Embattled starter Taylor Jungmann made the Brewers’ bullpen out of spring training this year, and his experience this year will be an interesting case study in the starter-to-reliever conversion project. Failed starters have repeatedly made successful transitions to the bullpen (see Blanton, Joe), and this is a route we are seeing more pitchers take as […]
Category: Articles
Opening Day History
It didn’t take the 2017 Brewers long to land themselves in the history book. 46 pitches to be exact. That’s the moment when opening day starter Junior Guerra sprinted out of the batter’s box, strained his calf, and landed on the 10 day Disabled List. Per the Journal Sentinel’s Tom Haudricourt, it could be an […]
How Close is A?
Yesterday, former Brewers prospect Miguel Diaz made his MLB debut for the San Diego Padres, pitching a fine scoreless outing in the midst of a lopsided defeat. In one-and-a-third innings, the young righty threw 15 pitches (10 strikes), and inherited a runner to close the bottom of the fifth inning. After the Rule 5 draft […]
Optimism Part Two: The Brewers Will Make the Playoffs
Just a few weeks ago, fellow BPMilwaukee writer Sean Roberts laid out a scenario where the Milwaukee Brewers become a .500 club in 2017. The Brewers, who PECOTA projects finishing 78-84, are just a few right breaks away from hitting that 81-win plateau, a feat they have only accomplished once in the past four seasons. […]
2017 Roster
With the signing of reliever Jared Hughes announced, the Brewers have presumably set their opening day 2017 roster and completed their 2016-2017 offseason. Compared to David Stearns’s splash 2015-2016 offseason, this iteration featured many underwhelming moves, a general lack of creativity (of the brand that brought the 2016 MLB roster Junior Guerra, Jonathan Villar, and […]
Buying Into Wily Peralta
It’s no secret the Brewers need rotation help. 1-2 in the rotation is set with the likes of Junior Guerra and Zach Davies, but things get iffy following those two. Smart money is on Jimmy Nelson, Wily Peralta, and Matt Garza to fill out the bottom 60 percent of the rotation, unless the Brewers decide […]
The Macro Gennett
Yesterday, the Brewers waived second baseman-turned-potential utilityman Scooter Gennett, and division rival Cincinnati took a flyer on the lefty batting veteran. Gennett will be known for the short term as a flawed starting second baseman whose lack of positional flexibility got the best of him on a roster that is gearing up to be as […]
Walk, Whiff, Smash, Swipe!
In September of 2015, the Milwaukee Brewers hired David Stearns to give direction to what had recently been a rudderless franchise. The move was well received by industry analysts and casual fans alike. Stearns was a rising star in the Houston Astros front office, and that franchise had just emerged from years of futility in […]
Redesigning Compensation
Beyond the commonly assumed battle between labor and ownership, there are several intraparty issues that drive the broken compensation system in MLB. Specifically, the current MLB demonstrates two unacceptable realities in terms of compensation: (1) MLB players are undperpaid by at least $1 billion; (2) Minor League Players face criminal poverty wages. Related Reading: OFP […]
The Brewers Striking National Irrelevance
My first years as a real diehard Milwaukee Brewers fan came in the early 2000s, shortly after my family moved out from the boonies to the relative metropolis that was Trempealeau (population 1,315). Cable television was just one benefit of moving to civilization, and it was exciting to have a team like the Brewers on […]