom line you can't hit a pitchout no matter how hard you try.

so Weeks has been mediocre by your estimation Brian? His OPS is .751 for his career. I hope he wins the triple crown next year, I really hope he becomes the complete stud people have forecasted for him. But 1000AB's in he looks injury prone, borderline silly at the plate at times, and simply isn't a high profile player. I love his work ethic and improvement defensively, I hope he can improve this year to next offensively as he did this past year defensively. Coincidentally, has he had a hot streak this year? I can't recall, he's had a handful of good games, and a significant amount of very poor games.

a year older...I said the three were comparable, they are all born within a year of each other and 2 are outperforming one. Phillips didn't just arrive this year, look at 06: 006&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp CIN&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 149&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 536&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 65&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 148&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 28&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 1&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 17&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 75&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 229&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 35&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 88&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 25&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 2&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp .324&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp .427&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp .276 Here's the link, I can;'t seem to format stats. (.276 with 17 jacks) cincinnati.reds.mlb.com/t..._id=408252

career OPS Barfield: .701 Weeks: .748 They are both 24... Similar slugging for their careers, OBP is the big difference for Weeks, average for Barfield (.273-.252) consider also he played at Petco which is not an HR park, like Miller park. SB's are in Weeks favor, RBI's identical. Something to consider. When you consider one is a gold glover, not a great comparison? Weeks stats: sports.espn.go.com/mlb/pl...atsId=7213 Barfield sports.espn.go.com/mlb/pl...atsId=7295

Brandon Phillips, 15 HR's in 2007, breakout year? Barfield solid bat, gold glover at 2b. Rickie Weeks? Hype... Tell me one GM who would trade Barfield or Phillips for Weeks straight up? That is one very short list, they all came up at similar times with similar abilities although Weeks has much more physical prowess than either, and they both have outperformed Weeks. I'm not sure how his wrist impacts his eyes, he swings at some awful pitches...sorry to be negative, but I just don't get that kid.

"I enjoy reading what you write". Not too insulting... Keep up the posting, I enjoy it. Oh and what he has done as a pro hitter is: K, K, and more K and hit like dung with RISP, in addition to posting a solid OPS and a low BA. He certainly looks like an above average 2b offensively (if that's what people are to be happy with). Sorry I veered it off course.

Blah, blah, blah, no offense RLuzinski...I enjoy reading what you write, but you sound like the a-typical Rickie Weeks apologist. The bottom line is he will never be the player we think he could be. He may have one "mushroom season" where his average spikes into the area surrounding .300, it will undoubtedly be a season where he plays about 125 games as well. He'll always be a free swinger who makes poor contact, hits poorly with RISP, strikes out a ton, and gives high effort. He just has woeful plate discipline. I'm done listening to people like you who talk about sample size, playing time, and the other myriad excuses. He is what he is, I can see it, I don't need stats, or Yost prosteltizing on the condition of his wrist. I admire his effort and physical skill set but the difference between a kid who you can just see knows how to hit, ala Braun is stunning. Sorry, he'll never be Brandon Phillips or Josh Barfied those guys he came up with and was compared against. He's certainly not Joe Morgan (good grief remember that comparison!) My best notion is that they use the belief that some GM's may have that he has such a ceiling and trade him while the iron is hot, otherwise we'll have a nice 2B who will hit in the .260's with slightly above average power, maybe spiking to 20HR's a time or two.

What do we make of him as a prospect? His numbers are quite impressive, his age at low A maybe limits our excitement?

Is it possible for the Crew's 2 out RISP average to dip below zero? Any math guys out there?

Much of the talk radio buzz is about Ned rotating lineups and how it compromises the consistency of the club...case in point again. If Ryan Braun is "tired" after an off day as a 24 year old man in tremendous physical condition, cut him now (I would venture a guess that unless Braun got Ebola virus yesterday he's perfectly fine and raring to go). that is junk, Yost's lineups are junk, I'm sick of the "mad scientist" approach. He leaves us guessing, his players guessing...I'm tired of it. You throw that lineup out there at the opener of a crucial series against an excellent opponent!?!?! Good grief. Even Graffanino is suprised to see him hitting #2.

Sorry, I was replying to another person who said Bush should be ousted and sarcastically portraying those who on pages 2-5 said Bush shouldn't be held accountable for today's bunt single, seeing eye single etc...his leadoff walk, likely close. The hit 'almost' an out...sorry for not including the quote.

"Spurlings a gamer, a fighter, a worker". I can just hear that annoying ad reverberating through my skull as I watch this gamer and worker proceed to lob straight 88 mph cheese to big league hitters and give away a much needed win.