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 […]
Category: Articles
Jonathan Villar Powers Up
Last season, Jonathan Villar led the Brewers in fun. His electric offensive performance, his league-leading 62 stolen bases, and yes, even his occasional mind-numbing base running errors did much to elevate an 89-loss team into the realm of watchability. On a more practical note, he also led the team with 4.8 WARP and 79 bases […]
A PECOTA-Powered Case Against Trading Ryan Braun
Ryan Braun remains a Milwaukee Brewer, defying the expectations of many. It should surprise nobody, though, that Braun is projected to be the best player on the Brewers by a fairly wide margin. His 2.8 WARP and .288 TAV both dwarf the next best projections on the club, belonging to Orlando Arcia (2.0 WARP) and […]
Camp Prospects
Each year, spring training serves as a warm up for players knock out the winter’s cobwebs and get in playing shape for the long baseball regular season. Most players are working through some sort of mechanical adjustments or tinkering with a new pitch, pitchers only work maybe a couple of innings as they build up arm […]
King of Spring
Spring Training baseball is notorious for two things: fans over-exaggerating the triumphs and failures of their favorite players and teams by using small, meaningless sample sizes, and unless a person happens to lurk within the dark depths of a team’s farm system, extremely boring baseball past the fifth inning. In an attempt to cure that […]
Player to be Named Now
The early returns in the Jonathon Lucroy trade already look to be working out. Lewis Brinson dominated down the stretch in 2016 upon joining the Brewers’ farm system and is now having himself a decent, albeit early, Spring. Luis Ortiz quickly found himself sprinkled all over top-10 prospect lists and should see himself starting in […]
How to Best Maximize the 2017 Brewers Rotation
As we approach the 2017 season, the Brewers’ rotation is relatively unsettled. Tom Haudricourt reported that only two spots are spoken for at this point in the spring: Junior Guerra and Zach Davies. That leaves three spots for the Brewers to fill, and they have the opportunity to be creative with those places. According to […]
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 […]
Closing Windows
It’s a common refrain now: the Brewers are finished with their rebuild. In terms of shedding MLB contracts for minor league assets, Milwaukee’s front office is basically done wheelin’ and dealin’. As everyone knows, veteran superstar Ryan Braun is the last remaining true trade chip, and the left fielder appears to be in the organization’s […]
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 […]