So much for a quick and easy rebuild. The Houston Astros are a dumpster fire to begin the 2016 season. Even with a win Sunday over the Mariners, the Astros are 12-20, owners of the second-worst record in the American League. Astros pitchers have allowed 151 runs, better than only the Twins in the AL, […]
Category: Articles
Brewers Exit Velocity and Launch Angle
“We see a lot on the telecast and now on the stadiums there broadcasting that he just hit that at 102 mph, and it seems to me that that’s an impressive number on the surface, but it doesn’t give you much… All that could mean is a hard ground ball to the shortstop if the […]
Chris Carter’s Success and the Brewers’ 2016 Plan
This offseason, Brewers GM David Stearns pursued a low-risk, high-reward strategy of building a big-league team. He spent the first few months of his tenure accumulating minor league assets, and he continued to do that as he traded pieces from his big league club. This strategy acknowledged that the team was unlikely to be competitive […]
Braun and his Sports Fan Foil
Tuesday night, Ryan Braun pinch-hit against the Cubs with the Brewers trailing 4-1 in the 8th inning at Wrigley Field. Even though Braun represented the tying run, for much of the night the game hadn’t been in doubt. The fans who stayed through the cold and windy night managed to summon their energy once Braun […]
The New, Improved Ryan Braun
Over the past year-ish, in keeping with the traditions of a rebuilding club, the Brewers traded away virtually every veteran with value. Carlos Gomez, Mike Fiers, Gerardo Parra, Aramis Ramirez, Jean Segura, Khris Davis, Francisco Rodriguez, and Adam Lind all headed out the door, and too many prospects to count came back in their place. […]
Wily Peralta Throws the Slider for Strikes, Gets Results
Thanks to the ridiculous vagaries of pitching statistics, Wily Peralta’s outing Sunday against the Phillies will technically go into the books as a “quality start.” In reality, Peralta struggled again on sunday, as he was unable to hold down a Phillies lineup that has been absolutely brutal all year long — they entered Sunday’s game […]
Statcast Data: Brewers Perceived Velocity
Last year we were promised statcast data. The result, however, was quite underwhelming, as we didn’t receive all of the glowing information we so desired. With that said, some data started to trickle out. Most people are now familiar with exit velocity, which is the speed at which a ball comes off the bat. We […]
Colin Walsh’s Place on the Roster
Colin Walsh is currently the Brewers’ least-used position player aside from Martin Maldonado, the backup catcher, who clearly is in a category of his own. Aaron Hill has been the regular third baseman, and Yadiel Rivera’s ability to play shortstop makes him a more compelling option off the bench. But Walsh is a Rule 5 […]
Scooter Gennett Takes Walks Now
Once a player has played for a couple seasons or so at the major-league level, we can conclusively say some things about their abilities, and their shortcomings. With a large enough sample, the Dennis Green Rule goes into effect: Players will be who we thought they were. Jimmy Nelson, for instance, will probably always struggle against left-handers, who […]
The Post-Sabermetric Value of Aaron Hill
In the modern era, Major League Baseball abhors that which cannot be easily measured or quantified. The 2015 Kansas City Royals were a perfect example of that. PECOTA said they’d be a losing team. Fangraphs said they’d be a losing team. ESPN, well, you get the picture. Only, something funny happened: the Royals instead rolled […]