“I am not necessarily a results-oriented guy.” – Corbin Burnes, February ’17 The 2017 Carolina Mudcats roster is loaded with talent and potential. And despite his self-confessed ambivalence to results, starting pitcher Corbin Burnes has been one of the most impressive producers of the first two months for the Mudcats. Burnes, as you might expect […]
Author: Colin Anderle
Domingo Santana Has Evolved Into a Big-League Hitter
The emergence of stars such as Eric Thames, Travis Shaw, and the two-headed catching monster that is Manny and the Jett have been instrumental in turning the 2017 Brewers into a feared offensive team. But across the board, Milwaukee’s everyday players have been replacement level or better, and this depth has been just as important […]
Hot Soup
With all due respect to my loving mother, the greatest birthday present I ever got was gifted to me by the Pittsburgh Pirates, and it’s not even particularly close. On my 27th birthday, they traded a Quad-A outfielder named Keon Broxton and teenage pitcher Trey Supak to the Brewers for platoon-limited first baseman Jason Rogers. […]
Hard Contact, Harder Luck: The Ballad of Kirk Nieuwenhuis
On Sunday, Kirk Nieuwenhuis was outrighted to Class-AAA by the Brewers to clear a roster spot for Brent Suter. This was hardly a stunning development. The pitching staff was stretched thin after a series of short starts, and Nieuwenhuis had struggled to carve out a role in Milwaukee’s crowded outfield. And even when he did see […]
Manny and the Jett
So far in 2017, the Brewers have received elite offensive production out of both of their catchers. Entering play Wednesday, Jett Bandy slashed .321/.367/.607 with a .333 True Average (TAv) in nine games, while Manny Pina is putting up a corresponding .433/.452/.633 and .367 TAv in nine games of his own. This from a 27-year-old […]
Is The Mayor of Ding-Dong City Resigning?
Upon arriving to the major leagues, Travis Shaw was nicknamed “The Mayor of Ding-Dong City” for his tendency to hit the baseball out of the park. Shaw was drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the 9th round of the 2011 draft and at every stop in the minor leagues he won accolades for his […]
Thinking Outside the Box 5: The First-Inning Pinch Hitter
Nobody ever expects much from pitchers forced to wield a baseball bat. It’s just an accepted part of the National League game that, one to three times, each starting pitcher will either sacrifice his spot in the order to bunt a runner over or, should he come up with the bases empty, flail about for […]
Thinking Outside the Box 4: The Future Cost Savings of the Inverted Staff
When comparing a traditional five-man rotation to the six, seven, and eight-man piggyback variations, at the end of the day you’re essentially comparing two different routes to the same destination. As with most ideological battles in life, which one is “better” is a factor of several other variables. Thinking Outside the Box: A Bullpen for […]
Thinking Outside The Box 3: A Bullpen for 2017
The Brewers’ starting rotation is set up pretty ideally for the piggyback rotation. As it turns out, the bullpen is a pretty snug fit for the unique responsibilities that would come with such a setup, too. Keeping this in mind, let’s take a look at some of Milwaukee’s 2017 bullpen arms, and raise the question […]
Thinking Outside the Box 2: A Bullpen to Match
There are, naturally, reasons why the piggyback-style rotation has caught on in the low minors while failing to score more than a random cameo here or there at the upper levels of professional baseball. Traditionally, a team carries seven, sometimes even eight, bullpen arms. Downsizing the cleanup crew to a four-man unit would require a […]