Milwaukee has been MLB debut central in 2017, with Brandon Woodruff’s delayed debut making it five total on the season. Some have been more heralded than others (Brett Phillips’s debut almost felt like a national holiday), but none have been all that successful. Phillps struck out swinging twice before he slapped his first hit up the […]
Tag: 2017 Brewers
Keon Broxton: Exit Velocity King?
Last year, Keon Broxton’s average exit velocity was 91.7 mph, which was a top-20 mark in all of baseball. By this measure, he was comparable to such luminaries as Yoenis Cespedes, Jose Bautista, and Khris Davis, and his breakout potential was well-covered in certain corners of the online baseball community. The idea that he was […]
The Unofficial Neftali Feliz Arson Report
The Brewers took a gamble on an unpredictable relief pitcher this off-season. So far, the house is up big. On Sunday evening, the Brewers’ Chase Anderson had himself a nice vengeance game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, who traded him away prior to the 2016 season. Anderson pitched six innings, surrendering one run and striking out […]
MLB Draft and OFP Surplus
The MLB Draft is a questionable institution at best, and an awful one in its worst aspects. From a labor standpoint, the Draft filters professional baseball talent through a non-competitive process, suppressing a player’s potential earning power from Day One. Even the (roughly) 300 players lucky enough to be written into one of the MLB’s […]
Call-Ups Reveal the Idiocy of Service Time Rules
What an exciting week to be a Brewers fan! The results were mildly disappointing at best following a home split against a poor Giants team and a series loss in Arizona. But the games took a bit of a back seat to the call-ups of pitcher Josh Hader and outfielders Brett Phillips and Lewis Brinson. […]
Weekend Recap 9: Brinson and Hader
After a strong offensive performance on Friday night, the bats went cold and the Brewers lost the final two games of their series against the Diamondbacks this weekend. Rather than dwell on two disappointing losses, including another bullpen blowup, let’s take a look at the Brewers debuts of the top two prospects in the system […]
Slow Stearns
After the infamous Weathergate day at Wrigley Field (May 20, 2017), or the day Brewers beat writer Tom Haudricourt penned and defended his “fewer strike outs, more wins” jinx, Milwaukee has a record of 7-10 despite a 69 RS / 70 RA run differential. In that time, the bullpen produced six rather loud losses, losses […]
Update: Cashing Out OFP 2
Earlier this week, I examined the surplus added by Brewers GM David Stearns, which is undoubtedly one of the reasons the club is performing quite well. Stearns, in stark contrast to recently famous rebuilds in Chicago and his previous front office (Houston), is building competitive clubs at the MLB level by cashing in on short-term […]
Eric Sogard: Oasis or Mirage?
Quickly, without Googling: through this past weekend’s action, among Major League players with at least 50 plate appearances, who tops the leaderboard for wRC+? Mike Trout? A good guess, if a predictable one, but he’s in second place. Eric Thames? You’re really, really close. As in, same team, same first name, close. I’m talking about […]
Weekend Recap: Villar’s Approach
Welcome to the eighth edition of the Weekend Recap. The Brewers took Sunday’s game to prevent a sweep at the hands of the Los Angeles Dodgers, thanks to a strong pitching performance from Zach Davies, who allowed less than two runs for only the second time this season. Even with the win yesterday, the weekend […]