On Monday, the Brewers claimed Sean Nolin off waivers from Oakland. Nolin was one of the pieces that the A’s acquired in the shocking Josh Donaldson deal from last offseason, and despite the fact that he was supposed to be a high-floor and low-risk addition, his 2015 season was mildly disappointing. He made six big-league […]
Category: Articles
How Did Chase Anderson Improve Against Righties?
Last week, I wrote about the differences between Chase Anderson’s 2014 and 2015 seasons. If you haven’t read that yet, do so now, because I get paid by the pageview it’ll give some background regarding his performance. In a nutshell, Anderson shifted his whole arsenal down and in, which gave him lower strikeout and walk rates and […]
Are We Approaching The Age of the Shortstop?
The first and second part of my series can be found here, and here. Don’t worry, this will be the final installment. Is this the golden age for the shortstop position? The quick answer is no. Perhaps the better answer to this question, though, is not yet. There’s a very good reason as to why a […]
Of Course Teams Are Going To Copy The Royals
Jerry Crasnick posted an article at ESPN on Friday suggesting that teams won’t be copying the Royals‘ free-swinging, contact-oriented team constructed around solid defense and a strong bullpen, rather than around middle-of-the-order sluggers and ace-level starting pitchers. There’s a perfectly good reason for that: most teams don’t play in cavernous parks like Kauffman Stadium that encourage contact […]
Put Him In, Coach: Breaking Down the Spring Training Battle for Centerfield
Last week’s trade of Khris Davis to Oakland has sent a ripple effect through Milwaukee’s 2016 outfield depth chart, affecting everybody and every position. Davis was projected to serve as the team’s everyday leftfielder. One of the possible solutions is reportedly for Ryan Braun, who was moved from left field to right two years ago, […]
Rolling Out the Barrel: The Pitching and Catching Report
Pitchers and catchers have officially reported to Maryvale! This mostly means nothing. Actual Spring Training games are still a couple weeks away, and all today is really going to bring us is some grainy beat writer photos of Jimmy Nelson running around in the Maryvale outfield — which, if we’re being honest, we desperately need. […]
Jonathan Villar’s Baserunning As A Model For Fringe Players
The Brewers have spent a lot of the offseason importing young and/or unproven players, as a rebuilding club should. Players such as Garin Cecchini, Colin Walsh, and Josmil Pinto will receive opportunities to make a name for themselves in 2016. If they take off, they’ll remain on the team for 2017 and beyond, to help it […]
Ariel Pena’s Amazing Feat
We haven’t written much on this site about Ariel Pena, and that is generally for good reason. He is a 26-year-old right-handed pitcher who isn’t a top prospect or a particularly impressive minor-league performer. The Brewers’ major-league rotation, while not stuffed with great options, is generally full of pitchers who are higher in the pecking […]
Did Chase Anderson Have A Sophomore Slump?
The concept of the sophomore slump, which holds some weight in every walk of life (sporting or otherwise), always seems prominent in baseball analysis. Most evidence suggests that rookies don’t fall off in their second campaign — and that regression to the mean accounts for any decline in performance — yet we still cling to the idea that they’ll stumble […]
Is There a Place for Aaron Hill?
The Brewers are a rebuilding team, without a doubt. They spent last season and this offseason unloading veterans in favor of prospects or flyers, and they have therefore ended up with a relatively young roster (per ESPN, the second-youngest in baseball). The lack of proven veterans who will demand playing time is a positive for […]