On March 16, 2017, Baseball Prospectus published my remembrance for the 2017 Brewers. The goal of the exercise was to discern the aspects of the team that would define their 2017 future, and then analyze those elements. My criticism of the Brewers offseason was buttressed by scenario planning involving league wide trends, as well as […]
Author: Nicholas Zettel
Draft Slot Strategy
On Wednesday afternoon, the 2017 Brewers draft came into sharper focus as KJ Harrison and Tristen Lutz both signed. If any prospects were to personify the Brewers’ draft strategy, Lutz and Harrison would be two of the best candidates as they are both huge risk projection plays by the Milwaukee scouting department. Lutz is a […]
Midseason 2017 #3: 3 Up 3 Down
The Brewers have graduated four of their 2017 Baseball Prospectus Top Ten prospects to the MLB. Along with that group, rookie Jorge Lopez, a former Baseball Prospectus Top Ten member, also returned to the MLB. If one were to rank the Brewers Top 30, these five would certainly fit within that group, and depending on […]
Midseason 2017 #2: 3 Up 3 Down
One of the toughest aspects of following a rebuilding team like the Brewers, which exaggerates problems with following minor league baseball in general, is the sheer lack of information and nearly complete uncertainty involved with prospects. Fans can watch the box scores, and in some cases even the games, without gaining any particular idea of […]
Midseason 2017 #1: 3 Up 3 Down
With the completion of the 2017 MLB amateur draft, the revolving door for prospects and system depth between Class-AA Biloxi, Class-AAA Colorado Springs, and Milwaukee, and the International free agency signing date just days away, the Brewers system is experiencing significant flux. This flux is hardly a bad thing. Top prospects Lewis Brinson and Josh […]
Minor League Context: June 2
Where is the season going? In less than a week, the calendar will flip from June to July, Minor League All-Star games have been played in many leagues, and teams are recalling top prospects and depth prospects alike to give them a shot at an MLB role. With this in mind, it’s time for another […]
Naming Contending Brewers Stars
The Brewers have spent 36 days in first place this 2017 season, which is perhaps one of the biggest surprises of the MLB campaign. Even those analysts and fans that felt the rebuild and develop campaign was on the right track hardly thought the Brewers would be competitive in the vast majority of cases. Many […]
130 Games of New Wave
The use of restrictive linguistic categories complicates discussion about the 2017 Brewers: since these upstart Brewers will not stop winning, they are short-circuiting fan dialogue between “rebuilding” and “winning now.” According to Baseball Reference, Sunday’s thrilling 2-1 win against San Diego marked the 32nd day that the Brewers stood in first place in the National […]
MLB Draft and OFP Surplus
The MLB Draft is a questionable institution at best, and an awful one in its worst aspects. From a labor standpoint, the Draft filters professional baseball talent through a non-competitive process, suppressing a player’s potential earning power from Day One. Even the (roughly) 300 players lucky enough to be written into one of the MLB’s […]
Slow Stearns
After the infamous Weathergate day at Wrigley Field (May 20, 2017), or the day Brewers beat writer Tom Haudricourt penned and defended his “fewer strike outs, more wins” jinx, Milwaukee has a record of 7-10 despite a 69 RS / 70 RA run differential. In that time, the bullpen produced six rather loud losses, losses […]