MLB 2018 Season

[buckchuckler]

It comes down I guess to what you think of Schoop, and I'm not nearly as big of a fan as most here. I hope I'm wrong. I just don't see this deadline as a success for the Brewers:

In:                                                                    Out:
Rental Soria                                                       Medeiros (#13 prospect)
Rental Mous (w/ position change)                        Perez (just a guy)
1.5 seasons Schoop ($10M next year)                  Phillips (#10 prospect)
                                                                         Lopez (fringy top 30 prospect - had been as high as #2)
                                                                         Ortiz (prospect #7)
                                                                         Carmona (prospect #14)
                                                                         2.5 seasons Villar ($3M next year)

I just don't see it. Looking at the O's return, you arguably could have used Medeiros, Lopez and the $7M next year that the the Braves are absorbing in O'Day, and gotten Gausman - who is no worse a candidate for positive regression than Schoop, is under arbitration through 2020 and plays a position the Brewers actually need!

It is very weird what the Brewers did.  They couldn't get what it seemed like they clearly needed, so they have a bit of square peg/ round hole going on right now.  I think they have made themselves better, but it will be interesting to see how it works out.

And Soria isn't necessarily a rental.  He has a 10 Mil option for next year.  Not an unreasonable rate for how he has pitched, but likely too expensive for an 7th or 8th inning guy.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Wade Miley seems to think the Brewers' starting pitching is just fine 

Tied for first, les go!

And before any Cub fans say it, yes I know the Cubs are up two in the loss column.

[Its DJOver]

Wade Miley seems to think the Brewers' starting pitching is just fine 

Tied for first, les go!

And before any Cub fans say it, yes I know the Cubs are up two in the loss column.

Plus

Guaranteed to finish the road trip over .500.

Yelich kept his hitting streak going.

Maybe most importantly, Jimmy threw a bupen session and didn't have any discomfort.

Reasons for optimism.  Gotta keep it going.

[chapman]

Surprised and pleased that Counsell went with Jeffress to close.  I hope he does it more.

[jsglow]

So here's my comment on the quality starts issue. The Crew has at least 7 quality relievers in the pen that range from 'very good' to 'elite'.  In that list in alphabetical order: Albers, Burnes, Hader, Jeffress, Jennings, Knebel and Soria.  Several of those guys are potential multiple innings guys.  So on any given night they are likely to cover a minimum of 3 up to 5 innings utilizing on average 3-4 of the 7.  Those guys need regular work to stay as sharp as they are so the next night the 'Blue squad' is replaced by the 'Gold squad'.  And I'd argue that from the 6th inning on, no team has better pitching depth or quality.

Crew starters need to go a solid 5 on average to make this strategy work.  So no 'quality start' is ever really needed.  They actually happen by accident, like last night, when a guy is totally dialed in.   

Oh yeah, that also means that the Crew only needs the pitcher to bat once or twice, tops.  Sucks to have guys like Braun, Thames, Moose or Schoop covering the rest of those ABs every night.  And it also sucks that gold glover types like Arcia can cover Short 2-3 innings late and perhaps never take a swing.  The days of Jim Palmer are over boys.  Situational baseball at its finest.

Will it work in the playoffs?  Don't know.  But for now it's modern baseball over the final 55.

[TallTitan34]

So here's my comment on the quality starts issue. The Crew has at least 7 quality relievers in the pen that range from 'very good' to 'elite'.  In that list in alphabetical order: Albers, Burnes, Hader, Jeffress, Jennings, Knebel and Soria.  Several of those guys are potential multiple innings guys.  So on any given night they are likely to cover a minimum of 3 up to 5 innings utilizing on average 3-4 of the 7.  Those guys need regular work to stay as sharp as they are so the next night the 'Blue squad' is replaced by the 'Gold squad'.  And I'd argue that from the 6th inning on, no team has better pitching depth or quality.

Crew starters need to go a solid 5 on average to make this strategy work.  So no 'quality start' is ever really needed.  They actually happen by accident, like last night, when a guy is totally dialed in.   

Oh yeah, that also means that the Crew only needs the pitcher to bat once or twice, tops.  Sucks to have guys like Braun, Thames, Moose or Schoop covering the rest of those ABs every night.  And it also sucks that gold glover types like Arcia can cover Short 2-3 innings late and perhaps never take a swing.  The days of Jim Palmer are over boys.  Situational baseball at its finest.

Will it work in the playoffs?  Don't know.  But for now it's modern baseball over the final 55.

This strategy will burn out a bullpen.

[NWarsh]

This strategy will burn out a bullpen.

Will it though?  The league average for IP/GS is 5.5.  Right now the Brewers sit at 5.3, just behind the Cubs and Dodgers at 5.4.  The difference between the Brewers, is like glow said, they have 7 guys they can rotate so you are not using Jeffress every day.  You can use them once every couple or 3 days and still feel confident in the bullpen.  I was on the side of getting an ace type pitcher for a potential wild card game would be great, but the make up of their team, to me, did not meant they needed one at any cost.

*This strategy can hurt them if they have a game go deep into extra innings when you might have to use 5-6 of those guys, some for multiple innings.  But really is that any different than any other team that has to go deep into extras?

[jsglow]

This strategy will burn out a bullpen.

