WHAT HAPPENED
Taylor Jungmann has been a revelation with the Brewers this year. All through the minors, despite some encouraging results, he has struggled with his command — forcing scouts and talent evaluators limit their projections for him. However, through 16 starts before tonight in 96.2 innings, Jungmann tallied a 13.2 K%-BB%, the second best mark of his professional career. He walked 8.2 percent of batters faced which is slightly above league-average (7.5 percent) but also his second-best mark. This seemingly new-found command has allowed him to accrue a 2.42 ERA, 3.04 FIP, and 2.94 DRA.
Unfortunately, Jungmann’s command issues reemerged for this start. In the first inning he fell behind in many counts even walking a batter and allowing a couple of hits to surrender the first run of the game. He seemed to overcompensate a bit in the second inning with too many pitches finding too much of the plate. The result was a solo home run off the bat of J.T. Realmuto. Realmuto would later hit an inside the park home run making this the first multi-home run game of Jungmann’s career.
He would exit after only 3.2 innings, having allowed five runs to that point. He was responsible for one more base runner that did eventually cross home plate, bringing the total runs allowed to six. He threw a total of 80 pitches. Fifty were strikes and thirty were balls which is a rather poor ratio.
The important thing at this point in Taylor Jungmann’s career isn’t avoiding bad starts altogether, it’s learning from them when they happen. Prior to this start he’s had maybe two or three poor outings and each time he’s rebounded nicely. It’s never a failure if you learn something from it, and so far it appears that’s what Jungmann is doing.
This was a weird game for the Brewers offense. They were able to muster four runs but nothing more. They had their fair share of base runners, though. Domingo Santana hit a two-run home run. Both Ryan Braun and Jean Segura had three-hit nights. Jason Rogers had a pair of hits. In addition to the four that crossed home plate, the Brewers were able to put 14 other men on base. They just couldn’t seem to manage more than just the one hit with runners in scoring position.
Some people put a lot of stock in the “Left On Base” (LOB) statistic, but they really shouldn’t. It’s really just an unfortunate happenstance. The Brewers batters were still able to reach base 17 times including 13 hits. More often than not that’s going to result in more runs.
KEY MOMENT
In the fifth inning the Brewers worked the bases loaded with just one out. Adam Lind popped up and Elian Herrera grounded out to strand those runners. Two innings later, Herrera would step to the plate with a chance for redemption. The Brewers trailed by three runs at this point and there were already two outs. Jason Rogers had driven in a run that inning and was standing at second base after Luis Sardinas drew a walk in a pinch hit opportunity.
Herrera was able to work a favorable 2-0 count before falling back to an even count. The next pitch was a mistake heater down the heart of the strike zone. Herrera didn’t miss it and ripped a line drive up the middle to bring in a run.
Now, down by two with runners at the corners, Martin Maldonado stood in for the pitcher. It had originally been Scooter Gennett, but the Marlins made a pitching change forcing the Brewers to pull him back. Maldonado was able to work the count full making for an exciting and tense moment in this game. Unfortunately, the inning would end with Maldonado watching a called strike. This would be the best and last chance the Brewers had to tie the game or go ahead.
TWO THINGS TO WATCH
After hitting one in yesterday’s game recent Brewers acquisition Domingo Santana hit another opposite-field home run today. That’s not small feat to achieve in the pitching-friendly confines of Marlins Park. He also drew two walks and singled in this game. He’s been getting the majority of his playing time in center field but is more suited to the corners. However, today on Twitter, Brewers beat reporters Tom Haudricourt and Adam McCalvy reported that Assistant General Manager Gord Ash is at least considering the possibility of keeping Santana at the position to start next season:
“It has to be in the back of your mind,” Ash said. “You’re not going to go out and get a CF just to get one.” https://t.co/c0N0iTvsU6
— Adam McCalvy (@AdamMcCalvy) September 8, 2015
I still think it’s a long shot the Brewers do this. It’s more likely Khris Davis is traded in the offseason, making room at one of the corners. If that doesn’t happen, Santana has been decent enough in the field that it wouldn’t be shocking if indeed that’s where he plays in the very short term. It’s something a rebuilding team can afford to do and the offensive potential that outfield offers is intriguing. And as long as Domingo Santana keeps hitting, the Brewers are going to do whatever they need to get him more playing time.
Domingo Santana isn’t the only player the Brewers will be taking a good long look at this September. They called up Zach Davies previously and today activated catcher Nevin Ashley and shortstop Luis Sardinas. Ashley reminds me a lot of Matt Pagnozzi last year. He was just called up to provide insurance in case Ron Roenicke need to use one of his other catchers as a pinch hitter. He was then let go after the season ended.
Luis Sardinas has a chance to play a larger role with the team. Jean Segura’s name was all over mid-season trade rumors and will likely surface again in the offseason. With that in mind, it’s possible the Brewers want to give more playing time to Sardinas to further assess his abilities.
It remains to be seen if any other minor league players will join the Brewers this month. I wouldn’t be surprised to see one or two Biloxi Shuckers eventually join the big-league club once their playoff run is finished (September 21 at the lastest). The Brewers will have to place a number of them on the 40-man roster to protect them from the Rule 5 draft and giving them a week of major-league service time won’t meaningfully affect the way they need to be handled next year.
Two players come foremost to my mind: Ty Wagner and Jorge Lopez. Wagner is already on the 40-man roster and even has a major-league start under his belt. He also won the Southern League ERA title this year with a 2.25 ERA which is quite impressive. Equally impressive is the fact that his teammate Jorge Lopez finished with an ERA just 0.01 points higher.
I wouldn’t expect either to be able to win a rotation spot going into next season. But they’re firmly on the radar for perhaps a mid-season promotion or injury replacement. And the Brewers have said in the past they like to reward players with September call-ups to show them what they’ve been fighting for.