Building a Brewers narrative for 2016, it’s easy for many fans and analysts to focus on the negative. After all, the team was not expected to compete coming into the season, and given the number of second-chance players winning jobs, or roster stopgaps working for the big club, many simply expected the team to be […]
Category: Articles
Jeffress Isn’t as Good as You Think, Thornburg Is
When Will Smith went down with an injury, the closer’s role went to Jeremy Jeffress. On the outskirts, this made a lot of sense. Jeffress was linked in a number of trade rumors during the offseason, and giving him the primary closer role might increase his trade value. He also throws harder than most Brewers, […]
Breaking Down Jimmy Nelson’s Disappointing Season
Jimmy Nelson has had a rough overall 2016. His 112 cFIP and 5.08 DRA are the worst marks of his young career, and he has not taken the expected step forward this year. PECOTA’s pre-season 50th-percentile projection had Nelson as a 2.6 WARP pitcher, with a 4.14 DRA. He started off decently (six earned runs […]
Will Matt Garza Pitch His Way Out?
Matt Garza pitched like a man on a mission Sunday against the Dodgers, his second time out since returning from the disabled list from the lat strain that sidelined him to open the season. Garza pounded the strike zone, induced eight ground ball outs and needed just 70 pitches to get through six shutout innings. […]
Jimmy Nelson Has Been Unlucky, and Bad
In 2015, it seemed as though the Brewers had no consistently competent starting pitchers. Matt Garza melted down, Kyle Lohse ran out of gas, Wily Peralta regressed hideously, and Mike Fiers left at the trade deadline. Taylor Jungmann performed pretty well, but he didn’t debut until June, and he wore down into the later part of […]
How Often is the First Pick the Best Pick?
The storm has passed, the dust has settled, the draft is finally over. With their first pick, the Brewers selected Corey Ray, an outfielder from Louisville. We don’t know what Ray will become, but thus far, a number of people have been praising this selection including Christopher Crawford of BaseballProspectus, who described him as his […]
The Relative Value of Ryan Braun’s Contract
When Ryan Braun signed his contract extension in April 2011, it was prohibitively large. Braun, after all, had already signed a seven-year contract in 2008, so this deal wasn’t even going to kick in until after the 2015 season. And even though Braun was only entering his age-27 season, he was certainly no sure bet […]
So, The Brewers Aren’t Awful
Behind a win Sunday over the Mets, powered by another strong start from Zach Davies, the Brewers elevated their record to 30-33. The Brewers had already lost 48 times last year by the time they won their 30th game, and they are far closer to teams like the Cardinals, Pirates and Dodgers in the standings […]
The Geography of the Brewers Drafts
We are here. It’s the 2016 MLB draft. A number of scouts and experts will sit down and attempt to analyze the draft. Declaring whether this is a good pick or not. As avid baseball fans, a number of us will watch in anticipation of the results and which shiny new toy our favorite team […]
What Does Will Smith’s Return Mean for the Bullpen?
During spring training, the Brewers’ stated plan was to use Will Smith and Jeremy Jeffress as co-closers. Manager Craig Counsell said that he would not be choosing either to be his Opening Day closer, and this logic made a certain amount of sense. Neither Jeffress nor Smith was a Proven Closer, but both were successful […]