Nope.  Not with that much depth.  Guys like Hader, Jeffress and Jennings are in the low 50s in terms of innings. 

[jsglow]

Will it though?  The league average for IP/GS is 5.5.  Right now the Brewers sit at 5.3, just behind the Cubs and Dodgers at 5.4.  The difference between the Brewers, is like glow said, they have 7 guys they can rotate so you are not using Jeffress every day.  You can use them once every couple or 3 days and still feel confident in the bullpen.  I was on the side of getting an ace type pitcher for a potential wild card game would be great, but the make up of their team, to me, did not meant they needed one at any cost.

*This strategy can hurt them if they have a game go deep into extra innings when you might have to use 5-6 of those guys, some for multiple innings.  But really is that any different than any other team that has to go deep into extras?

The way the Crew has dealt with that is to cycle relievers #8,9,10.... through the minors.  Pitch a few extended innings on a long night, catch your plane back to Colorado.  Those top 3-4 especially are treated like the gold they are.

[MerrittsMustache]

Nope.  Not with that much depth.  Guys like Hader, Jeffress and Jennings are in the low 50s in terms of innings.

Jeffress has never pitched more than 68 innings in a MLB season (currently at 51.2) and Jennings never more than 62.2 (currently 51.2). Soria should help ease their workloads but they're getting close to unchartered territory.

For reference, the Cubs and Phillies have no relief pitchers with 50+ IP at this point. The Rockies, Braves and Dodgers have 1. The Dbacks have 2 (one is their long man, McFarland).

[TallTitan34]

Jeffress has never pitched more than 68 innings in a MLB season (currently at 51.2) and Jennings never more than 62.2 (currently 51.2). Soria should help ease their workloads but they're getting close to unchartered territory.

For reference, the Cubs and Phillies have no relief pitchers with 50+ IP at this point. The Rockies, Braves and Dodgers have 1. The Dbacks have 2 (one is their long man, McFarland).

And even with the Cubs having no relief pitchers over 50 innings, I am concerned about their workload.

I think you guys might be underestimating how these workloads can affect a team at the end of the season and in the playoffs.

[real chili 83]

Anyone have Cub tickets for Friday’s game v Padres they want to unload?

[jsglow]

Jeffress has never pitched more than 68 innings in a MLB season (currently at 51.2) and Jennings never more than 62.2 (currently 51.2). Soria should help ease their workloads but they're getting close to unchartered territory.

For reference, the Cubs and Phillies have no relief pitchers with 50+ IP at this point. The Rockies, Braves and Dodgers have 1. The Dbacks have 2 (one is their long man, McFarland).

Honestly not worried at all. Heck, half the board think that Hader and Burnes should be starters logging 175. And Knebel missed 2 months.

[buckchuckler]

I'm interested in seeing how the Brewers line it up tonight. 

Edit: Just checked.  Schoop at 2B, Perez at SS, Moose at 3B, Shaw sitting.

[Jockey]

I'm interested in seeing how the Brewers line it up tonight. 

Edit: Just checked.  Schoop at 2B, Perez at SS, Moose at 3B, Shaw sitting.

I think just one of Moose or Shaw will start against lefties most of the time (Hill/Kershaw).

I expect both to be there against righties.

[WI inferiority Complexes]

The National League only has 4 teams below .500.  I'm too lazy to look it up, but that seems like a rarity.

[mu03eng]

The National League only has 4 teams below .500.  I'm too lazy to look it up, but that seems like a rarity.

Yeah but those 4, man

[WI inferiority Complexes]

Yeah but those 4, man

The Marlins, Mets and Padres, yes.

The Reds are actually 41-38 since May 1.

[MerrittsMustache]

The National League only has 4 teams below .500.  I'm too lazy to look it up, but that seems like a rarity.

In 2017, the NL East alone had 4 teams below .500.

[WI inferiority Complexes]

In 2017, the NL East alone had 4 teams below .500.

The AL Central will probably do it this year.

[CTWarrior]

In 2017, the NL East alone had 4 teams below .500.

The strike/lockout in 1994 prevented MLB from having its first sub-500 team make the playoffs.  The Rangers were in first place in the West with a 52-62 record.  I doubt they'd have managed 29-19 the rest of the way to get to .500.

[TallTitan34]

The National League only has 4 teams below .500.  I'm too lazy to look it up, but that seems like a rarity.

I've been wondering if the Yanks, Sox, and Astros are really that great or just playing an overall weak AL.  Probably a mixture of both.

[buckchuckler]

I've been wondering if the Yanks, Sox, and Astros are really that great or just playing an overall weak AL.  Probably a mixture of both.

You can probably remove the Astros (sidenote: the Astros have been pretty lit up in the media for acquiring Osuna.  Much more so than I remember with the Yankees or Cubs), just by division, the AL West is actually pretty good.  The Central is completely miserable and the East is about average, except for how just horribly rotten the O's have been.

[jsglow]

I've been wondering if the Yanks, Sox, and Astros are really that great or just playing an overall weak AL.  Probably a mixture of both.

Good point.  One of them is getting to the Series.  And if they get crushed by their NL opponent we'll know the answer.

[Vander Blue Man Group]

Good point.  One of them is getting to the Series.  And if they get crushed by their NL opponent we'll know the answer.

The Indians absolutely have a shot.